So begins T.V. v. Smith-Green Community School Corp. (N.D. Ind. Aug. 10), which (1) holds that a high school violated plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights when it suspended them from the volleyball team because they had posted a raunchy video of themselves on the Internet, and (2) holds that the school’s code of conduct allowing suspensions […]
Archive | August, 2011
Discussion of the Mohammed Cartoons Not “Speech Involv[ing] Matters of Public Interest or Concern”?
Today’s Kentucky Court of Appeals decision in Mendez v. Univ. of Kentucky Bd. of Trustees contained an odd bit of analysis that I thought I’d mention. Here’s the fact pattern: The precipitating event leading up to the cessation of [Fullmer] Mendez’s employment at the College of Health Sciences occurred on March 27, 2006. One morning […]
The First Amendment and the Government as Employer
I’ll be posting an item shortly on a particular dispute involving the First Amendment and the government as employer, and I thought it would be helpful to articulate the current legal rule on the subject. Here it is, quoted from my First Amendment textbook (and, yes, I know the legal rule is pretty vague): Rule: […]
Jack Balkin’s Response to My Article on Resolution VI
I am glad to report that Jack Balkin has posted an extended response to my new article on Resolution VI. His doing so allows me to both clarify my arguments and our points of disagreement. Jack’s scholarship on constitutional theory and history is deep and profound, and Jack himself is a warm and gregarious colleague. […]
Interpreting the Constitution According to “Its Plain, Present, Public Meaning”
My friend Prof. Tom Bell (Agoraphilia) has an interesting post that partly responds to my post on Words That Have Different Meaning in Different Parts of the Constitution but largely builds on his Graduated Consent in Contract and Tort Law: Toward a Theory of Justification, 61 Case Western L. Rev. 17 (2010). Here’s Tom’s summary […]
Advice to (Extra-)Young Would-Be Law Students?
A comment to an earlier post reminded me of this issue: What advice would you give to students who had skipped grades, and are now considering law school not at age 21 or older — the norm — but rather at 19, 18, or even younger? Should one take some time off to better understand […]
The Mandate and the “Mainstream”
By Jonathan H. Adler on August 12, 2011 2:34 pm in Academia, Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate
Some prominent academics have argued that the individual mandate is a clearly constitutional exercise of the federal government’s taxing power. Some of these same academics have argued that opponents of the individual mandate’s constitutionality are well outside the legal mainstream. Yet as of today, there has not been a single federal court — indeed, perhaps […]
11th Circuit Strikes Down Individual Mandate
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has just issued a 2-1 ruling striking down the individual mandate in a suit brought by 26 state governments, the National Federation of Independent Business, and others. This is the first court of appeals decision striking down the mandate, and creates a circuit split with the recent Sixth Circuit […]
City of Renton Drops Attempt to Prosecute Its Critic (and to Use a Search Warrant to Uncover His Identity)
I blogged about this case earlier under the headings “Is It a Crime to Publish Parody Videos That Use “Lewd … Language” Meant to “Embarrass and Emotionally Torment” Police Officers?” and “Search Warrant for Name of the Author of the Renton (Washington) Parody Videos Temporarily Stayed.” The news, reported last night by the Seattle Times, […]
BREAKING – Eleventh Circuit Declares Individual Mandate Unconstitutional
The Reuters story is here. Opinion should be available soon on the Eleventh Circuit’s website. UPDATE: The very lengthy opinion is here. The court split 2-1. Judges Hull and Dubina jointly issued the opinion of the court. Judge Marcus dissented. The court concludes the mandate cannot be justified under either the taxing power or commerce […]
Congratulations to Prof. Glenn Reynolds (InstaPundit) on His 10th Blog Anniversary!
Glenn’s blog is what led me to read blogs, and not long after to create this blog. My sense is that many other people got into blog reading and blogging the same way; his blog has been immensely influential. Congratulations to him on his 10th anniversary of publishing.
US Commission on Civil Rights Hearing on the Impact of Eminent Domain on Minority Groups
By Ilya Somin on August 12, 2011 12:17 pm in Blight, Eminent Domain, Kelo, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
Earlier today, I testified before the US Commission on Civil Rights at a hearing on the “Civil Rights Implications of Eminent Domain Abuse.” The other panelists were Georgetown law professor Peter Byrne, Hilary Shelton of the NAACP, and David Beito, a prominent historian and chair of the Alabama State Advisory Committee to the USSCR. A […]
You’d Think Anti-Establishment Filmmakers Would Have a Bit More Interest in Preserving a Strong First Amendment
From Michael Moore: Pres Obama, show some guts & arrest the CEO of Standard & Poors. These criminals brought down the economy in 2008& now they will do it again When Standard & Poor’s gives a bond rating, it’s expressing an opinion about how likely it is that the bond is sound. The First Amendment […]
The Government’s Brief in United States v. Jones and the Four Models of Fourth Amendment Protection
Thanks to Lyle Denniston, I learned today that the Justice Department has just filed its brief in United States v. Jones, the pending Supreme Court case on whether installing and using a GPS device to detect the location of a suspect’s car without a warrant violates the Fourth Amendment. The DOJ brief is an interesting […]
An Odd Proposal for Recess Appointments
Michael Tomasky, writing in The Daily Beast has this proposal: I’ve been wondering lately the same thing as a lot of liberals in Washington: when and how will the president ever grow some backbone? Sure, the post-debt-deal polls show that he came out of the mess looking somewhat less terrible than the Republicans. But he […]