We’ll have several different threads open for commenting on the health care cases when they are decided, but for now here is an open thread for comments on any aspect of the case or the decisions.
Archive | June, 2012
Final Thoughts on the Eve of the Individual Mandate Decision
Over the last year, I have written an academic article, several amicus briefs, and countless blog posts and op eds about the individual mandate case. Whether I said anything useful or not is for others to judge. But, as a constitutional federalism scholar and one who had long argued for the need to enforce constraints […]
Predictions on the Health Care Cases
On the day before the health care cases come down, Larry Tribe is predicting that the Supreme Court will uphold the Affordable Care Act; so is Tom Goldstein. Carrie Severino is predicting the opposite. I’ve thought very deeply about this question over the last few months, and I have posted my own prediction here.
Justices Time Their Retirements According to Political Party
Do U.S. Supreme Court justices tend to try to time their retirements to help the political party of the president who appointed them? University of Chicago sociologist Rafe Stolzenberg and I have an article in the journal Demography that finally answers that question: Yes, justices do act politically when deciding whether to retire or take […]
Michigan Court of Appeals Strikes Down Stun Gun Ban, Says Second Amendment Applies to Open Carry in Public
People v. Yanna (Mich. Ct. App. June 26, 2012) holds that Michigan’s stun gun ban violates the Second Amendment. I filed an amicus brief on behalf of AWARE (Arming Women Against Rape & Endangerment) in this case, and also wrote a law review article on the subject (Nonlethal Self-Defense, (Almost Entirely) Nonlethal Weapons, and the […]
“Activism?”
Has there been a single pundit from the liberal left who has proactively denounced the Supreme Court for undue “activism” if it invalidates the individual mandate who has also denounced the Supreme Court for activism for invalidating most of Arizona’s immigration-enforcement statute? I understand there are all sorts of distinctions one can draw between the […]
Win or Lose, My Thanks
On the eve of the historic Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of the individual insurance mandate, I don’t know what the outcome will be any more than anyone else. I have never made a prediction and won’t start now. From the beginning, I always insisted that the challenge was serious, but also an uphill […]
Jonathan Haidt
I’ve been reading “The Righteous Mind” over the past few weeks, which I highly recommend. A nifty article in the Washington Times today profiles Jonathan Haidt and the book.
America’s Taxpayers Lost Big in UAW Bailout
In the Detroit News yesterday, James Sherk and I talk more about the avoidable loss to taxpayers from the UAW bailout.
The D.C. Circuit’s Greenhouse Gas Decision
Today’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Coalition for Responsible Regulation v. EPA is quite significant for environmental law. As John Elwood notes below, the court turned away the state and industry challenges to the EPA’s decision to begin regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. The only […]
Poll Shocker: Majority of Liberal Law Professors Believe Mandate Is Constitutional
This Bloomberg story, based on a poll of 21 constitutional law professors at elite law schools, is getting a surprising amount of play. The U.S. Supreme Court should uphold a law requiring most Americans to have health insurance if the justices follow legal precedent, according to 19 of 21 constitutional law professors who ventured an […]
David Rivkin – Opposing the Mandate Before It Was Cool
The WSJ has republished an op-ed opposing an individual mandate to purchase health insurance by David Rivkin from September 29, 1993. This op-ed was published challenging the constitutional basis of both the Clinton health care plan and the alternative pushed by some Republicans at the time that featured an individual mandate. Here is an excerpt: […]
Law Professors Obsessing Over the Individual Mandate
The Noncuratlex blog recently did a post making fun of constitutional law professors’ obsession with the individual mandate case. It includes shoutouts to the VC, co-blogger Randy Barnett, Laurence Tribe, and Metta World Peace: RENO, NEVADA (Press International), June 25, 2012: The husbands and wives of the nation’s estimated 543 married Constitutional Law professors collectively […]
Free Lectures from Yorktown University
Among my various extracurricular activities I serve on the Board of Trustees of Yorktown University, a for-profit, online university. Right now Yorktown is offering 9 free lectures by Arthur Laffer and others. You can register and download them here if you are interested.
Chuck Lane: Why “Living Constitutionalists” Underestimated the ACA Challenge
Chuck Lane has this very insightful piece in today’s Washington Post responding to Akhil Amar’s cri de coeur that his academic life would be a fraud if the Court invalidates the individual mandate. In a piece worth reading in its entirety, Lane suggests that legal academics today “resemble the conservative leaders of the bar at the […]