In his post Nick again asserts that Congress has an power to define terms for purposes of federal law: “If DOMA is unconstitutional, it is because this particular federal definition of “marriage” offends some substantive constitutional provision. But that has nothing to do with federalism.” But there is no enumerated Definitions Power in the Constitution. […]
Archive | March, 2013
Communism, The Americans, and the Nature of Evil
The Americans, FX’s new TV series about KGB sleeper agents living in America in the early 1980s, has drawn mostly rave reviews. I have a somewhat mixed reaction. On the positive side, I thought that Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys are extremely effective in the lead roles of Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings, KGB agents who […]
Why Proponents of Proposition 8 Should Have Standing to Defend It
Ed Whelan has a post today on Bench Memos rejecting the argument made by Walter Dellinger (and endorsed to some degree by Michael McConnell) in an amicus brief that proponents of Proposition 8 defining marriage as limited to a man and wife lack standing to defend the proposition they sponsored and campaigned successfully to see […]
There Is No Federalism Objection To Section Three of the Defense of Marriage Act
There has been a lot of commentary about the federalism argument against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Several of my co-conspirators signed on to the “federalism brief” in the DOMA case. I expressed serious doubts about the argument a few weeks ago (as did Sasha, and Ed Whelan over at National Review Online), and […]
Obliviate!
From Nieman v. Versuslaw, Inc. (7th Cir. Mar. 19, 2013) (nonprecedential): Jason Nieman, an insurance-claims professional, … [sued] asserting invasion of privacy and retaliation against Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, and VersusLaw, Inc., a legal-research website that provides the public with access to records of judicial decisions for a fee. Nieman alleged that the search engines operated […]
Whelan v. McConnell on Same-Sex Marriage
By Jonathan H. Adler on March 23, 2013 3:43 pm in DOMA, Federalism, Same-Sex Marriage, Supreme Court
On Thursday, Stanford law professor and former federal appellate judge Michael McConnell suggested the Supreme Court should avoid ruling directly on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage by denying Proposition 8’s supporters standing to defend the initiative’s constitutionality and holding that the Defense of Marriage Act exceeds the scope of federal power. NRO’s Ed Whelan, who […]
“Master of Disaster” Disbarred
Last week, the Kentucky Supreme Court disbarred noted Ohio plaintiffs’ attorney Stanley Chesley. The WSJ Law Blog reports: The state’s highest court on Thursday sanctioned Mr. Chesley, 76 years old, for professional misconduct, accusing him of cheating clients out of millions of dollars in a widely followed settlement of a diet-drug lawsuit. The court stripped […]
Congratulations to Eugene Volokh, Listed Among the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America
Law.com’s new list of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America includes our own Eugene Volokh, together with the following blurb: If Eugene Volokh had done nothing but create The Volokh Conspiracy, a conservative-libertarian weblog that averages about 25,000 unique hits per weekday, his fame and influence would be secure. Volokh’s blog is a forum […]
Prof. John McGinnis (Northwestern) Guest-Blogging
I’m delighted to report that Prof. John McGinnis of Northwestern University School of Law will be guest-blogging this coming week about his new book, Accelerating Democracy: Transforming Governance Through Technology (Princeton University Press). John is a leading constitutional scholar, author of over 75 articles, and coauthor of the forthcoming Originalism and the Good Constitution (Harvard […]
President Obama Withdraws Halligan Nomination
Politico has the story, via How Appealing.
A More Succinct Way to Declare War
Co-blogger Ken Anderson praises Joan of Arc’s lengthy 1429 declaration of war against the English. I prefer the more concise approach adopted by Sviatoslav I, the 10th century Prince of Kiev: “Иду на вы.” I would loosely translate this as “I’m coming to get you.” Admirably to the point. International law mavens could learn a […]
Vermont Files Cert Petition in Case on Ex Ante Search Restrictions for Computer Warrants
I have blogged a few times about the significant Vermont Supreme Court case on ex ante search restrictions for computer warrants, In re Appeal of Application for Search Warrant. For prior posts, see here and here. Last week, Vermont filed a petition for certiorari in this case. I have posted a copy of the cert […]
Federalist Society Symposium on the Marriage Cases
Today the Federalist Society hosts a forum entitled, Same-Sex Marriage: A Variety of Perpectives on United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry. There are contributions by John Eastman, Nelson Lund, Ilya Shapiro, and me. My contribution, “Justice Scalie’s Constitutional Case for Gay Marriage,” originally appeared on SCOTUSblog last September.
Auer and Chevron
As Jonathan wrote earlier, the Supreme Court’s Wednesday decision in Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center might portend big things for Auer deference. Jonathan’s already hit the high points, but I wanted to note what Scalia said about how deferential Auer deference really is. It turns out there’s disagreement in the literature over the strength […]
How To Declare War (Anno Domini, 1429)
Jhesus-Maria, King of England, and you, Duke of Bedford, who call yourself regent of the Kingdom of France, you, Guillaume de la Poule, count of Suffort, Jean, sire of Talbot, and you, Thomas, sire of Scales, who call yourselves lieutenants of the Duke of Bedford, acknowledge the summons of the King of Heaven. Render to […]