The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has been on quite a losing streak in the High Court, particularly when it comes to habeas cases. This morning, the Sixth Circuit was reversed again by a unanimous court in Metrish v. Lancaster, vindicating Judge Batchelder who had dissented from the original panel opinion. As has […]
Archive | May, 2013
New Establishment Clause Case for the Supreme Court
The Court just agreed to hear Town of Greece v. Galloway, a case involving legislative prayer. In Marsh v. Chambers (1983), the Supreme Court upheld legislative prayers against an Establishment Clause challenge, based on the very long American tradition of such prayers (dating back to the same First Congress that proposed the Establishment Clause); nonetheless, […]
Expecting the Next Crisis
My review of Vern McKinley’s book Financing Failure: A Century of Bailouts has been posted at the Law & Liberty blog.
Case Western Reserve Law Review Symposium on Hydraulic Fracturing
The Case Western Reserve Law Review has published its fall symposium on “The Law and Policy of Hydraulic Fracturing: Addressing the Issues of the Natural Gas Boom.” I blogged about the symposium here. The full issue is available onilne in PDF, and I’ve posted links to the articles below. Introduction by Jonathan L. Entin Four Questions […]
The Sixth Circuit Really Blewett
On Friday, Jonathan pointed out United States v. Blewett, the new Sixth Circuit decision on the 100-1 crack-cocaine sentencing disparity. Jonathan described the issue in that case as being whether the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act applied retroactively. But the most remarkable part of Blewett actually decides a different question that was neither briefed nor argued: […]
More on the AP Leak Investigation
Over at MotherJones, Kevin Drum has an interesting post on the AP leak investigation: Here’s Why the Government Went Ballistic Over the AP Leak. Also, over at Slate, Emily Bazelon and former VC blogger Eric Posner debate whether the subpoenas of the AP records were justified. Eric gets the better of the argument, I think, […]
Colorado Sheriffs file Second Amendment lawsuit against anti-gun bills
On Friday, May 17, fifty-four Colorado Sheriffs filed a civil rights lawsuit in Federal District Court in Denver, against two anti-gun bills passed by the Colorado legislature in March. Joining the Sheriffs as Plaintiffs are the Colorado Farm Bureau, disabled persons, Outdoor Buddies (an organization that helps disabled persons participate in outdoor sports), the Colorado […]
Review of Star Trek: Into Darkness
My wife and I recently watched Star Trek: Into Darkness, the second in the series of J.J. Abrams-directed”reboot” Star Trek movies that began in 2009. On the plus side, the film had some impressive action scenes and special effects. It also had more and somewhat better character development than its predecessor. Long-time fans of the […]
Is the Library of Congress a Legislative Department or an Executive Department?
A very interesting question, raised in Intercollegiate Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Copyright Royalty Board, a certiorari petition now pending before the Court. Profs. John Duffy (Virginia), Peter Strauss (Columbia), and Michael Herz (Cardozo) — an illustrious trio who often take quite different views about other subjects — have an item about this at Concurring Opinions; […]
First Circuit Rules That Police Need a Warrant to Search A Cell Phone Incident to Arrest
I’ve blogged a few times about the substantial lower court division on whether the police can search a seized cell phone incident to arrest without a warrant under the Fourth Amendment. Today the First Circuit further deepened the split in United States v. Wurie by holding that a warrant is required. With Wurie today and […]
Upcoming Radio Appearance Discussing my Forthcoming Book Democracy and Political Ignorance
Next Monday at 7 AM eastern time (probably rebroadcasting at that time in other time zones), I will be on Stand Up! with Pete Dominick on Sirius XM Satellite Radio, discussing my forthcoming book Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter, which will be published by Stanford University Press in early fall (probably […]
Audio of My Discussion of the Supreme Court with Prof. Eric Segall on Stand Up! With Pete Dominick
Sirius Satellite Radio has posted the audio of my recentdiscussion of the Supreme Court with George State University Professor Eric Segall on Stand Up! With Pete Dominick. The audio is available here. Much of the discussion focuses on general issues of constitutional theory and the extent to which the Supreme Court is or is not […]
A Cautionary Tale for Young Lawyers
Prof. Dennis Crouch, at the respected and often-cited Patently-O blog, had a post several weeks ago with a heading that was good advice, Don’t Write This Letter to the Patent Office: We all get frustrated. After an examiner rejected his client’s application for a telescoping tripod sprinkler, patent attorney Andrew Schroeder could no longer resist […]
IRS Disclosure Was Planted
From the moment of the initial disclosure of IRS targeting of conservative groups, observers have speculated about the timing and location of the disclosure. Could this really have been an unplanned, impromptu remark? No. In fact, the question was planted and Lois Lerner’s statement was pre-planned. As additional information trickles it out, it is also […]
A Few Words About “Friend of the Court”
Floyd Abrams was invited to say a few words about his latest book Friend of the Court: On the Front Lines with the First Amendment (Yale University Press, 2013). His comments are set forth below. When one tries to determine which of his articles, speeches, testimony, letters, reviews and the like over a 45-year period […]