At Slate, Matthew Yglesias has an interesting article reviewing all of the Star Trek and many of the movies from the original 1960s series to the present. He especially focuses on the series’ ideology and politics, and its “utopian” vision of the future. Despite coming at the issue from a very different perspective, I actually […]
Archive | May, 2013
President Calls IRS Conduct “Inexcusable”
President Obama harshly condemned the apparent politicization of the IRS today and announced the resignation of Acting IRS Commissioner Steve Miller. From the Washington Post: In a furious statement at the White House, Obama said the IRS’s actions were “inexcusable and Americans are right to be angry about it and I’m angry about it.” He […]
Illinois Senate Passes Bill Authorizing the Use of Eminent Domain to Take Property for Casinos
The Institute for Justice, a leading libertarian public interest law firm that has litigated numerous property rights cases, reports that the Illinois state senate has passed a bill authorizing the use of eminent domain for the benefit of casinos: The bill passed 32-20 in the state Senate on May 1 and is now being considered […]
Upcoming XM Sirius Radio Appearance on the Current Supreme Court Term
This Thursday between 8 AM 9 AM eastern time, I will be appearing on Stand Up! With Pete Dominick, on XM Sirius satellite radio to discuss the major cases of the current Supreme Court term. I will be joined by Professor Eric Segall of Georgia State University. I am not sure exactly which cases we […]
Floyd Abrams & the First Amendment: Enter Alex Bickel
Sometimes Fortuna deals a hand that forever changes the arc of one’s life. And so it was when Floyd Abrams met a remarkable man from Romania. After graduating from Cornell in 1956, Floyd Abrams ventured to New Haven to study law at Yale Law School, home of many renowned constitutional law scholars. Once there, Abrams […]
Congratulations to Jeffrey Rosen, New President and CEO of the National Constitution Center
My law school classmate and GW professor Jeff Rosen has been named the new president and CEO of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Jeff and I have sometimes sparred on this blog (no, Jeff, there is no still such thing as the “Constitution in Exile movement,”) but he’s a top notch and amazingly prolific […]
Did the Leak of the CIA Operation in Yemen Justify “Very Aggressive Action” to Investigate Its Source?
Attorney General Eric Holder recused himself from approving the AP subpoenas in the CIA operation leak case because he himself had been interviewed in the investigation. But at a press conference today, Holder defended the DOJ investigation on the ground that the nature of the leak required “very aggressive action.” Here’s what Holder said: This […]
Asylum and Homeschoolers
Jonathan posted earlier today about Romeike v. Holder (6th Cir. May 14, 2013), which reject German homeschoolers’ asylum claim. The opinion is quite readable and persuasive, and I recommend it to those interested in the subject. But here’s my general thinking (reprised from 2010 post on the original immigration judge decision in the case), and […]
Congressional Inquiry of IRS Targeting of Israel Groups
Congress’s inquiry into IRS abuses has now expanded beyond the hounding of domestic-policy conservative groups to Israel related ones. In a letter today the Chairman and minority leader of the Ways and Means Committee demand information on whether the agency “undertook special reviews of organizations whose missions involve Israel” and whose activities “contradict or are […]
Justice Launches Criminal Investigation into IRS
The Washington Post and New York Times report that Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered a criminal investigation into the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups. UPDATE: Via the Huffington Post, here’s a link to the Inspector General’s report on the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups. Rick Hasen has already flagged some choice quotes.
Marriage in Minnesota
Today, along with thousands of others who made it possible, I’ll be at Governor Dayton’s signing of the bill extending marriage to same-sex couples in Minnesota starting August 1. Obviously, this is the culmination of years of effort, but especially the hard work we’ve done since a constitutional amendment was first placed on the election ballot in […]
The Media Push for IRS Action Against Pro-Israel Groups
In addition to the IRS’s particular interest in right-wing groups focussed on domestic policy, it has taken an unusual interest in right-wing pro-Israel groups. (I am friends with the leader of the group written about in the link.) One major question raised by the IRS scandal is where these ideas came from. At least as […]
Dear IRS
I don’t want to make America a better place to live and I hate the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Sincerely, Todd PS: Does this mean you won’t audit me?
Floyd Abrams & the First Amendment: Nuance & Absolutism
Prior to Nuanced Absolutism I had known Floyd Abrams for years, but largely in a professional capacity as a colleague in the First Amendment community. When my book The Fundamental Holmes: A Free Speech Chronicle and Reader. (Cambridge University Press, 2010) came out, I sent him a copy. He read it and replied with a […]
Desire to Homeschool Not a Basis for Asylum
This morning the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit decided Romeike v. Holder. Judge Sutton’s opinion for the court begins: Uwe and Hannelore Romeike have five children, ages twelve, eleven, nine, seven and two, at least at the time this dispute began. Rather than send their children to the local public schools, they would prefer […]