Well-known columnist Stuart Taylor has posted a thoughtful response to my critique of his earlier post arguing that the prospects for future challenges to university affirmative policies after Fisher are bleak: Ilya Somin has posted a critique of my Minding The Campus commentary worrying that the Supreme Court’s decision in Fisher v. University of Texas […]
Archive | June, 2013
The Kelo Condemnation Site Still Lies Empty Eight Years after the Supreme Court Ruled it Could be Taken for “Economic Development”
In its controversial 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London, the Supreme Court ruled that private property can be taken and transferred to other private owners in order to promote “economic development.” Eight years have passed since that decision. But, as the New London Day reports, there is still no development going on. […]
They Hate Us And/Or Want to Convert Us
Anytime the issue of evangelical Christian support for Israel comes up in a conversation among Jews, someone is bound to say something like, “they may love Israel, but only for theological reasons and they are anti-Semites” or “they are just trying to cozy up to us so that they can convert us all because they […]
It Was Time
This week the Supreme Court struck down a significant federal law. The law was popular when it was enacted, not that long ago, but times have quickly changed and we’re in a different world. By a 5-4 vote, reflecting the usual right/left split, the Court decided that it was time for that law to go. […]
A Punt, But For How Long?
Today the Supreme Court punted on the basic question of whether there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. But I doubt it will be long before the issue comes back to them. There’s lots of language in Windsor strongly hinting that a majority of the current Court would (eventually) hold that such a right […]
Noel Canning Cert. Grant
As John noted, the Court unsurprisingly granted cert. in Noel Canning. The interesting facet is that the Court added a third question: “Whether the President’s recess-appointment power may be exercised when the Senate is convening every three days in pro forma sessions.” One suspects that the reason for this was that it provides the Court […]
Federalism Marries Liberty in the DOMA Decision
[With permission of SCOTUSBlog, I am cross-posting my analysis of today’s Windsor DOMA decision, Federalism Marries Liberty in the DOM Decision. Other essays have or will be posted by William Duncan – Marriage Family Law Foundation, Larry Tribe – Harvard Law School, Suzanne Goldberg – Columbia Law School, Helen Alvare – George Mason University School of Law, Gerard Bradley – Notre Dame Law […]
Crime Doesn’t Pay, Local Edition
From a local crime report: ROBBERY, 06/25/13, 3200 block of S. Columbia Pike. At 7:50 pm on June 25, a juvenile subject grabbed an iPhone from a store employee and fled the scene on foot. Police located the subject a short distance away bleeding from the left eye after he was robbed of the phone […]
New Jersey Federalist Society Talk Tomorrow Night
I will be giving an evening talk to the New Jersey Federalist Society Lawyers Division tomorrow evening (Thursday) at 6pm at the Morris Museum in Morristown. My topic is “Separation of Powers and Accountability at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.” Among other topics I plan to address the Supreme Court’s grant of cert in the Noel Canning […]
Right, Left, and the Standing Issues in the Gay Marriage Cases
Both of today’s gay marriage cases raised complex issues of whether the parties had “standing” to appear in federal court. In the Windsor case striking down Section 3 of DOMA, the Obama Administration’s refusal to defend DOMA led the Bipartisan Legislative Assistance Group, made up of members of Congress, to undertake the task. In Hollingsworth […]
The Impact of Today’s Gay Marriage Decisions
It may be a long time before the effects of today’s gay marriage decisions are fully evident. But it seems clear that they represent important progress for same-sex marriage and gay rights more generally. The DOMA case is also a modest success for those who seek to enforce constitutional limits on federal power. Obviously, the […]
The DOMA Decision and Federalism
Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion for the Court in the DOMA case relies partly on federalism considerations, striking down Section 3 of DOMA in part because it goes beyond the usual scope of federal authority. In reaching this conclusion, it cites (among other sources) the amicus brief submitted by several federalism scholars, including co-bloggers Randy […]
No Jurisdiction to Review Proposition 8
A divided Supreme Court concluded that it lacks jurisdiction to review the constitutional challenge to Proposition 8, and the line-up is an odd one. The Chief writes the majority, joined by Justices Scalia, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Kagan. Justice Kennedy dissents, joined by Justices Thomas, Alito, and Sotomayor. From the Chief Justice’s opinion: The public is […]
DOMA Goes Down
In a 5-4 opinion, authored by Justice Kennedy, the Supreme Court declares Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional. It’s an Equal Protection holding, informed by federalism principles. Here is how Justice Kennedy’s opinion for the Court concludes: The power the Constitution grants it also restrains. And though Congress has great authority to design laws to fit […]
Making Sense of Shelby County
In several places I’ve seen the same question posed about the majority opinion in Shelby County v. Holder: “What part of the Constitution supports the decision?” Steve Benen, for instance, writes: as I read the ruling (pdf) this morning, I was looking for something specific: why the court majority considers Sec. 4 of the Voting […]