Amidst the hoopla surrounding Fisher v. University of Texas, most people probably missed today’s other potentially significant Supreme Court decision: United States v. Kebodeaux, which deals with Congress powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause. Trevor Burrus of the Cato Institute (who assisted in the preparation of an amicus brief I coauthored on Cato’s behalf […]
Archive | June, 2013
Edward Snowden Took the Job at Booz Allen Just to Collect (and Then Release) US Government Secrets
The South China Morning Post reports: Edward Snowden secured a job with a US government contractor for one reason alone – to obtain evidence of Washington’s cyberspying networks, the South China Morning Post can reveal. For the first time, Snowden has admitted he sought a position at Booz Allen Hamilton so he could collect proof […]
Girlfriend Who Had Permission to Use Boyfriend’s Computer Can Consent to Search of It While a Weekend Guest At His Parents’ Home, Wisconsin Supreme Court Holds
Last Thursday, a divided Wisconsin Supreme Court handed down a Fourth Amendment decision in State v. Sobczak on a novel issue: When can a weekend guest consent to a law enforcment search of a home computer? In the case, a girlfriend (Podella) had been dating her boyfriend (Sobczak) for a few months. He invited her […]
Competing Interpretations of Fisher
By Ilya Somin on June 24, 2013 2:49 pm in Affirmative Action, Fisher v. University of Texas, Racial Discrimination
Commentary on today’s Supreme Court decision in Fisher v. University of Texas seems to be divided between those who believe, as I do, that the ruling tightens judicial scrutiny of university affirmative action plans, and those who contend it will make no real difference. Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog suggests that “affirmative action survives at least […]
“Boo-Frickin’-Hoo”
I read two online items recently, a Huffington Post article by writer Lisa Endlich Heffernan called “Why I Regret Being a Stay-at-Home Mom,” and a critique of that article by Michael Graham, a talk show host and a Boston Herald columnist. The Heffernan article wasn’t political, but I think it’s fair to say that it […]
Fisher, the Texas Ten Percent Plan, and “Race-Neutral” Alternatives to Affirmative Action
By Ilya Somin on June 24, 2013 12:41 pm in Affirmative Action, Fisher v. University of Texas, Racial Discrimination
When it was litigated in the lower courts, most observers thought that the most distinctive aspect of Fisher v. University of Texas is that the racial preferences used in its affirmative action plan were grafted on top of the Texas Ten Percent Plan, which guarantees any Texan admission to the UT so long as they […]
Preliminary Thoughts on Fisher v. University of Texas
By Ilya Somin on June 24, 2013 11:31 am in Affirmative Action, Fisher v. University of Texas, Racial Discrimination
Today’s Supreme Court decision in Fisher v. University of Texas is a significant victory for opponents of affirmative action in higher education. Formally, the 7-1 ruling written by Justice Anthony Kennedy only remands the case to the court of appeals for consideration under the “strict scrutiny” standard, which requires the government to show that racial […]
Fisher Mystery
Given that the Court issued a rather plain vanilla 7-1 ruling remanding the case to the Fifth Circuit to apply strict scrutiny, why did it take nine months to issue the opinion?
The Supreme Court Hands Down Fisher v. University of Texas
The opinion is here, but it’s not the blockbuster 5-4 lots of people were expecting. Instead, the 7-1 opinion steers clear of controversy and sends the case back to the lower courts for a do-over.
Supreme Court Grants Review in Recess Appointments Case
To no one’s great surprise, the Court agreed to take the NLRB v. Noel Canning recess appointments case. As I predicted, the Court added a third question, in addition to the inter/intrasession question and the happens to arise/happens to exist question: “Whether the President’s recess-appointment power may be exercised when the Senate is convening every […]
Ice-T, Volokh, and Kopel: Together at last in a feature film
By David Kopel on June 23, 2013 3:12 pm in Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Guns, History, McDonald v. City of Chicago, Popular Culture, Registration, Self-Defense, Terrorism
The film is Assaulted: Civil Rights under Fire. It opened Friday in a limited theatrical release. Assaulted tells the modern and historic story of the Second Amendment, with a particular focus on civil rights. The events include Reconstruction, the Deacons for Defense, the Battle of Athens, the post-Katrina gun confiscations, and much more. The narrator is Ice-T. […]
New Jersey Legislature Passes Ineffective Eminent Domain “Reform” Law
By Ilya Somin on June 23, 2013 11:45 am in Blight, Eminent Domain, Political Ignorance, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
New Jersey is one of only six states that have not enacted an eminent domain reform law since the the Supreme Court’s controversial 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London, which ruled that state and local governments have the power to condemn private property and transfer it to other private interests in order […]
What the Prism Stories Tell Us About the Press
If you don’t share my fascination with the journalistic ethics of the Snowden reporters, you can skip this long piece. But both of the protagonists have now defended themselves, so I’m posting their messages, with commentary. I began the exchange when I questioned why Glenn Greenwald and the Guardian waited two weeks to release NSA’s […]
Getting the Details of Online Courses Right Is Likely to Be More Difficult Than Anticipated
I’m afraid I’ve been absent from blogging for quite a while, but am eager to pick it up again on a more regular basis … and one reason I’ve been away from blogging is some work on online higher ed. There’s a lot of discussion about MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses – and while […]
James Comey Nominated for FBI Director
Yesterday, President Obama nominated Jim Comey to serve as the next FBI Director. One of Comey’s many claims to fame was the dramatic confrontation with White House officials over John Ashcroft’s hospital bed; the New York Times has a compelling account of that episode here. (I was at the Office of Legal Counsel at the […]