Among the petitions for certiorari listed for today’s Supreme Court conference are three (1, 2, 3) challenging a misguided standing ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In Grocery Manufacturers Association v. EPA a divided panel of the D.C. Circuit held that a range of trade associations challenging the Environmental Protection […]
Archive | June, 2013
Goldstein on the Court’s “Power”
This morning, SCOTUSBlog’s Tom Goldstein has an essay on the Supreme Court’s power of judicial review. It begins: You should decide now what kind of Supreme Court you want. Don’t wait until after the Justices hand down the Term’s major decisions. That will be too late. Make a real choice now about how much power […]
Return of the People’s Rights Amendment
By Ilya Somin on June 20, 2013 3:41 am in Constitutional Amendments, Constitutional Theory, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech, Restrictions on Campaign Contrbs. and Expenses
The Tester-Murphy Amendment, which Eugene Volokh criticizes here. appears to be virtually identical to last year’s People’s Rights Amendment. I outlined some of the dangers posed by the PRA in this post.
Corporate Speech Restrictions as “Protection” for Shareholders
One argument for restricting election-related speech by corporations is that it’s necessary to “protect” shareholders from having their money used to support candidates (or ballot measures) of which they disapprove. Many shareholders, the argument goes, might find it hard to sell their stock in corporations that express such support; indeed, they might find it hard […]
“An Employment Puzzle”: Merritt on Washington & Lee’s Placement Results
Over at The Law School Cafe, Deborah Merritt has a very interesting post on the placement results for graduates of Washington & Lee’s law school, which adopted a much-discussed practice-oriented program for the 3L year. Just a taste: Employers say they are eager to hire . . . better-trained, more rounded, more “practice ready” lawyers […]
Sens. Tester & Murphy’s Constitutional Amendment Would Strip Rights from Corporate-Owned Newspapers, Advocacy Groups, Etc.
By Eugene Volokh on June 19, 2013 1:41 pm in Freedom of Speech, Restrictions on Campaign Contrbs. and Expenses
The Lachlan Markay (Washington Free Beacon) reports on the Tester/Murphy amendment, which would provide: Section 1. We the people who ordain and establish this Constitution intend the rights protected by this constitution to be the rights of natural persons. Section 2. The words people, person, or citizen as used in this Constitution do not include […]
And Onto More Important Matters . . .
My fears that we were facing a summer without top-class futbol have proven unfounded. The Confederations Cup tournament, now underway in Brazil, has been a nice reminder that in just over a year or so, there will come a moment when 30 or 40 percent of the world’s population will be simultaneously engaged in the […]
The Rashomon effect in the Great Schism of 1378
You know how sometimes different people remember the same event slightly differently? Here’s an example: in 1378, the cardinals were electing a new Pope, and the people of Rome were putting substantial pressure on the cardinals to elect a Roman pope. During this process, Cardinal Orsini went out to talk to the crowd. Here’s how […]
Political Contributions by Government Lawyers
Paul Caron notes data gathered by Robert Anderson showing that lawyers working for various federal agencies were far more likely to contribute to Democrats than to Republicans in the 2012 election cycle. in some agencies the disparity is quite extreme — much like what one finds on many college campuses. This is not particularly surprising […]
Snowden Did Not Commit Treason
Contrary to the claims of some politicians and others who should know better, Edward Snowden did not commit treason. Treason is a specific crime defined in the Constitution, and it is particularly difficult to prosecute. As Seth Lipsky wrote in the WSJ this week: [T]reason turns out to be unique in American law. It is […]
VC Readers on Salinas
As I expected, the media has paid very little attention to Monday’s Supreme Court decision in Salinas v. Texas, the “right to remain silent” case. On the other hand, I was glad to see VC readers so engaged with the case in the comment threads: 349 comments and counting. I hope to get more of […]
“Harassment” Prosecution Based on Insulting Language Written by Driver on Traffic Ticket Payment Form
From People v. Barbosa (N.Y. Justice Ct. Mar. 22, 2013): Defendant is charged with Aggravated Harassment pursuant to Penal Law §240.30(1)(a) which allegedly occurred August 20,2012. It is alleged that Mr. [Barboza] signed a traffic payment correspondence with the words “FUCK YOUR SHITTY TOWN BITCHES” written across the top. The aforesaid section of law is […]
Cato Brief in Bond Featured in National Law Journal
A while ago I posted about a brief that I filed in Bond v. United States on behalf of the Cato Institute et al., arguing that a treaty cannot increase the legislative power of Congress. Over at Cato, Ilya Shapiro reports that the National Law Journal recently featured our brief as its “brief of the […]
Etymological Oxymorons
“Splitting the atom,” it turns out, is what one might call an etymological oxymoron — “atom” comes from the Greek “a-,” meaning “not,” and “tomos,” meaning cut. The atom was that which couldn’t be split, at least through chemical processes, but it turns out that it can be split through nuclear processes (whether generated by […]
Do You Have A Right to Remain Silent? Thoughts on the “Sleeper” Criminal Procedure Case of the Term, Salinas v. Texas
This morning the Supreme Court decided a very important criminal procedure case, Salinas v. Texas, by a 5-4 vote. I’m guessing that you haven’t heard of Salinas. And it probably won’t get much attention in the press. But it should: Salinas is likely to have a significant impact on police practices. And it’s a fascinating […]