When a new Justice arrives, it is common to ask how the new Justice might vote differently than the Justice she has replaced. A recent speech by retired Justice John Paul Stevens gives us relative clarity on one example. In his speech, Justice Stevens explained that he likely would have voted with the majority in […]
Archive | June, 2013
Fourth Circuit Voids NLRB Posting Rule
Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit joined the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in invalidating the National Labor Relations Board “poster rule.” This rule required employers to post a notice of employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act on their properties and websites. In Chamber of Commerce […]
Did the President’s Remarks Constitute “Unlawful Command Influence” on Military Sentencing?
The President is, among other things, the Commander-in-Chief of the military. So if a President makes comments that could be interpreted as applying to cases pending in military courts, could those comments constitute “unlawful command influence”? Perhaps so. Stars and Stripes reports that President Obama’s remarks urging stern sanctions for members of the military found […]
“Virtually Unyielding Preference for Partisanship Over Principle”?
A Reason article argues: In the first flush of stories about how the National Security Agency is surveilling American citizens, one stomach-turning revelation hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves: we get the surveillance state we deserve because rank political partisanship trumps bedrock principle every goddamn time on just about every goddamn issue…. The same predictable, […]
Colorado Law Limiting Sale of “Magazines Whose Primary Focus Is Marijuana” Blocked
From Trans-High Corp. v. Colorado (D. Colo. June 10, 2013), a judgment entered with the consent of the Colorado Attorney General’s office (which agreed that the law was indeed unconstitutional): 2. The Code Provision “requiring that magazines whose primary focus is marijuana or marijuana businesses are only sold in retail marijuana stores or behind the […]
“Weirdest Scandal Ever: Foreign Knights Invade America”
Ilya Shapiro (Cato) has the scoop. An excerpt: On April 29, Sir Jay Merchant was knighted by Ambassador Rudolf Bekink on behalf of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. Merchant is the “international relations adviser” in the Office of the Administrator of CMS, which is the agency’s highest executive office. While this may seem like just […]
Very Funny
“Tap It: NSA Slow Jam,” from ReasonTV, Remy, and Meredith Bragg. Very funny, and nicely executed.
Foreign Child Custody Disputes Involving People Coming from Countries That Apply Islamic Family Law
By Eugene Volokh on June 14, 2013 12:20 pm in Islamic Law in the American Legal System, Parental Rights
I blogged about Souratgar v. Fair when the district court decision came down, but now there’s a Second Circuit opinion. Here are the key facts: The boy at the center of this case, now four-year-old Shayan, was born in Singapore in January 2009 to [Lee Jen Fair] and [Abdollah Naghash] Souratgar, who are both residents […]
Can Anyone Help With My Horrible Dell Webcam?
I purchased a Dell laptop a few years ago and it has been serviceable. Except for one thing–the horrible integrated webcam. The first was defective and had to be replaced. Now my computer is telling me that it doesn’t detect any webcam. As far as I can tell, the only thing worse than a Dell […]
SCOTUS: Genes (in their Natural State) Not Patentable
The Supreme Court today issued its much-awaited decision in the Myriad Technologies case. At issue in the case were Myriad’s patents on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes — genes which are important genetic markers for determining susceptibility to breast cancer. Myriad discovered “the precise location” of the two genes (on chromosomes 17 and 13), and […]
Medieval Latin humor
Salimbene di Adam, in the late 13th century, quoted an anonymous source in his Cronica, commenting on the corruption in the Roman Curia: Accusative ad curiam si ceperis ire, Proficis in nichilo, si pergis absque dativo. The “nichilo” is a medieval spelling of “nihilo”, which shows us that they pronounced that “h” in late-13th-century Italy. […]
Russian Parliament Passes Bill Banning “Propaganda of Non-Traditional Sexual Relationships Aimed at Minors”
Russia Beyond the Headlines has the details; the Russian-language text of the bill is here. The bill covers “the dissemination of information, aimed at forming among minors [1] nontraditional sexual orientations, [2] an attraction to nontraditional sexual relationships, [3] a distorted perception about the social equal value of traditional and nontraditional sexual relationships, or [4] […]
When You’re a Schoolteacher Observing a Tuesday Sabbath, You’re Likely to Have Problems
From Slocum v. Devezin (E.D. La. June 3, 2013): Here, Defendants do not challenge the sincerity of Plaintiff’s religious convictions or that part of her religion — her Sabbath [which runs from 10 am Tuesday to 10 am Wednesday each week] — conflicts with her employer’s requirement that she work on Tuesdays…. Assuming for the […]
Still Waiting for Fisher
The Supreme Court released opinions in four argued cases this morning: American Trucking Assn. v. Los Angeles, Tarrant Regional Water District v. Hermann, United States v. Davila, and Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics. All four were unanimous in the judgment. (Justice Scalia authored opinions concurring-in-part and concurring in the judgment in Davila and […]
Cert Petition Asks Court to Overturn “Dual Sovereignty” Doctrine in Double Jeopardy Law
The Double Jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment provides that no person can “be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” Despite its text, the Double Jeopardy clause has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to allow both the federal government and a state government to bring […]