(For an introduction to this series of posts, see here.) Let us turn now more closely to the issues raised by Hobby Lobby, but take them one at a time. The first issue is: Should religious exemption rights even be seen as applicable to commercial activity, or should they be limited to objectors’ noncommercial activities […]
Archive | December, 2013
1C. How RFRA May Make Religious Exemption Claims More Appealing to Courts Than They Were in the Constitutional Exemption Era
(For an introduction to this series of posts, see here.) The RFRA religious exemption regime may seem less exemption-friendly than the Sherbert/Yoder-era constitutional exemption regime, precisely because it is only statutory. If Congress (or, for a state RFRA, a state legislature) dislikes an exemption that courts have recognized, it can pass a new statute rejecting […]
Jim Hannah on “Abandoned Practices” of Dead or Disbarred Lawyers
I spent Thanksgiving weekend in Ohio, where our local paper ran a quite interesting story about the chaos that can ensue for his/her clients when a lawyer dies or is disbarred. If the lawyer is part of a firm, the other lawyers at the firm generally have an obligation to continue the representation; but if […]
URL Shortening in Legal Briefs, and Now Legal Opinions
Most readers will be familiar with URL shortening services — redirection services that give users a short web address that points to a longer one. I’ve come across URL shortening in legal briefs more and more, and I have used such links in briefs myself. The shortening avoids an unsightly excessively-long URL when you are […]
Constitutional Law Scholars’ Noel Canning Amicus, Part II: “Recess” and “Session”
The second issue addressed in our amicus brief is what the Recess Appointments Clause means by “recess” and “session.” Our brief discusses the original meanings of these terms, as well as the structure, purpose, and history that clarify the meanings of those terms in context. Most importantly, we argue that the Senate cannot be in […]
1B. Why Have RFRA-Like Religious Exemption Regimes?
(For an introduction to this series of posts, see here.) The previous post in this series has explained what RFRA is, and what general rules it sets forth. For nearly all the remaining posts, I’ll take RFRA as given, and not deal with the broader question of whether having such a statute is a good […]
1A. What Is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act?
(For an introduction to this series of posts, see here.) 1. Say that you feel a religious obligation to use a prohibited drug — hoasca (the drug at issue in Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal (2006)), peyote, marijuana, or LSD. Or say that you’re a landlord who feels a religious obligation […]
Hobby Lobby, the Employer Mandate, and Religious Exemptions
Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to decide two new religious exemption cases, Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialty Store v. Sebelius. There are a lot of moving parts in the legal analysis of those cases, so I thought I’d blog several posts about them, one on each of the main […]
Federalism and Marijuana Event
Many constitutional conservatives were critical of the Supreme Court’s decision in Gonzales v. Raich, holding that the federal government’s Commerce Clause power could reach the intrastate use and possession of marijuana for medical purposes authorized under state law. Now that an ever-growing number of states has chosen to authorize marijuana use and possession — some […]
New Paper on International Criminal Court’s Jurisdiction over Israeli Settlements
By Eugene Kontorovich on December 1, 2013 3:00 pm in Global Governance/World Government, International Law, Israel, National Security, War and Armed Conflict
My paper, Israel/Palestine — The ICC’s Uncharted Territory, has just been published in the Journal of International Criminal Justice. It explains that the International Criminal Court does not have jurisdiction over the oft-threatened and much-discussed Palestinian referral of Israeli settlements, despite the General Assembly’s recognition of Palestine as a non-member state. In brief, the relevant […]
House Judiciary Committee Hearing: Take Care Clause
On Tuesday morning at 10:00am, the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing about the President’s constitutional duty “to take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Michael Cannon, Simon Lazarus, Jonathan Turley, and I will testify. Video here and possibly on C-SPAN. UPDATE: I will be discussing this with Greta on Fox News, Tuesday, […]
Verse for Sunday: “U.S. 1946 Kings X”
Having invented a new Holocaust, And been the first with it to win a war, How they make haste to cry with fingers crossed, King’s X–no fairs to use it anymore! –Robert Frost, Complete Poems (1949)