Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler

Former OLC head Douglas Kmiec argues in the Legal Times that Senate Republicans should not obstruct the confirmation of Dawn Johnsen to be head of the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department. I agree. He writes: Even as Johnsen, a professor of law at Indiana University-Bloomington, may be faulted on occasion for harsh […]

The NYT has a truly remarkable editorial today. In response to recent research finding a slight ideological bias in the ABA’s evaluation of judicial nominees, the Times in effect argues that, if anything, the ABA judicial selection evaluations have not been liberal enough. a new study suggests that [the ABA] may have a liberal bias. […]

Via this post by Professor Bainbridge, I happened upon the following passage from a 2004 Jeffrey Rosen article in The New Republic, “Supreme Mistake” (11/8/2004): The willingness of liberal justices to consult international norms in constitutional cases has become a rallying cry for social conservatives: Bork’s most recent book is called Coercing Virtue: The Worldwide […]

In yesterday’s Washington Post Orin’s colleague Jonathan Turley wrote about the decline of freedom of expression throughout the West. Ever since 2006, when Muslims worldwide rioted over newspaper cartoons picturing the prophet Muhammad, Western countries, too, have been prosecuting more individuals for criticizing religion. The “Free World,” it appears, may be losing faith in free […]

Do local ordinances prohibiting law slung pants violate the constitution? Do such laws unduly limit the expressive nature of such wardrobe choices? Some think so, and a public defender in Florida is making this claim in court.

The Washington Post laments the fate of the D.C. vocher program. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has decided not to admit any new students to the D.C. voucher program, which allows low-income children to attend private schools. The abrupt decision — made a week after 200 families had been told that their children were being awarded […]

The ship seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia appears to be the first US-flagged vessel to be seized by pirates in quite some time. What is the proper response? Julian Ku ponders self help. There are also several posts and ideas on the NYT Room for Debate blog here and here. On the […]

It seems that the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, is a Neko Case fan. He appeared on stage to introduce her at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. But don’t hold that against her. Here’s the beginning of her 2000 song, “Thrice All American,” off of Furnace Room Lullaby. I wanna tell you about my […]

Is the Obama Administration setting aside its ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction goals due to political realities? Yes and no, the NYT explains. Has the administration scaled back its global-warming goals, at least for this year, or is it engaged in sophisticated misdirection? Maybe some of both. While addressing climate change appears to be slipping […]

Apparently some of the judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit are skeptical of the state’s defense. [LvAlthouse]

Free-range pork may not be all it’s cracked up to be. IS free-range pork better and safer to eat than conventional pork? Many consumers think so. The well-publicized horrors of intensive pig farming have fostered the widespread assumption that, as one purveyor of free-range meats put it,

It seems that PETA objects to the name “Pet Shop Boys,” and sought (unsuccessfully) to convince them to change their name.

An interesting op-ed by Ramesh Ponnuru.

Julian Ku has a series of questions Harold Koh should have to answer before he is confirmed. I generally believe the Senate should be deferential to a President’s nominees, but I also believe that the confirmation process should serve to inform the public about the type of administration a President is putting together. So I […]

Some defenders of the proposed legislation to grant the District of Columbia voting representation in Congress argue that whether the statute is constitutional is a question that should be left to the courts. I find this problematic on multiple grounds. First, all three branches have an obligation to ensure that their actions are constitutional — […]