Former Bush speechwriter David Frum offers his take on Karl Rove’s legacy: As a political strategist, Karl Rove offered a brilliant answer to the wrong question. The question he answered so successfully was a political one: How could Republicans win elections after Bill Clinton steered the Democrats to the center? The question he unfortunately ignored […]
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
AG Involvement in Capital Appeals:
The Los Angeles Times reports today that the Justice Department is preparing to issue regulations that will authorize the Attorney General to determine whether capital defendants received adequate legal representation at trial in state court proceedings. he Justice Department is putting the final touches on regulations that could give Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales important […]
Balkin & Franck on Originalism — Whelan Weighs In:
Over at NRO’s Bench Memos, Ed Whelan weighs in on the discussion between Matthew Franck and Jack Balkin on originalism and abortion with a series of three posts. The first post offers a brief summary of Balkin’s argument, as Whelan sees it. This post also notes this paper by Michael Rappaport and John McGinnis critiquing […]
We Heart Obama:
The Politico reports that Senator Barack Obama appears to be leading the pack of Presidential contenders on university campuses. Obama, whose website features an “Academics for Obama” page, raised nearly $1.5 million in the first half of the year from people who work for colleges and universities, according to an analysis of campaign finance data […]
Can the Golden State Catch a Greenhouse Waiver?
California would like to become the first U.S. jurisdiction to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles. It has already adopted regulations to this effect. Yet before the rules can be enforced, California must obtain a waiver of preemption from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Without such a waiver, the new standards will be preempted by […]
Reviewing The Supreme Court Opinions of Justice Clarence Thomas:
NRO has just posted my review of The Supreme Court Opinions of Justice Clarence Thomas: 1991-2006 – A Conservative’s Perspective by Brooklyn law professor emeritus Henry Mark Holzer. The book is a quick read, and ably summarizes the key elements of Justice Thomas’ jurisprudence. Nonetheless, I was a bit disappointed. I was hoping for greater […]
Wave Power in New York:
The East River is many things. If Verdant Power has its way, add to the list: “source of electricity.” Verdant has installed underwater turbines in the East River in an effort to harness the power of the underwater current, but it has not been easy. Today’s New York Times reports on the company’s travails. Weeks […]
How Earmarks Survive:
Robert Novak has a column this morning on how earmarks survive in the new Congress: With the midnight hour approaching on Saturday, Aug. 4, near the end of a marathon session, Democratic and Republican leaders alike wanted to pass the defense appropriations bill quickly and start their summer recess. But Republican Rep. Jeff Flake’s stubborn […]
Defining the Unitary Executive:
Cass Sunstein has a useful post on the idea of the “unitary executive” at the University of Chicago Law School blog. the aim of the post is to explain what the debate over the unitary executive is — and is not — about. The most important point is that the claim for the unitary executive […]
Conservation for Thee, But Not for Me:
The Los Angeles Times reports: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa challenged residents this summer to “change course” and slash their water use by 10% in the face of a historic drought. But records show that the mayor and several other top city officials have long been heavy water users themselves. In Villaraigosa’s case, even if […]
Sunday Song Lyric:
During my junior year in college I saw a Broadway production of the Threepenny Opera (styled “3 Penny Opera“), featuring Sting in the lead role of MacHeath. The musical was written by Bertolt Brecht with music by Kurt Weill. A synopsis of the show can be found here. “Threepenny Opera” was somewhat considered avant garde […]
Abigail Alliance — The Practitioners Respond:
Attorneys Jim Beck and Mark Hermann reply to the comment thread at this post critiquing their commentary on Abigail Alliance. They write in part: We realize that no court has yet found a drug company to be a state actor in this context, but, until now, no one had created an environment in which scores […]
Repeated Divide on Sixth in Richey:
Today a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit divided on a habeas appeal (surprise!), in Richey v. Bradshaw. What is particularly interesting about this case is that this is not the first time this panel has divided over this this case. The panel first split over Kenneth Richey’s habeas petition […]
Originalism vs. Judicial Restraint:
Jack Balkin responds to Matthew Franck’s critique this morning here. (For a recap of what came before, see here.) In an effort to clarify their differences on constitutional interpretation, he notes that “judicial restraint” and “originalism” are not the same thing (though they may overlap). Matt’s originalism sounds very much like a theory of judicial […]
Roger Pilon on Abigail Alliance:
The Cato Institute’s Roger Pilon takes to the WSJ editorial page to lambaste the D.C. Circuit’s Abigail Alliance decision. Judge Thomas Griffith, who had dissented in the earlier opinion but wrote now for the majority, recast the right at issue as “the right to access experimental and unproven drugs in an attempt to save one’s […]