Missouri GOP Senate candidate Todd Akin may have won the party primary, but his idiotic and offensive comments about rape and pregnancy have caused party leaders to question his candidacy. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have both suggested that Akin step aside. But can he do that? According […]
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
If Politicians Listened to Economists
National Public Radio put together a list of “consensus” policy proposals supported by economists from across the political spectrum. It’s a good list, and one I’d support as well, but don’t expect endorsements from major party candidates. One: Eliminate the mortgage tax deduction, which lets homeowners deduct the interest they pay on their mortgages. Gone. […]
House Sues AG Holder Over “Fast & Furious” Documents
Yesterday the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee filed suit against Attorney General Eric Holder over the AG’s refusal to turn over more documents related to the “Fast and Furious” gun-walking scandal. The suit challenges the AG’s assertion of Executive Privilege in refusing to turn over more documents to the committee. Politico reports on the […]
Sunstein Back to Harvard
Professor Cass Sunstein, who currently serves as head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the White House Office of Management and Budget (aka the “regulatory czar”) is returning to Harvard Law School, Politico reports.
Must a Criminal Defendant Know His Weapon Is a Machine-Gun for Mandatory Sentence to Apply?
Today, in United States v. Burwell, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, sitting en banc, divided 5-3 over whether the federal mandatory sentnce of thirty years for possessing a machine gun when committing a crime of violence has a mens rea requirement. Judge Brown, writing for the Court, concluded the answer is […]
House Hearing to Consider Illegal IRS Rule Implementing Health Care Reform
By Jonathan H. Adler on August 2, 2012 1:37 am in Administrative Law, Health Care, Insurance Exchanges
Today the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is holding a hearing on the Internal Revenue Service’s role in “Enforcing ObamaCare’s New Rules and Taxes.” Among the subjects of the hearing is a recent IRS rule authorizing tax credits and subsidies for the purchase of qualifying health insurance plans in federally-run exchanges. Although the […]
When Is a Dog Sniff in Your Car Not a Search?
Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit decided United States v. Sharp, a dog-sniff case. Here’s the court’s summary: It is well-settled that a dog’s sniff around the exterior of a car is not a search under the Fourth Amendment. Defendant appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress because […]
Monday Bear Blogging
There’s no real rush hour in Yellowstone National Park, but there can be traffic. Most often the commuters that cause these traffic jams are bison (which have a tendency to cross roads whenever and wherever they please). But others cause trouble too, such as these two fellas we saw Sunday.
Scalia Denies Feud with Roberts
The AP summarizes part of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s recent interview with Piers Morgan on CNN. Justice Antonin Scalia said Wednesday he hasn’t had a “falling out” with Chief Justice John Roberts over the Supreme Court’s landmark 5-4 decision validating much of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. In an interview on CNN’s “Piers […]
Does NFIB v. Sebelius Predict the DOMA Litigation Outcome?
In response to this New Yorker article by Richard Socarides, Damon Root writes: So let’s assume DOMA will be the first gay rights case to reach the Roberts Court. Is Socarides’ right that the chief justice will again show “a willingness to break with his more conservative colleagues”? I wouldn’t bet on it—at least not […]
Chief Justice Roberts and Constitutional Avoidance
At SCOTUSreport.com, Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz has an excellent post on Chief Justice Roberts’ use of the canon of constitutional avoidance in NFIB v. Sebelius. As Professor Rosenkranz notes, “The Chief Justice’s account of the canon is accurate, but his application of it is exceedingly odd.” Specifically, the Chief used the canon not to resolve a […]
Silver Linings in the Health Care Decision
This morning NRO posted an article I co-authored with Nathaniel Stewart on the limited doctrinal implications of the Supreme Court’s decision in NFIB v. Sebelius. The article is forthcoming in the July 30 National Review. Here’s how the piece beings: The Supreme Court’s ruling in NFIB v. Sebelius was disheartening, especially after overturning the mandate […]
Making Sense of Chief Justice Roberts’ Opinion
I can’t speak to how the Chief Justice interacted with his colleagues on the Court during the deliberations in NFIB v. Sebelius, or to whether he truly flip-flopped on the mandate or (as Mark Tushnet suggests) he had been the “least persuaded” of the anti-mandate arguments at the initial conference and eventually concluded that it […]
Lessons from British Columbia’s Carbon Tax
In yesterday’s NYT, Yoram Bauman and Shi-Ling Hsu explained why the U.S. would be wise to follow British Columbia’s example and impose a carbon tax and use the revenues to reduce other tax rates. On Sunday, the best climate policy in the world got even better: British Columbia’s carbon tax — a tax on the […]
D.C. Circuit Holds Copyright Royalty Board Unconstitutional
By Jonathan H. Adler on July 6, 2012 11:27 am in Administrative Law, Copyright, Separation of Powers
This morning, in Intercollegiate Broadcast System v. Copyright Royalty Board, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit consisting of Judges Garland, Griffith, and Senior Judge Williams declared the Copyright Royalty Board to be unconstitutional under the Appointments Clause, and adopts a narrow fix. This was not a surprising development, […]