Some New Jersey state troopers got law degrees with the help of a state-sponsored loan repayment program. Then sought to practice law on the side — doing wills, real estate closings, etc. Then the State Ethics Commission for the Department of Law and Public Safety decided that it was unethical for troopers to engage in […]
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
A Chance, Not an Embrace
In his victory speech last night, Senator-elect Marco Rubio said: We make a great mistake if we believe that tonight these results are somehow an embrace of the Republican party. What they are is a second chance, a second chance for Republicans to be what they said they were going to be not so long […]
D.C. Event on “Regulating from Nowhere”
This Thursday I’ll be back in Washington, D.C. to participate in a book forum on Douglas Kysar’s new book, Regulating from Nowhere: Environmental Law and the Search for Objectivity sponsored by the American Constitution Society. Other participants include Sheila Jasanoff of the Harvard Kennedy School, Amy Sinden of Temple and, of course, Kysar. Details here.
Meeting Sarcastro
Thanks to all those VC readers who made it out last night. A good time was had by all (or so I hope), and we got to meet Sarcastro, live and in person.
Politicizing Soda Science
Today’s NYT reports on how New York City’s health commissioner pressured his staff to create a scary anti-obesity ad campaign, featuring this ad, even if it meant stretching the available scientific evidence on the potential health consequences of drinking a can of soda per day. In the end, they produced an ad that was “defensible” […]
Tribe v. Sotomayor
In May 2009, in the wake of news that Justice David Souter would retire from the Supreme Court, Jeffrey Rosen penned “The Case Against Sotomayor” for The New Republic, in which he argued thatthen-Judge Sonia Sotmayor was not the best available nominee. Rosen reported that he was hearing from others on the Left who were […]
Buying Your Vote Back
In many states, convicted felons lose the right to vote, at least temporarily. In Tennessee, restoration of a felon’s voting rights is conditioned upon payment of court-ordered victim restitution and child support obligations. Is this unconstitutional? A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit thinks not. In Johnson v. Bredesen, […]
Heat Not So Hot
The Miami Heat’s power trio of Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James lost their NBA regular season debut to the Boston Celtics. It’s not often I root for the guys in green, but I did tonight. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Rep. DeFazio Investigating Impeachment of Chief Justice Roberts
The Huffington Post reports that Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Or) is investigating articles of impeachment for Chief Justice Roberts in response to the Court’s decision in Citizens United. “I mean, the Supreme Court has done a tremendous disservice to the United States of America,” Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) told The Huffington Post on Tuesday. “They have […]
Behind the Scenes of DOJ’s Black Panther Case
On Friday the Washington Post ran an extensive story on the Justice Department’s handling of a voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia. Based upon the Post‘s reporting, which seemed quite thorough and balanced, I’ve come to the following conclusions: The original case was small potatoes. The Philadelphia district […]
Justice Stevens Still Dissenting on Flag Burning
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports on recent remarks by retired Justice Stevens about Texas v. Johnson, the decision in which the Supreme Court held 5-4, over Stevens’ dissent, that flag burning could be a form of protected political expression under the First Amendment. According tot he article, Justice Stevens still believes the majority was wrong […]
The First Amendment in the Classroom
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected a teacher’s claim that a local school board violated her First Amendment right “to select books and methods of instruction for use in the classroom without interference from public officials” by failing to renew her contract after a series of conflicts over her choice of reading assignments for […]
Wasteful Weatherization Projects
The stimulus bill included $5 billion for weatherization projects. The idea was not just to create jobs, but also invest in energy efficiency. The money didn’t get spent quite as quickly as some had hoped, but it was still worthwhile , right? Maybe not. The stimulus funds ramped up weatherization programs so much that quality […]
An Act/Omission Limitation on Federal Power Over States?
Orin is concerned about the ability of the Supreme court to draw a line between the federal government’s authority to regulate or prohibit conduct, on the one hand, and its ability to mandate conduct on the other. Drawing a line of this sort may be difficult, but it is hardly unprecedented. Consider some of the […]
The Roots of Lunacy
From Andrew Ferguson’s review of Dinesh D’Souza’s The Roots Of Obama’s Rage in The Weekly Standard: The partisan mind—left-wing or right-wing, Republican or Democrat—is incapable of maintaining more than one oversized object of irrational contempt at a time. When Obama took his place in the Republican imagination, his titanic awfulness crowded out the horrors of […]