That’s the title of an article that I have co-authored with the Cato Institute’s Trevor Burrus, in a symposium issue of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. The symposium is “Law in an Age of Austerity,” and includes contributions from Charles Cooper (Treasury Dept.’s authority to index capital gains for inflation), John Eastman (state […]
Archive | Supreme Court
Leading Democratic Primary Candidate for Senator from Maine Calls for Court-Packing
An article by Will Tuell (who apparently is or was a local town selectman) in the Downeast Coastal Press reports that State Senator Cynthia Dill — seemingly the leader in the Democratic primary, though not necessarily a strong competitor to Independent candidate and former Governor Angus King — endorses Court-packing: On the issue of whether […]
When Should the Court Account for Errors?
Lyle Denniston has an interesting post on SCOTUSBlog discussing whether the Court will reconsider its judgment in Nken v. Holder because the decision was based, in part, on erroneous factual premises. The Justice Department last month told the Court that it had provided faulty information in that case about U.S. immigration policy, but it suggested […]
Potential Court Picks for a President Romney
Reuters previews what a Romney Administration short-list for a Supreme Court vacancy might look like. Among those identified are former Solicitor General Paul Clement and federal appellate judges Neil Gorsuch (10th Circuit), Brett Kavanaugh (D.C. Circuit), Jeffrey Sutton (6th Circuit), Diane Sykes (7th Circuit), and Steve Colloton (8th Circuit). The story also identifies others who could […]
Supreme Ignorance
Via “The Fix” comes an interesting poll result: As of July 2010, only 28 percent of Americans knew John Roberts was Chief Justice of the United States. Over half (53%) admitted they did not know, while others selected John Paul Stevens, Thurgood Marshall, or Harry Reid.
When Rent Control Becomes A Taking (Bis)
In March, Ilya had this interesting post on Harmon v. Kimmel, 11-496, a case the Supreme Court is now considering that presents the question whether New York’s system of rent regulation effects a taking of private property without compensation. The Court as a whole considered the case for the first time at last Friday’s Conference. […]
Poll: Two-thirds of Americans Want Supreme Court to Throw Out Individual Mandate
The Washington Post reported today on findings from a new Washington Post/ABC News poll. According to the Post‘s story, when asked whether they expect “the Supreme Court justices will rule on this case mainly (on the basis of the law) or mainly (on the basis of their partisan political views),” 50 percent chose “partisan political views” while […]
Speaking Engagements This Week
By Dale Carpenter on April 10, 2012 12:28 pm in Flagrant Conduct: Lawrence v. Texas, Gay Rights, Sexual Conduct Restrictions, Sexual Orientation, Supreme Court
This week I’ll be discussing my new book, Flagrant Conduct: The Story of Lawrence v. Texas, at two different venues. On Thursday, the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice will sponsor a speech at Harvard Law School from 5:30-7:00 p.m. Details are available here. On Friday evening at 7:00 p.m., I’ll be speaking […]
Is Justice Sotomayor the First Justice Who Had a “Disability” When Appointed?
So claims the White House, and MEDIAite and Kevin Drum (Mother Jones) report on it. This apparently refers to Justice Sotomayor’s diabetes. Now diabetes is a serious illness, and likely would be treated as disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, as recently amended. [UPDATE: I had originally neglected to focus on the 2008 amendments […]
Individual Mandates for Foreigners and Indians
By Eugene Kontorovich on April 6, 2012 11:19 am in Commerce Clause, Constitutional Law, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Supreme Court
In my previous post, I argued that the broad interpretation of the Commerce Clause advocated by the government would have the absurd result, when applied to the parallel foreign commerce clause, of allowing Congress to impose mandates on foreigners with no prior contacts with the U.S. Many commentators fought the hypothetical, saying such a law […]
Can Congress Mandate the Japanese to Buy Detroit Cars? – The Commerce Clause and Foreign Commerce
By Eugene Kontorovich on April 4, 2012 3:09 pm in Alien Tort Statute, Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, International Human Rights Law, International Law, Supreme Court
One aspect of the ACA litigation that has not received due attention is the effect of the Court’s ruling on the scope Foreign Commerce Clause. An expansive, limitless definition of the scope of “Commerce” would presumably apply to Foreign Commerce as well. If there is no limiting principle for the former, it would be hard […]
Impeach John Roberts?
Professor David Dow of the University of Houston argues that Supreme Court justices should be impeached if the individual mandate is struck down because “Supreme Court justices who undermine the principles of the Constitution ought to be impeached.” According to Professor Dow, the case for impeachment would not be based solely on the Court’s health […]
Ruth Marcus on the President vs. The Court
The Washington Post‘s Ruth Marcus supports the President’s health care reform law and believes the individual mandate is constitutional. She further believes that a decision striking down the mandate would be seen as overtly political and would be bad for both the country and the Court. Nontheless, she was quite dismayed by the President’s recent […]
President Obama versus the Constitution
By David Kopel on April 2, 2012 11:54 pm in Congress, Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Counter-Terrorism Policy, Executive Branch, Federalism, Growth of Government, Habeas, Health Care, History, Individual Mandate, Jefferson, Judicial Power, Obama, Presidency, Public Opinion, Supreme Court, Uncategorized, War on Terror
President Obama today fired his opening salvo in an unprecedented attack on the Constitution of the United States. Regarding the impending Supreme Court ruling on the health control law, the President said, “Ultimately, I’m confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was […]
The President vs. the Court
By Jonathan H. Adler on April 2, 2012 9:27 pm in Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Supreme Court
At a joint press conference today with President Calderon of Mexico, and Prime Minister Harper of Canada, President Obama was asked whether, in light last week’s oral arguments, he was concerned the Supreme Court might strike down the individual mandate or other portions of his health care reform law. According to the White House transcript, […]