Kudos to Jacob Levy on Bleeding Heart Libertarians, and Ilya (here and here) and Jonathan (here) for their trenchant critiques of the Neo-Confederate sympathies of some who call themselves libertarians. I agree with Jacob that this is an issue more important for libertarian activists and intellectuals to forthrightly address and forcefully reject than are other […]
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Shifts in Law Professors’ Views of The Constitution
Kyle Graham offers an interesting post on that subject at NonCuratLex.
Ways of Making Appointments to Specialized Courts — A Bleg For Past Examples
The statute that creates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has been criticized recently for allowing the Chief Justice to make all of the appointments to the FISC without any oversight. Here’s the relevant text: The Chief Justice of the United States shall publicly designate 11 district court judges from at least seven of the United […]
Second Circuit Vacates District Court Injunction on Indefinite Detention
I blogged here about Judge Forrest’s opinion for the district court in Hedges v. Obama, and at the time I called the district court opinion “quite puzzling.” Today’s Second Circuit opinion vacating Judge Forrest’s injunction is here. From the Second Circuit’s conclusion: In sum, Hedges and O’Brien do not have Article III standing to challenge […]
Thoughts on Orin’s Thoughts on Existing Fourth Amendment Doctrine
I want to thank Orin for his most informative and helpful analysis of how existing Fourth Amendment doctrine might govern the NSA telephone and Internet surveillance programs. But…. Actually there is no “but.” I just figured readers were expecting one. Orin’s analysis is very useful and provides lots of food for thought. Of particular relevance […]
IG Finds Improper Access and Disclosure of Private Tax Records
Accounting Today reports: Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is looking into findings from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration that the confidential tax records of political donors or candidates have been inappropriately accessed or disclosed in several instances since 2006 and asking why the Justice Department has […]
Why It’s So Hard to Trust Republicans to Limit Government Spending
Exhibit A: the Farm Bill passed by the House last week. As noted here and here, this bill would result in greater farm subsidy spending than the bill passed by the Democratic Senate or President Obama’s initial request. It’s unconscionable that Republicans concerned about waste in the food stamp program are so willing to squander […]
Obama Names Two New NLRB Nominees
Pursuant to the deal under which Senate Republicans agreed to stop filibustering several Executive Branch appointments, President Obama has named two new nominees to the National Labor Relations Board: AFL-CIO general counsel Nancy Schiffer and Kent Hirozawa, chief counsel to the current NLRB chair. Under the terms of the deal, Republicans have agreed not to […]
DOJ Seeks En Banc Review in Searching Cell Phone Incident-to-Arrest Case
Today DOJ filed a petition for rehearing en banc in United States v. Wurie, the First Circuit case holding that a warrant is required to search a cell phone incident to arrest. (HT: Michael Scarcella) My earlier coverage of Wurie is here. I wouldn’t be surprised if this filing offers us a preview of a […]
Intelligence Under Law — Judiciary Testimony
I’ll be testifying tomorrow to the full House Judiciary Committee about FISA, NSA, and the Snowden flap. (Excerpts below. My prepared testimony is here: Download Pdf of Baker testimony to House Judiciary Committee on FISA .) I used this opportunity to muse on the resemblance between today and the waning Clinton era: To be blunt, one of […]
Kiobel, Followed by DaimlerChrysler: What the Roberts and Breyer Views on Jurisdiction over Foreign Corporations Share
(First, big welcome to the newest Conspirator, Will Baude!) A few months ago, in April, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Corp., giving guidance on the Alien Tort Statute. In this rather lengthy post, I’m going to explore some ideas I’m using in an essay on Kiobel for […]
Cordray to Be Confirmed at CFPB
Potentially ending a stand-off over the use of filibusters to block Executive Branch nominees, the Senate voted 71-29 to end debate on the nomination of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Board. The Senate is scheduled to vote later today to end debate on several other executive nominations. For what it’s worth, I […]
What Happens Next If the U.S. Actually Catches Edward Snowden?
Over at LawFare, David Pozen has a very interesting post on that question.
FISC Orders Executive Branch to Conduct Classification Review of Secret 2008 Opinion
The Washington Post has the story here, and the FISC’s order is here. From the Post story: The secret surveillance court that approved the U.S. government’s broad collection of millions of Americans’ e-mail and telephone records called Monday for the Obama administration to declassify and release as much as it can of one of the […]
“A Reckless Fool” Not a “Murderer”
William Saletan has a thoughtful and informative piece sorting through the half-truths and misperceptions about the trial George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin. UPDATE: FWIW, here’s a link to the jury instructions. They make for interesting reading.