Judiciary

Colorado Bars Trump From the Ballot [Updated]

Featured image In a shocking decision, the Colorado Supreme Court held today, in a Per Curiam opinion, with three justices dissenting, that Donald Trump is an “insurrectionist” who is barred by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment from running for the presidency. So, absent some action by the U.S. Supreme Court, which is extremely unlikely, Trump will not be on the Republican primary ballot or, if it comes to that, the general »

Feinstein Watch

Featured image It has been obvious for quite a while that Dianne Feinstein is not capable of discharging her duties as a senator. Earlier today Feinstein became confused in a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing and began reading a statement instead of casting a vote. An aide tried to help her, and Patty Murray audibly said, “Just say ‘aye.'” I haven’t paid much attention to the Feinstein saga because it is not surprising »

Who Is Judge Noreika?

Featured image Federal Judge Maryellen Noreika is suddenly in the spotlight. Today she refused to approve Hunter Biden’s plea agreement, as we have discussed in several previous posts. Liberals immediately denounced Judge Noreika as a Trump appointee. All of which raises the question: who is she? A useful source of information is the form she filled out when she was nominated to the federal bench in late 2017. This is a standard »

The Judiciary vs. The People

Featured image We’ve noted here how court decisions have curtailed the ability of local governments to control homelessness (by voiding local no-camping-on-the-streets ordinances) and other measures, and likewise the judiciary has limited what the federal and state governments can do to limit illegal immigration. Today a federal district court judge in Oakland, CA, struck down the Biden Administration’s already weak enforcement of asylum rules that required someone seeking asylum to apply first »

Toward a More Democratic Israel

Featured image Steve wrote earlier today about proposed legislation in Israel that would rein in that country’s Supreme Court. As Steve points out, the hypocrisy of the Left on this issue is monumental. I want to talk specifically about the legislation that passed the Knesset today. First, though, it is important to understand that Israel does not have a written Constitution. Thus there is no foundational document that sets out the Court’s »

About That “Color-Blind Constitution”

Featured image Alan Dershowitz struggles mightily yesterday in the Wall Street Journal to persuade us that Earl Warren would have been wholly in favor of the Harvard/UNC decision banning admissions by race based on the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. As much as we may welcome Dershowitz’s continuing defection from the left, this article is not persuasive. To the contrary, the mistakes of the Warren Court contributed significantly to the »

A Major Blow Against Censorship

Featured image As Scott noted this morning, Judge Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana has granted plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, barring various Biden administration officials from communicating with social media companies for the purpose of suppressing free speech. This is a massively important case. Plaintiffs included the states of Missouri and Louisiana and several individuals. Plaintiffs alleged that various agencies of the Biden »

Is Abortion Over As an Issue?

Featured image Rasmussen has some interesting data on that question. First, the good news: most people agree with the Dobbs decision: One year after the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, so that each state can now determine its own laws regarding abortion, a majority of voters approve the decision. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 52% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of the »

Courtroom Setback for the Climatistas?

Featured image There are a number of lawsuits in various states of play around the country with plaintiffs, typically kids fronting for environmental groups, demanding that a judge issue an injunction to curtail fossil fuels (or find energy companies liable for climate change damages), but a parallel case hit the wall at the DC Circuit Court of Appeals today. In Maine Lobstermen’s Association v. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the court reviewed »

Is DEI Training Unconstitutional?

Featured image It wouldn’t be if it were imposed by a private party, although there might be other problems with it. But can a government entity require its employees to assent to a series of political propositions, and to take what is effectively a loyalty oath? I don’t think so. That’s why my organization has moved to participate in the case of Henderson v. Springfield R-12 School District, now on appeal in »

Democrats’ Attack on Supreme Court Intensifies

Featured image The Democrats are attacking the independence of the Supreme Court, for obvious reasons: for once, they don’t control it. The attack is multi-faceted, but “ethics” is the most common excuse. They attacked Justice Thomas, whom they hate, for going on vacations with a rich conservative friend, Harlan Crow. It is obvious that Thomas committed no ethics violation, and the Wall St. Journal’s Editorial Board points out the Left’s usual double »

Dumbing Down the Judiciary

Featured image If you look up “courtly southern gentleman” in a dictionary, you just might find a picture of Louisiana Senator John Kennedy (a former Democrat, by the way). He’s rapidly becoming my favorite senator in committee hearings, for his polite questions and unrancorous demeanor with Biden nominees that expose their ignorance or ideological bias. He’s bit like detective Columbo; he lets the nominees hang themselves with their own words. This week »

Memo to Supreme Court: Save the First Amendment!

Featured image The First Amendment is under unprecedented attack, as the Democratic Party has weaponized one federal and state agency after another to go after its opponents. An important instance of this phenomenon is the effort by Democratic banking regulators to deprive disfavored organizations of access to our financial system. The issue is raised in NRA v. Vullo (the link goes to Eugene Volokh’s discussion of the case). The facts underlying the »

Whom Is Biden Nominating to the Federal Bench?

Featured image On Wednesday, a group of Biden nominees to district court judgeships came before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator John Kennedy asked one of the nominees, Spokane County Superior Court Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren, some basic questions about the Constitution. Her inability to answer them has gotten a lot of attention: To be fair, constitutional questions rarely come before a state court trial judge. And, like Judge Bjelkengren, I am not familiar »

Judge Ho’s modest proposal

Featured image Fifth Circuit Judge James Ho has a modest proposal to resist the cancel culture of legal education. Commencing with next year’s incoming class at Yale Law School, he is adopting a Yale boycott. He declines to hire YLS graduates as law clerks. I drew on the text of his keynote speech to the Federalist Society Kentucky Chapters Conference to flesh it out here. Toward the end of his talk Judge »

Laurence Silberman, RIP

Featured image Two weeks ago Judge Laurence Silberman traveled to Hanover, New Hampshire, to meet up with classmates celebrating their sixty-fifth reunion at Dartmouth College. While in town Judge Silberman gave a Constitution Day talk defending free speech under the auspices of the college’s Rockefeller Center. We posted a link to the text published by the Wall Street Journal and the related video of the event over the weekend in “Bravo, Judge »

Bravo, Judge Ho

Featured image NRO’s Nate Hochman obtained a copy of Fifth Circuit Judge James Ho’s keynote address to the Kentucky Chapters Conference of the Federalist Society and reports on it in “Federal Judge Vows to Stop Hiring Law Clerks from Yale Law School.” Judge Ho’s address — “Agreeing to Disagree — Restoring America by Resisting Cancel Culture” — cited a number of high-profile examples of speakers being shouted down or otherwise censored at »