Law
November 28, 2020 — Scott Johnson
A Pennsylvania state court judge has enjoined the governor and secretary of state from taking any further steps to perfect its certification of the election, including but not limited to appointment of electors and transmission of necessary paperwork to the Electoral College. The case attacks the legality of the massively expanded absentee voting that took place without legislative warrant. Bill Jacobson has posted the opinion along with a good summary.
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November 28, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Carter Page has filed a long-awaited lawsuit against the old Obama gang that spied on him and others through him for a year based on the fraudulent allegations of the Steele Dossier. The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court for the District of Columbia. I have embedded a copy of the complaint below. We can only hope that Judge Sullivan isn’t assigned to the case. He seems to
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November 28, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Sidney Powell has filed a second election lawsuit, this one in Michigan challenging the outcome of the vote in the presidential election. The lawsuit is brought against Michigan state officials including the governor, the secretary of state, and the state board of canvassers on behalf of three Michigan Republican electors and three Michigan Republican Party officials. In form and function it follows the Georgia complaint that I briefly summarized here.
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November 27, 2020 — Scott Johnson
At the College Fix Greg Piper has posted a mind-boggling account of the oral argument of the appeal in the First Amendment case brought by Shawnee State University Professor Nicholas Meriwether against university administrators. Piper introduces his long account this way: A public university’s lawyer bumbled his way through oral argument last week on whether his taxpayer-funded client can force a philosophy professor to address a male student with female
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November 26, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Sidney Powell has filed her federal lawsuit challenging the outcome of the vote in the presidential election in Georgia. The lawsuit is brought against Georgia state officials including the governor, the secretary of state, and the members of the election board on behalf of six Republican Georgia electors and two Georgia Republican Party officials. Given that the complaint runs to 104 pages, readers may want to turn to John Solomon’s
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November 26, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Near midnight last night the Supreme Court granted temporary injunctive relief from the strictures of the edicts setting capacity limits in houses of worship in certain designated hotspots. The Court’s per curiam ruling in favor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Agudath Israel of America, limited as it is, nevertheless represents a shift in the Court’s center of gravity on the application of basic First Amendment principles to
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November 17, 2020 — Scott Johnson
I brought a section 1983 lawsuit against Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm and MDH Communications Director Michael Schommer for excluding me from the MDH press briefings on and after April 27. I alleged that they excluded me on political grounds in violation of the First Amendment. They moved to dismiss the lawsuit on the ground that I failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. I moved
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November 14, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
I’m a huge fan of Justice Samuel Alito. His speech to the Federalist Society this week, delivered virtually, is a good example of why. Alito’s message was that key American rights are in jeopardy. He noted, for example, that the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic has resulted in previously “unimaginable” restrictions on individual liberty. “We have never before seen restrictions as severe, extensive and prolonged as those experienced for most of 2020,”
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October 30, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Under cover of the COVID–19 epidemic the authorities have severely contracted our fundamental constitutional rights for the past seven months and counting. Our right to practice our faith is long gone. With the elections next Tuesday impending, our right to assemble has been severely infringed. It’s almost shocking. With former Nation of Islam hustler Keith Ellison our top lawman, we are living a nightmare. It undoubtedly previews the Democrats’ big
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October 24, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
I wrote here about the Department of Justice’s suit against Yale University for race discrimination in undergraduate admissions. The action was filed in federal district court in Connecticut. The DOJ has strong evidence of unlawful discrimination. As importantly, the case falls within the jurisdiction of a reasonably hospitable court of appeals (the Second Circuit), with the prospect of ultimately being decided by a Supreme Court that (assuming it isn’t packed)
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October 12, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Last week, I reported that the Department of Justice has sued Yale University for discriminating against Whites and Asian-Americans in undergraduate admissions. Today, I want to look more specifically at what the DOJ’s complaint alleges. At the outset, it’s worth noting the differences between the DOJ’s race discrimination suit against Yale and the race discrimination suit brought by private plaintiffs against Harvard. My sense is that the Harvard case was
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October 5, 2020 — Scott Johnson
As I heard the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals judges who denied General Flynn’s petition for a writ of mandamus — opinion here — they expected Judge Sullivan to dismiss the case against Flynn on the government’s motion without further ado when the case was returned to him. This past Tuesday Judge Sullivan held the hearing on the government’s dismissal motion and, on the contrary, it sounds like the case
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October 3, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had no authority to issue or renew executive orders relating to the Wuhan coronavirus after April 30. Whitmer extended the state’s coronavirus emergency declaration by executive order of April 30, after the Republican-controlled legislature advanced a bill that would not have renewed the original declaration. Whitmer relied on two laws — the Emergency Management Act of 1976 (EMA) and the
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October 2, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Attorney Thomas Plunkett represents former Minneapolis police officer Alexander Kueng in the Floyd murder case. Kueng is one of the four former officers charged in the case. The case is pending before Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill. The courthouse sits in downtown Minneapolis and the case is proceeding in an atmosphere of mob justice. All four defendants have moved for a change of venue. I discussed the venue issue
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September 24, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
The woke mob has spoken. The decision not to charge any officer with homicide in connection with the death of Breonna Taylor is an outrage. Lebron James, that great legal mind, says so. Let the rioting commence. Actually, it has. No justice, no peace. But was the charging decision in Louisville unjust? Andy McCarthy says it wasn’t. I agree. McCarthy explains: The cops [who fired the shots] were doing their
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September 21, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Roshini Rajkumar invited former prosecutor George Parry to discuss Parry’s take on the case of the four former Minneapolis police officers charged with the murder of George Floyd on WCCO News Talk’s Facebook page yesterday (video below). Roshini’s interview follows up on Parry’s American Spectator columns “Who killed George Floyd?” (August 7) and “The George Floyd fall guys” (August 13). The links go to Parry’s columns posted at Knowledge is
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September 18, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit heard argument in the case against Harvard University brought by Students for Fair Admissions. The plaintiffs allege that Harvard’s use of racial preferences results in discrimination against Asian-American applicants. The liberal district court judge who tried the case disagreed. She found for Harvard. You can listen to the oral argument here. The plaintiff-appellants were represented by William Consovoy. Assistant
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