Crime
Most Government Action Rests on the Threat of "Serious Force"
What would happen, I wonder, if protesters decide to set up an autonomous zone in the Twitter parking lot?
Church Closures and Judicial Deference
Public health officials have squandered their credibility
Why didn't the Trump Administration rescind DACA in a proper fashion?
Making the correct legal argument would have cast doubt on other elements of immigration law, and the acting DHS Secretary refused to say that DACA was a bad policy
Originalism in the State Courts: Justice Tom Lee of the Utah Supreme Court on the Due Process Clause of the Utah Constitution
"The original meaning of the constitution binds us as a matter of the rule of law. Its restraint on our power cannot depend on whether we agree with its current application on policy grounds. Such a commitment to originalism would be no commitment at all. It would be a smokescreen for the outcomes that we prefer."
Pro Choice Carpet Cleaning & Restoration
I wouldn't have expected abortion politics there ....
Textualism and Purposivism in Today's Supreme Court Decision on Discrimination Against Gays, Lesbians, and Transsexuals
The decision in Bostock v. Clayton County is well-justified from the standpoint of textualism (a theory associated with conservatives), but less clearly so from the standpoint of purposivism (often associated with liberals).
Want an edited copy of the Title VII Decision?
I edited the 120-page decision down to about 30 pages.
In Other Supreme Court News . . .
SCOTUS did more today than decide that Title VII applies to employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and transgender status.
Justice Thomas (Dissenting) Further Arguing Against Qualified Immunity
He views the doctrine as likely not authorized by the text of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, or the legal principles that it may have implicitly absorbed; instead, he argues, it was created it just "because of a 'balancing of competing values' about litigation costs and efficiency."
BREAKING: Supreme Court Holds Title VII Prohibits Discrimination Based Upon Sexual Orientation or Transgender Status (Updated)
Justice Gorsuch writes for six-justice majority that discrimination based upon sexual orientation or transgender status is sex discrimination under Title VII.
The Return of Court-Packing
Some progressive activist groups are trying to resuscitate the idea. Whether they succeed remains to be seen.
Washington Supreme Court Waives Bar Exam Requirement
for all J.D. graduates of law schools accredited by the American Bar Association who are already registered for the July or Sept. 2020 bar exams.
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Horseshoeing school, tour guide licensing, and a lawsuit that will not go gentle into that good night.
The Revolution is Eating its Own
Jonathan Chait's article on progressive intolerance both describes and illustrates the problem.
Cornell Dean Eduardo M. Peñalver on the Jacobson Controversy
Dean Peñalver defends Jacobson's academic freedom, but adds an entirely gratuitous, and somewhat unfair condemnation of Jacobson's writings.
"Policing the Police: The Impact of 'Pattern-Or-Practice' Investigations on Crime"
An interesting draft study by Harvard economics professors Tanaya Devi and Roland G. Fryer Jr.
Rights and Wrongs of "Defunding the Police"
If "defunding the police" means abolishing them completely, it's a bad idea. But there are ways to use cuts in funding to improve police incentives for the better.
Pennsylvania Adopts Variant of ABA Model Rule 8.4(g)
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, with one recorded dissent, finally acted on a process that began in 2016.
Is Attending a Political Protest More Important than Attending a Funeral?
American rabbis were strongly in favor of strict "stay at home" policies--until the recent protests started.
Post-COVID Lockdowns, Early Big City Crime Stats Are Slightly Encouraging
Early COVID lockdown effects show no significant increases in most crime. In most cases, there were drops.
The PROMESA Board Members Are Not "Officers of the United States." So What Are They?
Article IV territorial officers hold “Office[s] under the Authority of the United States,” and are bound by the Sinecure Clause.
One Win, One Loss for Second Amendment Claims in the Epidemic
A federal court in Connecticut struck down a policy that effectively stopped gun purchases; a week ago, a federal court in California upheld such a policy.
"The Oft-noted Hollowing Out of the Middle Class is a Metropolitan Phenomenon"
Income inequality is increasingly a phenomenon driven by big cities.
Download the Powerpoint Slides for 100 Supreme Court Cases
All of the files are now available on a shared drive.
Public Health Experts are Embarrassing Themselves
While the current protests are certainly well-meaning and anger over police violence and racism justified, claiming that the protests' positive effects on public health will exceed the harms from the spread of coronavirus is an assertion of faith, not science.
Another Take on Judge Sullivan and Michael Flynn's Petition for a Writ of Mandamus
Professor Peter Margulies argues the writ should be denied, for the most part, at least for now.
AI Means Superfuzzing plus Whaling at Scale
Episode 319 of the Cyberlaw Podcast - an interview with Ben Buchanan
