Criminal Justice
Rethink Crisis Response
People who call 911 shouldn't get an ill-trained police officer, especially when they're dealing with a mental health emergency.
Regulate Use of Force
"When you're conditioned to believe that every person...poses a threat to your existence, you simply cannot be expected to build out meaningful relationships."
Eleventh Circuit Panel finds that Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act exceeds Congress's Powers under the Foreign Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause Powers
This case may be headed to the Supreme Court.
There Is No Court of History
Chief Judge Pryor "write[s] separately to explain a difficult truth about the nature of the judicial role."
Students Demand Skidmore College Fire an Art Professor for Observing a Pro-Cop Rally
David and Andrea Peterson didn't even participate in the rally—they just watched it. The students don't care.
Why Violent Protests Backfire
Martin Luther King explained why they are "socially destructive and self-defeating."
Appeals Court Upholds Florida Law Requiring Felony Offenders To Pay Off Fines Before Regaining Voting Rights
The ruling is a major setback for civil liberties groups trying to re-enfranchise an estimated 775,000 Floridians with felony records.
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Voter fraud, Jersey Boys, and inescapable tax debt.
Judge Bumatay on Originalism in the Lower Courts: "It is our duty to apply the Constitution—not extend precedent"
He follows Justice Thomas's dissent from Garza v. Idaho: "Where precedent is seriously questioned 'as an original matter' or under current Supreme Court doctrine, courts 'should tread carefully before extending' it."
Update from the Florida Supreme Court: The Governor Has To Make A New Selection By Monday
"We hold that the constitution requires the Governor immediately to appoint and commission a constitutionally eligible nominee from among the seven remaining candidates already certified by the judicial nominating commission."
After 8-Hour Meeting, Divided Texas Bar Refers ABA Model Rule 8.4(g) to Committee
The Disciplinary Committee will consider ABA Model Rule 8.4(g), as well as revisions to an old Texas Rule
Younger Abstention after Trump v. Vance
Did the Supreme Court quietly modify a major jurisdictional doctrine?
SCOTUS Contender James Ho Combines Respect for Free Speech and Gun Rights With a Troubling Deference to Cops
The 5th Circuit judge is a mixed bag from a libertarian perspective.
A New Bill Would Stop the Feds From Tossing Drug Defendants in Prison Before They're Convicted
A proposed bipartisan change in pretrial detention rules could free thousands annually.
Classes #7: Enumerated Powers V and the Recording System
NFIB v. Sebelius, Chain of Title, and Recording Acts
Two Cheers for President Trump's Not-So-Short SCOTUS List
At this point, what difference does it make?
Judge Amy Coney Barrett's Assorted Canards of Contemporary Legal Analysis: Redux
The Case Western Reserve Law Review has published Judge Barrett's 2019 Sumner Canary Memorial Lecture
Did the Ninth Circuit Create a New Fourth Amendment Notice Requirement for Surveillance Practices?
An overlooked part of United States v. Moalin could have a major impact on surveillance law.
NCLA Challenges CDC's Eviction Moratorium
"The order would abrogate the right to access the courts, violate limits on the Supremacy Clause, implicate the nondelegation doctrine, and traduce anti-commandeering principles."
Partisan Taint in the Trump-Russia Investigation
We need FISA reforms that protect against partisan misuse of intelligence
School Calls Cops on 12-Year-Old Boy Who Held Toy Gun During Zoom Class
Isaiah Elliott also received a five-day suspension, but plans to transfer.
The FIRST STEP Act Has Reduced Prison Terms for More Than 7,000 People
While that's nothing to sneeze at, it is a modest accomplishment in the context of a federal prison system that keeps more than 150,000 Americans behind bars.
This Labor Day, Police and Teachers Unions Are Making a Bad Year Worse
Americans are being forced to confront the downsides of powerful organized labor in an already miserable year.
Washington Post Journalist Radley Balko on Civil Rights, Militarized Policing, and the Power of Video
The Washington Post's Radley Balko was a pioneer in reporting on the disastrous consequences of police militarization and the need for criminal justice reform. Now everyone else is catching up.
No Punitive Damages in Sex Abuse Lawsuits Against Jeffrey Epstein Estate, Because of Epstein's "Reported Suicide"
Under N.Y. law, "punitive damages shall not be awarded" when the defendant is dead; that's also the general rule throughout the country.
Bust the Police Unions
They're a consistent force of organized resistance to calmer, safer, less aggressive policing.
