The Trouble With 'Common Good Originalism'
A new conservative faction embraces "authoritative rule for the common good."
Judiciary
Is Stephen Breyer About To Retire? His Clerk-Hiring Spree Suggests Otherwise.
Progressive activists are pushing the 82-year-old justice to step down.
Joe Biden, Who Says He's 'Not a Fan of Court Packing,' Just Created a Presidential Commission to Study Court Packing
The Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States will examine “the membership and size of the Court.”
Trump's Bump Stock Ban Just Lost Big in Federal Court
“It is not the role of the executive—particularly the unelected administrative state—to dictate” the terms of criminal law, said the 6th Circuit.
'If You Wear a Federal Badge, You Can Inflict Excessive Force on Someone With Little Fear of Liability,' Complains Judge Don Willett
A federal judge protests the Supreme Court’s “rights-without-remedies” Bivens doctrine.
A Libertarian Judge Champions Privacy Rights Against Warrantless Police Searches
Justice Clint Bolick dissents in Arizona v. Mixton.
Biden's Judicial Picks Should Include Lawyers Who Battled the Government in Court
The incoming president can bring some much-needed professional diversity to the federal bench.
The Trouble With John Roberts' Brand of Legal Conservatism
Is the chief justice just a politician in robes?
"Tear Down This Judicial Paywall"
The federal judiciary should not be charging for access to public court records.
The GOP's Great Self-Beclownment
What to say to a political party that keeps trying to overturn the results of an election?
This Woman Permanently Lost Her Second Amendment Rights Because She Lied on Her Taxes
Is this the Supreme Court’s next big gun rights case?
Should Justice Barrett Recuse from 2020 Election Litigation? (Updated)
There's no precedent for a recusal, but there's also no precedent for the current situation.
How Big Can the Ninth Circuit Get?
The Judicial Conference is recommending additional judges for what is already the largest
Coronavirus in Congress Won't Stop Barrett Confirmation Hearings, Which Start Today
Plus: $150,000+ in fines in NYC's first weekend of new shutdowns, California ballot-box confusion, and more...
What to Expect From a Joe Biden Supreme Court Pick
What sort of judicial nominee can we expect from the Democratic candidate?
When Joe Biden Tried To Paint Clarence Thomas as a Crazy Libertarian
The episode reflects poorly on Biden.
John Roberts Just Annoyed Everybody. Is He the New Anthony Kennedy?
The chief justice has managed to infuriate every major political faction.
How Gorsuch Took a Page From Scalia in an LGBT Employment Discrimination Case
"Only the written word is the law, and all persons are entitled to its benefit."
Criminal Justice Divides the 'Conservative' Judiciary
Pundits often speak of the judiciary in terms of liberal or conservative judges issuing liberal or conservative opinions. The reality is far more complicated.
These Judges Defend Qualified Immunity as 'a Deferential Rule' That Protects the Police
“Officers don’t have the time to pull out law books and analyze the fine points of judicial precedent.”
This Judge Is Wrong About Economic Liberty and the Constitution
A flawed argument for judicial passivity in cases of government regulation.
Do Tattoo Shops Have a First Amendment Right To Remain Open During a Pandemic?
The idea is not so far-fetched.
Another State Supreme Court Stands Up for Economic Liberty
Following Georgia's ruling in favor of a lactation consultant, Pennsylvania’s high court reviews another “unreasonable” occupational licensing scheme.
State Supreme Courts Stand Up for Economic Liberty While SCOTUS Falls Down on the Job
"We have long interpreted the Georgia Constitution as protecting a right to work in one's chosen profession free from unreasonable government interference."
Coronavirus Cases Pit Constitutional Rights Against Public Health Authority
The federal courts start to grapple with COVID-19 shutdown orders.
Another Trump-Appointed Judge Benchslaps the Trump Administration for Rewriting Federal Gun Laws
“The federal government forgot the Tenth Amendment and the structure of the Constitution itself.”
Supreme Court Upholds State Law Limiting the Use of the Insanity Defense
Kansas “will not wholly exonerate a defendant on the ground that his illness prevented him from recognizing his criminal act as morally wrong.”
Supreme Court Postpones Oral Arguments Over COVID-19, Some Justices Will Work From Home
The coronavirus upends business as usual at SCOTUS.
A Qualified Immunity Case That the Federal Courts Got Right
Fatal police shootings and the Fourth Amendment
Did Louisiana Enact a Bogus Health Law as a Pretext for Banning Abortion?
The Supreme Court weighs abortion regulation in June Medical Services v. Russo.
Gorsuch Throws Shade at Trump Administration for Rewriting Federal Gun Laws Without Congressional Approval
“Why should courts, charged with the independent and neutral interpretation of the laws Congress has enacted, defer to such bureaucratic pirouetting?”
This New Deal Precedent May Decide the Fate of Elizabeth Warren's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
What’s at stake in Seila Law v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
This Crackdown on a Jury Nullification Activist Violates the First Amendment
What’s at stake in Michigan v. Wood
Precedent Matters at the Supreme Court—Until It Doesn't
A new abortion case raises an old question.
Uber's Lawsuit Against California's Anti-Freelancer Law Is Missing a Key Constitutional Element
It's crucial to get the constitutional text and history straight.
Gun Control Returns to the Supreme Court
The justices will hear oral arguments today in a major Second Amendment case.
Bill Barr is Wrong to Claim Courts Cannot Examine Government Motives
Assessment of motives is often an essential tool for protecting our constitutional rights.
Kavanaugh Joins Gorsuch in Fight To Revive Nondelegation Doctrine
An important development in the legal wrangling over the separation of powers.
Buttigieg and Sanders Clash Over the Supreme Court
Progressive purity tests and Supreme Court wish lists
Kagan and Gorsuch Clash Over Judicial Deference to the Administrative State
Who will rein in the ever-expanding administrative state?
Antonin Scalia's Surprising Role in the Latest Supreme Court Fight Over Legal Protections for Gays
Understanding what’s at stake in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia
Judge Don Willett Butts Heads With Fellow Trump Appointees Over Qualified Immunity for Cops
“Modern immunity practice—essentially 'heads government wins, tails plaintiffs lose'—leaves many victims violated but not vindicated."
Another Federal Court Allows Warrantless Cellphone Searches at U.S. Border
It’s time for SCOTUS to revisit the "border search exception" to the Fourth Amendment.
Gun Control Cases to Watch at the Supreme Court
What’s next for the Second Amendment at SCOTUS?
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Calls Court Packing a 'Bad Idea'
The liberal jurist puts judicial integrity before partisan politics.
