Law & Government
Prison Ministry Group Sues Indiana Jail for Banning Amazon Books
The lawsuit claims the ban has no "legitimate penological justification"
Canada Is Poaching America's High-Skilled Foreign Workers
It’s an entirely predictable consequence of an inhospitable immigration system.
Supreme Court Refuses To Expand the 'True Threats' Exception for Free Speech
Plus: Maine prostitution measure becomes law, "significant misconduct" in jail where Epstein hung himself, Mike Pence defends free markets, and more...
Alabama Isn't Ready To Kill Inmates By Nitrogen Hypoxia. It Wants To Try Anyway.
James Barber is set to be killed next month, the first execution after a string of botched lethal injection executions in the state.
Supreme Court Confirms That State Legislatures Can't Ignore the Constitution When Writing Election Rules
Chief Justice John Roberts decisively rejected the independent state legislature theory.
Ron DeSantis' Border Plan: Invade Mexico, Shoot Drug Smugglers, End Birthright Citizenship
The 2024 hopeful has put together a platform full of big-government action.
Why a Supreme Court Justice Who Always Votes for One Type of Litigant isn't Necessarily Biased
Justice Gorsuch has never voted against Native American interests in a Supreme Court case. But that probably isn't because he's biased in favor of Indians. He simply believes that much existing precedent in this field is biased the other way.
Oregon Partially Repeals Ban on Adults Fueling Their Own Cars
After many failed efforts at reform, the Oregon Legislature has passed a bill allowing gas stations to designate up to half their pumps as self-service.
Federal Judge Blocks Florida's Anti-Drag Law
The ruling is the latest in a series of legal defeats for anti-drag laws.
How Other Countries Benefit From America's Dysfunctional Immigration System
The U.S. is keeping talented foreigners away—and failing to retain them.
Supreme Court to Consider Scope of Congress's Taxing Power under the 16th Amendment
The question presented is whether the 16th Amendment authorizes Congress to tax unrealized sums without apportionment among the states.
"The Neglected Value of Effective Government," by Prof. Rick Pildes (NYU)
"How law and policy have undermined the ability of government to deliver both large-scale policies and a range of public goods."
What's Left Standing of Special Solicitude for States After U.S. v. Texas?
The Supreme Court did not overturn the standing holding of MAssachusetts v. EPA, but it may have left it on life support.
Bombing Mexican Cartels Won't Stop Fentanyl
A Republican-sponsored resolution would authorize the president to "use all necessary and appropriate force" against foreigners involved in fentanyl trafficking.
D.C. Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Bivens Claims Over Clearing of Lafayette Park
Applying settled precedent, the court bars a Bivens action, but Judge Walker suggests a possilble alternative.
Judge Dave Retires from the Bench
The Honorable David B. Sentelle has heard his last case.
Predicting Case Authors and Outcomes as the Supreme Court Hits the Home Stretch
Some worth-what-you-paid-for-them predictions for the final(?) week of SCOTUS opinions.
Police Let Their K-9 Maul on the Wrong Guy. They Arrested Him Anyway.
The city says the man's injuries were "caused solely as a result of his own acts or omissions."
Sixth Circuit Upholds Sanctions Against Kraken Attorneys for Michigan Filings
The sanctions imposed on Sidney Powell and other attorneys raising frivolous challenges to the 2020 election were narrowed and slightly reduced, but largely upheld.
Supreme Court Rejects 'Extraordinarily Unusual' Case Against Biden's Deportation Policy
Today’s decision “is narrow and simply maintains the longstanding jurisprudential status quo,” wrote Justice Brett Kavanaugh for the majority.
Massachusetts District Attorney Sued for Refusing To Release Names of Problem Cops
Massachusetts reformed its notoriously bad public records laws in 2020, but reporters are still fighting to get the police misconduct files they're legally entitled to.
Supreme Court's Sidestep Leaves Native Kids Without Answers
While intended to keep Native families together, the ICWA subjects American Indian children to a lower level of protection than is enjoyed by non-Native kids.
Supreme Court Rules Red States Lack Standing to Challenge Biden Immigration Enforcement Guidelines
The 8-1 decision is a major win for Biden and executive enforcement discretion. I think the Court got the right result, but for the wrong reasons.
Court Erred in Dismissing Challenge to L.A. City Employee COVID Vaccine Mandate
So the California Court of Appeal has held, concluding that there is enough of a factual dispute (under California's plaintiff-friendly pleading standards) for the case to go forward.
A Year Post-Dobbs, Major Shifts in Abortion Access and Politics
Plus: Court rules against judge who threw child stars in jail during parents' custody dispute, inside the FTC's attempt to stop Microsoft from acquiring Call of Duty, and more...
Schools Have No Constitutional Obligation to Try to Keep Students from Having Sex in the Parking Lot
"[T]he Does cannot wield the constitutional right to parent as a sword to require the district to adopt policies that help them to direct and control their son's choices," and likewise as to the right to free exercise of religion.
Don't Let Culture Wars Weaken the Financial System
In California, officials are pushing pension funds to divest from fossil fuels, firearms manufacturers, and tobacco companies. Red states are retaliating. This is madness.
A Troubling Supreme Court Habeas Decision
The Supreme Court was wrong to deny relief to a man imprisoned for activity that Court's own rulings indicate was not illegal - one who never had an opportunity to challenge his incarceration on that basis.
Drag Is Protected Speech, Federal Judge Rules
It should be obvious that drag performances are protected by the First Amendment, but that hasn't kept government officials from trying to ban them.
Economic Freedom Is Declining in the U.S.
We once ranked No. 4 in the world, according to the Heritage Foundation. Now we're 25th.
It Takes 6 Clicks To Cancel Amazon Prime and the FTC's New Lawsuit Says That's Too Many
The ideal number of clicks to cancel an online subscription may be four or five instead of six, but we don't need government to make that decision.
Another Georgia Probe Finds No Evidence of Conspiracy To Steal 2020 Election
The Trump campaign's claim that two Atlanta poll workers pulled fraudulent ballots from a suitcase on election night are "false and unsubstantiated" after a two-year investigation.
Can a Florida School District Ban a Children's Book About Gay Penguins?
The answer's more complicated than you might think.
Arkansas Ban on Gender Transition Treatments for Minors Ruled Unconstitutional
Plus: New rules limit asylum applications, the bad math behind economic doomerism, and more...
Reporters Convicted of 'Trespass' for Doing Their Jobs
The guilty verdict came the same day the Justice Department blasted Minneapolis for harassing the press.
The Federal Case Against Trump Is 'Very Strong,' His Former Attorney General Says
By taking records that did not belong to him and refusing to return them, William Barr says, Trump "provoked this whole problem himself."
An Orthodox Rabbi Makes the Case for Legalizing Organ Markets
Some of the points made by Rabbi Yitzhak Grossman in the course of assessing the issue under Jewish law have broader significance, as well.
He's Facing Life in Prison for Owning Firearms Without a License
The government appears to agree that Charles Foehner shot a man in self-defense. He may spend decades behind bars anyway.
The Fed Won't Save Us From the Inflation Iceberg
Plus: Was Gerald Ford right to pardon Richard Nixon?
FTC Chair Lina Khan Ignored Ethics Official's Advice About Meta Case, Then Said She Didn't
Plus: RIP Daniel Ellsberg, the Pioneers of Capitalism, and more...
Immigrants Can't Naturalize if They Own a Marijuana Dispensary, Court Says
Maria Elena Reimers has been caught in legal limbo for years.