Looking for Partisan Patterns in the Shadow Docket
The New York Times examines the "sharp partisan divides" on the Supreme Court's interim docket.
Law & Government
Florida Applies for Federal Reimbursement for 'Alligator Alcatraz' Costs Despite Court Warning
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis promised that the federal government would reimburse the state for the costs of "Alligator Alcatraz," but doing so would make the detention facility subject to environmental reviews Florida ignored.
Lawmakers Want To Shield Kids From AI Chatbots. But Restricting Them Could Cut Off a Mental Health Lifeline.
Crackdowns on AI chatbots over perceived risks to children's safety could ultimately put more children at risk.
Immigration Agents Held a U.S. Citizen—and Veteran—for 3 Days Without Checking His ID
George Retes was denied access to an attorney, wasn’t allowed to make a phone call, was not presented to a judge, and was put in an isolation cell before being released with no charges.
Hospital Fired Employee for On-the-Job Sex: She Claimed It Was Rape but Other Person Said It Was BDSM
The employee sued, claiming the firing was retaliation; the jury found for the hospital, and the Sixth Circuit upheld the verdict (among other things upholding the admission of evidence of the employee's interest in BDSM).
California Public Charter Schools' Independent Study Programs Can Insist on Secular Curricular Materials
"The Supreme Court has recently confirmed that the Free Exercise Clause does not prohibit a state from providing 'a strictly secular education in its public schools'"—and, the court held, that extends to California charter schools and their parental "home-based direct instruction approved by the school and coordinated, evaluated, and supervised by state-certified teachers."
GOP Rep Proposes Canceling People Over Mean Posts About Charlie Kirk
Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins, who once opposed government jawboning, now says people should be banned from both social media and public life over their posts.
"Are You a Jew? … Are You a Zionist?"
Federal judge allows "pattern or practice" claim of discrimination against Jews by coffee shop to go forward.
Trump Calls His Drone Strike on an Alleged Drug Boat 'Self-Defense.' It Looks More Like Murder.
Equating drug trafficking with armed aggression, the president asserts the authority to kill anyone he perceives as a threat to "our most vital national interests."
Kavanaugh Flouts the Fourth Amendment and Blesses Trump's Racial Profiling
The justice’s stance on immigration enforcement is undermined by the facts of the case before him.
The Feds Own Half the Western U.S.—and Can't Take Care of It
Selling just a fraction of the land would reduce our enormous debt.
States and Landowners Are Key to Recovering Rare Species. Stop Penalizing Them.
Federal rules under the Endangered Species Act often treat landowners as adversaries. Recent court victories suggest a better way forward.
Once a Critic of Executive Orders, Trump Embraces Unilateral Action
With Congress essentially AWOL, the courts offer the only real check on presidential power.
Excluding Religious School That "Forfeited a Girls' Playoff Basketball Game to Avoid Playing a Team with a Transgender Athlete" Violated Free Exercise Clause
So the Second Circuit held today, concluding that the facts surrounding this particular exclusion showed hostility to religion, and not just the neutral application of generally applicable rules.
Judge Dismisses RICO Charges Against All 'Cop City' Defendants
Two years after the state attorney general charged dozens of protesters with racketeering, a judge found the case unconvincing.
Trump's 'Department of War' Rebrand Might Be His Most Honest Move Yet
A billion-dollar rebrand won’t change the fact that defense hasn’t meant defense in decades.
Prison Guards Forcibly Cut a Rastafarian Inmate's Dreadlocks. SCOTUS Will Decide If They Can Be Sued Over It.
The Supreme Court will hear Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety this fall.
Before Trump Had Elon Musk, Nixon Had Howard Phillips
Nixon's director of the Office of Economic Opportunity set out to shrink government, mostly failed, and was gone in less than a year. Sound familiar?
My New Boston Globe Article Making Case for Abolishing ICE and Giving the Money to State and Local Police
It builds on an earlier piece in The Hill
Trump's Tariffs Face a Major 'Major Questions' Problem at the Supreme Court
The same legal theory that tripped up Joe Biden's student loan scheme could also sink Donald Trump's tariffs.
Trump's 1 Percent Tax on Money Immigrants Send Home Is a Tax on the Global Poor
Analysts expect the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to reduce the number of remittance payments sent abroad.
I'm a Gamer. The NO FAKES Act Could Get Me in Trouble.
A bill meant to fight AI deepfakes could devastate creativity in games like Fallout: New Vegas, Skyrim, and Minecraft, where mods keep old titles alive.
Walz's Gun Plan Wouldn't Stop Shootings, but It Might Shred Civil Liberties
Minnesota's proposed firearm restrictions raise serious constitutional questions—and offer little in return.
Josh Hawley's Anti–Driverless Cars Policy Would Kill a Lot of People
Tens of thousands of people die each year in crashes where human error was the cause or a contributing factor.
$7500 Sanctions for Nonexistent Citations in Brief; Magistrate Judge Stresses Cite-Checking Isn't a New Obligation
"Whether a case cite is obtained from a law review article, a hornbook, or through independent legal research, the duty to ensure that any case cited to a court is "good law" is nearly as old as the practice of law."
Donald Trump's Antitrust Enforcers Continue Their Harassment Campaign Against Google
There is no hard evidence of Gmail discriminating against Republican campaign emails, but that’s no matter to the FTC Chairman.
Welcome to the "Interim Docket"
Justice Kavanaugh on what to call the "shadow docket" now that it is no longer in the shadows.
Trump's Unjust and Illegal Killing of 11 Venezuelans
Killing suspected drug traffickers is both unjust and illegal. And it could be the start of an effort to turn the already awful War on Drugs into something more like a real war, thereby making it even worse.
The New Texas Ban on Cell-Cultured Protein Is an Unconstitutional Interstate Trade Barrier, a Lawsuit Says
The ban's supporters, whose motivation is plainly protectionist, claim they are defending freedom by restricting it.
Documenting Denial: A Record of Rejection Faced by Gay Couples
Over the past two decades, scores of business owners across the nation have sought to refuse services for same-sex weddings, an SMU Law School study finds
2 Trump Cases To Watch as the Supreme Court Returns From Summer Break
Plus: A momentous date in the life of Frederick Douglass
Fifth Circuit Rules Trump's Use of Alien Enemies Act is Illegal
The 2-1 ruling is in line with most previous court decisions on Trump's invocation of the AEA. Judge Oldham wrote an extremely long, but significantly flawed, dissent.
The 5th Circuit Rejects Trump's Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act
The appeals court blocked the removal of alleged Venezuelan gang members under that law "because we find no invasion or predatory incursion."
'We're Going In'
Plus: Bombing "narco-terrorists" in the Caribbean, American manufacturing shrinks for the sixth consecutive month, Massie wants the Epstein files, and more...
The Gun-Free School Zones Act Is Doubly Dubious
The federal law relies on a risible reading of the Commerce Clause to restrict a constitutional right.
The Rationale for the Federal Circuit's 'Radical Left' Tariff Decision Is Fundamentally Conservative
Donald Trump's claim that the appeals court ruled against him for partisan or ideological reasons is hard to take seriously.
Why the Supreme Court Might Uphold Trump's Tariffs
The Administration's arguments have more doctrinal support than some might think
The Weird Law That Keeps the NFL Off (Most) Friday Nights
An antiquated law gives high school and college football first dibs on Fridays and Saturdays.
Trump Can Fire a Lot of People. What's Special About the Federal Reserve?
"The Federal Reserve is a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity," the Supreme Court wrote in a ruling this year.
The Federal Circuit's Tariff Ruling Highlights the Audacity of Trump's Power Grab
Seven judges agreed that the president's assertion of unlimited authority to tax imports is illegal and unconstitutional.
The Nearly Free Markets of Guatemala
Guatemalans don't wait for the government's permission. They build their own markets through voluntary exchange.
New Jersey Town Drops Plan to Condemn a Church to Build a Park and Pickleball Courts
The mayor abandoned the plan after it aroused strong political resistance and threats of litigation.
Raw Milk Debates Are Turning Sour in Florida
Florida officials can’t agree on whether unpasteurized milk is a health threat or benefit, leaving consumers more confused than if they were left to decide for themselves.
Federal Circuit Rules Against Trump's Massive IEEPA Tariffs in Our Case Challenging Them
In a 7-4 ruling, the en banc court upheld trial court ruling against all the challenged tariffs. The scope of the injunction against them remains to be determined.
