A New Authoritarian Political Style Is on the Ballot in Ohio
The most jarring thing about Senate candidate J.D. Vance is how open he is about rejecting the rule of law.
Rule of law
Judge Bibas on "Judges Gone Wild"
The federal appellate judge suggests judges should focus less on social media attention, and more on ensuring their opinions are clear, succinct and correct.
Biden Mistakenly Imagines That Congress Approved His Student Debt Cancellation Scheme
The lack of statutory authority is the main issue raised by legal challenges to the plan.
Markets Aren't Perfect, but Government Is Worse
The free market allows people to cooperate, fix errors, and adapt to changing circumstances.
D.C. Circuit Upholds the Bump Stock Ban, Saying It Is Consistent With the 'Best Interpretation' of the Law
It is hard to see how, given the contortions required to deliver the unilateral prohibition that Donald Trump demanded.
The 5th Circuit Considers Whether the Trump Administration Was Legally Authorized To Ban Bump Stocks
Regulators imposed the ban based on a highly implausible and counterintuitive reading of federal law.
On Justice Thomas, Dobbs, Precedent, and Substantive Due Process
In his Dobbs concurrence, the senior associate justice reiterates his outlying views on precedent and his belief that all substantive due process decisions were "demonstrably erroneous."
The Least Productive Supreme Court Ever?
The justices hear fewer cases and decide fewer questions than they used to.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Says People Charged With Violent Crimes Are Guilty Because Prosecutors Say So
"When those charges are brought, these people are guilty," Lightfoot said.
How Far Behind Is the Supreme Court?
We will get opinions on Monday, but the Court will have to average more than two opinions per day to finish before July 4.
A Few Orders, But Where Are the Opinions?
With thirty-three opinions in argued cases yet to issue, the Supreme Court is well behind the usual pace.
Ninth Circuit Concludes Arizona Has Standing to Challenge Conditions on COVID Relief Funds
Language in the American Rescue Plan Act prohibits states from using the funds "directly or indirectly" to offset lost revenues from tax cuts.
Isaac Chotiner Interviews Professor Laurence Tribe
A revealing interview on the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Roberts, climate change, and Tribe's tweeting habits.
Judge Neomi Rao on "The Province of the Law"
A belated 2021 lecture sponsored by the Georgetown Center for the Constitution
Anthony Fauci Thinks Scientific Expertise Trumps the Rule of Law
The president’s COVID-19 adviser embodies the arrogance of technocrats who are sure they know what’s best for us.
If the CDC's Mask Mandate Is 'Necessary for the Public Health,' Why Didn't the DOJ Seek a Stay To Restore It?
The Biden administration's main priority seems to be leaving the agency's authority vague enough to allow future interventions.
Fauci Says CDC Mandates 'Should Not Be a Court Issue'
That's a fundamentally anti-democratic attitude.
The DOJ Is Reluctant To Continue Defending the CDC's Mask Mandate Because It Worries It Will Lose Again
Clarifying the agency's authority could impede future power grabs.
Even If the CDC's Mask Mandate Made Sense, That Would Not Make It Legal
The decision against the rule hinged on whether the agency had the power it asserted.
Local Lawyers Think 'Gross Negligence' Explains an Unlawful Murder Charge Based on a 'Self-Induced Abortion'
Starr County District Attorney Gocha Allen Ramirez has yet to explain how this egregious error escaped his notice.
Texas Prosecutors Blatantly Ignored the Law When They Charged a Woman With Murder 'by a Self-Induced Abortion'
As Starr County District Attorney Gocha Allen Ramirez belatedly conceded, that charge is explicitly prohibited by the Texas Penal Code.
OSHA's Vaccine Mandate Illustrates the Perils of Reflexively Deferring to Government Experts
The question for the Supreme Court was not whether the policy was wise but whether it was legal.
The Texas Abortion Ban Violates Conservative Principles
S.B. 8 relies on litigation tricks that conservatives have long condemned as a threat to the rule of law.
Crises Bring Out the Toddler in Power-Hungry Politicians
Thwarted politicians rant, pout, and are outraged by anybody who pushes back.
Biden Keeps Pushing Dubious Arguments for CDC Supremacy
The president seems determined to anoint the agency’s director as the nation’s COVID-19 dictator, no matter what the law says.
Critics of the SCOTUS Decision Against the CDC's Eviction Moratorium Might Miss the Rule of Law When They Need It
The Court said it "strains credulity" to believe that Congress gave the CDC the "breathtaking amount of authority" it asserted.
Will Illinois Give Government Worker Unions a Constitutional Right To Overrule Laws They Don't Like?
Taking the "public" out of public service
Biden's Eviction Moratorium Defies the Rule of Law
The administration issued the order even while conceding that it lacked the authority to do so.
If the CDC Can Impose a Nationwide Eviction Moratorium, Why Can't It Impose a Nationwide Vaccine Mandate?
It could, if it actually had the vast public health powers that the Biden administration claims it does.
At Least 5 Justices Seem To Think the CDC's Eviction Moratorium Is Illegal. SCOTUS Left It in Place Anyway.
Brett Kavanaugh, who provided a crucial fifth vote, said he agrees that the CDC does not have the authority to override rental contracts.
Did Congress Give the CDC More Authority Than the President?
The agency’s legal defense of its eviction moratorium implies that it has vast powers to order Americans around.
How Immigration Restrictions Undermine the Rule of Law
Legal scholar Dan Farber explains how the vast executive discretion created by current immigration law is incompatible with rule-of-law principles.
How Immigrants Make America Great Again (and Again and Again)
A new book documents that newcomers revitalize beliefs in hard work, property rights, and the rule of law.
More Ideas that Can Help Repair and Extend the Rule of Law
These proposals augment those made in Paul Rosenzweig and Vishnu Kannan's important recent article on the subject.
Repairing the Rule of Law: A Post-Trump Agenda
A list of reforms to help restore the rule of law in a post-Trump Washington.
Freedom for Me, Rule of Law for Thee
The right's response to the coronavirus lockdowns brings out a longstanding American paradox.
A Pandemic Does Not Suspend the Rule of Law
Courts are beginning to recognize that public health powers, while broad, are not a blank check.
Chuck Schumer's Trumpian Attack on the Supreme Court Threatens the Judicial Independence That Democrats Claim To Defend
The Senate minority leader threatened two justices by name, and then he lied about it.
Trump's Continuing Commentary on Criminal Cases Reflects His Disdain for the Rule of Law
The president remains frankly puzzled by the distinction between can and should.
Agree or Disagree With Him, We Need People Like Judge Napolitano
The Fox News legal analyst is driven by principle, not power. That's a rare commodity in today's environment.
Vladimir Putin Is Not Reforming the State. He's Taking Power for Himself.
Putin has every intention of staying in charge.
Republicans Choose Trumpism Over Property Rights and the Rule of Law
Trump is just who he said he'd be four years ago. By rallying around him, Republicans are choosing to brand themselves in his image.
Rampant Criminal Laws Make Bullies and Tyrants Rejoice
When "almost anyone can be arrested for something," no one is safe.
Dangers of a World Where "Almost Anyone Can be Arrested for Something"
A recent dissenting opinion by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch highlights some of the dangers of the enormous scope of modern criminal law.
Trump Plans to Ban Bump Stocks by Administrative Fiat
Since the accessories are legal, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is helping the president rewrite the law.
Trump is no Deregulator on Immigration
My new Penn Regulatory Review article explains why widespread claims that Trump is a deregulator are undermined by his immigration policies, which include increases in regulation that outweigh reductions he may have achieved elsewhere.
Does Jury Nullification Undermine the Rule of Law?
In theory, yes. But not in the world we actually live in, where law enforcement is already rife with numerous discretionary decisions made unavoidable by the fact that we have far too many laws.
