Trump's L.A. National Guard Deployment Stands on Shaky Legal Ground
Plus: When Stalin Meets Star Wars.
Courts
A Prosecutor Allegedly Tried To Jail Him for Fighting Civil Forfeiture. He May Finally Get His Day in Court.
Law enforcement seized Robert Reeves' Chevrolet Camaro without charging him with a crime. After he filed a class-action lawsuit, that changed.
A Runner Was Prosecuted for Unapproved Trail Use After the Referring Agency Called It 'Overcriminalization'
The case against Michelino Sunseri exemplifies the injustice caused by the proliferation of regulatory crimes—the target of a recent presidential order.
Unanimous Supreme Court Affirms That There Is No 'Good' Discrimination
The court ruled on Thursday that a heterosexual woman shouldn't have to clear a higher bar than a gay colleague to sue for discrimination.
Overruling Trump's Tariffs Should Be an Easy Decision for SCOTUS
Plus: A love letter to the heavy metal band Slayer.
Trump's Attack on the Federalist Society Is a Bad Omen for Originalism
The MAGA loyalty that Trump demands is anathema to everything that originalism is supposed to be about.
Two Courts Have Ruled Against Trump's Tariffs—but Not for the Same Reasons
Both are wins for free trade, but only one vindicates the separation of powers.
Congress Must Vote on Tariffs
For both practical and constitutional reasons, this is the obvious way out of the chaos Trump's tariffs have created.
What J.D. Vance Gets Wrong About Judicial Deference to Executive Power
The federal courts are supposed to be a bulwark against presidential overreach, not a rubber stamp.
Tariff Legal Battle Plays Out
Plus: Javier Milei puts state-run TV to good use, Texas' THC antagonism, rent control lunacy, and more...
Did 'Activist Judges' Derail Trump's Tariffs?
No. One of the judges in Wednesday's unanimous ruling was a Trump appointee, and the ruling rested on important legal and constitutional principles.
A Federal Court Just Blocked Trump's Tariffs
The Court of International Trade ruled that Trump's emergency economic powers do not include the authority to impose tariffs on nearly all imports.
Courts Are Quietly Taking Over the Internet
The next generation of online platforms is being shaped less by engineers and entrepreneurs and more by regulators and courts—and they’re very bad at it.
The Supreme Court Said States Can't Discriminate in Alcohol Sales. They're Doing It Anyway.
Two decades after Granholm v. Heald was supposed to end protectionist shipping laws, states and lower courts continue to undermine the decision.
Cocaine Hippos, Monkey Copyrights, and a Horse Named Justice: The Debate Over Animal Personhood
Are human courts the best venue to protect wild animals?
What Kristi Noem Gets Wrong About Habeas Corpus
The legal principle safeguards civil liberties, protecting even unpopular people from the government.
Federal Court Scraps Rule That Gagged Tennessee Civil Rights Attorney From Criticizing a Private Prison
For nearly three years, Daniel Horwitz faced contempt of court for talking about a private prison that was one of his most frequent courtroom opponents.
Men Caught In Prostitution Sting Aren't Sex Traffickers, Massachusetts High Court Says
But the ruling suggests prostitution clients could be convicted of sex trafficking in other circumstances.
Since Immigration Is an 'Invasion,' a Top Trump Adviser Says, the President Might Suspend Habeas Corpus
Stephen Miller's understanding of the Constitution is dubious for several reasons.
David Souter Shaped the Supreme Court Through the Backlash He Inspired
The late justice was appointed by a Republican but quickly established himself as a judicial liberal.
Mothers Are Losing Custody Over Sketchy Drug Tests
Some hospitals are even reporting women for testing positive for drugs that were given to them during labor.
Judge Orders Tufts Grad Student Rumeysa Ozturk Be Released on Bail From Immigration Detention
Ozturk's continued detention "potentially chills the speech of the millions and millions of people in this country who are not citizens," said U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III.
'Federal Courts Have No Role To Play,' Trump Tells SCOTUS in Latest Deportation Case Filing
The Trump administration is desperate to avoid judicial review.
The IRS Says Your Digital Life Is Not Your Property
A Supreme Court case could determine whether Americans own their digital data—or whether the government can take that information without a warrant.
Immigrants and Radicals Have the Same Free Speech Rights as Everyone Else
Campus protests against Israel have revived debates over the limits of First Amendment protections.
Why the FBI Arrested Judge Hannah Dugan
The Wisconsin judge is charged with obstruction of justice and concealing an undocumented alien to prevent his arrest.
California Concealed Carry Now Available to Out-of-Staters
It’s a small step in the right direction for self-defense rights.
Trump Administration Restores Thousands of Terminated Foreign Student Visa Records
Earlier this month, 4,700 foreign students were at risk of detainment after ICE inexplicably terminated their visa records.
Justice Department Memo Claims Alien Enemies Act Allows Warrantless Home Searches and No Judicial Review
The memo says "Alien Enemies" aren't subject "to a judicial review of the removal in any court of the United States."
Could 'Princess Awesome' Defeat Trump's Tariffs?
Small businesses and a dozen states have filed a pair of lawsuits challenging Trump's authority to impose tariffs on board games, clothes, and lots of other things.
ICE Is Trying To Deport a Harvard Medical School Researcher Over Frog Embryos
An immigration judge found the official document initiating Kseniia Petrova’s deportation to be legally deficient. She remains in detention, unable to further her cancer research.
Judge Halts Federal Scrutiny of $200 Transactions
The temporary restraining order allows time to challenge burdensome reporting requirement.
Judge Says Trump Must Provide 'Notice of a Right To Seek Judicial Review' to Alien Enemies Act Deportees
A federal judge in Colorado rules against the Trump administration.
Harvard University Should Emulate Hillsdale College and Cut Ties With the Government
To remain independent, institutions of higher education should end their reliance on taxpayer money.
Harvard Sues Trump Admin
Plus: Democrats visit El Salvador, Taiwan invasion possibilities, Hayek on rule of law, and more...
6 Cases That Paved the Road to Mass Incarceration
In Justice Abandoned, a law professor argues that the Court got these key decisions wrong.
Not Guilty but Punished Anyway
Sentencing defendants based on acquitted conduct violates basic notions of justice.
Are Trump's 'Liberation Day' Tariffs Illegal?
Several businesses harmed by Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs have filed a lawsuit challenging his use of emergency economic powers.
Stephen Miller Egregiously Misrepresented a Supreme Court Order While Trump Nodded Along
No, the Supreme Court did not give Trump free rein in the case of a wrongly deported man.
Supreme Court Unanimously Orders Trump To 'Facilitate' the Return of Wrongly Deported Man
Trump lost on his most aggressive claims of executive power for the second time in a week.
John Roberts Only Postponed the Bigger Fight Over Trump's Deportations
The Supreme Court did not answer two of the biggest legal questions raised by Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act.
An Executive Power Case That Trump May Win
The Supreme Court seems likely to agree that a member of the National Labor Relations Board may be fired by the president at will.
ICE Denies Reason Access to Immigration Court In Miami Detention Center
"It appears that access to this court was improperly denied," an attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press says.
Trump's Use of the Alien Enemies Act Violates Madison's View of Presidential Power
Alleged criminal aliens may face legal punishment. But only after receiving due process of law.
What Trump Should Learn From the Impeachment of Justice Samuel Chase
Trump wants to purge the federal bench of judges who disagree with him. Thomas Jefferson did too, and it didn't work out.
Trump's Attack on the Courts Channels the Worst of Theodore Roosevelt
An unconstitutional act is still unconstitutional even if lots of people support it.
Justice Department Invokes State Secrets Privilege Over Deportation Flights
The move is an escalation of the White House's attempt to claim an unchallengeable and unreviewable amount of power.
Federal Judge Blocks Texas A&M From Banning Drag Shows
The judge ruled that Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's executive orders targeting "gender ideology" can't change the fact that drag performance is expressive conduct under the First Amendment.
