Biden Campaigned on Ending the Death Penalty. His Justice Department Wants To Execute the Boston Marathon Bomber Anyway.
A new brief asks the Supreme Court to reinstate Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death sentence.
Supreme Court
When Is a Civil Forfeiture Based on Drug Offenses Excessive? Always.
The question of proportionality assumes that punishment is appropriate for peaceful conduct that violates no one's rights.
Why Didn't Justice Kagan Join Justice Sotomayor's Opinion Respecting Certiorari in National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System?
Many were surprised that the K-named Justice joining Justice Sotomayor was Justice Kavanaugh instead of Kagan.
Indiana Said the Government Should Be Able To Take Everything You Own if You Commit a Drug Crime. The State Supreme Court Wasn't Having It.
After eight years, Tyson Timbs finally gets to keep his Land Rover—once and for all.
Gorsuch Pushes Stronger Fourth Amendment Protections
Can a cop enter a suspect's home without a warrant if they're in pursuit and have probable cause to believe the suspect has committed a misdemeanor?
Here's Why California's 'Assault Weapon' Ban Is Unconstitutional
Such laws arbitrarily prohibit rifles that are commonly used for legal purposes.
The Trouble With 'Common Good Originalism'
A new conservative faction embraces "authoritative rule for the common good."
Sherif Girgis on the Supreme Court's Options in the Next Abortion Case
There are "Two Obstacles to (Merely) Chipping Away at Roe in Dobbs," he writes
Clarence Thomas Declares War on Big Tech
Like a number of other modern conservatives, Thomas seems to think that Twitter and other tech companies are effectively censoring right-of-center views.
This Week's Podcasts
Discussions of this week's decisions in Cooley and Van Buren, and the Warren Court case of Katzenbach v. Morgan
Supreme Court Places Limits on What Actions Violate Federal Hacking Law
Prosecutors like to use the law against people who clearly weren't engaged in hacking. The Court is trying to rein them in.
Public University Threatens To Monitor and Punish Off-Campus Student Behavior
Doing the wrong thing at an off-campus party could lead to on-campus consequences.
10 Cops Got Qualified Immunity After Holding a Shackled Man Facedown Until He Died
The Supreme Court will soon announce if it'll consider an appeal.
The Fear That Abolishing Qualified Immunity Would Expose Cops to Ruinous Personal Liability Is a Big Fat Red Herring
A study of civil rights cases found that "police officers are virtually always indemnified" by their employers.
Do Anti-BDS Laws Restrict Speech?
The line between commercial decisions and advocacy is not as clear as opponents of anti-Israel boycotts suggest.
Federal Cops Attacked a 70-Year-Old Vietnam Veteran and Then Avoided Accountability in Court
The Supreme Court declines to hear arguments in Oliva v. Nivar.
A City Got Protections From Qualified Immunity After a Cop Killed a Man. SCOTUS Won't Hear the Case.
The decision will make it even more difficult for victims to hold the government accountable when their rights are violated.
A Euclid Cop Killed a Man Who Had Been Sleeping in His Car. The Cop Can't Be Sued. The City Can't Be, Either.
The Supreme Court has a chance to fix this. The stakes are high.
Will Pro-Life Politicians Face a Backlash If the Supreme Court Lets Them Restrict Abortion?
National surveys obscure large regional variations in public opinion about abortion limits.
My New "Divided Argument" Podcast
An unscheduled, unpredictable Supreme Court podcast with Dan Epps
Get a Warrant, Supreme Court Tells Cops Who Seized Guns From Home Without Due Process
Plus: On SATs and bias, what changed when Texas lifted its mask mandate, and more...
Supreme Court Won't Make Ban on Non-Unanimous Jury Convictions Retroactive
Bad news for hundreds of imprisoned defendants in Louisiana and Oregon
Americans Don't Want Schools To Punish Off-Campus Speech
Only students support extending the power to penalize speech, raising concerns about what they’re learning in school.
My New "Dissenting Opinions" Podcast
some heterodox views about Supreme Court opinions, and more
A Supreme Court Decision That Did Lasting Damage to the 4th Amendment
How pretextual traffic stops got the judicial stamp of approval.
A Potential Way Forward for Nondelegation Concerns
Focusing on time and the "nondelegation baseline" would be one way to constrain excessive delegation.
Does This Elderly Veteran Have Any Recourse Against the Federal Cops Who Brutally Assaulted Him?
SCOTUS will soon decide whether to hear José Oliva’s argument that he should be allowed to sue V.A. officers for violating his Fourth Amendment rights.
Pressuring Justice Breyer to Retire
More and more progressive commentators want to see a Supreme Court vacancy this year.
SCOTUS Hears a Crack Sentencing Case That Shows How the Drug War Piles One Cruel Absurdity on Top of Another
Tarahrick Terry was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison after he was caught with less than four grams.
Cops Who Killed a Man While Holding Him in a Hog-Tie Position Got Qualified Immunity. The Appeals Court Wasn't Having It.
Up for debate was whether or not it was "clearly established" that officers cannot apply injurious force to a subject who isn't resisting.
Gorsuch and Kavanaugh Butt Heads in Major Immigration Case
“Our only job today, is to give the law’s terms their ordinary meanings and, in that small way, ensure that the federal government does not exceed its statutory license.”
"The Right to Bear Arms" by Stephen Halbrook: Book Review
A book that may may help decide the Supreme Court's upcoming right to carry case.
This School Punished a Cheerleader for an Off-Campus Snapchat. Does That Violate the First Amendment?
The Supreme Court weighs the power of school officials to punish students for off-campus speech.
Immigrant Seeking to Challenge Removal Prevails with Unusual Supreme Court Line-up
The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in Niz-Chavez v. Garland is not what you might have expected, but it may be a sign of things to come.
SCOTUS Will Decide Whether the Right To Bear Arms Extends Beyond Your Doorstep
New York, like several other states, limits public carrying of handguns to the favored few.
Supreme Court Refuses to Intervene in "Public Charge" Case -- For Now
The Biden Administration's effort to moot challenges to the Trump Administration's "public charge" rule scores an initial (yet potentially temporary) victory.
SCOTUS Just Agreed To Hear a Major New Second Amendment Case
The Supreme Court will hear arguments next term in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Corlett.
Warrantless Border Searches Draw Call for Supreme Court Action
The feds say they can paw through your phone and laptop any time you enter or leave the country.
Supreme Court Addresses Life Sentences for Juveniles and Exhaustion for Social Security Claimants' Appointment Clause Challenges
SCOTUS released three decisions this morning, as we await big decisions concerning religious liberty, the Affordable Care Act, and some meaty administrative law questions.
Can Cops Pull You Over for Hanging an Air Freshener From Your Rearview Mirror? You'd Better Check.
Bans on dangling objects are just one example of the myriad petty rules that give police the power to stop nearly any driver at will.
The Government Seized This Innocent Man's Car Without Due Process. SCOTUS Won't Hear the Case.
"How can an ordinary person afford to wait years after the government takes their car?"
Is Stephen Breyer About To Retire? His Clerk-Hiring Spree Suggests Otherwise.
Progressive activists are pushing the 82-year-old justice to step down.
Congressional Democrats Want To Vote Themselves Into a Supreme Court Majority
Plus: U.S. will finally withdraw troops from Afghanistan, Mastercard caves to religious groups on porn, and more...
Prohibited Prayer and the Limits of Public Health Authority
The Supreme Court reaffirms that COVID-19 regulations must comply with the First Amendment.
Supreme Court Blocks California's COVID-19 Restrictions on Private Prayer Groups
The majority reminds the 9th Circuit that the First Amendment puts limits on COVID-19 policies.
Lessons of the Legal and Political Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage
Drawn from William Eskridge and Christopher Riano's comprehensive new book on the subject.
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.”
Biden Releases Names of Members of His Supreme Court Commission [Updated]
It's a genuinely bipartisan and cross-ideological group. And one that isn't good news for advocates of court-packing.
