How the GOP’s ever-growing split will affect the ideological makeup of SCOTUS.
Law and Justice
Are Gun Control Laws Constitutional?
A brief history of states’ rights, the Supreme Court and the origins of “the right to bear arms.”
Woody Allen, Incest and the Failures of Family Law
Woody Allen’s marriage to Soon-Yi Previn wasn’t just scandalous — it should have been illegal. And that’s just one example.
Has Justice Kennedy Left the Conservative Movement?
If so, we might have Sonia Sotomayor to thank.
After Orlando, the Road to Equality Just Got Longer
The shootings in Orlando and debates over transgender bathroom access show that marriage is only the beginning in the push for full equality.
Re-Imagining Criminal Justice
I met recently with a nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce prison usage in the United States. After our meeting, I tried to come up with a list of ideas and policies that I think should have wider circulation amongst the body politic that would help to promote a deep re-thinking of mass incarceration. I… Read more »
Ending Judicial Truthiness on Immigration
When the Supreme Court considers what it hears this week in United States v. Texas – the Republican lawsuit challenging the Obama administration’s immigration initiatives – the justices should start by getting the basic facts right, which is something that both the administration’s political opponents and lower court judges have scrupulously failed to do. While… Read more »
On the Crime Bill, Liberals are Eating Their Own
The 1994 crime bill is back at the center of the Democratic presidential debate. This is largely, if not solely, the result of Black Lives Matter protesters interrupting a speech last week by the man who signed it, Bill Clinton, and Clinton’s vigorous and detailed attempt to address their shouted complaints. Fact-checking sites are now… Read more »
Think and Act Locally When It Comes to Criminal Justice
I’m glad to see this coverage in the New York Times today acknowledging that the federal government isn’t the main event when it comes to mass incarceration, an idea to which I have long subscribed. I’ve actually been planning a longer post about this, focusing on the ways in which criminal legal scholarship is disproportionately… Read more »
The Constitution as a Code of Honor
It would probably delight the late Justice Antonin Scalia to know that the fight over his successor was generating constitutional controversy. Indeed, like many controversies that Justice Scalia fueled, this one concerns not only the implications of particular clauses, but the very nature of constitutional law. In nominating Judge Merrick B. Garland to succeed Justice… Read more »
