Jan

30

Cockfighting, Congress, and Interstate Commerce

Posted by: | January 30, 2012 | 1 Comment

Some convicted defendants in South Carolina are crying foul at the application of the federal Animal Welfare Act to criminally punish the promotion of cockfighting. The statute is said to be based in the power of Congress, found in article I, section 8 of the Constitution, to “regulate commerce . . . among the several [...]

Print Friendly

Jan

16

John Paul Stevens’ Restraint

Posted by: | January 16, 2012 | 1 Comment

After he retired in 2010, John Paul Stevens published Five Chiefs: A Supreme Court Memoir.  After a brief description of the first twelve Chief Justices of the United States Supreme Court, from John Jay through Harlan Fiske Stone, he describes in more detail the last five with whom he was professionally acquainted.  Stevens clerked for [...]

Print Friendly

Jan

15

A Second Look at the Sharia Law Amendment

Posted by: | January 15, 2012 | 1 Comment

Last week, the Tenth Circuit issued a decision on Oklahoma’s “Sharia Law Amendment.” A quick summary for those who haven’t followed: In 2010, Oklahoma voters approved a ballot initiative that amended their state’s constitution to prohibit Oklahoma courts from “considering or using” either “international law” or “Sharia Law” in making judicial decisions. A district court [...]

Print Friendly

Dec

16

New Database Creates Time-Series Plots of Phrases in U.S. Supreme Court Opinions

Posted by: | December 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment

Emory and Michigan State Law Schools have teamed up to create a free database that allows you to search for a term or phrase in U.S. Supreme Court opinions (1791-2005) and automatically generate a time-series frequency chart of the phrase’s appearance.

Print Friendly

Dec

8

Why the Permit Policies in the U.S. Capitol Are Irrelevant

Posted by: | December 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment

Confusion continues over the new Department of Administration rules announced December 1 which require advance permits for many demonstrations held within the Wisconsin State Capitol. Among the more controversial aspects of the policy are its applicability to small groups of protestors and the discretion granted to the State Capitol police to require permit seekers to [...]

Print Friendly

Dec

3

What Price Protest?

Posted by: | December 3, 2011 | 4 Comments

On December 1, the Wisconsin Department of Administration released new rules governing access to state facilities, including the State Capitol, for protests, rallies, demonstrations and any other “gathering of four or more people for the purpose of actively promoting any cause.” You may read the entire policy here. The most controversial aspects of the new [...]

Print Friendly

Nov

28

New Affirmative Action Cases

Posted by: | November 28, 2011 | 2 Comments

[Editor's Note: This month, faculty members are posting on upcoming judicial decisions of particular interest. This is the second post in the series.] It seems almost certain that the Supreme Court will again take up the issue of affirmative action in higher education, as two highly controversial cases separately make their way up the appellate ladder. On two [...]

Print Friendly

Nov

13

The Original Intent of the Recall Power

Posted by: | November 13, 2011 | 1 Comment

Some opponents of the effort to recall Governor Scott Walker have claimed that the recall provisions of the Wisconsin State Constitution are intended solely to permit the recall of elected officials when they have engaged in criminal or grossly unethical conduct. The latest example of this claim can be seen in the column by Jonathan [...]

Print Friendly

Nov

4

Fleeting Indecencies and Enduring Constitutional Doctrine

Posted by: | November 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment

[Editor's Note: This month, faculty members will discuss upcoming judicial decisions of particular interest. This is the first post in the series.] On June 27, 2011, near the end of its October 2010 Term, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari review in FCC v. Fox Television Stations, a case arising in 2010 out the Second [...]

Print Friendly

Nov

1

Orcas and the Thirteenth Amendment

Posted by: | November 1, 2011 | Leave a Comment

This last week, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California alleging that SeaWorld’s captivity and exploitation of five wild-captured orcas, or so-called killer whales, amounts to slavery and involuntary servitude in violation of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  The nominal plaintiffs are the orcas themselves—Tilikum, [...]

Print Friendly

Oct

10

The Extrajudicial Killing of Anwar al-Awlaki

Posted by: | October 10, 2011 | 1 Comment

On Friday, September 30, 2011, Anwar al-Awlaki (Aulaqi), a U.S. citizen and well-known al-Qaeda figure, was targeted and killed during a U.S. drone strike in Yemen. Samir Khan, also a U.S. citizen, was killed in the same attack. Khan was the editor of Inspire, an English-Language al-Qaeda magazine that, among other things, publishes how-to articles [...]

Print Friendly

Oct

8

Not a Pretty Picture: Potential Challenges to Wisconsin’s Voter ID Law

Posted by: | October 8, 2011 | 6 Comments

In August 2011, The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin publicly announced its intention to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new Wisconsin Voter ID law. While no complaint has been filed as of date, and it is undoubtedly foolish predict the likelihood of success of any lawsuit without first reading the complaint, [...]

Print Friendly

keep looking »