Nov

17

What Is a Lie and Is It Constitutionally Protected?

Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | November 17, 2009 | 6 Comments

I think that the three judge panel’s decision to recommend dismissal of ethics charges against Justice Michael Gableman is the right outcome. I doubt that we really want tribunals passing upon the truth and falsity of campaign speech – even for judges.
There were differing approaches taken by the panel judges. Judges Snyder and Deininger found [...]

Nov

9

Public Financing of Supreme Court Races: The Legislature Whacks A Mole

Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | November 9, 2009 | 1 Comment

In a forthcoming article in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, I argue ( the metaphor is not original with me) that campaign finance reform is like a game of Whac-A-Mole™ in which the moles always win.
The state legislature has passed public financing for state Supreme Court elections. I have no problem with [...]

Sep

8

Constitution Day Symposium on Judicial Elections

Posted by: Jessica E. Slavin | September 8, 2009 | 4 Comments

On Saturday, I ran a 5K in Stevens Point, in support of Justiceworks, Ltd., a nonprofit organization “dedicated to the advancement of programs and practices that secure right relationships between offenders, victims, and their communities” in Portage County.  My father lives and works in that community and asked me and my sisters to participate in [...]

Aug

13

Yankees and New York Decide to Settle First Amendment Case

Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | August 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Last month the City of New York and the New York Yankees baseball club decided to settle rather than litigate a lawsuit filed by a disgruntled fan who was ejected from a Red Sox-Yankees game in August of 2008, ostensibly for refusing to stay in his seat during the playing of God Bless America.
Had the [...]

Jul

23

More on Coulee Catholic Schools v. LIRC

Posted by: Daniel Suhr | July 23, 2009 | 3 Comments

As Professor Esenberg has just posted about, earlier this week, the Wisconsin Supreme Court handed down a very important decision, Coulee Catholic Schools v. LIRC (2009 WI 88). Although some describe the holding as “a dramatic change” in Wisconsin employment law, I think the case is more important for its constitutional discussion. On the actual question [...]

Jul

23

Coulee Catholic: Of Loopholes and Legislating

Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | July 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Wednesday, in a case called Coulee Catholic Schools v. Labor and Industry Review Commission, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the “ministerial exception” to state laws prohibiting employment discrimination applied to a teacher in a Catholic grade school. As a result, the teacher’s claim against the school for age discrimination must be dismissed.
There a few [...]

Jul

22

Sarcasm and Public Employment Don’t Mix, Part Deux

Posted by: Paul M. Secunda | July 22, 2009 | 2 Comments

Back in my previous blogging life, I wrote about a case by the 11th Circuit, Mitchell v. Hillsborough County, No. 05-12207 (11th Cir., Oct. 31, 2006), which involved a county employee who made satirical remarks about one of the country commissioners, and got fired for it.  In “Swift Would Be Ashamed” from 2006, I wrote [...]

Jun

26

“Well, a satirical piece in the Times is one thing, but bricks and baseball bats really get right to the point.”

Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | June 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment

So said Woody Allen (as Isaac Davis in Manhattan) in response to the suggestion that a Nazi march was “devastated” by a mocking piece in the New York Times.
In Sunday’s  Times, there was an article about a group calling themselves “The Nationalist Socialist Movement – Springfield Unit.”  It has been allowed to participate in Missouri’s adopt-a highway program. [...]

May

15

Empathy and Catholic Legal Theory

Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | May 15, 2009 | 1 Comment

Over at Mirror of Justice, Rob Vischer of St. Thomas wonders about the role of empathy in Catholic legal theory. After referring to Orin Kerr’s summation of different responses to legal ambiguity, Rob asks:
Wasn’t Brown v. Board of Education driven by empathy, not just the weighing of legal merits?  How about Meyer and Pierce?  Is [...]

Apr

21

A Broader Question From a Questionable Case

Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | April 21, 2009 | 2 Comments

I am not sure just what it is with the Thomas More Law Center, but since Ed Thompson left, they’ve done some strange things. First was a silly law suit challenging the TARP act because some of the recipients had shariah-compliant lending programs. Now, it has filed suit complaining that the Department of Homeland Security [...]

Feb

19

Okay, Judge, You Hit Your Number or Die in This Room*

Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | February 19, 2009 | 2 Comments

Much of the attention following yesterday’s decision in Siefert v. Alexander focuses upon the invalidation of prohibitions against judges or judicial candidates belonging to political parties and endorsing partisan candidates for office. That part of Judge Crabb’s decision seems to me, given the balance between regulatory interests and the protection of speech struck by the United States [...]

Feb

12

My Favorite Opinions, by a Former Justice

Posted by: Janine P. Geske | February 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Having served on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, I am often asked about which case was my favorite. It is always difficult to answer that question, because I liked many cases for a variety of different reasons. So I thought I would share my experience with three of them. I really enjoyed working on cases that [...]

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