Jan

12

Tebowing and the Constitution

Posted by: | January 12, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Much has been made of Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow’s outward expressions of his Christian faith, especially his practice of kneeling in moments of prayer—“Tebowing” as it is now called—after touchdowns, some of them admittedly a bit miraculous. A recent issue of Time magazine, for example, included an article on Mr. Tebow, his faith, and the [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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Sep

25

The Supreme Court and the Fate of the Ministerial Exception

Posted by: | September 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment

In 1999, Cheryl Perich began service as a lay teacher at the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School in Redford, Michigan.  A year later, she became a “called teacher,” selected by the congregation to serve as a commissioned minister and charged with duties of a more pastoral nature, such as teaching religion classes, leading the [...]

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Jun

28

The Right to Violent Video Games

Posted by: | June 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a California law banning the sale of violent video games to children.  In Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, 564 U.S. 1 (2011), the Court held that the First Amendment right to free speech protects the video games.  As I predicted last November in a blog post on the [...]

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Mar

11

The Morning After: Lessons From the Wisconsin Budget Battle

Posted by: | March 11, 2011 | Leave a Comment

At last the end game has arrived for the budget bill, after more than three weeks of deadlock in Madison.  Indeed, it was obvious to everyone that the impasse could not persist, and that the only two options available were either a compromise (unlikely) or the eventual adoption of Governor Walker’s bill intact. Wisconsin’s largest newspaper, [...]

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Feb

22

Constitutional Rights in Action

Posted by: | February 22, 2011 | 2 Comments

All eyes are on Wisconsin these days.  Governor Scott Walker unveiled details of his budget repair bill on February 11; the bill itself is 144 pages, but provisions that immediately captured attention were those that remove the collective bargaining rights of most state and local employees.  By Monday, February 14, when the bill was introduced, [...]

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Dec

20

New Law Review Comments Cover Social Networking, Wind Farms, Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Open Records Law, and Purchase Money Security Interests

Posted by: | December 20, 2010 | 1 Comment

Now available online, the recently published student comments in the Marquette Law Review cover a wide range of topics.  They include Nathan Petrashek’s comment on the impact of online social networking on Fourth Amendment privacy.  Since social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace attract both criminals (e.g., sexual predators, identity thieves) and the police who investigate [...]

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Dec

18

Speech Rights of Public Employees: Contextualizing Garcetti

Posted by: | December 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Since its recognition of the right of public employees to speak on matters of public concern in Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563 (1968), the Supreme Court has proven less than generous in protecting that right.  Of particular importance, the Supreme Court held in Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006), that if employees [...]

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Dec

6

Most Important Election Law Decision: It’s Not Citizens United

Posted by: | December 6, 2010 | 3 Comments

In late October, I had the privilege of speaking at Chapman University’s Nexus Symposium on Citizens United – article to follow. For the four of you that haven’t heard, Citizens United held that corporations may use general treasury funds to finance independent communications that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a candidate – even during [...]

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Nov

3

What’s the Difference Between Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Postal 2?

Posted by: | November 3, 2010 | 5 Comments

The question about the difference between Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Postal 2 sounds like the set-up to a corny joke.  In fact, it was a subject discussed yesterday at the U.S. Supreme Court, where the justices heard oral argument on a first Amendment challenge to a California statute banning the sale of violent video games [...]

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