We bid adieu today to our terrific January bloggers, Professor Judi McMullen, Professor Michael Ariens ’82, and Matthew Fernholz ’10. Featured in February will be Professor Nadelle Grossman, Anthony Murdock ’06, and Ashanti Cook ’12.
I have a column on Citizens United in the Crossroads section in yesterday’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Taking the other side, Noah Domnitz wants to argue the the decision was “judicial activism” because it overruled existing precedent and restricted the application of long standing laws prohibiting the spending of corporate treasury money on elections. (I say “restricted” because, after Citizens United, corporations still can’t use treasury funds for contributions or coordinated expenditures.)
I disagree. Mr. Domnitz does not define “judicial activism” but seems to equate it with departure from precedent and overturning laws.
This oversimplifies the concept.
The pregnancy rate among teenage girls is on the rise in the United States, according to a new study released by the Guttmacher Institute (a nonpartisan, nonprofit group). The study examined the most recent statistical data available, and concluded that the pregnancy rate among teenagers aged 15-19 rose three percent in 2006. It had been previously reported that the teenage birthrate was up in 2006, but there was speculation that this might simply mean that more girls carried their pregnancies to term rather than seeking abortions. The Guttmacher study is especially noteworthy, because it looked at data for both teenage birthrates and rates of abortion: since the teenage birthrate increased four percent in 2006 and the teenage abortion rate increased one percent in 2006, it does show an overall rise in teenage pregnancies.