Via Volokh, an interesting case (pdf) from Texas involving the exorcism of demons from a teenage girl: On Friday evening, before her parents left town, Laura [Schubert, a 17-year-old congregant,] attended a youth group activity at Pleasant Glade in preparation for a garage sale the next day. The atmosphere during this event became spiritually charged after one of the youth … Read More
More On Heller: Scalia vs. Stevens
Prof. Sandy Levinson compares the majority opinion of Scalia with the dissent by Stevens: I confess that I am equally dismayed by the Scalia and Stevens opinions (though, if absolutely forced to choose, I’d go with the Scalia opinion). One of the most remarkable features of Justice Scalia’s majority opinion (joined, of course, by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Thomas, … Read More
Heller Decision In
5-4 in favor of individual gun rights, meaning that you can own a gun for self-defense and hunting (rather than for being in the militia, which arugably is what the Second Amendment says). Justice Scalia wrote the opinion, joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito. Justice Breyer dissented, joined by Justices Stevens, Souter, and Ginsburg; there’s … Read More
Heller Today?
UPDATE, BREAKING NEW (11:30 a.m.): Although not related to the gun issue below, the Supreme Court just ruled that it is "cruel and unusual punishment" to give the death penalty to a man who raped an 8 year old. It was a 5-4 decision, but I don’t know the breakdown. Interestingly, victims’ rights groups didn’t want the death penalty for … Read More
Gitmo Detainees Have Habeus Rights
OK. Permit me to get all law geeky, but this is big legal news. Well, it’s big news for anyone who believes in our Constitution, really. Aned a big blow to the Bush Administration. About an hour ago, the Supreme Court ruled that foreign nationals held at Guantanamo Bay have a right to pursue habeas challenges to their detention. What … Read More
If The Framers Of The Constitution Read This….
…they would never stop throwing up. I’m talking about this: For at least 16 months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001, the Bush administration believed that the Constitution’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures on U.S. soil didn’t apply to its efforts to protect against terrorism. That view was expressed in a secret Justice Department legal memo dated … Read More
A Major Victory For The Cause Of Freedom And Democracy
Deep in the heart of Texas, and just in time for Valentine’s, a court overturns the ban on sex toys: A federal appeals court has struck down a Texas law that makes it a crime to promote or sell sex toys. "Whatever one might think or believe about the use of these devices," said an opinion written by Justice Thomas … Read More
“Reasonable Expectation Of Privacy”
So I was perusing the legal brief (pdf) that the ACLU wrote in support of Larry Craig (the Idaho senator who was caught attempting to engage in hanky-panky in a Minnesota airport restroom). And I came across this passage: Now, I happen to think that the law for which Craig stands accused is unconstitutional, at least as applied to the … Read More
Our Supreme Court
How did he get there? Justice Antonin Scalia said states have been careful to adopt procedures that do not seek to inflict pain and should not be barred from carrying out executions even if prison officials sometimes make mistakes in administering drugs. "There is no painless requirement" in the Constitution, Scalia said. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito … Read More
The Final Word On Sex Toys In Alabama
A footnote a post I wrote way back in February regarding the constitutional challenge to an Alabama law forbidding the sale of sex toys: The U.S. Supreme Court refused to take the case yesterday. So the law stands. Which means you cannot sell sex toys in Alabama. (You can use them, though).
Supreme Court Preview
This blog actually was originally an outgrowth of legal writings I did on the Supreme Court and the Constitution. I used to prepare Continuing Legal Education materials on constitutional issues, and that whetted my appetite to express my views on the Supremes and upcoming highlights in the law. Hence, this blog. Sadly, I don’t do that kind of work and … Read More
Biden Does Political Seriousness
Sen. Joe Biden, on the GOP’s successful filibuster of legislation restoring habeas corpus for enemy combatants: “As I’ve said before, the terrorists win when we abandon our civil liberties. The way we win is to show them that we can fight this war without changing our character as a nation. I hope the Senate reconsiders this issue once again.” . … Read More
Two Important Bills
I’ve sort of noticed that I’m not as political on this blog lately, and I think that is for three reasons. First of all, there’s the burnout factor. I mean, when you’ve seen all the outrages by this Adminsitration over the past several years — from Iraq to Katrina — then the smaller outrages (which would have been big ten … Read More
Padilla Verdict Announced Soon
Background: The Bush administration accused Padilla after his 2002 arrest of plotting to set off a radioactive bomb. Bush ordered him imprisoned by the military as an "enemy combatant." He languished in jail for years, without so much as a trial (or even an indictment). Amid court challenges to the president’s authority to do that, Padilla was indicted in a … Read More
Court Case Of The Day
The Ninth Circuit has held that vote-swap sites are protected by the First Amendment. What’s a vote-swap site? The Ninth Circuit explains: Appellants created two websites, voteswap2000.com and votexchange2000.com, that encouraged people to “swap” their votes and provided email-based mechanisms for doing so. The vote-swap mechanisms enabled third-party supporters in a swing state such as Florida or Ohio to agree … Read More