Opinions from authors on legal topics
Newly confirmed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued her first Supreme Court opinion this week, a brief dissent in support of an Ohio death row inmate. In a two-page order, she disagreed with the full Court’s decision not to take up an appeal brought by Davel Chinn, who shot and killed a man during an attempted [...]
This has to be the single most brilliant opinion I’ve ever read. Judge Jeffrey Sutton proceeds to eviscerate the Memphis Police Department and a district court judge who has annoyed me (in fairness, judges probably annoy every lawyer when they rule against that lawyer – it doesn’t mean that the judge is [...]
Guest post by Elaine Sylvester 12 people were killed when a gunman entered a theater in Aurora, Colorado, and proceeded to open fire on the captive audience. Like many news-hungry Americans, I spent a sizable percentage of the days after combing the Internet for insight into the cruelties that we witnessed from afar. And [...]
Guest Post By Ann Marie Hopwood On July 12, 2012, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals summarily denied Blue Shield of California’s request for rehearing and rehearing en banc for the decision made in Harlick v. Blue Shield of California. In the decision made on June 4, 2012, the Ninth Circuit withdrew its prior [...]
On Wednesday, former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement will take the lecturn at the Supreme Court to once again argue a vexing issue of the day. This time around he will be defending Arizona's immigration policy. By now, people are probably wondering how Mr. Clement ends up arguing so many cases before the Court. Well, [...]
I have noticed a trend in the media, on Facebook, and during face-to-face confrontations. When people have genuine discourse about the issues of the day, the argument inevitably turns into what I call the argument by lowest common denominator: where people attack others rather than their ideas. I have seen more of this of late, usually between media bloggers, [...]
When people have their first children, they tend to remember the big things, like first steps, words, bumps on the head. Me, I tend to remember the little things. My son, Mark, usually has two standard emotions. When well fed, rested and receiving attention, he is generally a happy kid. When hungry, tired, or sick of [...]
The word tolerance gets thrown around a lot in the media and in every day conversation. But I've noticed that few people, and especially those with set political beliefs, actually understand what the word means in practice. Conor Friedersdorf at The Atlantic has a great piece, entitled A Real Commitment to Minority Rights Needs a [...]
Same-sex marriage promises to be an enormously divisive issue in this election year. No current candidate stands for gay marriage: President Obama advocates civil unions and Congressman Ron Paul says that the issue should be left to the states. Yet, several candidates are vehemently opposed to same-sex marriage. One of them is Rick Santorum. Now, [...]