This morning will be the new House of Representative’s much-ballyhooed ceremonial reading of the Constitution. While some are trying to attack this new ritual as a waste of $1.1 million, I tend to agree with the idea that the money… Continue Reading
Constitutional law geeks like me, especially here in the Ninth Circuit, had a big day today. First, the Ninth Circuit gave a clear, if judiciously-worded, opinion — when the government posts big crosses, for whatever reason, that conveys a message… Continue Reading
This Saturday, it became legal to operate a vehicle equipped with a “video event recorder.” These have already been in use in some police vehicles, and are expected to be adopted first by public transportation agencies, and then gradually by… Continue Reading
Here were my predictions for 2010, and here’s how they did: Jon Huntsman will resign as ambassador to China and begin to lay the groundwork for a Presidential bid in 2012. Has not happened. In retrospect, I failed to credit… Continue Reading
You would think that I would applaud the reading the Constitution in order to open a session of Congress. But I’m not doing that. I used to be a Roman Catholic. Part of the Roman Catholic Mass involves collective recital… Continue Reading
General Motors has, after its traumatic financial reorganization, reduced its branding from eight or nine different brand names to four. One of its brands, GMC, is reserved for trucks, so it has only three levels of branding available for its… Continue Reading
Take two hypothetical people. And when I say “people,” what I really mean is “taxpayers.” Let’s call these folks “Attorney Alice” and “Minister Mike.” Attorney Alice works for the law firm of Nasty, Poor, Brutish & Short LLP, which pays… Continue Reading
Original intent is not a great primary approach to Constitutional interpretation. When you have a Justice of the Supreme Court seriously arguing that the Framers somehow didn’t mean it when they amended the Constitution to guarantee individual rights and therefore… Continue Reading
U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson of the Eastern District of Virginia has found that the “individual mandate” portion of the healthcare reform act is unconstitutional. His is sure to not be the last word on this issue. What makes… Continue Reading
I’ve tried, something like twelve times tonight, to load up and watch the oral arguments in Perry v. Schwarzenegger. I’ve been mostly frustrated. I half-listened to the arguments about standing at work, and they affirmed what I already thought —… Continue Reading