Cardozo Law professor Marci Hamilton explains how extreme religious liberty undermines the ability of the government to quarantine individuals with Ebola or other highly infectious diseases. Continue reading →
Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb comments on the new California law defining rape as the absence of affirmative consent, rather than as the presence of indicators of non-consent. Colb praises the law and addresses some of the arguments in opposition to it. Continue reading →
Posted In: Criminal Law, Education
Hofstra University law professor Joanna Grossman discusses a case in which the Nebraska Supreme Court held a five-year-old boy should keep his original surname despite petitions by each of his unmarried parents to change it. Grossman describes how the case reflects the many tensions over child naming aggravated by unwed parenting, divorce, and remarriage. Continue reading →
Posted In: Family Law
UC Davis law professor Vikram David Amar discusses a case the U.S. Supreme Court will decide this Term regarding the so-called nondelegation doctrine. Amar argues that the Court should uphold the delegation of power in this case and that related concerns about conflicts of interest and anti-competition that may arise from some delegations to market actors are better handled under a due process analysis. Continue reading →
Posted In: Constitutional Law, Government
In light of the recent passing of Ben Bradlee, former counsel to the president John W. Dean recounts his last visit with Bradlee, who was a top editor at The Washington Post during the Nixon Administration and handled the Post’s coverage of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate. Continue reading →
Posted In: Other Commentary, Politics
University of Washington law professor Anita Ramasastry comments on a smartphone app known as Good2Go, which is intended to establish affirmative consent for the purpose of sexual encounters. Ramasastry describes some of the app’s shortcomings, including its lack of specificity with regard to what is consented to and its lax information privacy policy. Continue reading →
Posted In: Consumer Law, Technology Law
Chapman University law professor Ronald Rotunda critiques the U.S. Government’s asserted power to prosecute alleged war criminal in military commissions. Continue reading →
Posted In: Constitutional Law, Military Law
Cornell University law professor Michael Dorf highlights similarities and differences between the U.S. Supreme Court’s inaction during the Civil Rights Era and presently, with regard to the issue of same-sex marriage. Continue reading →
How the Supreme Court’s Inaction on Same-Sex Marriage Echoes Its Conduct in the Civil Rights Era [ 9:55 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (205)Posted In: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law
Cardozo law professor Marci Hamilton describes and praises Washington State’s solution to nullify the discriminatory effect of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.. Continue reading →
Posted In: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Speech and Religion
Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses a case the U.S. Supreme Court will decide this Term regarding the meaning of the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause. Colb argues that the Court may properly see fit to revisit its current approach to hearsay and the Confrontation Clause. Continue reading →
Posted In: Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure
Hofstra University law professor Joanna Grossman discusses a recent ruling by the Tennessee Supreme Court obfuscating, rather than clarifying, that state’s laws on surrogacy agreements. Continue reading →
Posted In: Family Law, Reproductive Law
Cardozo Law professor Marci Hamilton discusses the implications of a child (Malala Yousafzai) and an advocate of child protection (Kailash Satyarthi) winning the Nobel Peace Prize this year. Continue reading →
Posted In: Civil Rights, Human Rights, Other Commentary
U.C. Davis law professors Vikram David Amar and Alan E. Brownstein discuss a case the U.S. Supreme Court that will be argued in the coming months, which presents the issue how courts should define “true threats” that fall outside First Amendment protection and thus are subject to punishment. Continue reading →
Posted In: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Speech and Religion
George Washington law professor and economist Neil Buchanan explains how the Ebola crisis highlights the dangerous consequences of demonizing the government. Continue reading →
Posted In: Politics, Tax and Economics
Cornell University law professor Michael Dorf discusses the constitutional basis for, and limitations on, the quarantine of individuals for public health purposes, such as to prevent the spread of Ebola. Continue reading →
Containing Ebola: Quarantine and the Constitution [ 9:29 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (245)Posted In: Constitutional Law, Health Law
Chapman University law professor Ronald Rotunda critically discusses civil forteiture laws in Philadelphia, which he argues are unnecessarily harsh and extend beyond their intended purposes. Continue reading →
Posted In: Criminal Law, Law Enforcement
Former counsel to the president John Dean favorably reviews Erwin Chemerinsky’s new book The Case Against the U.S. Supreme Court. Dean praises Chemerinsky for expressing thoughtful and well-founded criticism in a way that few others have done. Continue reading →
Posted In: Book Reviews, Constitutional Law, Courts and Procedure
Cardozo Law professor Marci Hamilton discusses a case for which the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week, in which a Muslim inmate in an Arkansas prison is arguing for the right under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) to have a beard, despite the prison’s rule prohibiting beards. Continue reading →
Posted In: Speech and Religion
Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb explains why an animal rights advocate might choose to protest the Jewish Kaporos ritual and the relative merits of such a position. Colb argues that despite the potential for facilitating hypocrisy or anti-semitism, there are a few potential saving graces for campaigns against the ritual. Continue reading →
Posted In: Other Commentary, Philosophy and Ethics
Hofstra University law professor Joanna Grossman and Stanford University law professor Lawrence Friedman comment on a recent decision by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals striking down that state’s law against “improper photography.” Grossman and Friedman describe other similar laws in other states and discuss the challenges legislatures have faced in crafting such laws to include highly inappropriate violations of privacy without running afoul of the First Amendment. Continue reading →
Posted In: Constitutional Law, Privacy
