Do Voter ID Laws Undermine the Democratic Process or Ensure Trustworthy Elections?

Do voter identification laws ensure secure and trustworthy elections, or are they a way for political parties to manipulate the democratic process in their favor?  At a September 8 debate in New York City hosted by the Soho Forum, Eliza Sweren-Becker from New York University's Brennan Center for Justice argued that state legislators are using arbitrary...

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Certain Documents Unsealed in Nunes v. Lizza

I wrote last month that I had moved to intervene and unseal certain documents in Nunes v. Lizza; though plaintiffs didn't consent to the lawsuit, they ended up not opposing, and the court yesterday agreed to release largely unredacted versions of the documents. (I had no objection to the redaction of the names of employees and possible journalistic...

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Paycheck Protection Program Exclusion of Nude Dancing Establishments Likely Constitutional

From Camelot Banquet Rooms, Inc. v. U.S. SBA, decided Wednesday by the Seventh Circuit, in a per curiam opinion by Judges Michael Kanne, Ilana Rovner & David Hamilton: Plaintiffs in this case are about fifty businesses all over the country that offer live adult entertainment in the form of nude or nearly nude dancing. They seek to obtain loans...

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They Came to the U.S. Legally as Children. At 21, They Face Deportation.

Padma Danturty has been a legal resident of the U.S. since she was 8 months old. Had she come to the country illegally, her future here would likely be more secure. That's because the 18-year-old does not qualify for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, the Obama-era policy that protects individuals from deportation if they came...

1h

White House Offers Clemency for Drug Offenders on Home Confinement, but Advocates Say Plan Will Still Send Thousands Back to Prison

President Joe Biden's White House has started sending out clemency applications to thousands of federal drug offenders currently on home confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Politico reported on Monday, but criminal justice advocates say the plan would still send thousands of offenders back to prison after they started putting their lives together...

2h

Court Says COVID-19 Can No Longer Justify Immediate Expulsion of Migrant Families

"The Court is not convinced that the transmission of COVID-19 during border processing cannot be significantly mitigated." The Biden administration can't keep expelling migrant families under the banner of pandemic precaution, a federal court says. On Thursday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia struck down the administration's interpretation...

3h

Fixing America's Poorly Functioning Public School Systems Might Require a Bulldozer

Do you ever get the sense that fixing our nation's ill-functioning public-education system is like trying to retrofit a belching, century-old coal-fired power plant into a modern, clean-energy facility? Moving forward sometimes starts with a bulldozer—and the realization that one occasionally needs to start from scratch. I've been writing about education reform...

4h

Justice Clarence Thomas: 2021 Tocqueville Lecture, Transcribed

On Thursday, Justice Thomas delivered the 2021 Tocqueville Lecture at Notre Dame University. I've used Otter to transcribed the lecture here. There are many gems during the lecture, and the Q&A session. Here I'll highlight one question about how he handles cases in which his legal views and policy views diverge. Thomas approaches the question...

4h

Review: The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Gene Scott was my kind of televangelist. Whenever I was in LA in the 1980s I'd flick on his late-night talkfest (just him, talking) in whatever hotel room I happened to be staying and drink in his act—the carefully tended white hair, the fuming cigars, and the parade of eccentric hats (jaunty straw Panamas, jungle-ready pith helmets, salty captain's...

5h

Today in Supreme Court History: September 17, 1787

9/17/1787: The Constitution is signed. The Constitution Happy Constitution Day!

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