Category Archives: Law

You’ve Got it Entirely Backwards

Posted on March 7, 2013 by dedc79

Senator McCain lashed out at Senator Rand Paul for yesterday’s 13 hour filibuster: “What we saw yesterday is going to give ammunition to those critics who say that the rules of the Senate are being abused,” he said on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Law, Politics | 3 Comments

Activism on the bench in real life

Posted on February 27, 2013 by nickgb

Whenever a judge somewhere decides that the Constitution perhaps covers something that we hadn’t considered before, the right wing goes nuts over activist judges. So I would love to know how they feel about this snippet from today’s VRA argument … Continue reading →

Posted in Law, Media analysis, News and Current Events | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

Schisms

Posted on February 26, 2013 by dedc79

Look who is filing a brief with the Supreme Court in defense of gay marriage: Dozens of prominent Republicans — including top advisers to former President George W. Bush, four former governors and two members of Congress — have signed … Continue reading →

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Twirling, twirling towards freedom

Posted on February 20, 2013 by nickgb

Obviously John McCain is a crazy old man who shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a government policy, but maybe that makes him just the man for Arizona: One man yelled that only guns would discourage illegal immigration. Another man complained … Continue reading →

Posted in Immigration, Law, News and Current Events | 1 Comment

Begun, the gun wars have

Posted on February 5, 2013 by nickgb

In case you’re wondering whether the right wing was going to start losing their shit about guns…well, then you’ve already missed a couple weeks of news. But today was the opening day for the Alabama State Legislature and I thought … Continue reading →

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School’s out for 2.99 days

Posted on January 25, 2013 by nickgb

[10AM UPDATED TO INCLUDE SOME REALLY INTERESTING DETAILS ABOUT THE PEOPLE INVOLVED, AT THE BOTTOM] Recently one of my former professors wrote an opinion piece about how we should “give up on the Constitution.” I personally think that most of the … Continue reading →

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Bork’s Confirmation Hearing

Posted on December 20, 2012 by reflectionephemeral

Brad DeLong posts a lengthy excerpt from Sen. Kennedy’s questions to Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork. A tiny snippet: KENNEDY: I am just wondering if you have changed your view that the Supreme Court was wrong in the Harper case … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Law, News and Current Events | Leave a comment

Shut er down

Posted on December 14, 2012 by nickgb

I’m not going to write anything right now about the horrible incidents in Connecticut that are still coming to light. We’ll all have thoughts soon enough, but I’m waiting until we at least have some real idea what happened before … Continue reading →

Posted in Law, News and Current Events | 3 Comments

Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God

Posted on September 26, 2012 by reflectionephemeral

This happened almost a year ago, but I just found out about it so I’m posting about it now. A big 80th birthday bash happened last November: Cardinal Bernard Law was treated to a lavish birthday spread, the company of … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Law | Leave a comment

Take Their Greasy Foreign Money

Posted on August 2, 2012 by reflectionephemeral

John Sides highlights results from a recent Washington Post poll: So, two percent of Americans think that Super-PAC spending will be a positive force; but most people don’t know much about the landscape that will shape how we learn about … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012, Law, News and Current Events, Politics | Leave a comment

Is there an epidemic of flag burning going on that I’m not aware of?

Posted on July 23, 2012 by nickgb

We try to keep it fair and balanced here, but obviously we do take more shots at the GOP than our own President (we take the easy shots because we’re profoundly lazy). So, here’s another attempt at attacking our own: … Continue reading →

Posted in Law, Politics | 1 Comment

Conservative Thought Through The Years

Posted on July 19, 2012 by reflectionephemeral

Any conservative expressing the view that the political speech of corporate persons could be closely regulated would today face a deluge of outrage from all corners of movement conservatism. Once upon a time– less than 40 years ago, actually– it … Continue reading →

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Poll Tax Redux

Posted on July 11, 2012 by dedc79

The Justice Department is finally getting around to calling out GOP efforts to disenfranchise voters for what they are: Attorney General Eric Holder deviated from his prepared remarks during a speech before the NAACP on Tuesday and called voter ID … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012, Law, News and Current Events | Tagged | 2 Comments

Fallout From Yesterday’s Decision

Posted on June 29, 2012 by reflectionephemeral

Scott Lemiuex at LGM describes the dissent in yesterday’s ACA case: The argument is that the mandate and the Medicaid expansion are not valid regulations of interstate commerce, but that they are also so essential to a broader regulatory scheme … Continue reading →

Posted in Law, News and Current Events, Politics | 1 Comment

For all you Scalia lovers

Posted on June 28, 2012 by nickgb

Scalia’s primary argument against the mandate is that it is a penalty, not a tax. After all, it is called a penalty in the statutes, and it is imposed to “punish” people who act against the government’s wishes. Here’s the … Continue reading →

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Stopped At The Light And Had A Fit, ‘Cause A Mexican Almost Wrecked …

Posted on June 28, 2012 by reflectionephemeral

The other day, I pointed out that there isn’t much evidence to support Justice Scalia’s vengeful fear of marauding brown-skinned folks in Arizona. Judge Posner makes the same point: He is very concerned with the fact that the Obama administration … Continue reading →

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The Texas GOP Platform

Posted on June 27, 2012 by nickgb

Friend of the blog MW forwarded me the Texas GOP Platform today, and it is worse than I could have guessed. If you’re curious just how bad it could be, here’s a sample: Further, we urge Congress to withhold Supreme … Continue reading →

Posted in Law, News and Current Events, Politics | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

Antonin Scalia, Cafeteria Catholic

Posted on June 25, 2012 by reflectionephemeral

Here’s the position of the generally GOP-friendly US Conference of Catholic Bishops on the US v. Arizona case that was decided today: The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and several other Christian denominations filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. … Continue reading →

Posted in Law, Politics | 1 Comment