Category: Constitutional Law

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics

Merkel Backs Crackdown on Free Speech On Social Media Sites

Angela MerkelGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel long ago established herself as a menace to free speech, particularly in her decision to first apologize to authoritarian Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for a satirical poem and then approve the prosecution of the comedian is a shocking and chilling disgrace. Now, she is throwing her support behind a crackdown on “hate speech” on social media like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube — radically expanding the already broad scope of government regulation of speech.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Lawyering, Politics, Society

Trump Is Legally Correct: Ethics Rules Do Not Apply To Him

495px-Donald_Trump_by_Gage_SkidmoreDonald Trump is under fire for saying this week that he is not legally bound to avoid conflicts of interest because such ethical standards do not apply to him. Various commentators objected but Trump insisted “The law’s totally on my side, the president can’t have a conflict of interest.” Trump is legally correct. There is a public disclosure rule that applies but not a binding conflict of interest law. The federal law exempts not just the President but also the Vice President.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Media, Politics

Pardon Me? Obama Wrongly States That He Cannot Pardon Edward Snowdon

PresObama220px-edward_snowden-2There was an interesting recent interview of President Barack Obama by the German media giant Der Spiegel. In the interview, President Obama insisted that he could not pardon Edward Snowden as a matter of constitutional law. He is manifestly wrong. While the President may not want to pardon someone who deeply embarrassed him and his Administration, he is entirely capable of pardoning Snowden who is widely viewed as a whistleblower.

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Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media, Politics

Rutgers University Lecturer Arrested and Forced Into Psychiatric Evaluation After Violent Tweet

cbvr3hqi_400x400There is an interesting controversy out of New York where Rutgers University lecturer Kevin Allred who was arrested and sent to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation for what he and his supporters say were political speech about the Second Amendment. In a tweet, Allred wrote “Will the 2nd amendment be as cool when i buy a gun and start shooting at random white people or no…?” The answer appears to be no.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Politics

Grubhub CEO Issues Email Warning Employees That Trump Rhetoric or Support Would Not Be Tolerated

grubhub_corporate_logo_from_s-1_6_dated_april_2_2014The CEO and co-Founder of Grubhub Matt Maloney has added his voice to the rising anger over the election. The question is whether he went too far in a recent email to all of employees at the food delivery service that some interpreted as meaning that they should resign if they agree with Trump’s campaign statements or positions. He states “I absolutely reject the nationalist, anti-immigrant and hateful politics of Donald Trump and will work to shield our community from this movement as best as I can.” Maloney’s response is why so many Trump voters kept their views secret, including from pollsters. There is a palpable and rising backlash against tens of millions of citizens who exercised their votes in electing Trump. I heard today from a GW student who said that she has been treated as a pariah by other students who were once her friends. However, this backlash is far more serious when coming from the head of a large company in the imposition of what is effectively a political litmus test. The question is where is the outrage? Remember the hue and cry over the owners of the Chick-fil-A chain? That was triggered by a controversial interview given by Chick-Fil-A president Dan Cathy. Yet, when another company actually threatens to fire anyone who agrees with Trump, there is relatively little response.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Media, Politics, Society

DONALD TRUMP WINS THE PRESIDENCY IN HISTORIC VICTORY

donald_trump_august_19_2015_croppedIt appears that that “basket of deplorables” was a bit larger than Hillary Clinton expected. I was up to 4 am at Fox participating in the coverage of the election from New York. This was my fourth such presidential election as part a media team and it was fascinating to watch unfold at the campaign headquarters at Fox. History will judge the decisions of Democrats leaders in this election.  As I have previously written, many in the Democratic National Committee and establishment (including allies in the media) did everything they could to engineer the election of Hillary Clinton. While they had an extremely popular candidate in Bernie Sanders as well as Vice President Joe Biden, they insisted on advancing Clinton despite her being deeply disliked and the ultimate symbol of the establishment that the public was rallying against. As the close race indicated, the selection of a Sanders or Biden might have produced a sweep of both the White House and the Senate for the Democrats. We will never know of course but what is clear is that Clinton was the least likely candidate to prevail in this environment. Democratic leaders lost possible control of both the Senate and the White House by forcing voters to vote for someone with record negatives. Voters were clear that they did not want Clinton, but the Democrats assumed that the “lesser of two evils” approach would again prevail. They were wrong. Many people voted for third party candidates and many people on the fence refused to pick the candidate most associated with the establishment and the status quo. I expect that history will judge the work of figures like Debbie Wasserman-Shultz and Donna Brazile harshly in the roles that they played and more generally in the failure of Democratic leaders to heed the clear demand from voters for a change in leadership.  Hillary Clinton was a talented and historic nominee. However, she was also the very symbol of the establishment and heavily laden with the type of associations that the public was clearly reacting against.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Media, Politics

President Obama Triggers Election Eve Controversy With Interview That Suggests “Undocumented Citizens” Can Vote

unknown-1One of the controversies that has been raging in this election is the allegation of Republicans, including Donald Trump, that illegal immigrants have been voting around the country. An interview with Hispanic activist group “Mitú” has now magnified this controversy after President Barack Obama appeared to say that non-citizens could vote and that there is no way that they would be investigated. Fox News’ Neil Cavuto and dozens of sites cried foul at what they saw as an explicit encouragement of such voting.  The statement came in an interview with Mitú’s Gina Rodriguez who asked the President is “undocumented citizens” are at risk if they vote. The President assured them that they have nothing to fear. It is a extremely poorly crafted question from what appears an amateur interviewer. I do not believe that President Obama was trying to encourage illegal voting but both the question and answer left many incensed.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Politics, Society

Same-Sex Couples Seek Fees and Costs For Suing County Clerk Kim Davis

150903-kim-davis-mug-535p_83260bf402e446e833c206a6bde84a21-nbcnews-ux-2880-1000-768x524Four same sex couples are seeking more than $233,058 in legal costs from Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Rowan County last year. The demand raises some interesting questions over the right to recover fees and costs in such a case.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Society

Posner: Supreme Court Is “Awful” and Only A Couple Of Justices Are “Qualified”

Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner is triggering a minor dust up over comments made at a bookstore appearance highlighting a new Posner biography written by William Domnarski. Posner blasted the current members of the Court as unqualified and the Court itself as “awful” in terms of the low quality of its work.
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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Religion, Society

Prominent Jordanian Writer Murdered Outside of Blasphemy Trial

nahed_hattarimage001-e1471193063971We previously discussed the ridiculous case of prominent Jordanian writer, Nahed Hattar, 56, who was charged with blasphemy for merely sharing this cartoon. The charge was a disgrace for a nation that long prided itself on being a moderate Arab nation. It is increasingly succumbing to extreme Islamic voices and the charges against this writer were a worrisome development. Now he is dead. A man dressed in traditional Islamic garb shot and killed Hattar as he walked outside of the court in Amman.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International

English Government Seeks Passage of “Alan Turing Law” To Posthumously Pardon Thousands of Homosexuals Prosecuted For Their Sexual Orientation

alan_turing_aged_16The English government has taken steps to address a long-standing injustice common to both Great Britain and the United States: the conviction of thousands of citizens for being homosexuals. The new law of posthumous pardons is appropriately named the “Alan Turing law” after the genius who helped break the German code in World War II only to be hounded in peacetime by his country for his sexual orientation.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Politics

Trump Calls For Congressional Term Limits

800px-Capitol_Building_Full_ViewRepublican presidential nominee Donald Trump called this week for term limits for congressional members as part of his pledge “to drain the swamp.” He would limit members of the House of Representatives to a maximum of six years and limit Senators to 12 years in office. I have long opposed such term limits as curtailing the power of voters to choose their own leaders while undermining the effectiveness of Congress, particularly in the House.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Media

CNN: It Is Illegal For Voters To Possess Wikileaks Material

2000px-flag_of_minnesota-svg_-10-e1476639955707There was an interesting segment on CNN last week where CNN anchor Chris Cuomo reminds viewers for it is illegal for them to “possess” Wikileaks material and that, as a result, they will have to rely on the media to tell them what is in these documents. The legal assertion is dubious, but the political implications are even more concerning. Polls show that many voters view the media as biased and this is a particularly strong view among supporters of Donald Trump who view CNN and other networks openly supporting Clinton or attacking Trump. More importantly, the mainstream media has reported relatively little from the Wikileaks material and has not delved deeply into their implications, including embarrassing emails showing reporters coordinating with the Clinton campaign and supposedly “neutral” media figures like Donna Brazile, formerly with CNN, allegedly slipping advance question material to Hillary Clinton. The credibility of the media is at an all-time low and most voters hardly feel comfortable with this material being reported second-hand or interpreted by the mainstream media. So is it really illegal for voters to have this material?

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Academia, Constitutional Law, Courts, International, Media, Politics, Society

Turkish Government Raids Judiciary, Arrests 189 Judges And Prosecutors

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor.

220px-Erdogan_croppedYesterday, police in Turkey served arrest warrants on one hundred, eighty nine appeals court judges and prosecutors in the latest post-coup attempt purges. Since the July, 15th military coup, seeking the ouster of dictator Recep Erdogan, thirty-two thousand individuals are currently in jail and over one hundred thousand were sacked from their jobs under the questionable accusation of aiding dissident Fethullah Gulen.

Ankara’s chief prosecutor attacked the judiciary, members of the justice ministry, the Court of Cassation (Turkey’s top appellate court), and the Council of State (the highest administrative court).

The purges are part of seemingly never ending act of paranoia by a dictator bent on returning Turkey to authoritarianism.
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Animals, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Religion, Society

Federal Judge Lifts Injunction To Allow The Twirling and Killing Of Chickens To Take Away Sins During Yom Kippur

200px-kapparot_lithographyThere is an interesting ruling in Los Angeles where United States Judge Andre Birotte Jr. has lifted a temporary restraining order against a California synagogue performing Kapparot, a ritual where chickens are twirled in the air and then slaughtered. We previously discussed the controversies surrounding the Yom Kippur ritual.

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