Category: Constitutional Law

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Media, Religion

Englishman Arrested After Posting Anti-Muslim Views On Twitter

Police have arrested a British man, Matthew Doyle, for “suspicion of inciting racial hatred on social media.” Doyle was arrested after posting tweets in the aftermath of the Brussels attacks. He described how he confronted a Muslim woman in south London and asked her to explain the Brussels attack. After she said, understandably, that she had nothing to do with the attacks, Doyle said she had given “a mealy mouthed response” and later used an anti-Muslim epithet.

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Academia, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Politics, Society

Emory To Identify Those Who Chalked Support For Trump On Sidewalks and Walls

495px-Donald_Trump_by_Gage_Skidmore220px-Emory_University_SealWe have been discussing how colleges and universities are expanding the range of micro aggressions and hostile or hate speech to troubling levels in terms of free speech and associational rights. Now the expression of political views in the presidential election has been added to speech that students have declared threatening. Someone at Emory chalked the name of Republican candidate Donald Trump around campus. Nothing unusual about that. Students often chalk up statements on sidewalks for causes or candidates. It would not be seen as in any way unusual and the next rain brings a clean slate. However, the statement of support for Trump has led to a protest calling for the supporter to be punished or expelled and for the President to express condemnation of such political affiliations. The students want a statement of support for Trump to be treated as the same as the writing of a swastika. The students have said that they feel threatened in the wake of the statements of political support for Trump.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Society

Seventh Circuit Reverses Forfeiture Of $271,000 Seized From Brothers Who Were Never Charged With A Crime

200px-Diane_Wood_in_2008.JPGThe United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has issued an unanimous opinion overturning a district court that had forfeited $271,080 in cash seized by the federal government, even though owners brothers, Pedro and Abraham Cruz-Hernandez, were never criminally charged. Pedro and Abraham contested the forfeiture under 18 U.S.C. § 983(a) and submitted affidavits attesting that the money is their joint savings. The entire panel rejected the decision of United States District Judge Joan B. Gottschall to uphold the abusive forfeiture. Judge Diane Wood (left) wrote the opinion below for the Court. I wrote a column on the increasing use of our roads by police to mine for cash and property to seize from vehicles. We have also discussed this trend in various blog columns.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law

“I’m A Drunk”: Florida Supreme Court Rules That Drunk Juror Was Entitled To Counsel In Contempt Proceeding

Florida_Supreme_Court_Seal_2014There is an interesting ruling out of the Florida Supreme Court where a trial court’s order of contempt was overturned due to the failure of the trial court to afford a lawyer for potential juror Noel Plank. He was held in contempt for allegedly appearing at court drunk. The exchange with the Court is detailed in the opinion, which reaches an interesting distinction between direct and non-direct criminal contempt.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Media, Politics, Society

Where Have All The Birthers Gone? Cruz Is Running

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor.

Ted_Cruz,_official_portrait,_113th_CongressI guess I will defer to Pete Seeger’s lyrical talent to explain through verse the disappearance of our friends pejoratively referred to as “birthers”: that is, those who assert President Obama was born in Kenya and as such is ineligible for office due to not being a “natural born citizen” as required by the US Constitution.

Now that Mr. Obama is in the final year of his presidency, one would think that Birthers would be legions to storm forward and attack presidential hopeful Ted Cruz, who by his own admission and clearly established facts, was–are you ready for this–born outside the USA!

It begs of course the question…Where have all the Birthers gone?
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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Society

Chicago Bans Smokeless Tobacco At Sporting Events In Latest Curtailment of Consumer Choices

b12cf6cf345d7eda55583551f549b7a2I have long been a critic of legislation that forces citizens to make healthy choices in their eating or drinking or lifestyle, including the “Big Gulp” laws like those in New York City. Once politicians start to dictate health choices, we have seen the desire to become insatiable as more and more “bad choices” are banned. One such example occurred in my home city, Chicago, when the city council banned smokeless tobacco (as well as raised Chicago’s smoking age from 18 to 21). While the age change will create the anomaly of having 18 year olds subject to the draft in war but not able to choose to smoke, it is the smokeless tobacco that is the most problematic element. There is no second-hand chew health problem for other people as there is for smoking. This is merely an effort to force people to make the choices that the government deems health or correct.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

“Democracy, Freedom, and the Rule of Law Have Absolutely No Value Any Longer”: Turkish President Seeks To Declare Journalists and Others “Terrorists” Under Proposed Law

220px-Recep_Tayyip_ErdoganTurkey continues its plunge into authoritarianism under President Tayyip Erdogan. So as to leave no doubt about his tyrannical aspirations, our close ally Erdogan is seeking to change the definition of a terrorist to include anyone he deems to be “supporters” of opponents or listed groups, including members of parliament, civil liberties activists and of course journalists. In in a televised speech this week he declared “democracy,, freedom, and the rule of law have absolutely no value any longer.”
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Columns, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Society

The Garland Nomination: The Unstoppable Force Meets The Unmovable Object

Merrick_GarlandBelow is my column in USA Today on the Garland nomination. I have said previously that I believe that the Senate should give the nominee a hearing and a vote. However, there is nothing in the Constitution that requires (or would compel) such action. Of course, if a Senate prolongs non-consideration, a president can use a recess appointment to temporarily fill the slot (assuming the Senate does not stay in pro forma session to bar such a manuever).

Here is the column:

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Environment, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

PRESIDENT OBAMA NOMINATES MERRICK GARLAND

Merrick_GarlandPresident Barack Obama today surprised many by nominating the moderate Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Merrick Garland. Garland is unlikely to thrill liberals. He is fairly conservative on criminal cases and tends to favor government interests. Conservatives are not going to like his vote to move to reconsider the case that became the historic Heller decision that recognized the individual right to bear arms under the Second Amendment. However, Garland moves virtually everything off the table for the Republicans. While a moderate, he is as far right as a Democratic president could go.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Media, Politics, Society, Testimony

TURLEY TESTIFIES ON THE CHEVRON DOCTRINE IN HOUSE HEARING

800px-Capitol_Building_Full_ViewI will be testifying Tuesday afternoon before the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law of the Committee on the Judiciary
in the United States House of Representatives. The hearing is entitled “The Chevron Doctrine: Constitutional and Statutory Questions in Judicial Deference to Agencies”. The hearing will be held in Room 2141 (Rayburn House Office Building) and begin at 1:30 PM. My written testimony is below

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering, Politics, Society

Conservative Group Targets Judge Jane Kelly In Attack Ad For Serving As Criminal Defense Counsel In Notorious Case

As discussed earlier in my Washington Post column, various names have been floating around town of possible nominees to replace the late Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. One of those names is Jane Kelly, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The conservative Judicial Crisis Network has not waited for the nomination and is already running an attack ad targeting Kelly. The ad is deeply troubling because it seeks to bar Kelly’s nomination because she zealously defended a child molester, Casey Frederiksen. The ad seeks to punish an attorney for performing her duty as a criminal defense counsel — suggesting that no attorney should defend those accused of such heinous crimes. While we celebrate the courage of presidents like John Adams (who represented the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre), there is a rising tide of intolerance for those who step forward to fulfill the guarantees of due process and the right to counsel under our Constitution. The attack ad is the judicial version of Willie Horton ad used against Michael Dukakis by President George H. W. Bush.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Lawyering, Society

North Carolina Man Given New Trial After Attorney and Former Legislator Slept Through Trial

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Nikita “Nick” Mackey (left), an attorney and former house representative from North Carolina, has secured a new trial for his client Nicholas Ragin, but not exactly as he had hoped. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has tossed out Ragin’s conviction because Mackey slept through parts of his trial while serving as his defense attorney. However, Ragin spent 10 years on a 30 year conviction for conspiracy and racketeering.

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Academia, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Society

Harvard Task Force Discusses Possible Ban On Students Joining All-Male Clubs or Associations

Harvard-seal-3There is a controversy surrounding a suggestion that appeared as part of a sexual assault study conduct by a Harvard task force that would bar students from joining its all-male final clubs. Such exclusive clubs are denounced as perpetuating a “harmful sexual culture.” Notably, these are private all-male organizations with no relationship with the university but the task force suggests that it could dictate such associations for its students. The report focuses on all-male rather than all-female clubs. These clubs are characterized as having “men in positions of power engaging with women on unequal and too often on very sexual terms.” While it is not clear what support this “idea” for possible action has garnered at the school, conservative publications have said that there have already been threats about disciplinary actions for students associating with such clubs. It is important to note that this does not appear to be the thrust of the report (which is linked below), which suggests a wide range of remedial and preventive measures. The main concern is an appendix associated with the task force, available here. One of the ideas is “Either don’t allow simultaneous membership in Final Clubs and College enrollment; or allow Clubs to transition to all-gender inclusion with equal gender membership and leadership.”

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

Clinton Declares That She Will Never Be Indicted And Insists That Her “Predecessors Did The Same Thing” On Emails

Hillary_Clinton_Testimony_to_House_Select_Committee_on_BenghaziI watched last night’s debate with great interest. I thought both Sanders and Clinton had some very strong moments. However, I tend to watch these debates for the legal issues and I was most struck by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s discussion of the email scandal. First, she declared that she will never be indicted — a statement that may irritate federal investigations looking into possible crimes. She certainly has defenses and the odds may indeed favor her. However, defense attorneys usually discourage such statements from potential targets which can enrage prosecutors as presumptuous or suggesting some level of immunity. Second, she insisted that her “predecessors did the same thing” that she did on emails — a statement that is demonstrably untrue but again was left unchallenged by the journalists.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Turkish Government Takes Over Critical Newspaper And Then Immediately Issues Pro-Government Edition

220px-Recep_Tayyip_ErdoganZaman_Front_PageThe rapid decline of civil liberties under the authoritarianism of Turkish president. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been a regular point of discussion on this blog. He has been gradually arresting or threatening the dwindling number of independent journalists in Turkey and this prosecution may succeed in forcing the remaining reporters into silence or living in exile. The latest victim of his abusive rule is Turkey’s largest-circulation newspaper which was seized by the government. The newspaper, Zaman, was one of the most read sources of criticism of Erdogan and this government. The government has now silenced that voice and taken over the newspaper. The very next issue under government control was a markedly pro-government publication.

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