I have previously criticized Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for her continued political comments in speeches to liberal and academic groups. While not unique on the Court, Ginsburg is something of recidivist in abandoning the long-standing avoidance of political discussions by justices. Despite repeated controversies in speaking publicly on political issues, Ginsburg is clearly undeterred. Ginsburg was back this week holding forth on political issues that justices have historically avoided in maintain the integrity of the Court. As in her 2017 speech, Ginsburg again repeated her view that sexist voters prevented Hillary Clinton from being elected president.
Continue reading “Ginsburg (Again) Holds Forth On Politics, Hillary Clinton, and Sexism”
Recently, the 
Below is my column on the ongoing controversy over the majority and minority memos from the House Intelligence Committee. 
President Donald Trump’s successful career on reality television has been much discussed during his presidency. The controversial inclusion of Omarosa Manigault Newman on his staff was a reminder of that history. Newman was fired on The Apprentice but later became a supporter of Trump for president. She was then made the director of communications for the 
The University of Washington has been sued by the schools College Republicans after it demanded the payment of $17,000 in security fees for the planned speech of Oregon activist Joey Gibson of the Patriot Prayer group. The lawsuit raises an important free speech question in whether schools can effectively bar conservative speakers by insisting that free speech is not free in a financial sense. The imposition of prohibitive costs on groups like the College Republicans is facially neutral but potentially discriminatory in practice based on the content of speech. It also creates a system that indirectly supports “the heckler’s veto.”
Pakistan continues to show the world that it remains on the course of Islamic extremism and increasingly intolerant of free exercise and free speech. Now the Pakistani government is warning media not to cover the increasingly popular Valentine’s Day celebrations. Islamic clerics have declared the Western holiday to be an offense to Islam. None of these clerics or government officials appear concerned that there is a far greater danger to Islam if it is threatened by people wanting to exchange Valentines or throwing parties.
The Philippines is viewed as having 
I have previously criticized the President for his use of Twitter to attack those conducting the Russian investigation and various critics. Many of these tweets are in my view clearly inappropriate and distinctly unhelpful to his legal team. Indeed, today the Hill posted 
According to Stanford University students, one of these flyers is a public service and one is hate speech. There is a controversy at Stanford University reported by College Fix over the distribution of the flyer on the right — a satirical jab at posters encouraging students and faculty to report any ICE activity. It is clearly satirical and political, but some Stanford students declared it to be hate speech and filed complaints with the university that they now felt unsafe and threatened on campus. The flyers were removed by residential staff. 
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the controversy over the four-page memo continues to simmer in Washington. The memo will not change the course of the Mueller investigation. It may lead however to new investigations. Indeed, 
We recently discussed the arrest of a 
I will be discussing the memo today 
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the move by the House Intelligence Committee to release the four-page memo on alleged FBI abuse. The FBI has objected that “omissions” have made the memo “inaccurate.” However, that does not sound like a classification defense. Indeed, a long-standing objection is that the intelligence agencies classify material that is embarrassing or damaging to the agency politically. Since the memo reportedly deals with the use of the dossier for a FISA warrant, it would seem possible to draft a memo that did not compromise methods and sources. We will soon likely know, according to reports that President Donald Trump has reviewed the document and decided to release it. He is ultimately the final word on classification status in the Executive Branch.
We 