Today I have the honor of speaking to the judges and lawyers in the 2023 Ohio Judicial conference on the Supreme Court in Columbus, Ohio. I will be discussing the last year of cases and controversies for the Court, incluiding recent and upcoming decisions. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg once said that “it’s hard not to have a big year at the Supreme Court.” However, this is shaping up as another huge year for the Court. Continue reading “Turley Speaks at 2023 Ohio Judicial Conference”
I have previously written how the level of advocacy and bias has created a danger of a de facto state media in the United States. It is possible to have such a system by consent rather than coercion. Given that long concern, a letter drafted by the Biden White House Legal Counsel’s Office was striking in a call for major media to “ramp up their scrutiny” of House Republicans “for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies.” Continue reading “Marching Orders: White House Letter Tells Media To “Ramp Up Their Scrutiny” In Response to Impeachment Inquiry”
We have yet another event cancelled by students who are opposed to allowing others to hear opposing views on campus. Students at Washington College blew whistles and yelled over Princeton University Professor Robertle George to prevent him from speaking. While expressing disapproval, the College has yet to announce any disciplinary action against any student.
J.B. may be the ultimate example of the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) pledge to give up their gun when it is pried from their cold, dead hands. In the case of six-year-old J.B., his gun is his hand. J.B. this week became the latest child to be suspended for pointing a finger gun. In this case, the adults at the Bagley Elementary School in Jefferson County, Alabama believed that a finger gun violated their zero tolerance policy. We have previously discussed the lunacy of the zero tolerance policies under which teachers discipline children by exercising zero thought or judgment.
Below is my column in the Hill on release of the final report of the Special Purpose Grand Jury in Georgia. The recommendation for sweeping indictments involving 39 people, including current and former senators, only magnifies fears over political prosecutions. For many of us, the inclusion of figures like the senators reflects a rogue grand jury. However, Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Cal.) insisted that Sen. Lindsey Graham was “lucky” not to be indicted. According to Schiff, Graham calling Georgia officials about the counting or discarding of votes was enough to justify a criminal charge. Presumably, since Graham could be indicted with Trump, Schiff would also consider him eligible to be barred from ever running again for office under the 14th Amendment, as discussed below. It is the “why not” approach to criminal and constitutional law.
Here is my column:
Continue reading “The “Why Not” Culture: Why the Georgia Final Report Should Worry Us All”
To paraphrase Hamlet, there is “something rotten” in the state of Delaware. Filings in the Delaware Supreme Court this week were made public in the litigation involving Mac Isaac, the owner of the computer repair shop where Hunter Biden abandoned his now infamous laptop. Miranda Devine at the New York Post has a detailed story on the new evidence. It appears that Hunter Biden is terribly embarrassed by a laptop that may not be his and pictures that may not show him. I previously wrote how his countersuit against Isaac would go forward on this bizarre basis in claiming privacy harm. Well, Hunter’s performance has proven positively Shakespearean as he tries to maintain these conflicted legal and factual claims. Continue reading “Hunter Plays Hamlet on the Delaware: New Filings in the Laptop Litigation Take a Shakespearean Twist”
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday suspended laws that allow open and concealed carry of firearms in Albuquerque for 30 days after declaring a public health emergency. The order, in my view, is flagrantly unconstitutional under existing Second Amendment precedent. It could also be a calculated effort to evade a ruling by making the period of suspension so short that it becomes moot before any final decision is reached by a court.
Below is my column in the New York Post in response to the attack this week by Harvard Professor Laurence Tribe. I am honestly saddened by the ad hominem attacks that have become common place with many academics like Tribe. There was a time when legal disagreements could be passionate but not personal. The use of personal insults and vulgar trash talking were avoided in our profession. Now even law deans have called Supreme Court justices “hacks” to the delight of their followers. I have always said that there are good-faith arguments on both sides of the 14th Amendment theory despite my strong disagreement with the theory. The public would benefit from that debate based on precedent rather than personalities.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Ragefully Wrong: A Response to Professor Laurence Tribe”
Below is my column in The Messenger on the new ranking of colleges and universities on the protection of free speech on campuses. There are few surprises on the list with many of the most elite universities filling out the bottom of ranking as the most hostile to free expression. Harvard now holds the ignoble distinction of being the most anti-free speech university in the country. For full disclosure, George Washington University (where I teach) was again ranked “below average” on free speech, coming in at 185 out of 248.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Crimson Tide: A New Study Shows the Continued Decline of Free Speech on Campuses”
After the spectacular collapse of his sweetheart deal with the Justice Department in court, Hunter Biden’s lawyer angrily told the prosecutors in open court to “just rip it up.” It appears, however, that the defense team does not want to shred one part of the deal: the diversion agreement to avoid any charge over his false statement to obtain a gun permit. The defense is now arguing that, since the two sides signed the agreement before the implosion in court, it is final and complete. Continue reading “Will Biden Go Full Bruen? A Hunter Biden Indictment Could Bring a Surprising Challenge”
Below is my column in USA Today on adoption of some Democrats of arguments and rationales once used against the left to silence or jail them. Pundits and politicians are becoming the very thing that they have long condemned in this age of rage. It is realization of Nietzsche’s monster theory.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Fighting Monsters: How Democrats are Adopting Rationales Once Used Against the Left to Silence orJail Critics”
New Jersey’s Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy is pushing back on a plan to fly undocumented immigrants to his state, suggesting that New Jersey is now effectively off-limits to planned federal flights dropping off undocumented immigrants. It was a striking reversal for a politician who campaigned for office on the pledge that New Jersey will always be a sanctuary state. In 2017, he declared “We’ll be a sanctuary – not just city – but state.” However, it was easier to become a sanctuary state than a closed state. President Joe Biden’s authority trumps that of Murphy in the expected flights. Continue reading “Sanctuary but Unsuitable: New Jersey Governor Comes Out Against Additional Federal Flights of Undocumented Migrants”
Below is my column in The Hill on the growing list of aliases used by President Joe Biden in prior years and the unsuccessful efforts of public interest groups and Congress to gain access to the emails. There may be innocent explanations of why the President used aliases to send information to Hunter Biden. For example, one message concerning Ukraine also mentioned his plans to go to Delaware. However, in the midst of a major corruption scandal, there is an obvious reason why Congress must be able to review these emails. It will win if this goes to court but the Biden Administration is still delaying release. In the meantime, the President has established a “war room” to deal with impeachment. Yet, he can forestall any impeachment inquiry by simply releasing his financial and email records. If these records show legitimate transactions and innocent messaging, as claimed, they will exonerate the President. In other words, this is a war that can be avoided by simple transparency. Conversely, using White House staff to cover up any wrongdoing could make this situation far worse for the President.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Biden’s Use of False Names Could Cost Him”
In my torts class, I often compare the different approaches and doctrines in the United States and the United Kingdom. One of the most pronounced is the position and authority of physicians on issues like consent and malpractice. This week produced a particularly striking example. British doctors are seeking to take a 19-year-old critically ill female patient off the intensive care despite her objections and those of her parents. Unlike most such cases, the woman known only as “ST” is conscious and communicative. Yet, the doctors argue that she is not being realistic about her chances of survival from a rare disorder. Now a British court has agreed and ordered that she can be placed on end-of-life care against her will. Continue reading “British Court Rules that Competent and Conscious Patient Can Be Denied Life-Sustaining Treatment Against Her Will”
We recently discussed a federal court ruling that the Texas law requiring age verification and warning for porn sites was unconstitutional. Now, Judge Timothy Brooks in Arkansas has found that another state law imposing age verification requirements for social media violates the First Amendment. In Netchoice, LLC v. Griffin, Judge Brooks found that the law “will unnecessarily burden minors’ access to constitutionally protected speech.” Continue reading “Federal Court Strikes Down Social Media Age-Verification Law on First Amendment Grounds”