Congress, Constitutional Law, Politics, Supreme Court

Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Effort to Block Access of Congress to Records

As some of us predicted earlier, the Supreme Court rejected the executive privilege claims of former President Donald Trump in his effort to block the release of his administration’s records to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot in the Capitol. The decision was, in my view, the correct one and garnered a near unanimous vote from the Court. Despite the steady attack on the Court as partisan and hopelessly divided, the Court once again spoke through its decisions. As in prior decisions, the three Trump appointees voted against his arguments in support the right of Congress to gain access to the records.

Continue reading “Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Effort to Block Access of Congress to Records” →

Media, Supreme Court

“It is False”: Justices Sotomayor and Gorsuch Disclaim NPR Mask Story

Supreme Court justices Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor issued a rare joint public statement Wednesday to disclaim the bombshell NPR report by Legal Affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg on the unpopularity of Gorsuch among his colleagues and his alleged refusal to wear a mask despite a threat to the health of Sotomayor. The justices stated that Totenberg’s account on the mask controversy was false. It is unclear what sources Totenberg relied upon for the report, which went viral on liberal media sites. (For full disclosure, I testified before the Senate in support of Gorsuch’s confirmation). Continue reading ““It is False”: Justices Sotomayor and Gorsuch Disclaim NPR Mask Story” →

Courts, Media, Torts

Second Circuit Refutes Allegations Involving Law Clerk in Mediaite, Above the Law, and Other Publications

On October 5, 2021, the site Above the Law ran a story by Senior editor Kathryn Rubino about what she described as a vehemently racist law student who was given a prestigious clerkship by William H. Pryor Jr., chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Above the Law has a long history of attacking conservatives, free speech advocates, and others deemed right of center. This story (which appeared earlier on sites like Mediaite) was perfect from that perspective and lit up the liberal media. That included a column by Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus asking “Why is a prominent federal judge hiring a law clerk who said she hates Black people?” The problem is that the Second Circuit found little evidence that it is true. The question is whether the accused student, Crystal Clanton, will now sue ATL, Mediaite, and other media outlets for defamation.

Continue reading “Second Circuit Refutes Allegations Involving Law Clerk in Mediaite, Above the Law, and Other Publications” →

Free Speech, Media

Teaching Censorship: National Education Association Called On Social Media Companies to Silence its Critics

A letter has surfaced from the National Education Association (NEA) that raises disturbing questions over the organization pushing social media companies to censor critics. The advocacy of the three-million-member organization for censorship is a chilling position for any group representing educators. It seems that nothing says “excellence in public education” like private censorship. Continue reading “Teaching Censorship: National Education Association Called On Social Media Companies to Silence its Critics” →

Academia, Free Speech

“Potential and Real Harm”: Emory Law SBA Refuses Recognition of Free Speech Group

We recently discussed the controversy at Emory Law Journal over the decision to withdraw an offer of publication for an article after a law professor refused to make substantial changes to content discussing race issues that the editors found “hurtful and unnecessarily divisive.” Now the school is embroiled in another free speech controversy after the Student Bar Association (SBA) denied recognition for a free speech group in part out of concern over the “potential and real harm that could result from these discussions[.]”

Continue reading ““Potential and Real Harm”: Emory Law SBA Refuses Recognition of Free Speech Group” →

Constitutional Law, Politics

A New Fight in the Old Dominion: Youngkin and the School Districts Set for Face Off on Masks

There is a new fight brewing in the Old Dominion over mandates.  Like other parents in Fairfax, we were informed this weekend by the School District that it will not be complying with the order of Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin to lift all mask mandates for schools. The school districts are relying on a bill, Senate Bill 1303, that was approved and signed into law last year. However, the bill does not mandate masks per se and this issue will quickly move to the courts for a face off on masks. Youngkin, however, may be stymied by a single line inserted by Democrats into a state law last year.

Continue reading “A New Fight in the Old Dominion: Youngkin and the School Districts Set for Face Off on Masks” →

Columns, Congress, Politics

The”Myth of Bipartisanship”: Kyrsten Sinema Becomes The Latest Victim of Rage Politics

Below is my column in the Hill on the Democratic members and groups attacking Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) after she repeated her support for the filibuster rule. The reaction to her floor speech reveals the depth of the addiction to rage in our body politic.  It is the same license that we saw this weekend in Florida when Florida agriculture commissioner and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried compared the support of Gov. Ron DeSantis to the rise of “Hitler.” It is not enough to disagree. You have to compare your opponent to a genocidal murderer. It seems that we cannot discuss even agriculture policies without raising Anschluss in the age of rage.  Many of us criticized former President Trump for his personal attacks and attacks on the press, but many of those same voices are now denouncing others, like Sinema, as enemies of democracy and the people. Sinema is a case study in rage politics.

Here is the column:

Continue reading “The”Myth of Bipartisanship”: Kyrsten Sinema Becomes The Latest Victim of Rage Politics” →

Congress, Politics

Welcome to the Improv: Insurers Balk at New Biden Mandate

After the Supreme Court delivered a major blow to his pandemic policies, President Joe Biden does not seem done with federal mandates. The new rule, which took effect this weekend, requires insurance companies to cover the costs of in-home tests. However, according to the New York Times, many insurers are balking that the mandate asks the impractical in the short term and will only create months of frustration for citizens. Indeed, one executive said it would send companies back to the old “shoe box days.”

Continue reading “Welcome to the Improv: Insurers Balk at New Biden Mandate” →

Academia, Bizarre

“Stay the f**k away from me”: Professor Placed On Leave After Calling Students “Vectors of Disease” and Promising Random Grading

Professor Barry Mehler at Ferris State University in Michigan clearly does not want to return to in-person classes. Appearing in a video with a space helmet, Mehler went full Howard Beale in a video in which he called his students “vectors of disease” and tells them to “stay the f**k away from me.” While many have declared Mehler completely insane, his video may be as clever as a covid-phobic fox. Let me explain.

Continue reading ““Stay the f**k away from me”: Professor Placed On Leave After Calling Students “Vectors of Disease” and Promising Random Grading” →

Bizarre, Criminal law

Retail Therapy Gone Bad: Michigan Woman Sentenced For Trying To Hire Killer on “RentAHitman.com”

Wendy Lynn Wein pleaded guilty on Friday to trying to hire a hitman to kill her husband last year through what turned out to be a fake murder-for-hire website. (Monroe County Jail)

With the pandemic, most people are shopping online and there are growing accounts of “doom shopping” dangers for many who are becoming heavily indebted through retail therapy.  Wendy Lynn Wein’s retail therapy, however, involved shopping for someone to kill her ex-husband. She found a convenient site called “RentAHitman.com” without realizing that it was a fake operation. The site owner turned her into the police and she has now been given a 7 to 20-year prison sentence. Continue reading “Retail Therapy Gone Bad: Michigan Woman Sentenced For Trying To Hire Killer on “RentAHitman.com”” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law

The Oath Keepers: What the Indictment Says and Does Not Say About the January 6 Riot

The indictment of eleven individuals associated with the “Oath Keepers” produced an immediate deluge of the postings that an insurrection had finally been established on the January 6th attack at the Capitol. The charges do not establish an insurrection. It does reveal how extremist groups show the protest as an opportunity and hoped that it might trigger greater unrest. However, the indictment does not offer the long-sought proof of an insurrection to fulfill the narrative of many commentators and politicians. While I would not be surprised by additional charges against other co-conspirators and more details could emerge, the indictment does not support the prior allegations of a coordination or collusion with the Trump campaign. Here is a first take on what the indictment says and does not say.

Continue reading “The Oath Keepers: What the Indictment Says and Does Not Say About the January 6 Riot” →

Media, Politics

“We’re Breaking Her, Keep Going”: ACLU Strategist Issues Chilling Tweet Against Sinema

While President Joe Biden has portrayed anyone supporting the filibuster as a virtual confederate sympathizer and Bull Connor wannabe, the attacks did not sway senators like Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. who defiantly went to the floor to deliver a speech calling for the end of the politics of division. She, and her colleague Sen. Joe Machin, D-W.V., stood firm in support of the filibuster. The response from the commentators on the left was pure unadulterated rage. Many like MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell cruelly mocked her for appearing emotional. However, one of most chilling attacks came from a reported staff member at the ACLU, Sarah Michelsen, who encouraged people to keep up the pressure to “break” Sinema. The senator has been continually harassed by activists, who even followed her into a bathroom to berate her.

Continue reading ““We’re Breaking Her, Keep Going”: ACLU Strategist Issues Chilling Tweet Against Sinema” →

Columns, Constitutional Law

Produce over Politics: Whole Foods Fights for Right to Bar Political Advocacy in Workplace

Below is my column in The Hill on the NLRB complaint against Whole Foods to force the company to allow workers to wear Black Lives Matter masks. The decision could have sweeping implications for business with uniform policies or bans on political advocacy in the workplace.

Here is the column: Continue reading “Produce over Politics: Whole Foods Fights for Right to Bar Political Advocacy in Workplace” →

Academia, Free Speech

UW Professor Triggers Free Speech Fight Over “Indigenous Land Acknowledgement”

There is a major fight unfolding over free speech and academic freedom at the University of Washington where computer science Professor Stuart Reges has been ordered to remove a statement from his syllabus. After the university encouraged faculty to add a prewritten “Indigenous land acknowledgement” statement to their syllabi, Reges decided to write his own statement. He has now been told that, while the university statement is optional, his statement is unacceptable because it questions the indigenous land claim of the Coast Salish people. Continue reading “UW Professor Triggers Free Speech Fight Over “Indigenous Land Acknowledgement”” →

Criminal law, Society, Torts

Royally Eschewed: Court Rejects Prince Andrew’s Motion to Dismiss Giuffre Lawsuit
Florida Southern District Court

Prince Andrew lost a major ruling in his litigation with Virginia Giuffre (née Roberts), who claims that the Duke of York sexually assaulted her as part of the sex trafficking crimes of the late Jeffrey Epstein. In his 46-page decision, Judge Lewis A Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York adopted an extremely narrow reading of the settlement and eschewed the defense arguments on threshold barriers to any lawsuit. Kaplan declared the “defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint or for a more definite statement is denied in all respects.” Continue reading “Royally Eschewed: Court Rejects Prince Andrew’s Motion to Dismiss Giuffre Lawsuit” →

Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks