The Supreme Court issued decisions today in the pending issues in Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson and United States v. Texas. As anticipated in the earlier column, the Supreme Court did not grant an injunction and dismissed the Biden Administration’s lawsuit. The Court again rejected the notion of enjoining the judge and clerk but it did identify some private parties who can be sued as part of a pre-enforcement action. That represents a partial victory for pro-choice litigants, but the Court returned to a single track for its abortion review. That track originates in Mississippi, not Texas. Dobbs will remain the key decision on reproductive rights and is likely to answer many of the questions in the ongoing Texas litigation. Continue reading “Supreme Court Rejects Injunction of Texas Abortion Law But Allows the Challenge to Proceed in Lower Court”
This week, New York became the latest city to grant voting rights to non-residents – a move that could give voting rights to 800,000 non-citizens in city elections. There are roughly a dozen such cities granting voting rights across the country but there are major questions over the legality of this measure in New York. Continue reading “Is New York’s Voting Rights For Non-Citizens Legal?”
Below is my column in The Hill on the Smollett trial and his strategy of jury nullification. The jury is now out but we will learn soon if the nullification arguments worked with all or some of the jurors. The question is whether jurors will show greater circumspection and responsibility than some political or media figures.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Jussie Smollett’s Final Act: How a Hate Crime Hoax became a Pitch for Jury Nullification”
We have repeatedly addressed how social media companies now openly engage in censorship of political and social viewpoints. The latest example is from the company TikTok which reportedly censored a video from the Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) group supporting Kyle Rittenhouse. The video discusses the effort of Arizona State University (ASU) students to ban Rittenhouse from campus. TikTok then banned the pro-Rittenhouse statement from its platform, an act that should be offensive to anyone who supports the values of free speech. Continue reading “TikTok Reportedly Censors Pro-Rittenhouse Video as “Hate Speech””
Many of us were watching the oral argument in Carson v. Makin over the exclusion of certain religious schools from the state subsidies in Maine. A majority of conservative justices seemed to be leaning toward supporting the challengers in demanding that the state remain strictly neutral in such tuition programs. However, the moment that most struck me was an exchange between Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and Maine Chief Deputy Attorney General Christopher Taub where Taub appeared to acknowledge that legislatures have every right to ban critical race theory (CRT) from being taught. It is a legislative movement that is opposed by teacher unions and many Democrats. Continue reading “The Argument in Carson v. Makin Unexpectedly Turns To Critical Race Theory”
A U.S. district court in Georgia became the fourth court to enjoin a Biden Administration vaccine mandate this week. As with the other trial and appellate courts, District Judge R. Stan Baker found that President Biden has exceeded his authority in mandating the vaccine for all federal contractors. In the meantime, outgoing New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio has ordered all private workers to be vaccinated. All of these mandates are on course for a showdown in the Supreme Court where three justices have already expressed skepticism over the mandates. Continue reading “Is The “Workaround” Working? Fourth Court Enjoins Biden Vaccine Mandate”
One of the free speech issues that we have previously discussed is whether universities are effectively curtailing free speech through student surrogates on campus. We have seen student government bodies and boards engage in blatant content-based discrimination in exercising their control over budgets or publications (here and here and here). The latest example comes from Stanford University where the student government voted against approving a $6,000 grant request from the College Republicans to help host former Vice President Mike Pence for a campus speech. That’s right, they voted against supporting the right of other students to hear from a former Vice President of the United States. Continue reading “Stanford Student Government Blocks Funding For Pence Speech”
Below is my column in The Hill on the rise in crime, particularly “smash and grab” operations. This weekend, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was hit by business groups for denying that there is a rise in such crime. Absent such denials, however, the cause of the rise in crime remains a matter of fierce debate. The White House and others have reached for a familiar culprit: the Pandemic. Call it the Loki Effect.
Here is the column: Continue reading “The Loki Effect: How Crime Became the Latest Crisis Blamed on the Pandemic”
Below is a version of my column in The Hill on the statement of Justice Sonya Sotomayor on the “stench” of politics in the oral argument in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a challenge to the Mississippi abortion law. The statement seemed directed at Sotomayor’s three new colleagues and the effort to use the new court composition to seek the reduction or overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Court on a Hot Tin Roof: Airing Out “the Stench” from the Oral Argument Over Abortion”
There is a new free speech case filed against a university this month. A former Illinois State University (ISU) assistant football coach, Kurt Beathard, has sued IS head coach and the school’s former athletic director. Both are being sued in their official capacities for Beathard’s termination after he removed a Black Lives Matter poster from his door and replaced it with poster that read, “All Lives Matter to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” The case raises significant free speech issues and could result in an important ruling under the First Amendment. Continue reading “Former ISU Football Coach Sues After Being Allegedly Fired Over the Replacement of a BLM Poster on his Door”
The firestorm over Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s question on adoption during Wednesday’s oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization continues to rage in the media. For example, in the New York Times, Democratic strategist Elizabeth Spiers wrote a piece that paraphrased the question as “Why was abortion necessary, when women who do not want to be mothers can simply give their babies up for adoption?” That is not what Barrett was asking in the oral argument but it did not matter to the New York Times any more than it mattered to the Washington Post to run a clearly erroneous column on originalist support for abortion. Continue reading “Barrett’s Adoption Question Causes Ongoing Firestorm in the Media”
The parents of Ethan Crumbley, 15, were arrested in Detroit after allegedly hiding out in a warehouse as police searched for them. Both James and Jennifer Crumbley face involuntary manslaughter charges. The police are suggesting that they were assisted in their alleged flight and may charge third parties. There was a $10,000 reward posted for their arrests. The question now is whether the involuntary manslaughter charges will survive challenges at the trial or appellate levels. Continue reading “The Crumbleys Captured in Detroit But Will the Involuntary Manslaughter Charges Succeed?”
If you thought that Smollett case could not get more bizarre, think again. CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller is reporting that defense attorney Tamara Walker had a sidebar conversation with attorneys from both sides and Cook County Judge James Linn. She reportedly accused Judge Linn of some improper comment and then said that he lunged at her in the courtroom. She was crying during the sidebar. Another Smollett attorney accused Linn of snarling and making faces during the trial. In thirty years of practice as a criminal defense attorney, I have never heard of such allegations in a criminal trial.
Recently, I noted the curious scene of actor Alec Baldwin insisting with reporters that he has been given clear legal instructions not to discuss the shooting of Halyna Hutchins at the set of the movie “Rust” . . . and then making detailed statements about the shooting. Now, with an ongoing criminal investigation and various civil lawsuits expected to be filed, Baldwin has given a detailed statement to ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, including a surprising claim that he never pointed the gun or pulled the trigger. That interview may be one of his most watched scenes, particularly if he is charged criminally or sued civilly.[Update: Santa Fe’s Democrat D.A. Mary Carmack-Altwies has stated that it is possible that Baldwin didn’t pull the trigger on the gun].
Continue reading “The Gun Did It? Baldwin Denies Pulling The Trigger in Fatal “Rust” Shooting”
In the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, proceedings were disrupted by what Judge Bruce Schroeder considered a major breach of security after NBC was found to be following the van of jurors. Given the threats in the case and the concern over jury intimidation, Schroeder was irate. In response, NBC released a statement that some of us found vague and misleading. Now a police video at the scene with NBC freelancer James Morrison confirms that the statement was intentionally misleading on the critical question of whether Morrison was ordered to follow jurors. Continue reading ““We Were Just Trying to … Find Any Leads about the Case”: A Police Video Raises New Questions About NBC’s Rittenhouse Statement”