Trial by agency
The case of the Sweet Cakes bakers in Oregon who were ordered to pay $135,000 damages for not baking a cake for a gay wedding, and to also submit to a gag order, seemed unusually Draconian to me. I hadn’t … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Law
Mayor Rawlings-Blake of Baltimore reacts to rising murder rates there…
…by firing the police chief: Rawlings-Blake said her motivation for replacing Batts was a spike in murders during the past month and not a police union report criticizing her and Batts for the April riots after Freddie Gray was fatally … Continue reading →
Psychopaths who murder their parents
Now, there’s a pleasant subject, you might say (sarcastically, I hope). But I take the topic up as a public service. Let me explain how I came to research this. Sometimes when I’m working, either on the blog or around … Continue reading →
HUD’s heavy hand
The Obama administration is going forward with its plan to engineer local neighborhoods through the executive branch. I wrote about this before at some length, here. It’s a policy that would be highly unlikely to pass Congress, so it’s being … Continue reading →
Right-to-die bill stalled in California
Religious opposition has blocked the advancement of a right-to-die bill in the very liberal state of California—at least for now: The authors of the right-to-die bill did not present the legislation to the Assembly Health Committee as scheduled because it … Continue reading →
The most important aspect of Obergefell may be how it establishes judges’ rights to find new rights
From an article by Howard Slugh in the National Review: In Obergefell, Justice Kennedy made it clear to lower courts that, after he eliminated [the precedent of] Glucksberg, the only remaining limit on new judge-made rights is a judge’s imagination. … Continue reading →
Obergefell was a close decision, replete with warnings
Peggy Noonan observes: Not fully acknowledged in the past days of celebration on one side, and profound reservation on the other, is that the court in Obergefell v. Hodges was split 5-4 on same-sex marriage, and that the dissenting opinions … Continue reading →
And in other news that should surprise no one on earth…
…illegal immigrants are no-showing their court appearances: Most of the illegal border crossers from Central America who arrived in last year’s surge have skipped out on their hearings, according to immigration court statistics obtained by Fox News. Only about 1 … Continue reading →
A blow against proof of citizenship in federal elections
SCOTUS refused to hear a case (Kobach v. U.S. Election Assistance Commission) in which Kansas and Arizona were endeavoring to require proof of citizenship in federal elections. A standard form known as the federal form is required in federal elections, … Continue reading →
Escaped convict Richard Matt has been killed by authorities
But unfortunately his accomplice Sweat is still at large. I actually didn’t think they’d ever find the pair, but I guess the search was massive and they got some tips. There is little question that these men were/are extremely dangerous … Continue reading →
Thoughts on the rapidity of the same-sex marriage sea change
One of the most distinctive things about yesterday’s same-sex marriage ruling was the rapidity with which such a huge change came about. It’s something Justice Scalia remarked upon in his scathing dissent: The five Justices who compose today’s majority are … Continue reading →
Disparate impact victory: Texas Department of Housing
There has been so much SCOTUS news in the past two days that it’s easy to ignore cases that ordinarily would be of enormous importance but have been overshadowed by others. One is the disparate impact case, otherwise known by … Continue reading →