At the initiative of House Republicans, the House recently changed its rules to allow the reading of the whole Constitution on the floor on the House’s opening day and to require each bill introduced in the House to be accompanied by a statement in the Congressional Record “citing as specifically as practicable [...]
The recent blizzard in the Northeast and a funny article in the New York Times reminded me of a practice I had long forgotten. When I lived in Boston many years ago, I always found snowfalls amazing. The snow itself was wonderful, at least at first, but what really amused me was [...]
Courts often don’t get sex. We know that. But I had thought that this was a peculiarly American matter. Not so, apparently. British newspapers are reporting that Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation, its highest court for nonconstitutional issues, has civilly blessed an ecclesiastical court’s annulment of a marriage. That, by itself, will [...]
Many have weighed in on Justice Breyer’s recent book, Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge’s View. They understandably focus on the sexy topics—constitutional interpretation, Brown v. Board of Education, and judicial review generally; the topics most relevant to today’s political battles—statutory interpretation and the culture wars; and Breyer’s own big, nagging question—why [...]