Legal minds on legal matters and whatever else strikes our fancy.
This morning, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 33 page decision reversing Judge Henry Hudson’s decision that found the Individual Mandate unconstitutional. The Court of Appeals didn’t reach the merits of the case, but held that the state lacked standing to bring the suit. Pacific Legal Foundation filed a brief [...]
Query: What is the connection between famine (on the one hand) and the current tangle of issues regarding the undersupply or oversupply of lawyers and legal services (on the other)? Answer: The problem in both instances may be one of distribution. As to famine… Thomas Keneally’s new book Three Famines traces the great [...]
A few weeks ago the New York Times published this piece addressing the serious issue that “most low-income Americans cannot afford a lawyer to defend their legal interests, no matter how urgent the issue.” The Times suggested several ways to provide better access to justice for low-income people. Those suggestions included allowing [...]
A joke. That might be the appropriate response. If you don't believe me, then check out this post by Paul Craig Roberts over at LewRockwell.com. Here is a sampling: With bank fraudsters, torturers, and war criminals running free, the US Department of Justice (sic) has nothing better to do than to harass the famous Tennessee [...]
We filed 3 merits briefs this week: Brief of Petitioners in Messerschmidt v. Millender, No. 10-704, filed on August 26, 2011 Brief for Petitioner in Williams v. Illinois, No. 10-8505, filed on August 31, 2011 Reply Brief for Petitioners in Douglas v. Independent Living Cntr. of So. California, Inc., Nos. 09-958, 09-1158, 10-283, filed on [...]
He is an engaged activist, who attends large rallies of like-minded agitators, often dressed in funny clothes. She would tear down the present structure so that human nature will take over and something beautiful will grow. He makes a case based on theory and ideology, and dismisses contrary evidence as a media conspiracy. She spends [...]
[This is another installment in the Matters of Practice series—designed to explain specific problems facing Supreme Court cert petitioners.] Not every granted petition for certiorari raises an issue on which the lower courts are divided; it just seems that way. While circuit conflicts are by far the most common [...]
So after the misery of first year is over, the question for law students becomes which elective courses to take. I have a couple of thoughts on this, although I must admit that I may be misguided. So if anyone has a better answer, then by all means please share it and/or tear my opinions to shreds. I started [...]