The case -- Altria Group, Inc. v. Good -- was just announced. It's 5-4, with the majority opinion written by Justice Stevens and the dissenting opinion written by Justice Thomas. There's no need to spell out the rest of …
Lyle Denniston reports on the oral argument in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts : [Justice Kennedy] foresaw ”a very substantial burden” on the prosecution and on the courts, and told counsel advocating for confrontation that he wa…
The debate is September 26 and the topic is domestic and economic policy. There will be 9 segments, each 9 minutes long. (I hope the candidates will be dressed to the nines.) I'd like to see one the 9 segments delve into Oba…
Life in Canada: Ottawa is wrong to appeal a British Columbia Supreme Court ruling that extended a government-funded safe-injection site for junkies. Instead, it should have done its duty and resolved the case once and for all. As…
Does Wisconsin need rebranding? Apparently, the Wisconsin "brand" ranks 37th among states. States that rank higher: Kansas, Rhode Island, Minnesota, New Hampshire, West Virginia, and Utah. New Jersey is 50th. (Even aft…
Scotusblog reports: Dividing 5-4, the Supreme Court on Wednesday gave a sweeping -- and only barely qualified -- victory to the federal government and to other opponents of abortion, upholding the 2003 law that banned what are of…
Last week, I mentioned that my colleague Asifa Quraishi was giving a talk on Monday called "A Reconsideration of Presumptions: Is Islam Compatible with Democracy?" So, what's the answer? Here it is in Professor Qur…
I'm back from Milwaukee. I got there on time, despite some bad traffic and the fact that the ramp listed on my Mapquest instructions was closed and I didn't have street map in the car. Travel tip : don't do that. Her…
States respond to the Supreme Court's eminent domain case , which left them a lot of leeway in seizing private property, by limiting the power of eminent domain as a matter of state law: The reaction from the states was swift…
Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority in Roper v. Simmons , justifies the use of "international opinion" in constitutional decisionmaking: It is proper that we acknowledge the overwhelming weight of international op…
Here's Linda Greenhouse's analysis of the Oregon assisted suicide case, which the Supreme Court announced yesterday it would hear. (The Ninth Circuit case to be reviewed was decided back in May, and I wrote about it at t…
I'm glad to see that the Supreme Court has taken cert in the assisted suicide case: The Oregon law was intended to help adults with incurable diseases who are likely to die in six months. They can obtain lethal drugs from th…
It matters a lot to some people when the state hands out free condoms : Providing [flavored] condoms actually promotes sexual activity, said Julaine Appling, executive director of the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin. The g…
The first report looks good for the federal government on this, as Justice Souter seems dubious about the plaintiffs' argument: Backers of California's law seem to think "everybody is going to get it from a friend o…
It's the last full week of the semester here at the law school. Consequently, I feel a lot of pressure to get through the material--none of the usual expanding into areas that stimulate good discussion. It's time to be cr…
Tomorrow the Supreme Court hears oral argument in Raich v. Ashcroft, the medical marijuana case , which sets the federal government's interest in comprehensive regulation of the marijuana market against the state's inter…
It's late and it's been a long day, the first day of summer Conlaw and the deadline –met!--for Spring semester grades, but let me get my final Newdow post in. I can see I got a nice Instapundit link for my multiple Newdo…
As noted below, the main opinion in Newdow does not address the Establishment Clause question. The three concurring opinions do, however, and all find the Pledge, with the "under God" language, constitutional. The thre…
I'm here in Newark for the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics Annual Health Law Teachers Conference (as mentioned here ). It's at Seton Hall University School of Law which has a beautiful modern building with…
So writes Justice O'Connor , concurring and providing the fifth vote, in today's Supreme Court opinion, Yarborough v. Alvarado. The Court leaves in place a state court conviction and reverses the opinion of the Ninth Circ…