SHOCKING: 4 - You Need To See This

Progressives Should Be Grateful For President Trump's Not-So-Conservative SCOTUS Picks

Recently, Ron DeSantis, the Governor of Florida and GOP presidential candidate, offered a mild criticism of President Trump's three Supreme Court nominees. "I respect the three [Trump] appointees," DeSantis said, "but none of those three are at the same level of Justice Thomas and Justice Alito." DeSantis is not wrong.…

Reason · Jul 17, 2023

Roberts the Creditor, Roberts the Debtor

Kavanaugh the follower.

Reason · Jul 5, 2023

Justice Thomas Declines To Extend Non-Originalist Confrontation Clause Precedent

Don't act surprised when Thomas narrowly reads made-up Brennan decision from 1968 that itself reversed precedent.

Reason · Jun 24, 2023

Does a Footnote in Sackett II Indicate How SCOTUS Will Resolve the Affirmative Action Cases?

Could the Court treat Justice Powell's Bakke opinion the way it treated Justice Kennedy's Rapanos opinion?

Reason · Jun 1, 2023

Justice Kavanaugh's "Principal Concurrences"

On the Supreme Court, there is a hierarchy for listing opinions. The majority opinion always comes first. When the Court is fractured, and there is no clear majority, the opinion with the most support is usually listed first. When the case is an absolute cluster, sometimes the opinion by the…

Reason · May 26, 2023

In Sackett v. EPA, the Supreme Court Cuts Back Federal Regulatory Authority Over Wetlands

The Clean Water Act decision was a unanimous win for the Sacketts, and a 5-4 victory for Justice Scalia's 2006 Rapanos v. United States plurality.

Reason · May 25, 2023

Just How Bad was that New York Times Piece on Supreme Court Justices Teaching at Scalia Law?

This bad: The documents show how Scalia Law has offered the justices a safe space in a polarized Washington — an academic cocoon filled with friends and former clerks, where their legal views are celebrated, they are given top pay and treated to teaching trips abroad, and their personal needs…

Reason · May 1, 2023

Can the Supreme Court "Develop and Apply Customary International Law"?

Justice Gorsuch raises the question that the majority elides.

Reason · Apr 19, 2023

The Good and Bad of the Fifth Circuit's Abortion Pill Ruling

The appeals court's unpublished order avoids some of the district court's errors, but still has some significant problems, especially with regard to standing.

Reason · Apr 14, 2023

Law School Free Speech, Wokeness, and "The Etiquette of Equality"

A different take.

Reason · Apr 10, 2023