Gosnell: A Murderer, but an Aberration?
It is a good thing that the Philadelphia jury convicted Kermit Gosnell of murder, because it is in fact clear that he committed murder. For the jury to have done otherwise, ...
A ‘Partisan’ Caricature of Chief Justice Rehnquist
One of the greatest blessings of my life was the opportunity to work for a year as a law clerk to the former chief justice, William Rehnquist. As I wrote ...
The Seventh Circuit Makes a Mess of the Establishment Clause
Take the time to read the opinions — especially Judge Richard Posner’s dissent — in Doe v. Elmbrook School District. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, en banc, ...
Conservatives’ Misguided Criticism of Roberts
Michael Walsh’s post on the Corner echoes some things I’ve been reading in the right-leaning sectors of the blogosphere, and that I hope do not catch on. The suggestion is that ...
Lawsuits Seek to Vindicate Religious Freedom
Today, a large and diverse group of plaintiffs — including health-care providers, universities and schools, and social-welfare agencies — filed lawsuits in a dozen federal courts, challenging the administration’s rule ...
A Very Bad Religious-Freedom Opinion in Massachusetts
Even during a week when the attention of the Whole World is fixed on a certain Big Case in the Supreme Court of the United States, it would be a ...
A Win for Religious Freedom
Sometimes the news from 1 First Street is really, really good. Today, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in what some observers (ahem) had called one of the most ...
In Defense of Garnett’s Defense of Daniels
Carrie Severino, whose work I admire and appreciate, “respectfully dissents” from my recent defense of my governor, Mitch Daniels, and specifically from my suggestion that his “record on judicial appointments” ...
Dean Chemerinsky’s Critique of the Roberts Court
I believe that it is particularly important that those of us in the legal academy do what we can — even when writing hard-hitting and critical commentary about the Court’s ...
Breyer’s Idea of Restraint
According to Lincoln Caplan, writing a few days ago in the New York Times, Justice Breyer rightly appreciates that the Court’s “legitimacy in the public’s eyes” cannot be taken for ...