Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

Intersectionality is all the Rage - Just Ask "Turtle Island Liberation Front"

Feds Open Investigation Into Brown Univ Over Security Failures, as Campus Police Chief Placed on Leave

Systematic Scholarship Discrimination In Illinois Public Universities Challenged By Equal Protection Project

We still need a wave

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 29, 2012 24 Comments

When it comes to the House, Republicans don't need a wave. Via Charlie Cook: One might have expected that two years after Republicans picked up 63 House seats—the biggest gain in a midterm election since 1938—Democrats would be on track to win back a boatload of those...

Funny how that new judicial restraint works

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 29, 2012 50 Comments

The self-delusion that yesterday's affirmation of Obamacare's mandate under the taxing power of Congress was a conservative victory continues in full force today. (See links and quotes at HotAir and Instapundit) Judicial restraint now means ignoring the will of Congress as to the purposes and structure...

Obama spikes the t-shirt

Posted by Anne Segal on June 29, 2012 22 Comments

President Obama tweeted out a link to a t-shirt for sale on his campaign website Thursday evening: Still a BFD: OFA.BO/ayPgAZ— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 29, 2012 The t-shirt reads, "Health Care Reform: Still a BFD," and is being sold for $30. "BFD" stands for "Big F--ing...

I can see this bumper sticker from the steps of the Supreme Court

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 29, 2012 6 Comments

Keep your hopes alive, you're well on the way. Another one from Kathy, spotted in Harrisonburg, VA: ...

Mark Levin on Obamacare ruling

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 70 Comments

Makes many of the points I made today, including rejecting the delusion that this was a victory: ...

Vanguard University Bans TPUSA Chapter While Maintaining Other Identity Based Clubs

Some Colleges and Universities Have a 'Holiday Tree' for Christmas

Foreign Policy Analyst Suggests Shutting Down College Middle Eastern Studies Departments

DEI Policies Have Caused Real Harm to Young White Men

U. Oklahoma Fires Instructor Who Failed Student for Citing Bible in Essay on Gender

Elementary School Principal Fired Over Antisemitic Remarks in Voicemail He Thought Had Stopped Recording

Stop the self-delusion

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 143 Comments

Some well-meaning people are peddling the notion that today's Obamacare decision was a long term victory, that we lost the battle but won the war, that there was some master plan by Chief Justice Roberts to gut the expansion of Commerce Clause power under the...

Not above the law: Holder first U.S. Attorney General to be voted in Contempt of Congress

Posted by Anne Segal on June 28, 2012 34 Comments

This afternoon the full U.S. House of Representatives voted 255 to 67 to hold U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt of Congress for failure to turn over specific documents. Eric Holder is now the first U.S. attorney general to be held in contempt of Congress...

Supreme judicial activism in restraint’s clothing

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 71 Comments

The most disturbing thing about today's decision is not that we lost on the mandate. The majority opinion on the Commerce Clause (the Chief Justice plus the conservative dissenters) was quite good, and vindicated those who mounted an argument as to "inactivity" to the derision...

The Dow Jones and Obamacare decision

Posted by Anne Segal on June 28, 2012 14 Comments

The Dow Jones dropped nearly 100 points in the hour after the Supreme Court Obamacare decisions were announced, just after 10am. It dipped to 12,462 at its lowest point after having begun the day at 12,626. ...

How right I was: “IRS The New Health Care Enforcer”

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 41 Comments

On August 14, 2009, I tried to sound the alarm as to where Democrats' health care proposals were heading. At that time I was dealing with the precursors to what became Obamacare. The congressional language distinguishing the mandate as a penalty and the political arguments that...

The reaction

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 57 Comments

Romney's statement: Obama lied to the American people. Again. He said it wasn't a tax. Obama lies; freedom dies.— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) June 28, 2012 Not taking Congress at its word on penalty is the new judicial restraint #SCOTUSlogic— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) June 28, 2012 SCOTUS to POTUS:...

To the Voting Booth!

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 198 Comments

Consider this Pep Talk IV. Was it over when Harry Reid pushed Obamacare through at Christmas time in December 2009? Not when voters took to the voting booth and elected Scott Brown. Was it over when Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats were forced to accept the Senate version...

SCOTUS Obamacare Watch (Update: Mandate survives as a tax? Yes)

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 109 Comments

Was Scalia’s Dissent Originally a Majority Opinion? Scalia’s dissent, at least on first quick perusal, reads like it was originally written as a majority opinion http://lsolum.typepad.com/legaltheory/2012/06/evidence-that-the-votes-shifted-after-conference-initial-vote-to-declare-mandate-unconstitutional.html (in particular, he consistently refers to Justice Ginsburg’s opinion as “The Dissent”). Back in May, there were rumors floating around...

Word of the Day

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 9 Comments

... Dread (I'm already preparing Pep Talk IV)...

Dear Supreme Court Justices

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 12 Comments

Please read this bumper sticker before rendering your decision. From Linda, taken at the Riverwood mansion, Nashville, on June 23: “The right to be left alone—the most comprehensive of rights, and the right most valued by a free people.”— Louis Brandeis, dissenting, OLMSTEAD v. U.S., 277 U.S....

This time tomorrow

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 27, 2012 73 Comments

where will we be? Big day here. Will create an "open" post somewhere around 9:30 a.m. waiting to find out if the Supreme Court Kremlinologists have been right. Or not. Then will follow up with a post detailing my take on the decision. Followed by the House vote to hold...

Florida wins round on non-citizen voter purge

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 27, 2012 27 Comments

Via AP: A federal judge has refused to stop Florida from removing potentially non-U.S. citizens from its rolls. The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state to halt the purge, arguing it was going on too close to a federal election. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle said Wednesday...