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Constitution Tag

We reported last week on how Judge Leon in the District of Columbia ruled against the government, preliminarily, on NSA mass data surveillance. I cautioned against the media assumption that the ruling would survive: The judge issued a preliminary injunction, but stayed his decision pending appeal....

Sorry, but I have too many other things on my plate right now to dig into this, even though it's clearly an important decision which may eventually make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. A federal judge in D.C. has found parts of the NSA...

Dumbing Down the Courts: How Politics Keeps the Smartest Judges Off the Bench” (2013) is the most recent of Dr. John Lott Jr.’s excellent books applying economics to better understand the societal dynamics around controversial issues. Gun owners will be most familiar with his past work on the defensive uses of force by lawfully armed citizens (“More Guns, Less Crime”). In “Dumbing Down the Courts” Dr. Lott examines how political forces are increasingly driving the federal courts to be staffed by judges (and justices) who are less intellectually capable than their predecessors. In short, his hypothesis — supported by data on more than 1,500 federal court nominees — is that the smarter, more respected (by their legal peers), and more academically talented a candidate for a federal court, the longer the confirmation process and the less likely confirmation will be successful. Indeed, this reality has become so widely accepted on an anecdotal level that many of the most promising candidates for federal judgeships simply decline to accept even consideration for such an appointment. Dr. Lott uses rigorously analyzed data to move this discussion beyond mere anecdote.

Growing Stakes, Increased Left-Wing Radicalization

Being nominated and confirmed to a federal judicial appointment was not always the arduous process it is today, nor was it always geared towards rejection of the most talented candidates.

A follow up to An increasingly dangerous presidency and More on Obama lawlessness. You can read the full testimonies at the links. The key thing is that there may be no remedy -- other than at the ballot box in 2014 -- to Obama's lawlessness. There...

The last time we checked on Hobby Lobby after a 60,000 citizen buycott in support of its case against Obamacare, it looked likely that US Supreme Court would take up the case. SCOTUS has now formally done just that.
The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to review the lawsuit filed by Hobby Lobby against the federal government over the Obamacare mandate that employers provide contraceptive coverage in their health plans. Hobby Lobby, which is owned by an Oklahoma City family with strong Christian beliefs, says a 1993 law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, protects the company from the mandate. The company is particularly opposed to paying for coverage that includes the morning after pill.
The court also accepted a related case from Pennsylvania involving a Mennonite family with a furniture-making business. In that case, a federal appeals court initially ruled that the owners could not challenge the mandate on religious ground because a company did not enjoy the same rights as individuals.

I believe Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal and Ted Cruz to be "natural born Citizens" and eligible to be President.  Here's why. 1. Summary There are few eligibility requirements to be President.  You don't have to be smart, wise, experienced, honest, educated, or a particular gender or race. Article II, Section...

The president's latest radio address is a classic example of Obamaspeak. We've grown used to the drill. First, some empty words about how he's going to help the economy and the middle class. Then sanguine projections about what his program (in this case, Obamacare) will do...

The analysis of the Natural Born Citizen clause in the Constitution as it applies to Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. I promised to do this long ago, and did the research with the assistance of a former student, but couldn't bring myself to actually write it...

Mark Levin's new book, The Liberty Amendments: Restoring The American Republic is out, and it proposes an ambitious set of Amendments to the Constitution: I undertook this project not because I believe the Constitution, as originally structured, is outdated and outmoded, thereby requiring modernization through amendments,...

There's sudden attention being paid to the 3rd Amendment: ‘Forgotten’ Third Amendment Surfaces in Nevada Case A Real Live Third Amendment Case Nevada Family Says Police Occupation of Homes Violated the Third Amendment At Legal Insurrection we supported the 3rd Amendment before it was cool to support the 3rd...

In light of "questions" by both Lindsay Graham (since clarified) and Dick Durbin as to whether bloggers are entitled to First Amendment protection, I thought these two videos might be worth watching. Floyd Abrams (btw, father of Dan Abrams, television legal commentator and proprietor of Mediaite...

Are bloggers entitled to constitutional protection, Dick Durbin wonders out loud. I have a better question, are Senators entitled to anything? https://twitter.com/realmyiq2xu/status/339112015907938304 ...