Back in 2008 when Obama was running for president, then Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was busted for trying to sell Obama’s vacated Senate seat. A few years later, he was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.

(more…)

Has it really been a year?

Yes, on April 10, 2017, Neil Gorsuch was sworn in as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Remember, Gorsuch only was nominated for the Scalia seat because Merrick Garland, Obama’s nominee, was not given a Senate hearing much less vote (it’s highly unlikely he would...

The Supreme Court just handed down a police use-of-force decision, Kisela v. Hughes (

Retired SCOTUS Justice John Paul Stevens (who is now 97 years old) has written a NY Times op-ed piece calling for the elimination of the Second Amendment. The reason he gives is this:

(more…)

We previously reported that the Trump administration took the unusual step of trying to get the Supreme Court to hear the case of the San Francisco federal district court order preventing Trump from ending DACA without getting a ruling first from the 9th Circuit.

What made the procedure confounding, is that the...

On February 19, 2018, the majority Democrat members of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court imposed a new congressional district map that was very Democrat friendly, likely swinging 4-5 seats to Democrats. It could be the difference between Democrats taking control of the U.S. House or not in the 2018 midterms.

The map became...

Opponents of the 2nd Amendment are gearing up to exploit the Parkland School shooting by making it part of the Resistance movement against Trump, the NRA and Republicans.

That was obvious from the start, and it’s more so now that the March For Our Lives on March 24 picks up celebrity donations...

Earlier today I was reading Prof. Josh Blackman’s post responding to criticism he has received for using the term Judicial Resistance, On the Judicial Resistance:

Over the past year, I have discussed at some length the self-professed “legal resistance,” which has coordinated legal strategies to resist President Trump in the courts. This...

During a discussion at Columbia University, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg blamed a “macho atmosphere” and rampant sexism for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 electoral loss.

“I think it was difficult for Hillary Clinton to get by even the macho atmosphere prevailing during that campaign, and she was criticized in a way...

On January 22, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, on a 5—2 party-line vote, struck down the state’s congressional map and ordered the legislature to draw a new one by February 9. See my prior post, Bad news for GOP: Pennsylvania Supreme Court tosses state’s congressional maps.

Two members of PA’s state legislature—its Speaker of...

Three days ago, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania struck down the state’s congressional map, holding that it “clearly, plainly and palpably violates the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

Offering no rationale for this decision, which upends districts that have been in place for six years, the State Supreme Court further instructed the...

After a bizarre and completely unfounded San Francisco federal District Court injunction against the Trump administration wind-down of DACA, the Trump administration both filed for leave to appeal in the 9th Circuit and filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari Before Judgment in the Supreme Court. That latter Petition would...

The Supreme Court granted certiorari in the government’s appeal from the 9th Circuit/Hawaii District Court order regarding Travel Order No. 3.

The Supreme Court Order accepting the case for review stated:

(more…)

The government just filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari Before Judgment (full embed at bottom of post)(pdf.) in the Supreme Court seeking pre-judgement review of the federal District Court order preventing the Trump administration from terminating DACA.

That District Court decision was absurd, as pointed out when we covered the decision, 

We covered the other day how North Carolina was ordered to redo it’s congressional maps, Court Tells North Carolina to Redraw Congressional Lines by Next Week.

The Supreme Court just issued a Stay of that order.

(more…)

We’re now on day 36 without a 4th Circuit decision on Trump’s third travel order.

Unveiled as a presidential proclamation on September 24, 2017, the third travel order (we’ll call it EO-3) restricts entry by most nationals of Chad, Iran, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, as well as some nationals of North Korea...

I have to admit, I fell asleep at the baker’s wheel.

Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission was argued to the Supreme Court earlier this month and I, didn’t cover it. Not out of lack of interest, but more feeling like we’re chasing a swarm of daily dust ups created...