The Constitution of the War on Drugs, by David Pozen, Oxford University Press, 304 pages, $27.95 When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Justice Samuel Alito's majority opinion mocked "attempts to justify abortion" by asserting "a broader right to autonomy." After all, he wrote in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, that concept "could license fundamental rights to illicit drug use, prostitution, and the like." Alito thought it was obvious that "none of these rights has any claim to being deeply rooted in history." Alito's blithe dismissal of a fundamental right ..read more

4/23/1985: Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. argued. The post Today in Supreme Court History: April 23, 1985 appeared first on Reason.com ..read more

In January 2024, Amazon terminated its agreement to acquire iRobot, the company that manufactures the Roomba robot vacuum. That company then laid off nearly one-third of its work force. In a joint statement, the companies said they saw "no path to regulatory approval in the European Union." But busybody American lawmakers also helped scuttle the deal. Under the August 2022 acquisition agreement, Amazon intended to purchase iRobot for $1.65 billion. At that time, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the European Commission separately began investigating the proposed merger. In ..read more

Tomorrow the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Starbucks Corp. v. McKinney. Read more in this piece at ScotusBlog by Ronald Mann. The question concerns the standard for injunctions sought by the NLRB. Here is a note from the forthcoming edition of Ames, Chafee, and Re on Remedies, my casebook with Emily Sherwin: NOTE ON GOVERNMENT PLAINTIFFS IN EQUITY Does it matter that the plaintiff is the government? Or do the same equitable powers and limitations apply? Cf. National Labor Relations Board. v. P*I*E Nationwide, Inc., 894 F.2d 887, 893 (7th Cir. 1990) (Posner, J.): "The issuance ..read more

From the Daily Caller: Biden is set to travel to the city on Thursday to promote the CHIPS and Science Act and announce a grant delivered by the legislation, according to CNY Central News. The president opted not to delay the trip following the loss Syracuse Police Officer Michael Jensen and Onondaga County Lt. Sheriff's Deputy Michael Hoosock in the line of duty on April 14 during a shootout. Because officers are still grieving the loss, local law enforcement expressed worry to the White House over the timing of the trip, Jeff Moran, the president of the Syracuse Police Benevolent ..read more

In October 2022, Angela Prichard was murdered by her estranged husband, Christopher Prichard. The crime wasn't entirely unpredictable; Angela Prichard had repeatedly sought help from police months before she was killed. But officers did nothing, even ignoring Christopher Prichard's repeated violations of a restraining order. Angela Prichard's family is now suing the city of Bellevue, Iowa, claiming that police inaction directly led to Angela Prichard's death and deprived her of her due process rights. In April 2022, Christopher Prichard was arrested on a domestic violence charge against ..read more

I was delighted to sign on to this amicus brief supporting the challenge to Texas's S.B. 12 (Woodlands Pride, Inc. v. Paxton (5th Cir.)), which was filed on behalf of Prof. Dale Carpenter (SMU), Dean Erwin Chemerinsky (Berkeley), the Stanton Foundation First Amendment Clinic at Vanderbilt Law School, and me. Here's a summary of the Texas statute, from the brief: {S.B. 12 restricts "[s]exually oriented performance[s]," which are defined as one that features nudity or "sexual conduct" and "appeals to the prurient interest in sex." See Tex. Penal Code § 43.28(a)(2). Sexual conduct ..read more

Every year at the close of the Passover seder, Jewish people say "Next year in Jerusalem." In my life I have always repeated that phrase without much thought. Of course I could spend next year in Jerusalem; why wouldn't I? This year, that line takes on a new significance. I weep at the situation facing Jewish students at elite institutions. Rabbis told Jewish students to return home because it is not safe. Temples hired armed guards to chaperone students to religious services. People wearing Yarmulkes are being berated with the most vicious anti-semitic slurs, and are even being physically att ..read more

The Ohio legislature recently enacted, over the Governor's veto, a law concerning transgender minors. The law was challenged in a state trial court. Two named plaintiffs asserted an injury to challenge particular portions of the law. Yet, the judge entered what is in effect a universal injunction. For example, neither of the plaintiffs are student athletes, but the court enjoined provisions of the law concerning athletics. Today, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, through Solicitor General Elliot Gaiser, filed an emergency motion in the Ohio Supreme Court to confine the trial court's "injunction ..read more

Is TikTok's time finally up? On Saturday, the House of Representatives passed a measure that would require a change in the app's ownership or ban it if that doesn't happen. Called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, it's essentially the same divestiture-or-ban bill I wrote about in this newsletter back in March, now tucked into a larger bill (H.R. 8038, the insanely named 21st Century Peace through Strength Act) that deals with everything from fentanyl trafficking to Russian sanctions, Iranian petroleum, Hamas, and boatloads of foreign aid. The most ta ..read more