Publishing the Laws is Against the Law

David Post , commenting on the State of Oregon's rather perverse filing of copyright infringement notices on several websites that published the Oregon Revised Statutes, What burns me up is that the State of Oregon would choose to assert its rather fanciful copyright claim for the purpose of making public access to the authoritative version of its laws more, rather ...

Still The Least Dangerous Branch

Anna Quindlen argues that Supreme Court appointments are the most important choices presidents make. Congress chips away at legislation, then sends some lowest-common-denominator version to the White House, to be signed or vetoed or later redesigned by the next president to take up temporary residence in Washington. But the work of the high court has had vast systemic influence over the ...

Legal Ethics Gone Awry

Adam Liptak reports on the bizarre case of a lawyer who ratted out a then-dead former client in order to free an innocent man from jail and is now facing legal censure. STAPLES HUGHES, a North Carolina lawyer, was on the witness stand and about to disclose a secret he believed would free an innocent man from prison. But the judge ...

When Taco Trucks Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Tacos

Los Angeles County has strengthened its law against taco trucks and other mobile food vendors at the insistence of brick-and-mortar restaurant owners, Jonathan Gold reports. Last week, led by Gloria Molina, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors passed a law basically outlawing taco trucks, making it a crime for them to linger at one location for more than an hour, punishable ...

Professor Refuses to Sign Loyalty Oath

A pacifist Quaker professor was refused a job because she refused to sign a loyalty oath pledging to defend the Constitution. When Wendy Gonaver was offered a job teaching American studies at Cal State Fullerton this academic year, she was pleased to be headed back to the classroom to talk about one of her favorite themes: protecting constitutional freedoms. But ...

Prostitution as a Capital Crime in the Capitol

Megan McArdle is "physically sick" that the DC Madam has committed suicide, driven to do so by a state using its resources to hound a woman engaging in consensual commerce rather than tracking down violent criminals. James Poulos wonders why he should care that a lawbreaker has killed herself. Emotionally, I'm much closer to James than Megan on this one. ...

House Introduces Legislation to Outlaw Mail Order Cigarettes

Two days ago, Rep. John McHugh (D R-NY), introduced legislation that would ban the mailing of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and roll-your-own tobacco. The relevant portion of the legislation is as follows:Sec. 3002b. Nonmailability of certain tobacco products `(a) In General- Cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and roll-your-own-tobacco-- ...

Torture as Punishment

In a very, um, tortured exchange on "60 Minutes" with Leslie Stahl, Justice Antonin Scalia argues that being tortured in prison is not a violation of the 8th Amendment's prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishments" because it's not punishment. “To the contrary,” Scalia says. “Has anybody ever referred to torture as punishment? I don’t think so.” “Well, I think if you are ...

Franken Pays $70,000 in Back Taxes to 17 States

Al Franken accidentally forgot to pay $70,000 in taxes to 17 states over the past five years. Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken, front-runner in the race to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, said on Tuesday that he has paid $70,000 in back taxes and penalties owed in 17 states, going back to 2003. Franken, who has earned income across ...

Overseas Venue Shopping

Floyd Abrams notes the rise of a troubling new trend: In recent years, English libel law has come to have a disturbing impact on the right of Americans to speak out. England has become a choice venue for libel plaintiffs from around the world, including those who seek to intimidate critics whose works would be protected in the U.S. but might ...

Former Gitmo Prosecutor Testifies for Defense

Air Force Colonel Morris Davis, the former chief prosecutor for Guantanamo Bay, recently testifed for the defense on behalf of a terror suspect. Specifically, he testified to the unwillingness of the Pentagon to hold fair hearings for detainees.Sitting just feet from the courtroom table where he had once planned to make cases against military detainees, Air Force Col. Morris ...

Supreme Court Upholds Voter ID Law

The Supreme Court today upheld Indiana's law requiring voters to show picture ID. The Supreme Court ruled Monday that states can require voters to produce photo identification without violating their constitutional rights, validating Republican-inspired voter ID laws. In a splintered 6-3 ruling, the court upheld Indiana's strict photo ID requirement, which Democrats and civil rights groups said would deter poor, older and ...

America Leads the World in Incarcerations

The New York Times has a pretty in-depth article on America's staggeringly high rates of incarceration.The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners. Indeed, the United States leads the world in producing prisoners, a reflection of a relatively recent and now entirely distinctive American approach to crime ...

Ninth Circuit OKs Laptop Searches at the Border

The Ninth Circuit has ruled that the Federal Government can search through the contents of laptops and other personal data devices, without cause, of people who are coming through the border.Federal agents at the border do not need any reason to search through travelers' laptops, cell phones or digital cameras for evidence of crimes, a federal appeals court ruled Monday, ...

SupCt Upholds Lethal Injection

Chief Justice Roberts, joined by Justice Kennedy and Justice Alito, concluded that the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s lethal injection protocol satisfies the Eighth Amendment and need not be struck down merely because "untried and untested alternatives" might present a lower risk of undue pain. Curiously, Roberts opinion only attracted two other votes (Kennedy and Alito). Stevens concurred in the judgment but ...