Outside the Beltway

Illinois became the 16th state to abolish capital punishment today. That’s far too few.

George Mason University law students are petitioning against the requirement to pay $136 to rent cap and gown regalia in order to attend their graduation ceremony.

An Alabama legislator wants to ban the use of Islamic law in the state’s courts — just in case Muslims take over.

Two new polls reflect the extent to which public attitudes on same-sex marriage have changed dramatically over the past twenty years, and it’s only a matter of time before that’s reflected in the law.

Judge Roger Vinson stayed his own ruling in the Florida ObamaCare lawsuit today and acted to speed up the appellate process, but not by much.

Pfc. Bradley Manning faces twenty-two new charges, including one that could put him before a firing squad, but investigators still can’t prove any direct links between him and Wikileaks.

At what point does the legitimate right to demonstrate cross the line into infringing on the rights of others?

The Supreme Court rules that “offensiveness” does not trump the First Amendment. And they’re right.

Sometimes the most sensible result can be the hardest to reach. This isn’t one of those times.

The fight over Federal funding for Planned Parenthood seems to be about much more than whether taxpayer dollars should be going to Planned Parenthood.

A New York judge has sided with comedian Jerry Seinfeld in a bizarre lawsuit by a crazy woman who writes cookbooks.

A look at history reveals that President Obama’s decision to decline to defend Section Three of DOMA is hardly unprecedented.

Judge Gladys Kessler upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, but she did so by essentially ruling that the Interstate Commerce Clause means whatever Congress wants it to mean.

The Media Bloggers Association has filed an amicus brief against a company which exists for the sole purpose of suing bloggers.

Huge news in the marriage equality debate today as the Obama Administration has decided not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court anymore.

The Affordable Care Act has been ruled Constitutional in Holder v. Mead.

Of the 314 police and firefighter unions in Wisconsin, only four endorsed Scott Walker.

Why not include police, firefighters and state troopers in the ban on collective bargaining?

The situation in Bahrain continues to evolve as the state has pulled back the stick.

Alaska Governor Sean Parnell says he won’t comply with any of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, but his decision seems to rest of precarious legal ground.

Neither side is covering themselves in glory in the battle over the Badger State budget.

Democratic Congresswoman Betty McCollum has received death threats after questioning the wisdom of the U.S. Army sponsoring a NASCAR Sprint Cup team to the tune of $7 million a year.

A county in the far southwest corner of Virginia is the latest battle ground in the ongoing battle over the separation of church and state.

Critics of the GOP’s efforts to restrict Federal funding of abortion and related services confuse the concept of the right to have an abortion with the idea that someone has a claim on taxpayer dollars.

Shirley Sherrod’s lawsuit against Andrew Brietbart promises to be an interesting test of the boundaries of defamation law in the political blogosphere.

A new poll finds that Republican policies on immigration are chasing Latino voters straight into the arms of the Democratic Party.

Mob Boss Tommy Shots Gioeli Blogs From Jail

Later this week, Clarence Thomas will have gone five years without asking a question during oral argument at the Supreme Court. Is that really a big deal?

The Egyptian military is promising a quick transition to new civilian leadership. Will they live up to their promise?

House Democrats are calling on Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from any litigation regarding the Affordable Care Act. It’s a phony argument, but that’s because it has everything to do with politics and nothing to do with legal ethics.

Predicting (after a fashion) what the SCOTUS will do with the PPACA and a return to the Commerce Clause and the activity/inactivity disucssion.

New York Times writer Adam Liptak discovers that a Supreme Court decision protecting “corporate speech” might not be a bad thing considering that he works for a corporation.