Outside the Beltway

The President is in open defiance of the Supreme Court.

A too-long discourse on how courts should function.

Some inchorent musings about a massive question.

A Federal Court has struck down the President’s diversion of funds for his border wall.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg isn’t very impressed by the proposals made by several liberal politicians lately to increase the size of the Supreme Court to counterbalance the conservative tilt created by the Gorsuch and Kavanaugh confirmations.

The Supreme Court handed the President a victory last night, ruling that the Plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging his funding of the border wall did not have standing to challenge his diversion of Defense Department funds. This may only be a temporary victory, though.

Just over nine years after retiring from the Supreme Court, former Associate Justice John Paul Stevens has passed away at the age of 99.

Later today, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear argument in a case that could upend the Affordable Care Act.

A Federal Judge in Washington, D.C. dismissed a lawsuit against Trump “national emergency” to fund the border wall, but his ruling did not reach the merits of the lawsuit’s claim.

A law professor asks some interesting questions, but ultimately not the right ones.

Eight years after it was signed into law, a Federal Judge has ruled the Affordable Care Act to be unconstitutional.

On Tuesday, Michigan joined the ranks of the states where marijuana is legal and several other states legalized it for medical purposes.

Overwhelmingly, legal experts agree that President Trump is wrong about birthright citizenship and the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Trump Administration’s war on so-called “Sanctuary Cities” suffers yet another defeat in Court.

New York and several other states have filed an incredibly dubious lawsuit against the Republican’s new tax law.

A Federal Judge in California has largely rejected a Trump Administration challenge to a series of new laws in California designed to protect so-called “sanctuary cities.”

We may finally get a ruling applying the Excessive Fine Clause to the states and limiting the ability of police to confiscate property.

Some recommended reading.

The Trump Administration is declining to defend the Affordable Care Act in Court, arguing that the individual mandate is now unconstitutional because the tax penalty has been eliminated.

Some legal scholars are speculating that the Court’s ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop could impact the ruling on the President’s Muslim Travel Ban. This seems unlikely.

The requirement that the President be a “natural born citizen” is a historical anachronism that has outlived its usefulness or necessity.

The Supreme Court heard oral argument in the challenge to President Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban. It didn’t appear to go well for the challengers.

A group of twenty states have revived an old argument to mount a new legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

President Trump has shut down the commission he established to investigate unsupported claims of “voter fraud” in the 2016 election.

Two Federal Judges have issued orders blocking the latest version of President Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban.

A Federal Judge has blocked enforcement of a Dept. of Justice policy purporting to block funding to so-called ‘sanctuary cities.’

One of the legal giants in the Federal Judiciary has retired from the bench.

Chicago is joining the growing list of jurisdictions challenging the Administration’s policy on sanctuary cities.

The Trump Administration’s Muslim Travel Ban suffers another defeat at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Another Federal Court has found another Trump Executive Order unconstitutional.

President Trump has issued a revised ban on travel from six predominantly Muslim nations.

Another judicial slap at the Trump Administration.

Donald Trump’s open contempt for the Rule of Law and Freedom of the Press should disqualify him from being considered an acceptable candidate for President.

A New Jersey judge, along with a Judge in Pennsylvania, is among the first to rule on the meaning of the ‘natural born citizen’ clause.

A collection of material that tries to separate the facts of the U.S. Syrian refugee screen process from the fear, myth, paranoia, and xenophobia.

Legislators in Spain’s Catalonia region took a step toward independence, but Madrid apparently wants nothing to do with it.

A controversial marijuana legalization initiative that even many pro-legalization advocates opposed, lost in Ohio last night. But the nationwide momentum in favor of legalization will likely not be abated.

The Supreme Court has struck down a program that forced farmers to turn over a portion of their crop to the government without compensation.

With notable exceptions, most of the Republican candidates for President are refusing to take a stand on the propriety of South Carolina flying the Confederate Flag. That’s called cowardice.

Hillary Clinton told supporters she’d require Supreme Court nominees to pledge to overturn Citizens United, a decision she completely misrepresented.

With the election behind him, David Cameron’s biggest problems may be yet to come.

A Federal Judge has issued a ruling that sort of says that President Obama’s Immigration action is unconstitutional. Except it’s poorly reasoned, and apparently not legally binding on anyone.

On a preliminary examination, the President’s executive action on immigration appears to be within the boundaries of applicable law. However, as with other exercises of Executive Branch authority, it raises some important concerns about the precedent that it sets.

There’s nothing wrong with choosing not to vote.

After success in Scotland, it may be time to consider allowing at least some teenagers to vote.

Much of the criticism of Hobby Lobby, and Citizens United before it, is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what those decisions stand for.

We’ve seen a notable number of 9-0 Supreme Court decisions this term, but that doesn’t mean that the side that lost was making an extreme or meritless argument.

Good intentions aren’t an excuse for failure to follow the law.

Should states have the right to ban affirmative action? The Supreme Court will decide that this term.