Though much of constitutional discourse today focuses on liberties enshrined in the Bill of Rights, the real genius of the Constitution lies in its use of structural devices. One such device is the doctrine of standing, embedded in Article III, which permits federal courts only to hear cases as brought by plaintiffs who have suffered actual ha ...
An unusual argument has arisen as a way to save Obamacare. Today, a New York Times op-ed written by law professor William Baude suggests that the Obama administration could just ignore the Supreme Court if it decides in King v. Burwell that subsidies don’t apply to insurance coverage from federal exchanges. … ...
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty once said, “it means just what I choose it to mean–neither more nor less.” Congress lacks that luxury because the judiciary judges the meaning of its words. However, in a venomous New York Times article, Paul Krugman says that judges who try to rely on the plain language of Ob ...
Various news and entertainment outlets have questioned the usefulness of friend-of-the-court briefs (also known as amicus briefs) at the Supreme Court. Both the New York Times and the Colbert Report recently endorsed a law professor’s article questioning the validity of facts in those briefs. Both imply that amicus briefs should not be taken ...
Author: Damien M. Schiff Last Sunday’s Bay Area edition of the New York Times featured an article on Peter Douglas, the California Coastal Commission’s long-serving executive director. While noting Mr. Douglas’ impeccable environmentalist and anti-development credentials, as well as his self-described “radical pagan her ...