JULY 1, 2015 – Patients faced with life-threatening illnesses have more treatment options open to them in Tennessee and Florida thanks to laws that go into effect today. These new laws, called Right to Try, effectivel nullify in practice some Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules that block terminally ill patients from utilizing certain treatments,…
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (July 1, 2015) – Floridians woke up this morning with more robust privacy protections thanks to a statute limiting drone surveillance that went into effect at midnight. The new law actually takes a second step against mass surveillance, expanding current limitations on the use of drones in the Sunshine State. It not only…
HARTFORD, Conn. (June 30, 2015) Tomorrow, a new law takes effect removing the ban on industrial hemp farming in Connecticut, setting the stage to nullify in practice the federal prohibition on the same. Introduced by State Reps. Melissa Ziobron (R-34) and Aundré Bumgardner (R-41), House Bill 5780 (HB5780) opens the door for a full-scale commercial hemp…
In “Under Those Sermon Subpoenas: ‘Disappeared’ Ballot Initiatives”, I explained that subpoenas issued to a number of Houston pastors in mid-October were part of a larger story with parallels to events here in Nebraska. The targeted pastors were part of a coalition of churches, pro-family Christian organizations, and groups which undertook a petition drive to […]
First, congratulations to co-blogger Mike Rappaport for having two of his articles cited multiple times in yesterday’s recess appointments decision, NLRB v. Noel Canning. Second, my quick takeaway is that the case is a win for originalism. True, the majority opinion (Breyer, writing for Kennedy, Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagan) is an ugly bit of non-originalism. But…
OKLAHOMA CITY, June 11, 2014 – Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has signed a bill into law that declares gold and silver as legal tender within the state. Signed last week, Senate Bill 862 (SB862) was introduced by Sen. Clark Jolley and Rep. Gary Banz, with co-sponsorship from Sen. Natham Dahm. It reads, in part: Gold…
Chief Justice Roberts’ majority opinion in Bond v. United States has been sharply criticized (see here and here), so I’ll say few words partially in its favor. The case has seemed odd from the beginning because the federal statute at issue implements the Chemical Weapons Convention and (as the majority says) the local misuse of household chemicals does not seem the type…
Monday’s unanimous (on the result) Supreme Court decision in Bond v. United States uses federalism principles to rule against the federal prosecution of Carol Ann Bond, who attempted to injure a romantic rival with toxic chemicals. Briefly: The majority (Chief Justice Roberts, writing for Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan) thought the statute in question — implementing…
Michael Perry writes: I share your originalist misgivings about the plurality and Thomas opinions in McCutcheon. However, a reader of your most recent post on the mattermight conclude that you have bought into the “expected applications” version of originalism, and I doubt you mean to do that! So, you might want to say something further about the…
Trying to solve these questions by judicial reasoning rather than historical inquiry converts them from questions about what the framers wrote to questions about what the judge thinks is best.