Constitutional Common Sense Comes Back?
Monday was one of those days that the highest court in the land surprised no one on Main Street -- when a majority of the nine most powerful lawyers in the country simply decided what the vast majority of the American people already knew to be true...[more]
Five for Keeping … and Bearing
The American people dodged a bullet -- by retaining their individual right to keep and bear arms -- a week ago Tuesday. At least that was the clear impression left by a solid majority of five Supreme Court Justices during an historic oral argument in the first Second Amendment case to be heard by the highest court in the land in nearly 70 years...[more]
Supreme Court Defends American Sovereignty Against International Assault
In a 6-3 decision, the United States Supreme Court this week rejected the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) attempt to order Texas courts to retry death row inmate Jose Medellin, a Mexican national. In so doing, the Court struck a blow for American sovereignty against unrelenting efforts to subsume domestic courts to international authorities...[more]
In the Line of Fire from Both Sides
If the Second Amendment challenge to the District of Columbia's handgun ban was the silver bullet designed to target increasingly restrictive gun control laws, then the friend-of-the-court brief filed last Friday by the Solicitor General of the United States could be the bulletproof vest that protects such restrictions from constitutional peril...[more]
Targeting the Supremes
Second Amendment advocates and gun owners may have the District of Columbia to thank if the highest court in the land finally rules next term that the Constitution protects an individual's right "to keep and bear Arms."...[more]
Why the Anna Nicole Smith Saga Actually Matters
As tawdry and ridiculous as the tale of Anna Nicole Smith is, her saga has already had important real-world consequences to Americans...[more]
Second Amendment Scores Shocking Historic Victory
D.C. Court of Appeals Affirms Individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms...[more]
It may be that the trial lawyers are able to extort huge sums of money from deep-pocketed corporations, but that's only because liberal judges make it legal to do so. That was the point driven home once again in a bitterly divided decision issued on Tuesday by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit...[more]
Disagreeing With Professor Tribe...
From a political perspective, those comments should have surprised no one. After all, Professor Tribe has been no friend to President George W. Bush or his expansive interpretation of presidential power during the War on Terror. But, from a legal perspective, the comments were nothing short of shocking...[more]
Okay, we get it, CSPI thinks trans fat is bad -- and thinks everyone else should think so, too. And, yes, the lawsuit was inflammatory and designed to make national headlines -- which it did -- but where's the injury?...[more]
The McLawsuit is back yet again. A federal appeals court has reinstated the case nearly a year and a half after a federal judge dismissed (for a second time) the class action complaint, which claims that McDonald’s is responsible for the weight, girth and health of two named teenagers and countless “other similarly situated persons.”...[more]
CFIF Condemns European Court’s Decision Against Microsoft
The Center for Individual Freedom today condemned the refusal of the European Court of First Instance to delay the imposition of sanctions on Microsoft while its appeal of the European Union antitrust case is being decided. The decision forces Microsoft to immediately pay a whopping $664 million fine to the EU, and compels the company to make parts of its Windows operating system available to its competitors...[more]
‘The Antitrust Paradox’ Continues
More than a quarter century ago, Robert H. Bork noted the conflict between the pro-consumer policy behind the antitrust laws and the pro-competitor approach developed through their enforcement. In his seminal book The Antitrust Paradox: A Policy at War with Itself, Judge Bork, argued that antitrust enforcement had "led to the protection of inefficient competitors, the punishment of successful firms, and, ultimately, the detriment of the interest of consumers, which the antitrust laws were designed to protect in the first place."...[more]
The Master of Everyone Else’s Domain
New Yorkers elected Eliot Spitzer to be the state’s chief law enforcement officer — and they very nearly didn’t choose him even for that post. But, in the span of just a few short years, Spitzer has unilaterally and unapologetically expanded his domain, at the expense of everyone else’s, while single-handedly installing himself as America’s lead investigator, chief prosecutor and primary regulator, to name but a few of the titles he has bestowed upon himself...[more]
Talking Football in the Off-Season: Why the Clarett Decision is Good for Young Athletes
Our daily sports sections are filled with examples of athletes who operate quite comfortably under the presumption that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want. Thanks to the National Football League and our nation’s courts, the validity of that assumption is under review. Last month, on the eve of the National Football League’s college draft, the Supreme Court rejected the plea of running back Maurice Clarett to be allowed to enter the NFL draft after his sophomore year at Ohio State...[more]
Air Travel: Leave Your Swiss Army Knife at Home but Bring Your Medical Records
It’s getting more difficult and time consuming to board a plane these days. With increased security measures and random passenger searches, the lines are longer and so is the wait to get on board. It may soon get even worse — not because of terrorist threats or NTSB regulations, but, rather, because of trial lawyers...[more]
World War in the Courts? Microsoft’s Transatlantic Divide
With the hundreds of thousands of recent global innovations, from international cellular telephone service to intercontinental jet service to the Internet, our world is truly shrinking. What obviously has not caught up with modern technology, however, is the manner in which our national legal systems handle international civil litigation...[more]
The Presumption of Sexual Guilt
The criminal justice system rarely faces closer scrutiny than when a professional athlete is on trial, which the sexual assault charges against Kobe Bryant have demonstrated once again in bringing the question over the constitutionality of rape shield laws into the national spotlight...[more]
As temperatures rise in the Sunshine State, so too does the heat on the lawyers who seized Rush Limbaugh’s medical records last year as part of their criminal investigation into alleged "doctor shopping," that is whether Mr. Limbaugh illegally obtained prescriptions for pain medication from several doctors...[more]
True Justice, Like Beauty, Is In the Eye of the Beholder
For the second time this term, Justice Antonin Scalia has found himself in hot water with the "Justice Police" for his espoused personal beliefs and personal relationships.
The first attack came after Justice Scalia reportedly told a Religious Freedom Day crowd last January that any changes to the Pledge of Allegiance should be done "democratically," through the legislatures, not the courts, and that removing references to God from public forums would be "contrary to our whole tradition."...[more]
Just the Facts, Please: Judges Must Exercise Caution When Relying on Surveys and Polls
By Erin Murphy: Last week’s change-of-venue proceedings in Scott Peterson’s double-murder trial beg the question. Who is less concerned with legitimate evidence: the college students who falsified survey data used to demonstrate juror bias, or the judge who cited a college class’s survey in his ruling?...[more]
Why Should We Rush To Rush’s Defense?
Radio commentator Rush Limbaugh is guilty of many things, not the least of which is being an influential political conservative. Mr. Limbaugh disclosed this fall that he was addicted to prescription drugs for the treatment of excruciating back pain, then voluntarily entered and completed a comprehensive drug treatment program. Now, he is under investigation by the Florida State Attorney’s Office for violation of an obscure state law prohibiting doctor shopping. How obscure? The Palm Beach Post revealed this week that there has been only "one case in the past five years in which Palm Beach County prosecutors charged a defendant with illegally acquiring overlapping prescriptions."...[more]