Policy
Paper 2003
Through a series of essays, monographs and
policy papers, the Center seeks to educate policy makers, academics
and the general public on subject matters affecting individual freedom.
Filibusters
and the Constitution
The
current "wrangling" in the Senate over President George
W. Bushs judicial nominations "has constitutional dimensions,
raising important questions about the Senates role in the
judicial confirmation process under the Advice and Consent Clause,"
according to a new white paper authored by four attorneys, including
the Center for Individual Freedoms Assistant General Counsel,
Reid Alan Cox, and published by the Federalist Society for Law and
Public Policy Studies...[more]
Americas
Courts Post 9-11
By Renee
Giachino, It has been two years since America and Americans
were inexplicably changed by the terrorist attacks of September
11, 2001. Since 9-11, hundreds of cases have come to and through
the federal and state courts that have directly or indirectly resulted
from the attacks and their aftermath. This survey of the law cannot
address each case and decision involving an issue connected with
or related to 9-11. Rather, our intent is to present an overview
and analysis of the more significant decisions issued by state and
federal courts dealing with those issues.
To download
(PDF) the full survey from the Center for Individual Freedom Foundations
website, click
here.
Justice
At What Price? The Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel
At
a long-delayed preliminary hearing held last week, a federal judge
ruled that Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols can be
tried on state charges alleging 160 counts of first degree murder
in connection with the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building.
Nichols was already convicted in 1997 of federal conspiracy and
involuntary manslaughter charges for the deaths of eight law enforcement
officers in the bombing. He is serving a life prison sentence for
his federal convictions because the jury deadlocked over whether
to give him the death penalty, and the judge, to whom the sentencing
fell, could impose no more than life without parole...[more]
Free
Speech War on the Range: Legal Challenges to Nation's Commodity
Checkoff Programs
By Eric Schippers
Got Milk?
The question may sound innocuous, but for many of Americas
independent farmers and ranchers that marketing slogan, and others
like it, represents compelled speech in violation of the First Amendment...
[more]
Sign
Ordinances: A Primer on Constitutional Limitations
By
Reid Alan Cox
This
front-page headline in the St. Petersburg Times clearly and concisely
sums up the constitutional problem faced by local governments that
enter the often politically popular but legally difficult area of
regulating signage. Nevertheless, despite the treacherous First
Amendment terrain mapped out by court decisions across the country,
including several decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court, localities
are attempting to navigate the constitutional hills and valleys
by regulating signage with increasing frequency and strictness...[more]
Shakedown
in ‘The Golden State’
More
than 150 years after gold was first discovered at Sutter's Mill
in California, a new Gold Rush has begun in that state, fueled by
the shameless exploitation of one of the most powerful consumer
protection laws in the nation. Trading in their pick axes and mules
for law degrees and monogrammed briefcases, today’s prospectors
are trial lawyers who are panning for gold along the shores of endless
streams of unsuspecting businesses...[more]
Smallpox:
The Risk of Attack vs. the Risk of Vaccination
Smallpox,
considered to have been the worst disease known to man, is the only
one ever to be eradicated. That is an unparalleled accomplishment
of progressive medicine, organization and worldwide commitment.
In the horrifying, potentially cataclysmic new world of terrorism,
it may also be temporary...[more]
The
Looming Debate over Privacy, Commercial Speech and the Fair Credit
Reporting Act
With
the 108th Congress in session less than a month, a showdown over
privacy issues is already gearing up...[more]
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The
Archives
Policy Papers: 2001 2002 2003
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