Associate Justice Stephen Breyer warned against expanding the size of the Supreme Court in remarks at Harvard Law School, reports Robert Barnes of the Washington Post. Justice Stephen G. Breyer said Tuesday that proposals to expand the Supreme Court to dilute the power of its conservative majority risk making justices appear more political and could hurt […]
Later this week, the Michigan State University Department of Political Science’s LeFrak Forum on Science, Reason and Modern Democracy is sponsoring a conference on “Freedom of Speech and Intellectual Diversity on Campus.” The program begins Thursday evening with a keynote address by Professor Randall Kennedy of the Harvard Law School on “The Race Question and […]
This morning the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Brown v. Davenport, in which Michigan sought review of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s decision to grant a writ of habeas corpus to Ervine Lee Davenport. Grants in cases like this are often an indication that a majority of the Court plans to reverse, […]
May employers and universities require employees and students to obtain COVID-19 vaccinations before they return to workplaces and campuses? Back in February, attorney Aaron Siri argued that such requirements would be illegal because current vaccines only have emergency use authorizations. Siri wrote in Statnews’ First Opinion: The same section of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act […]
How important was the “Green Revolution” to feeding people in developing countries and improving living conditions? A new paper in the Journal of Political Economy suggests it was quite substantial. The abstract for the paper, “Two Blades of Grass: The Impact of the Green Revolution,” by Douglas Gollin, Casper Worm Hansen, & Read More Article from […]
There was a time not so long ago when the Supreme Court would routinely reverse the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, most frequently in habeas cases in which the Sixth Circuit had granted the petition. These decisions were usually unanimous, and often made without oral argument. It happened often enough that court-watchers […]
There are reasonable arguments to be had over whether Amazon or other internet companies are too big, have too much power, are insufficiently responsive to consumers, or engage in anti-competitive behavior. Such concerns may justify governmental action. Senator Elizabeth Warren, on the other hand, sees other reasons why the federal government Read More Article from […]
The New York Times reported last week that Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer discouraged the Federal Emergency Management Administration from rolling out new policies that would ensure coastal landowners pay risk-related flood insurance premiums. This policy change would have been particularly worthwhile given the threat of climate change and would have helped address concerns that the […]
The Supreme Court issued two significant decisions today. In both decisions, the Chief Justice and Justice Kavanagh aligned fully with the Court’s three liberal justices, while disagreeing (at least in part) with Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch. Justice Barrett did not participate in either decision as they were argued before she was confirmed to the […]
Today a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued its long-awaited opinion in Gun Owners of America v. Garland, a challenge to the Trump Administration’s “bump stock” ban. How long as this decision been awaited? Oral argument was in December 2019. Judge Batchelder wrote the opinion for the court, joined […]
