A senior federal trial judge in Omaha on Monday struck down Nebraska’s ban on same-sex marriage, finding that it was a form of discrimination that failed a tougher constitutional standard. District Court Judge Joseph F. Bataillon put his ruling on hold for a week, to allow the state to seek a longer postponement from the… Read More
Mar 1 2015
Now, the third leg of the health-care stool
A version of this post appears on scotusblog.com Five years ago, when Congress finished writing nearly a thousand pages that would become the new national health-care law, it was well aware that the finished product would be subject to strong challenges. The Affordable Care Act was passed in both houses with not one Republican lawmaker voting for it. … Read More
Feb 28 2015
The Confrontation Clause, once more
A version of this post appears on scotusblog.com For the past eleven years, the Supreme Court has been defining — one case at a case — how far the Sixth Amendment goes to protect a right of the accused person on trial to confront witnesses who will give evidence to support a guilty verdict. The process… Read More
Feb 28 2015
Who, exactly, is “the legislature”?
A version of this post appears on scotusblog.com From time to time, at least since 1898, the people in America’s states have decided to take government into their own hands, withdrawing it from elected politicians when the voters think they have done the job badly, or not at all. “Direct democracy” has cycles of popularity,… Read More
Feb 25 2015
Argument analysis: Plucking simplicity out of complexity
This post also appears on scotusblog.com If it is true that lawyers can make a simple proposition into something bewilderingly complex, it may also be true that judges sometimes prefer the simple, and go with that instead. Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., proved the latter point in an argument on Wednesday, and the Supreme Court… Read More
Feb 25 2015
A fisherman slips through federal prosecutors’ net
This post also appears on scotusblog.com In opinions using a boatload of fishing metaphors, a divided Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that a federal criminal law against destroying corporate records cannot be used against a commercial fisherman for throwing undersized fish overboard to avoid prosecution. The ruling split the Court’s nine Justices widely on the… Read More
Feb 24 2015
Texas judge won’t rush states on immigration
The federal judge in Texas who put the Obama administration’s new immigration policy on hold last week decided not to rush on the government request to move swiftly. On Tuesday, he gave the challenging states a full week to reply. The government on Monday had asked that he decide the issue in only two days. Justice… Read More
Feb 24 2015
Government: No fix if health care subsidies nullified by Court
This post also appears on scotusblog.com Answering a question from a member of Congress, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said on Tuesday that the Obama administration would have no way to fix “the massive damage” if the Supreme Court were to strike down the current system of subsidies for those who need… Read More
Feb 24 2015
Faith and a workplace dress code: A preview
A version of this post also appears on scotusblog.com Can a retail store’s dress code for its sales clerks get the management into legal trouble? Potentially, it can, if the code conflicts with the religious scruples of a worker seeking a job — at least if the store can find a way to respect those… Read More
Feb 23 2015
Is a seven-year-old case getting too expensive?
This post also appears on scotusblog.com If two states have already split payment of fees and costs running well into six figures to keep a case going before the Supreme Court, but it could be resolved now for a final five-figure amount, is it worth continuing? And if, as interstate river disputes go, this one… Read More
