Constitutional Law
The Supreme Court, the Second Amendment and Consumer Protection

It turns out that New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York was not a watershed Second Amendment decision. That much-discussed case concerned a New York City prohibition on the transportation of firearms outside the city. After the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and before oral argument, state and city laws were changed to permit individuals to transport firearms. These changes in the law rendered moot a case that many observers believed could provide the court an opportunity to expand upon its Second Amendment doctrine in favor of gun rights advocates.

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Even Under McConnell’s Rules, the House Can Make Its Case Against Trump

Not surprisingly, Senator Mitch McConnell has announced that President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial will, at least initially, be bare-bones. McConnell has proposed opening statements from the House impeachment managers and lawyers representing the president, with questions from senators through the Chief Justice. At least at the start, there will be no witness testimony—though a majority of the Senate could later vote to allow both testimony and new evidence. Though this format may not be the kind of proceeding the framers of the Constitution contemplated when they assigned to the Senate the responsibility to try impeachments, it still presents the opportunity for the House to make the case against Trump—to the Senate and, more importantly, to the American people.

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A Trial Date Set for September 11 Planners But No Justice in Sight

As reported in the New York Times, the judge overseeing the military tribunal of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and the four other suspects believed to have designed and organized the September 11 attacks has set a trial date of January 2021. Although there have been numerous court hearings for these five suspects since they arrived at Guantanamo, there have also been numerous delays, and this ruling marks the first time that an actual date has been set for the trial to begin.

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Criminal Justice
Becoming a “Career Criminal” in One Night: The Supreme Court is Poised for an Important Criminal Sentencing Decision in Wooden v. United States

Enacted in 1984, the ACCA was designed to deter dangerous, repeat criminals from possessing firearms, and to separate them from society for a significant period of time.

The Supreme Court, the Second Amendment and Consumer Protection

It turns out that New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York was not a watershed Second Amendment decision. That much-discussed case concerned a New York City prohibition on the transportation of firearms outside the city. After the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and before oral argument, state and city laws were changed to permit individuals to transport firearms. These changes in the law rendered moot a case that many observers believed could provide the court an opportunity to expand upon its Second Amendment doctrine in favor of gun rights advocates.

Chevron Doctrine
WILL CHEVRON FALL THIS TERM?

The Supreme Court’s 1984 Chevron decision generally allows administrative agencies leeway when interpreting ambiguous statutes. It has had its critics over the years, including some of the current members of the Supreme Court. The Court typically hears a number of cases each term that implicate Chevron, and this term is no exception. One has drawn attention as a case the Court might use to overrule Chevron.

The Latest Decision in the Keystone XL Saga: The State Department Fails to Explain an Environmental Reversal

This is a story that begins and ends with global warming. That global warming is happening and that human activities contribute to it is the overwhelming consensus of the science community, decades-deep in studies and expertise. That is a fact. I’ve heard and considered the proposition that all the scientists could be wrong — doggedly fixed on conclusions preordained by their funding sources, or maybe seduced by the drama of an end-of-days scenario. I’ve also heard the argument that the best minds of the sixteenth century insisted that the earth sits at the center of the solar system — this after getting past the flat-horizon-ergo-flat-earth thing — and then there’s the one about Aristotle asserting that men have more teeth than women.  All this I translate as warnings to receive all “scientific truths” with skepticism. Fair enough.

Judicial Review, Supreme Court, Tax Law, Commerce Clause Natasha Varyani Judicial Review, Supreme Court, Tax Law, Commerce Clause Natasha Varyani

SCOTUS to Hear eCommerce Sales Tax Case

The United States Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in the case of South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., addressing the issue of when sales tax needs to be collected by online retailers engaged in eCommerce.  In its 1992 decision in Quill v. North Dakota, the Court ruled that a retailer must have a “physical presence” in a state in order to be subject to that jurisdiction’s sales and use tax laws.  The Court in Quill was revisiting its 1967 holding in National Bellas Hess v. Department of Revenue, in which it reviewed the authority of a state to impose its sales and tax laws on an out of state entity doing business in state.

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Judicial Review, Supreme Court, Constitutional Issues, Education, Affirmative Action Lawrence Friedman Judicial Review, Supreme Court, Constitutional Issues, Education, Affirmative Action Lawrence Friedman

Analyzing Race-Based Classifications After Fisher

In his dissenting opinion in Fisher v. University of Texas, Justice Alito argues that the Court indulged the university’s “plea for deference” in the application of strict scrutiny to its race-based affirmative action program. And he’s probably right, too: the scrutiny the majority applied in Fisher seems less strict than the scrutiny the Court historically has given race-based classifications.

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