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July 3, 2017|Blaine Amendments, Chief Justice John Roberts, Free Exercise Clause, Justice Sotomayor, The Sacred Rights of Conscience, Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer

Blaine’s Descendants Disinherited

by Mark David Hall|

 

 

The Supreme Court’s decision in Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer is a resounding victory for religious liberty. Seven of nine Supreme Court Justices held that Missouri may not offer a benefit to all nonprofit organizations except religious ones.

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March 25, 2016|Contraceptive Mandate, Justice Sotomayor, Little Sisters of the Poor, Obamacare

Little Sisters, Would You Please

by Michael S. Greve|

Mother Loraine Marie Maguire, (C), of the Little Sisters of the Poor, walks down the steps of the US Supreme Court.(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Scenes from an Argument

I’ve perused the argument transcript in Zubik v. Burwell (better known as Little Sisters of the Poor v. Burwell) and some of the press coverage. I’ve also looked at the press pictures and noodled over whose side I’m on—the grim-faced harridans demanding free contraceptives now, or the cheerful Little Sisters.

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June 26, 2013|father, Justice Sotomayor, marriage, mother, natural parents

Justice Sotomayor, Today’s Paternal-Rights Case, and Tomorrow’s Marriage Cases

by David Upham|

Tomorrow the Supreme Court will issue its opinions in the marriage cases.  Today, in a less prominent case, the Court treated the issue of parental, and more particularly, paternal rights.   As I've discussed here, there is a constitutional presumption in favor of natural-parental trusteeship, a presumption that is in tension with the contradictory presumption that arises where the state recognizes same-sex relationships as marriage. Today's case, Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, involved a statutory, and not a constitutional, issue.  Still, the dissent , authored by Justice Sotomayor, took pains to mention the constitutional presumption that I've emphasized.   There is, she…

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June 25, 2012|Due Process Clause, FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., Justice Ginsburg, Justice Kennedy, Justice Sotomayor, multiemployer pension plans, withdrawal liability

Why FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., Fascinates an ERISA Lawyer

by Tom Christina|

In FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., and a companion case involving ABC, seven Justices ruled that decency standards promulgated by the Federal Communications Commission were so vague that their application to television programs broadcast by the respondents’ affiliates violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.  On that basis, the Court voided FCC orders finding that the respondents had violated 18 U.S.C. § 1464 (and imposing what I take to be a civil forfeiture of almost $1.25 million on ABC’s affiliates).  Justice Ginsburg concurred in the result on First Amendment grounds, and Justice Sotomayor did not participate in the consideration or decision in the case.  

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June 24, 2012|Asheesh Agarwal, Citizens United, First Amendment, Indiana, Justice Alito, Justice Ginsburg, Justice Kennedy, Justice Sotomayor, Knox v. SEIU, public employee unions, republican form of government, right-to-work states, Wisconsin recall election

Three Observations About Knox v. SEIU

by Tom Christina|

          Even for someone outside the world of legal academics, it was an extraordinarily interesting week at the Supreme Court.  I found two of this week’s decisions particularly intriguing.  The one I will discuss in this post, Knox v. SEIU, signals the Court’s unwillingness to rely on legal fictions to justify state-compelled speech, and it may also signal a willingness to make a deeper commitment to prohibiting involuntary association, as well.  The other, FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., is particularly interest to me because it could have important implications in my principal area of practice (which is about as far removed from broadcast licensing as possible).  But I will save a discussion of that decision for another day during my stint as a temp for the vacationing Mike Greve. 

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Book Reviews

A Mirror of the 20th-Century Congress

by Joseph Postell

Wright undermined the very basis of his local popularity—the decentralized nature of the House—by supporting reforms that gave power to the party leaders.

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The Graces of Flannery O'Connor

by Henry T. Edmondson III

O'Connor's correspondence is a goldmine of piercing insight and startling reflections on everything from literature to philosophy to raising peacocks.

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Liberty Classics

Rereading Politica in the Post-Liberal Moment

by Glenn A. Moots

Althusius offers a rich constitutionalism that empowers persons to thrive alongside one another in deliberate communities.

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James Fenimore Cooper and the American Experiment

by Melissa Matthes

In The American Democrat, James Fenimore Cooper defended democracy against both mob rule and majority tyranny.

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Podcasts

Stuck With Decadence

A discussion with Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat discusses with Richard Reinsch his new book The Decadent Society.

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Can the Postmodern Natural Law Remedy Our Failing Humanism?

A discussion with Graham McAleer

Graham McAleer discusses how postmodern natural law can help us think more coherently about human beings and our actions.

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Did the Civil Rights Constitution Distort American Politics?

A discussion with Christopher Caldwell

Christopher Caldwell discusses his new book, The Age of Entitlement.

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America, Land of Deformed Institutions

A discussion with Yuval Levin

Yuval Levin pinpoints that American alienation and anger emerges from our weak political, social, and religious institutions.

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About

Law & Liberty’s focus is on the classical liberal tradition of law and political thought and how it shapes a society of free and responsible persons. This site brings together serious debate, commentary, essays, book reviews, interviews, and educational material in a commitment to the first principles of law in a free society. Law & Liberty considers a range of foundational and contemporary legal issues, legal philosophy, and pedagogy.

The opinions expressed on Law & Liberty are solely those of the contributors to the site and do not reflect the opinions of Liberty Fund.
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