Blog
Legislators Seek to Create New, Unnecessary Protected Class: Gun Owners
Generally, the Constitution only binds the government, not the private sector. For example, the First Amendment protects speech, and even insults, but that doesn't…
Blog
Employment Non-Discrimination Act Makes as Little Sense as Chemotherapy for a Cold
American business is quite happy to hire gay and lesbian employees, and needs no federal mandate to do so. Virtually all Fortune 500 companies already…
Blog
The Private Sector Is Not “Doing Fine,” Contrary to Claims by President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Far more people have lost their jobs in the private sector than in the public sector, and the percentage of the economy consumed by…
Blog
Government Restrictions on Salt Consumption May Cost Lives
Some government officials would like to curb salt consumption, even though such restrictions could increase death rates. “The Department of Agriculture’s dietary guidelines still…
Blog
Twisting the Law to Punish Heretics: Elane Photography v. Willock
Judges are supposed to interpret laws narrowly if a broader interpretation would potentially encroach on religious freedom. For example, in NLRB v. Catholic Bishop…
Blog
A Liberal War on Women: “New Law Keeps Many Homemakers from Qualifying for Credit Cards”
The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act), a law passed by a liberal Congress and signed by President Obama, “…
Washington Times
Letter to the Editor: Judicial Injustice in Kimberlin Case
Robert Knight’s discussion of the harassment faced by conservative critics of Brett Kimberlin, the convicted “Speedway Bomber,” was spot on, as was his mention of…
Blog
Unemployment Rises, Debunking Obama Stimulus Claims
“The joblessness rate jumped to 8.2 percent. What makes that number particularly painful is that the Obama Administration claimed that the unemployment rate today would…
Blog
Supreme Court Takes Another Bite Out of Constitutional Protections Against Double Jeopardy
The Supreme Court recently weakened constitutional protections against double jeopardy in Blueford v. Arkansas, a homicide case. The 6-to-3 decision was written by Chief…
Social Science Research Network
Two Questions for Law Schools About the Future Boundaries of the Legal Profession
From Elizabth Chambliss' NYLS Legal Studies Research Paper: A better strategy is to focus on lowering the cost of the unified J.D. degree,…
Case Western Reserve Law Review
The Role of the Avoidance Canon in the Roberts Court and the Implications of Its Inconsistent Application in the Court’s Decisions
[FN1]. See, e.g., Hans Bader, Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB:…
Blog
Lawyer Arrested for Constitutionally Protected Blogging Against Convicted Bomber, After Hearing Before Judge C.J. Vaughey
Earlier, I wrote about how a judge in Montgomery County, Maryland (a liberal bastion), had silenced a critic of convicted "Speedway Bomber" Brett…
Blog
Injunction Imposed Over Blog Posts That Criticized Convicted Terrorist-Turned-Left-Wing Activist
In 2005, a New Mexico judge appalled people across America by issuing a restraining order against David Letterman after a wacky woman accused Letterman…
Blog
Paycheck Fairness Act Contains Unfair Provisions, Would Result in Equal Pay for Unequal Work
“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., scheduled a vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act when the Senate returns from its week-long recess,” reports Susan…
Blog
When Schools Are Like Jails — Or Worse
A 17-year-old Texas honor student has been jailed for missing too much school. Diane Tran works both full-time and part-time jobs, in addition to taking…
Blog
No, Obama Is Not “the Smallest Government Spender Since Eisenhower”
Blog
EEOC Restricts Speech in Viewpoint-Discriminatory Manner in Dawson v. Donahoe: De Facto Ban on Confederate Flags
The First Amendment generally protects even offensive speech, so if you wish to wear a t-shirt celebrating a bloodthirsty thug like Mao, Stalin, or Che…
Case Western Reserve Law Review
Higher Education Bubble Update
From Glenn Reynolds’ Instapundit: HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Are We Subsidizing Student Debt Too Generously? “Why am I subsidizing student loans for Harvard…
Cato
Obamacare’s Constitutional Defects, First Amendment Division
From Ilya Shapiro's post on Cato@Liberty: As the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Hans Bader put it: Obama’s HHS secretary sought to gag…
Blog
Obama: Promises Broken, Promises Kept
President Obama has broken many of his promises aimed at the general public and jobless Americans, but he has kept promises to his left-wing base…
Cato
Medical Roundup
From Overlawyered: Forcing companies to make politicized disclosures to customers implicates First Amendment [Hans Bader on HHS “must credit…
Blog
Government Lost Tons of Money in the Auto Bailouts, Despite Benefiting from Blind Luck
As John Lott notes, “Having just $34 billion to show after a $100 billion-plus investment would get a chief executive of any private company…
Cato
‘People’s Rights Amendment’ Would Knock Out People’s Rights
From Overlawyered: Incredibly, versions of this radical rights-stripping measure has been endorsed through resolutions by the state legislatures of…
Blog
Senate Rejects Obama Budget, 99-0
Blog
Cut Military Spending to Prevent Tax Increases; Obama Administration Endangers Anti-Terrorism Efforts by Exposing Undercover Agent
The Cato Institute has identified $17-20 billion in readily-achievable savings to the 2013 military budget. Such cuts can help stave off tax increases. As…
Blog
More First Amendment Violations from Obamacare, Thanks to HHS
Obamacare will drive up costs for most patients and insurance policyholders. Yet "health-insurance companies must tell customers who get a premium rebate…
Cato
From Watergate to Wedgiegate
From Gene Healy’s column in The Washington Examiner: In a 2011 letter to the nation’s school boards, Department of Education Assistant Secretary…
Blog
Austerity Is Mythical, But It Would Have Real Benefits
Left-leaning commentators are wrong to decry “austerity” in Europe, since, as the Richmond Times-Dispatch notes, such “austerity” is largely mythical: European nations have not…
Blog
Cyberbullying and Bullying Used As Pretexts for Censorship
In the name of fighting “cyberbullying,” many New York legislators would like to force blogs to remove blog comments that offend readers, unless they…
Blog
Amendments That Take Away Rights
The Supreme Court, like European courts, has long recognized that corporations have constitutional rights, ever since its 6-to-1 decision in Dartmouth College…
Cato
Education Roundup
From Overlawyered: “Education Department Pushes Racial Quotas in School Discipline” [Hans Bader, CEI]…
Blog
IRS Pays Out Billions in Fraudulent Tax Credits, Ignoring Warnings from Whistleblower and Inspector General
Like whistleblowers, inspector generals often tell the government things it does not want to hear, or let the public know about how government agencies have wasted their…
Blog
Law Professors: I’m Shocked to Find Gambling In This Casino!
Just as a character in Casablanca claimed to be shocked to find gambling in a casino, race-conscious employers typically deny that they considered race…
Blog
Education Department Pushes Racial Quotas in School Discipline
At Point of Law, Ted Frank of the Manhattan Institute criticizes the Obama Administration's demand for de facto racial quotas in school discipline:…
Cato
Why You Should Stop Attending Diversity Training
From Suzanne Lucas’ article on CBS News: So why do we continue to do this? Well, for one reason, government or professional organizations…
Blog
How Elites Milk Racial Preferences for Their Own Gain
One of the pitfalls of race-based affirmative action is that many disadvantaged people are less able to take advantage of it than the legal and…
Cato
Law Schools Begin to Shrink
From Overlawyered: George Leef wonders whether economic necessity will drive them to radical, even Olsonian, lengths. [NRO “Phi Beta Cons”]…
Cato
Federal Pressure Spurs Harassment Convictions
Regarding the April 24 Associated Press story, “Colleges find new rules for handling rape cases a legal minefield”:The story got my words right, but…
Blog
Student Loans Drive Up Tuition, Create Demographic Time Bomb and Higher-Education Bubble
Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds writes in the New York Post about how student loan programs have contributed to skyrocketing debt and rising defaults:…
Blog
Diversity Training Doesn’t Work, But It Persists Anyway, Due to Compulsion
Diversity training doesn't work, according to an article in Psychology Today. In it, Peter Bregman notes, “Diversity training doesn't extinguish prejudice. It…
Blog
Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization: Don’t Let that Pesky Constitution Stand in the Way of a Law With a Nice-Sounding Title
Senators “will let legislation on domestic violence” known as the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act “pass the upper chamber despite having concerns about its…
Blog
What the Washington Post Cited: “Severe Shortage of Skilled Factory Workers As Government Encourages Students to Pursue White Collar Jobs”
The Washington Post cited my blog post, “Severe Shortage of Skilled Factory Workers As Government Encourages Students to Pursue White-Collar Jobs,” in a…
Blog
Gag Rule for Hedge Funds Challenged in Supreme Court on First Amendment Grounds in Bulldog Investors v. Galvin
Usually, you can advertise and discuss a product, even if not everyone is allowed to buy it. Thanks to the First Amendment, you can advertise…
Blog
Stimulus Aided the Politically Connected at Massive Cost to Taxpayers
Cato
Are We Subsidizing Student Debt Too Generously?
From Jennifer Rubin’s post on The Washington Post‘s Right Turn blog: I went to two critics of the current craze for federal subsidies…
Cato
Ambulance Chasers Feast on Americans with Disabilities Act Claims
From Point of Law: Hans Bader, senior attorney and counsel for special projects with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, comments on a recent New…
Cato
Ambulance Chasers Feast on Americans with Disabilities Act Claims
From Point of Law: Hans Bader, senior attorney and counsel for special projects with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, comments on…
Blog
An America of Inequalities
Increasingly, ordinary people get prosecuted for trifles, while politically connected people get a pass for the exact same crime, or far worse behavior. A whale-watcher…
Blog
No, Paranoid Progressives, the Koch Brothers Had Nothing to Do With Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” Law
In primitive societies, people blame their misfortunes on witchcraft and other imaginary phenomena. The American Left blames the Koch brothers for everything, with equally little…
Cato
“Structuring”: Who Can Get Away With It, and Who Can’t
From Overlawyered: P.S. The Supreme Court, in a majority opinion by Justice Ruth Ginsburg [Ratslaf v. U.S., 1994], admirably “interpreted the ‘willfully’ element…