Blog
Scooter Libby’s Sentence Commuted
Bush has just commuted Scooter Libby’s sentence, eliminating his prison sentence, while leaving his $250,000 fine intact. That is what I recommended here.
Blog
California Loots Safe-Deposit Boxes for State Spending Spree
To finance mushrooming government spending, California is seizing as “abandoned” property the contents of bank safe-deposit boxes held by customers with currently active bank…
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The Hidden Costs of CAFE standards
Charles Krauthammer has an interesting column today on the perils and hidden costs of higher CAFE standards, which would order automakers to increase the…
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Supreme Court Overturns Race-Based Student Assignments
The Supreme Court has overturned the race-based assignment of students in Seattle and Louisville schools. (The decision can be found here). CEI filed an…
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Reid Removed Limit on Welfare for Amnestied Illegal Aliens
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) omitted a limit on welfare for amnestied illegal aliens previously adopted by the Senate when he revived the…
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Supreme Court Denies Property Owners Relief from Harrassment
On Monday, the Supreme Court weakened property owners' protection against government harassment in Wilkie v. Robbins. Law Professor Ilya Somin explains why the decision…
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First Amendment Double Standards
Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued two First Amendment rulings, one expanding First Amendment protection and the other narrowing it. In Morse v. Frederick,…
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Massive Flaws in Senate Immigration Bill
The Senate immigration bill supported by Ted Kennedy and George Bush will make things worse for high-tech businesses, according to a news story in…
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More on Bogus Food Stamp Challenge
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Crybaby Judge Can Be Fired for Seeking $54 Million for Lost Pants
Roy Pearson, an administrative law judge in the District of Columbia, recently cried on the witness stand while seeking $54 million from his drycleaners…
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Court Blocks Use of Tobacco Settlement As Slush Fund
The Mississippi Supreme Court has just upheld a court ruling blocking the diversion of $20 million a year from Mississippi’s multi-billion dollar tobacco settlement…
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Social Workers Seize Children to Receive Adoption Bonuses
In England, as in the United States, local governments receive cash incentives from the national government for adopting out children. In England, this has led…
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Weeping Judge Seeks $54 Million for Lost Pants
Marc Fisher of The Washington Post gives an entertaining account of the trial in which D.C. judge Roy Pearson is suing his dry cleaners…
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Zero Tolerance Policies and the Abuse Excuse
Today, I published a letter to the editor in The Washington Post, contrasting the treatment of two women recently sent to jail. (Instapundit…
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Supreme Court Protects Non-Union Workers from Union Coercion
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today in Davenport v. Washington Education Association that it is not a violation of the First Amendment for a…
Op-Eds
Teens, Beer and a Party’s Consequences (Letter to the Editor)
The June 9 edition of The Post left me disillusioned with our criminal justice system. The front page told the story of a Virginia mother…
Instapundit
Is Killing Your Husband Less Serious Than Serving Kids Beer?
Blog
Victory for Property Rights in New Jersey
There's good news on property rights from New Jersey, of all places. The New Jersey Supreme Court, in Gallenthin Realty v. Borough of Paulsboro,…
Blog
Judge’s Multi-Million Dollar Pants Suit Goes to Trial
Roy Pearson, a Washington, D.C. administrative law judge, is suing his drycleaners for $54 million for losing his pants and posting signs saying “satisfaction guaranteed.” His ridiculous lawsuit is…
Blog
Tobacco Settlement Too Greedy and Venal for Even the ABA
Yesterday, I said that trial lawyers received $14 billion (not million, billion) under the 1998 tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), in discussing how that lucrative…
National Review
Judge’s Pants Worth $13 Million
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More Nigerians Sue U.S. Tobacco Companies for Billions
More states in Nigeria are suing American tobacco companies for billions of dollars. The suit began when one state in Nigeria decided to…
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Cigarette “Lights” Class Action Lawsuits Can’t Be Pulled Out of State Court
The Supreme Court has just ruled in Watson v. Philip Morris that the tobacco companies can’t pull lawsuits against them out of state court…
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Congress Discriminates and Panders at the Same Time
There's an interesting editorial in the New York Times today about how the military is losing some of its few Arab translators due to…
Blog
Can We Deny Amnestied Illegal Aliens Affirmative Action?
Should illegal aliens and their descendants be eligible to receive racial preferences over other Americans under government affirmative action programs? Black businessman Ward Connerly…
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Lost Pants Now Worth Only $13 Million
Earlier, I wrote about an example of lawsuit abuse under “consumer protection” laws. D.C. Administrative Law Judge Roy Pearson sued a Korean drycleaner couple for more…
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Should Illegal Aliens Receive Welfare and Racial Preferences?
The Senate is currently weighing an immigration deal supported by Ted Kennedy and George Bush that would provide amnesty for 12 million illegal aliens. (Supporters…
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Banning “Discrimination” That Might Protect Safety
Politicians love to vote against “discrimination.” It makes them feel saintly, even if the law they vote for has unintended consequences, saddles businesses with red…
Blog
Liberal Journalist Suggests All Women Think Alike
Linda Greenhouse, the liberal Supreme Court reporter for the New York Times, thinks she has the inside story as to why a recent Supreme…
Blog
More Problems With Senate Immigration Deal
Earlier, I wrote about how the Senate immigration deal supported by Ted Kennedy and George Bush has been criticized for doing little to increase…
Blog
Bureaucrats Block Voluntary Mad Cow Testing
Amazingly enough, the Agriculture Department is fighting a meat packer’s plan to voluntarily test all slaughtered cattle for mad cow disease. The government doesn’t…
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Crying Wolf: Demagoguing About Discrimination
Yesterday, by a vote of 5-to-4, the Supreme Court actually enforced the 180-day statute of limitations contained in Title VII of the Civil Rights…
Blog
Bogus Food Stamp Challenge
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Nigerians Sue Big Tobacco, Seeking Billions
In 1998, the major tobacco companies reached a deal with 46 state attorneys general. They agreed to pay a whopping $250 billion over 25 years, and more in…
Blog
Federal Hate-Crimes Bill Promotes Double Jeopardy
Yesterday, I wrote about the fact that many supporters of the federal hate crimes bill want to allow people who have been found innocent…
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Hate Crimes Bait and Switch
The federal hate-crimes bill is a classic example of bait and switch. Its purpose is to circumvent constitutional protections against double jeopardy. But it…
Blog
Yogi Berra and the Federal Lawsuit
The Supreme Court's dismissal of an antitrust lawsuit Monday in Bell Atlantic v. Twombly calls to mind Yogi Berra's advice that "if you come to…
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Immigration Deal Criticized
Earlier, I called the Senate immigration deal “lackluster.” Apparently, a lot of people across the political spectrum agree with me. Conservatives are…
Blog
More Federal Spending on Food Stamps?
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Lackluster Immigration Deal
Democratic and Republican Senators and the White House have apparently reached a deal on immigration. Since the deal was reached by Senators across the political…
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President Bans Contingency Fees
The President has just signed an executive order barring federal agencies from hiring trial lawyers on a contingency fee to bring lawsuits. State attorneys…
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Trans Fats Banned
Montgomery County, Maryland, has just banned the use of trans fats in food preparation. Trans fats have been criticized on health grounds, but they…
Blog
Hate Crimes and Equality
The Washington Post has just published a very ironic editorial supporting the federal hate crimes bill (“Protection from Hate,” May 14). Its editorial is…
Blog
Hate Crimes Addendum
In an earlier blog post, I cited the ACLU's recent decision to support the federal hate-crimes bill which recently passed the House. The ACLU…
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Opposing Murder = Discrimination, Lawyer Says
Truth is stranger than fiction. A restaurant owner told O.J. Simpson to get out of his restaurant, exercising his right not to associate with murderers on his own property. …
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Eliot Spitzer Rebuffed
In a 3-to-2 decision, New York’s intermediate appeals court dismissed most of former New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer’s lawsuit against former New York…
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Hate Crimes Hypocrisy
The ACLU has just jettisoned principle and sacrificed civil liberties on the altar of political correctness in supporting the federal hate-crimes bill. Historically, the ACLU…
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Hate Crimes and Federalism
Congress is considering proposals to create a broad hate-crimes law covering crimes based on sexual orientation, gender, and disability, as well as race. Hate-crimes laws…
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Consumer “Protection” Racket
D.C. Administrative Law Judge Roy Pearson is suing a Korean drycleaner couple for $65 million for losing his pants and posting signs that say…
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KFC Lawsuit Thrown Out
A lawsuit against KFC for using trans fats in its fried chicken has been thrown out. In an appropriately sarcastic ruling, federal district…