Overlawyered
Maryland Roundup
From Overlawyered: If you think the current federal crusade on disparate minority school discipline rates is unreasonable, check out the…
Blog
Supposed “Bipartisan” Consensus Can’t Waive Laws Such As Welfare Reform And Its Work Requirements
As I've noted before, the Obama administration violated the text, structure, and purpose of the 1996 welfare reform law, in claiming the authority…
Blog
Yes, Obama Did Gut Welfare Reform
Earlier, I wrote about how the Obama administration gutted welfare reform. Now, the New York Times is claiming that the Obama administration did…
Blog
The Myth Of The Phoenix: Losses Resulting From Purity Tests Don’t Plant The Seeds Of Future Success
Overlawyered
Feds’ Crusade on Disproportionate Minority School Discipline Rates
From Overlawyered: Also includes a sidebar on the feds’ somewhat contrasting “anti-bullying” campaign. More: Hans Bader, plus a letter from…
Blog
Obama Administration Aggravates The Minority Achievement Gap, Increases Risk Of School Violence
If you want to fix the achievement gap between black and white students, you must first fix the behaviors that contribute to it, like the…
Overlawyered
Chicken Scraps
From Overlawyered: I joined hosts Mark Newgent and Andrew Langer of RedMaryland on their BlogTalkRadio show Monday evening to talk…
Products
Letter to Maryland State Board of Education
Full Document Available in PDF As a lawyer who used to bring civil-rights cases for a living, I am writing in opposition…
National Review
What is NYU Going to Do?
From George Leef's post in The National Review: The furor over Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy’s opposition to same-sex marriage…
Overlawyered
Labor and Employment Roundup
From Overlawyered: Hans Bader of the Competitive Enterprise Institute explains why he sees no contradiction in opposing the Employment Non-Discrimination…
Blog
Chick-Fil-A And Free Speech: New York City Council Speaker Pressures University To Punish Restaurant For Speech
New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn wants to kick Chick-fil-A out of New York because its CEO said he opposed gay marriage. She…
Blog
Harassing Newborns And Their Mothers: Mayor Bloomberg’s Latest Overreach
The New York Post reports, “Mayor Bloomberg is pushing hospitals to hide their baby formula behind locked doors so more new mothers will breast-feed.” When…
New York Post
Letter to the Editor: Quota-Free Classes
Kyle Smith misquoted me in his otherwise excellent column, “Political Science” (PostScript, July 15). I never said “courts have ruled that applying Title IX to…
Washington Examiner
Letter to the Editor: Pushback Against Chick-Fil-A is Illegal
Michelle Malkin was right to lament the mayor of Boston's contempt for the First Amendment. The mayor said he would block Chick-fil-A from opening a…
Blog
Maryland’s Unconstitutional School Discipline Quotas
Crimes and infractions are not evenly distributed across racial groups, as the Supreme Court noted in United States v. Armstrong, 517 U.S. 456 (1996). …
Washington Examiner
Expanding Title IX
Hans Bader discusses the legal and practical implications of expanding Title IX. Fox News Channel's Fox&Friends, July 24, 2012…
Blog
I Never Said Title IX Was Unconstitutional, Or Only Applied To Sports, Contrary To Media Matters’ Claims
Over the years, I have often written about applications of Title IX to areas other than sports, once handled Title IX cases as a…
Blog
Billions of Tax Dollars Spent Raising False Hopes Among Homeowners
The Obama Administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) gave "banks $1,500 bonus payments and servicers $1,000 bonus payments for each loan modification they processed. This…
Hot Air
ABC News releases first home video of Colorado shooter James Holmes
Blog
Scaremongering ABC Reporter Brian Ross Blames Innocent Man For Colorado Shootings, Leading To Death Threats Against Him
When a 24-year-old shooter killed at least 12 people in a Colorado movie theater, ABC's Brian Ross was quick to suggest that the…
Legal Brief
Brief of Amici Curiae Supporting EPIC’s Petition for Writ of Mandamus (EPIC v. DHS)
In the last half decade, as millions of Americans have undergone AIT screening by the TSA, none have been afforded an opportunity to comment on…
Blog
Obama Administration Urged Self-Reliant Hispanics To Go On Food Stamps
The government encouraged self-sufficient Hispanics to apply for food stamps, in a Spanish-language radio campaign that continued until English speakers finally became aware…
Forbes
Obama: Biggest Spender in World History
From Peter Ferarra's article in Forbes: Moreover, as Competitive Enterprise Institute scholar Hans Bader reported in May, “The Democrat Congress [in 2008], confident…
Washington Times
Letter to the Editor: Higher Education Not Always a Necessity
George Leef is right that the “huge cost of college is often a waste” (“Burst the higher education bubble,” Commentary, Wednesday). Some 17 million Americans…
Blog
Obama Administration Guts Welfare Reform’s Work Requirements
As The Washington Examiner reports, "In a quiet move Thursday — barely noted beyond the conservative press — the Obama administration 'released an official…
Blog
Americans Pay Taxes On Overseas Income, Including Bank Accounts In So-Called “Tax Havens”
Recently, there has been a lot of coverage of the fact that Romney, Obama, and other politicians like Dick Durbin and Debbie Wasserman…
Blog
FDA Delay Likely Killed Thousands, Imposed Billions In Costs
The FDA didn’t approve a home test for HIV until 24 years after it first received an application. According to an FDA advisory committee,…
Blog
$14 Billion More in Improper Government Payments
As CNN notes, federal and state governments overpaid unemployment benefits by $14 billion in 2011 — or approximately 11 percent of all benefits paid.
Blog
Judge Lifts Order That Banned Dan Valenti From Blogging About Newsworthy Accident
In Berkshire, Massachusetts, “a judge lifted a harassment prevention order against local blogger Dan Valenti that kept him from writing about Meredith Nilan and forced…
Blog
Government “Protects” Kids By Jailing Their Mother When She Calls 911 For Help
A Tennessee mom, April Lawson, has been jailed for letting her kids play at a park, after she called 911 to report that they…
Blog
Quotas Limiting Male Science Enrollment: The New Liberal War on Science
Quotas limiting the number of male students in science may be imposed by the Education Department in 2013. The White House has promised…
Blog
More Evidence Of A Higher Education Bubble: Even Scientists Can’t Find Jobs In Their Field
Even “very good chemists with PhDs from Stanford can’t find jobs” in their field, and end up working in menial positions, like "low-wage office…
Blog
Maryland Court Dissolves Injunction Against Blogger; Massachusetts Judge Orders Blogger to Take Down Blog Posts
A Maryland judge has vacated an injunction obtained by ex-terrorist and convicted felon Brett Kimberlin against a conservative blogger, Aaron Walker, who…
Blog
A Dream Deferred: An Independence Day Story About Becoming An American Citizen
On July 4, Popehat’s Ken White posted a touching story about Filipino World War II veterans belatedly given their promised American citizenship in the…
Bennington Banner
Court Ruling on Blogger Sparks Debate
From Andrew Amelinckx's article in The Bennington Banner: In the wake of a district court judge’s ruling forcing Dan Valenti to remove references…
Blog
Power Back On Faster In Virginia Than In Maryland: Political Incentives At Work?
I wish all OpenMarket readers a Happy Fourth of July. Things are finally returning to normal here in most of the Washington, D.C., region, where…
Blog
Food Safety Regulations That Kill
In Reason magazine, Baylen Linnekin writes about "the sickening nature of many food-safety regulations," like the "poke and sniff" inspection method mandated by the…
Blog
Obamacare Upheld, 5-to-4: A Perverse Decision That Undermines Political Accountability
Today, in a really perverse ruling, the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare's individual mandate as a tax in a 5-to-4 decision, even though Obamacare's supporters…
Blog
A Political Climate that Discourages Setting Up a Small Business
The EEOC has punished a cafe owner for not selecting a hearing- and speech-impaired applicant for a cashier’s position, even though such impairments obviously…
Washington Post
Romney Finally Punches Back on Outsourcing
From Jennifer Rubin's post in The Washington Post's Right Turn: Hans Bader of the Competitive Enterprise Institute wrote about…
Blog
Supreme Court Strikes Down Mandatory Life Sentences Without Parole for Teenagers, But Does Not Cite “International Norms”
The Supreme Court has just ruled 5-to-4 that states cannot mandate life sentences without the possibility of parole for murderers under age 18, no matter…
Blog
Who’s the Outsourcer-in-Chief? Obama
Earlier, after discussing all the jobs that have been sent overseas by the Obama administration using taxpayer subsidies, I dubbed President Obama the “…
Legal Brief
State National Bank of Big Spring et al. v. Geithner et al.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute and the 60 Plus Association join the State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas, in their lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of…
Blog
Supreme Court Ruling in FCC v. Fox Television Stations Undermines Vague Regulations at SEC, EEOC, and NLRB
In its ruling yesterday in FCC v. Fox Television Stations, the Supreme Court overturned the FCC’s finding that Fox Television was guilty of…
Blog
FCC v. Fox Television: Protection Against Vague Laws Applies to Civil Cases and Protects Businesses
Past Supreme Court rulings like FCC v. Pacifica (1978) allow the federal government to ban "indecency" in broadcasting, and give the government a freer…
Powerline
Major Lawsuit Challenges the Constitutionality of Dodd-Frank
From Paul Mirengoff's post in PowerLine: The plaintiffs are represented by Boyden Gray of Boyden Gray & Associates, along with the firm of…
Blog
Supreme Court Issues 5-to-4 Rulings, But Not On Obamacare
The Supreme Court announced four decisions today, three of them decided by slender 5-to-4 margins, but not the long-awaited ruling about the constitutionality of…
Blog
Auto Bailouts Incurred Extra $26 Billion in Unnecessary Expenses Due to Political Favoritism by Obama Administration
In a new report, labor economist James Sherk and bankruptcy-law professor Todd Zywicki found that taxpayers lost billions in the auto bailouts…
Newsbusters
The Horror: NYT’s Timothy Egan Forced to Watch Fox News
From Clay Waters' article on Newsbusters: "Timothy Egan, a liberal reporter turned columnist for the New York Times, was forced to watch Fox…
Forbes
President Obama: The Biggest Government Spender In World History
From Peter Ferrara's column in Forbes: As Hans Bader reported on May 26 for the Washington Examiner, the budget approved and implemented by…
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…