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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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A Blow to Privatization and Interstate Commerce
Once again, Justices Roberts and Alito have split over whether federal law preempts a state regulation. In United Haulers Association v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste…
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Regulated to Death
The New York Times has an interesting story on how federal privacy and disability-rights regulations may have helped pave the way for the Virginia…
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Redundant Regulation Preempted
In a 5-to-3 decision, the Supreme Court just ruled in Watters v. Wachovia Bank that state regulators can’t impose certain regulations on national banks’…
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Rhode Island Lead Paint Verdict Ethically Tainted
In Rhode Island, a jury recently returned a verdict holding out-of-state paint manufacturers liable to the state for potentially billions of dollars, under the theory…
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Foreign Courts Target U.S. Business for Plunder
The Supreme Court of Canada has just given the green light for British Columbia to force American tobacco companies to pay for smokers’ past…
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Dying Woman Denied Right to Take Medical Marijuana
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Thumbing Their Noses at the Constitution
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Selective Support for Democracy
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The Landmark Decision That Nearly Evaporated
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Washington, D.C. Gun Ban Shot Down
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All pain, no gain?
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Lead Paint Travesty
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When Everything Is Unhealthy, Nothing Is
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Dishonest Court Ruling Flouts Law in Dukes v. Wal-Mart
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Punitive Damages Can Be Limited
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has just held in the Engquist case that a legislature can limit punitive damages payable to a plaintiff…
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Taxation Without Representation?
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Economists File Brief In Support of Terminally-Ill
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Forbidden Words
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A Temporary Reprieve for D.C. Employers and Landlords
D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams rightly vetoed a bill that would have banned employers from taking applicants’ criminal records into account in hiring, and forced landlords to rent to ex-cons,…
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Government Has No First Amendment Right to Discriminate
In November, Michigan voters adopted Proposal 2, a state constitutional amendment that bans racial preferences in state university admissions and in government contracts and employment.
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D.C. Council Gives Criminals Special Protections
The Washington, D.C. Council voted 10 to 2 yesterday to ban employers from considering criminal records in housing, hiring or employment, if the criminal’s probation…
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Criminals: The New Protected Class
Employers in Washington, D.C. may soon be banned from considering criminal convictions in hiring, if the criminal’s probation or parole officer thinks he has “achieved…
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Tobacco Scam
In 1998, the big tobacco companies entered into a $250 billion settlement with trial lawyers and the attorneys general of 46 states. Big Tobacco agreed…
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Does Diversity Mean No Whites?
On Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a minority-oriented school can exclude members of all but one race (Native Hawaiians), even if…
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An End to Racial Engineering?
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in two important racial discrimination cases. Parents in Seattle and Louisville are challenging their children’s exclusion from…
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Saudis to Sue Tobacco Companies
The Saudi government is threatening to sue American tobacco companies such as Philip Morris to force them to pay the healthcare costs of Saudi…
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Supreme Court Considers Whether to Preempt State Bank Red Tape
On Thursday, November 29, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Watters v. Wachovia Bank, which will decide whether federal law preempts state regulators…
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Money Violates Civil Rights Laws, Court Rules
A federal judge in Washington, D.C. has just ruled that America’s money bills, such as $1, $10, and $100 bills, discriminate against the blind, in…
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Court Ensures Painful Death for Terminally Ill
Yesterday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals voted to vacate and rehear its Abigail Alliance v. Von Eschenbach decision, which would have required the…
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Kelo Ruling Gutting Property Rights Will Live On
In Kelo v. New London (2005), the Supreme Court ruled 5-to-4 that private property (like your home) could be seized by the government for use…
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Two Victories for Taxpayers
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Turning Free Speech Upside Down
Thomas Jefferson once wrote that “to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and…
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Race-Based Student Assignments
In a case pending before the Supreme Court, the Seattle School District argues that it should be allowed to use race when assigning…
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More Katrina Waste
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Tobacco Litigation Update
In Schwab v. Philip Morris, a federal judge in Brooklyn recently approved a class-action racketeering lawsuit against tobacco companies on behalf of millions…