Constitutional Law Prof Blog: Constitutional Law

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Constitutional Law Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Constitutional Law

Constitutional Law Prof Blog

News, analysis, and commentary on constitutional law issues in the courts, the administration, Congress, and the states; and commentary and analysis on constitutional law scholarship.
By Steven D. Schwinn, Ruthann Robson, Nareissa L. Smith

Post Frequency: 3.1/day

Last Entry: November 04, 2020 at 10:04:25

Farewell Justice John Paul Stevens

Posted on June 28, 2010
RR

Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB Opinion Analysis: PCAOB Removal Process Unconstitutional

Posted on June 28, 2010
In another 5-4 and lengthy decision today, the Court declared unconstitutional the formation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) created as part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. As we previously noted in discussing the oral arguments here,...

Christian Legal Society v. Martinez Opinion Analysis: "All Comers Policy" for Student Groups Withstands First Amendment Challenge

Posted on June 28, 2010
In a 5-4 opinion today, the Court upheld the Hastings Law School's policy of non-recognition of the Christian legal Society (CLS) student group against a First Amendment challenge. This high profile case revealed itself to be in a bit of...

McDonald v. Chicago Opinion Analysis: Second Amendment Incorporated Against States

Posted on June 28, 2010
By a vote of 5-4, the Court in McDonald v. Chicago today incorporated the Second Amendment right to individual gun ownership it recently recognized in District of Columbia v. Heller against the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Our analysis of...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Kagan Confirmation Hearing: Material from the Senate Judiciary Committee

Posted on June 25, 2010
The confirmation hearing of Elena Kagan to be an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court begins Monday, June 28, 2010, at 12.30pm. The Senate Judiciary Committee has released the witness list: American Bar Association Witnesses Kim Askew, Chair...

Doe v. Reed Opinion Analysis: No Right to be Anonymous on a Ballot Initiative Petition?

Posted on June 24, 2010
In Doe v. Reed, the Court today rejected a facial First Amendment challenge to the disclosure of names on a petition seeking a ballot initiative. Chief Justice Roberts wrote the Opinion for the Court; only Thomas dissented, although there are...

Con Law Colloquium at Loyola Chicago

Posted on June 24, 2010
The Loyola University Chicago Law School recently announced the line-up for its fall con law colloquium titled How Democratic is the Constitution? The colloquium will take place at the Philip H. Corboy Law Center at Loyola in Chicago starting Friday....

Preliminary Injunction on Deepwater Drilling Moratorium: Financial Investment in the Outcome?

Posted on June 23, 2010
Judge Martin Feldman of the United States District Court for the Easter District of Louisiana has issued a preliminary injunction of Secretary of the Interior Salazar's six month moratorium issued May 28, 2010, after a report on the BP Deepwater...

Street Artists in New York City

Posted on June 22, 2010
How many artists must the constitution allow? That's not precisely the issue in the continuing saga of NYC's repeated attempts to curtail the number of artist vendors in Manhattan. However, the city has long sought to limit the number of...

Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project Opinion Analysis: Material Support Statute Upheld

Posted on June 21, 2010
Roberts, writing for the Court composed of six Justices, in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, upheld the so-called "material support" provision of the PATRIOT Act against a due process Fifth Amendment and a free speech and association First Amendment challenge...

Al Franken at American Constitution Society National Convention

Posted on June 19, 2010
In a speech at the American Constitution Society National Convention, Senator Al Franken sharply criticized the Roberts Court and the Federalist Society. Franken's remarks are available in transcript; audio; and video at the ACS website. While Franken acknowledges he is...

The World Cup and Term Limits for High Court Justices

Posted on June 18, 2010
ConLawProf Mark Kende may be watching The World Cup, but he's thinking about comparative constitutional law, and more specifically, the appointment of high court justices. In his Op-Ed in the Christian Science Monitor, Kende argues: In South Africa, justices can...

Stop the Beach Renourishment: Opinion Analysis

Posted on June 17, 2010
The question of whether there can be a judicial taking under the Fifth Amendment's takings clause was not definitely decided by the Court in its opinion today in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection. The...

D.C. Circuit Rejects Claim for Sudanese Bombing as Political Question

Posted on June 16, 2010
The full D.C. Circuit ruled last week in a divided opinion (5-4) that the political question doctrine prevented the courts from hearing the plaintiffs' case against the government for President Clinton's bombing of their factory for alleged ties to al...

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal in Rendition and Torture Case

Posted on June 14, 2010
The Supreme Court today declined to review the full Second Circuit's split ruling (7-4) in Maher Arar's case against U.S. authorities for their role in his extraordinary rendition and torture, Arar v. Ashcroft. The short order contained no comment or...

Ninth Circuit Upholds Ban on Day Laborers' Solicitation for Employment

Posted on June 14, 2010
A divided three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit last week upheld a Redondo Beach ordinance designed to ban employment solictation by day laborers in Comite de Jornalers de Redondo Beach v. City of Redondo Beach. Plaintiffs in the case lodged...

Hill Staffer Asked Rehnquist to Review Wiretap Program

Posted on June 12, 2010
A congressional staffer wrote to Chief Justice Rehnquist soon after October 2001 to ask him to review the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program, according to an eye-popping report in the NYT. But more: The staffer sent the letter through Rehnquist's...

Court Orders Yemeni Released from Guantanamo

Posted on June 12, 2010
The Federal District Court for the District of Columbia this week released Judge Kennedy's May 26 opinion granting Guantanamo detainee and Yemeni citizen Mohamed Mohamed Hassan Odaini's habeas corpus petition. Odaini has been detained at Guantanamo Bay since June 2002,...

Supreme Court Reinstates Injunction Against Arizona Campaign Finance Law

Posted on June 10, 2010
The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an order reinstating the trial court's injunction against Arizona's campaign finance law and staying the Ninth Circuit's mandate overturning that injunction. Tuesday's order means that Arizona's law will not apply until the Supreme Court...

D.C. Circuit Rejects Guantanamo Habeas Claim

Posted on June 10, 2010
The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday released an opinion rejecting the claims of Adham Mohammed Ali Awad, a Yemeni detainee at Guantanamo Bay who was surrendered to Afghan forces in 2001, and immediately turned over to U.S. forces in Afghanistan, after...

VAWA Applies to Same-Sex Partners, OLC Opines

Posted on June 10, 2010
The Office of Legal Counsel yesterday released an opinion (dated April 27, 2010) concluding that the criminal provisions in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) apply when the victim and offender are the same sex. The opinion evalutes VAWA's provisions...

ACS Panel on the Legacy of Justice Stevens

Posted on June 08, 2010
The American Constitution Society last week hosted a panel discussion on Reflections on the Legacy of Justice John Paul Stevens. Panelists include Moderator Adam Liptak, NYT James Liebman, Simon H. Rifkind Professor of Law, Columbia Law School; Stevens clerk, 1978-79...

Supreme Court Dismisses Challenge to Clinton's Appointment

Posted on June 08, 2010
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the appeal of a foreign service officer who challenged Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's appointment under the Ineligibility Clause. Article I, Section 6, Clause 2, of the Constitution reads: No Senator or Representative...

Ninth Circuit Declines Further Review of Legal Services Funding Restrictions

Posted on June 05, 2010
A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit today ruled 2-1 to decline further review of Legal Services Corporation (LSC) restrictions on lobbying, class actions, attorney's fees, and client solicitation by legal service organizations that receive LSC funding...

Third Circuit en banc hears oral arguments about myspace.com

Posted on June 03, 2010
Today the en banc Third Circuit heard oral arguments about two conflicting panel decisions from its judges rendered on the same day in early February : J.S. v. Blue Mountain Sch. Dist., 593 F.3d 286 (3d Cir. 2010); Layshock v....

The Tea Party and the Seventeenth Amendment

Posted on June 02, 2010
There has been a spate of coverage in recent days of Tea Party calls for repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment--the 1913 Amendment that replaced the appointment of U.S. Senators by state legislatures with popular election. Just to cite a few...

Presidential Proclamations: June is . . . .

Posted on June 01, 2010
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month, Great Outdoors Month, National Oceans Month, Caribbean-American Heritage Month, and African-American Music Appreciation Month. As for LGBT Pride month, Obama?s proclamation touts his Administration's accomplishments including passage of the Matthew Shepard act to...

Court Rejects Tax Discrimination Case, but Leaves Door Open for Civil Rights

Posted on June 01, 2010
The Supreme Court today dismissed under the comity doctrine plaintiffs' federal court action alleging discriminatory state taxation against the State of Ohio. The Court in Levin v. Commerce Energy, Inc. ruled that comity required that such cases proceed first in...

Souter on Constitutional Interpretation

Posted on May 30, 2010
Retired Justice David Souter criticized a "fair reading model" of constitutional interpretation and promoted more nuanced, value-conscious interpretation in his Commencement address at Harvard last week. Souter noted that his speech came at a time when constitutional interpretation will once...

Ninth Circuit Upholds Arizona's Public Campaign Finance Law

Posted on May 27, 2010
In the third significant circuit court decision applying Citizens United v. FEC--the Supreme Court's January 21 ruling striking down limits on independent campaign expenditures--the Ninth Circuit last week in McComish v. Bennett upheld Arizona's public campaign finance law...

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

New Baptist Covenant Blog
Last week, I pointed to the New Baptist Convenant website, now onl...

The Mexico Trucker Blog
I've written before about the perceived problems with relaxed rest...

Case Law Development: Constitutional Challenge to Paternity Laws Dismissed For Failure to State Claim
A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals uphel...