On May 22, 2018, Laurence Tribe and Joshua Matz, authors of the book To End a Presidency, spoke at the Cambridge Public Library. My rough notes follow: Laurence Tribe: The abuse of Presidential power is the lynchpin of an impeachable … [Read more...]
On Protecting The Innocent, Or, Is There A Death Penalty Compromise?
I don’t feel very good about this country this morning, and as so many of us are I’m thinking of how Troy Davis was hustled off this mortal coil by the State of Georgia without a lot of thought of what it means to execute the … [Read more...]
On Living Up To Your Words, Or, Tornado? That’s Not In The Constitution.
"...For that was not true; his attitude was not to be explained by greed, or at any rate by greed alone, but rather by the touchiness which his great labors and their complete unsuccess had bred in him." --From the story "The Village School … [Read more...]
Prop 8 Preview: The “Basis” Is The Thing
We have a long discussion available, here and here, that explains exactly what happened in Massachusetts a few weeks ago, but the short version is something like this: a series of Plaintiffs, including private persons and the State of … [Read more...]
On A Pair Of Victories, Part Two, Or, DOMA Ruled Unconstitutionally Irrational
In the companion case, Massachusetts v HHS, the Plaintiff was the State of Massachusetts, who alleged, convincingly, that the DOMA definition of "spouse" was forcing the State to illegally discriminate against its own citizens. Today's … [Read more...]
On A Pair Of Victories, Part One, Or, “I DOMA Think Congress Can Define Spouse Anymore”
This will be too much analysis for one story; we'll be, instead, discussing the ruling in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today; the second opinion, which decides Gill v OPM (OPM is the US … [Read more...]
Rights Under SCOTUS Assault — Again
In their decision regarding Berghuis v. Thompkins, the Court's majority has decided that a suspect's three-hour silence does not constitute an invocation of his right to remain silent, while opening his mouth after three hours of silence -- … [Read more...]