Late last week, the Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari in the case Bruni v. City of Pittsburgh, which asked the Court to consider, in part, whether the city’s policy of placing “buffer zones” around abortion clinics to bar protesting or prayer violated the First Amendment’s free speech clause. Advertisement Though he

Healthcare workers prepare Pfizer coronavirus vaccinations in Los Angeles, Calif., January 7, 2021. (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters) While government struggled mightily to steer us through the coronavirus pandemic, the free market got to work. Popular culture most often portrays businessmen and the corporations they head as greedy and ruthless. A lightly regulated free market and the profit

I generally try to confine my Bench Memos posts to judicial topics, but in light of the severe gravity of the Capitol attack I think it important to make an exception here and to restate positions that I have vigorously stated on Twitter. Briefly put: 1. The MAGA attack on the Capitol was an outrage

This is not the most important observation that one might make after what happened last week, but it’s one that stands out to me: A lot of people seem very keen on litigating whether the attack on the Capitol was worse than last summer’s rioting. That says something depressing about political polarization in this country.

(Jason Reed/Reuters) 2006—Less than eight years out of law school, Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu submits his written testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee opposing the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. Liu concludes his testimony with this demagogic rant: Judge Alito’s record envisions an America where police may shoot and kill an unarmed

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) (Joshua Roberts/Reuters) House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D., Ga.) indicated that the House may not send articles of impeachment against President Trump to the Senate during the first 100 days of Joe Biden’s presidency, in an interview on CNN. Congressional Democrats have called for removing Trump from office after the

Senator Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) walks from Senate Republican weekly policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 6, 2018. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters) Senator Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) said on Sunday that President Trump could face “criminal liability” after inciting a mob of supporters to head to the Capitol while Congress was in the process of

NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE N ow that Donald Trump has lost the presidential election to an egg-salad sandwich, taken the Republican Senate majority down with him, and inspired a bloody insurrection that has cratered the credibility of the Republican Party at large, Republicans might want to start thinking about how to use what little power they

NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE O n August 7, 1974, a trio of Capitol Hill’s Republican eminences, led by Senator Barry Goldwater, called on a beleaguered President Richard Nixon at the Old Executive Office Building on the White House flank. The Watergate scandal was in its end stages. Consequently, the meeting was not about presidential decorum, evidence

A pregnant woman receives an ultrasound. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) 1979—In Colautti v. Franklin, the Supreme Court rules unconstitutional, by a vote of 6 to 3, a Pennsylvania statute that requires that if an abortionist determines that a human fetus “is viable” or “if there is sufficient reason to believe that the fetus may be viable,” the

California governor Gavin Newsom waits to speak at a news conference in San Diego, Calif., October 9, 2019. (Mike Blake/Reuters) The latest effort to recall California governor Gavin Newsom has gained more than 1 million signatures, with nine weeks left to collect the additional 500,000 that would enable the measure to be placed on the

Jamaal Bowman speaks at a watch party in Yonkers, New York, June 23, 2020. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters) Representative Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.) celebrated the news that Twitter had permanently suspended President Trump’s account on Friday by posting video footage of a U.S. official announcing the detention of former dictator Saddam Hussein during the Iraq War.  Bowman

In 2006, I was interviewing Michael Chertoff, who was then the secretary of homeland security. I’m pretty sure we were talking about Richard Reid, the “shoe bomber.” In 2001, he tried to detonate a shoe bomb on a flight from Paris to Miami. The bomb did not go off. People considered Reid a pathetic, almost

Jacob Angeli Chansley says he traveled to Washington, D.C., this week to oppose tyranny. He went, he said, to protest governments that have shuttered businesses during the pandemic, told citizens to avoid their own family members, and mandated that people wear masks. He went to oppose the recent coronavirus stimulus package and omnibus spending bill

The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari late Friday to hear Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Becerra and its companion case, Thomas More Law Center v. Becerra. The two cases challenge significant First Amendment violations against conservative nonprofits by the California attorney general’s office, violations which started under Jerry Brown and flourished under his successors, Kamala

Protesters tear down a barricade as they clash with Capitol police at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., January 6, 2021. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters) The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Friday that there was “no indication” that members of Antifa had gone undercover as pro-Trump supporters to spark chaos during Wednesday’s storming of the U.S. Capitol

Voting machines on display at an early voting location in Chamblee, Ga., October 9, 2020. (Chris Aluka Berry/Reuters) Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation lawsuit against former Trump attorney Sidney Powell on Friday for her attempts to sow mistrust about the company’s voting machines following the presidential election. The federal lawsuit seeks $1.3 billion as well

It’s been obvious for months that overly generous federally mandated unemployment benefits discourage workers from returning to their jobs and contribute to the loss of job skills.   Now it turns out they are also a focal point of corruption because state bureaucrats demand little in the way of verification or qualification requirements.    “An astonishing

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos participates in a meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., June 26, 2020. (Tom Brenner/Reuters) Education Secretary Betsy DeVos resigned from the Trump administration Thursday night, a day after pro-Trump protesters descended on the Capitol, breaking through security barriers and forcing lawmakers to evacuate the Senate floor. DeVos is the

As for the chief instigator, the president of the United States, he should be removed from office by the 25th Amendment or impeachment, whichever is faster. This, with only a week and a half to go, would be a most extraordinary action, but this has been an extraordinary time. Mike Pence is a normal American

As I’ve mentioned previously, Lisa Montgomery brutally murdered a pregnant Bobbie Jo Stinnett and stole her daughter (the baby amazingly survived and is 16). Lisa Montgomery was severely mentally ill and was abused her entire life in multiple diabolical ways. Her lawyers are asking for the president to commute her sentence to life in prison

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell arrives for the Electoral College vote certification during a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol, January 6, 2021. (Kevin Dietsch/Pool via Reuters) Mitch McConnell has had a long and distinguished career, but he may well be remembered for yesterday more than anything else. He steered his caucus toward

President Trump speaks during a rally in Washington, D.C., January 6, 2021. (Jim Bourg/Reuters) Facebook announced Thursday that it is banning President Trump from the platform “indefinitely,” at least until he is out of office. “We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too

Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney speaks during the Wall Street Journal CEO Council in Washington, D.C., December 10, 2019. (Al Drago/Reuters) Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, who was serving as special envoy to Northern Ireland, resigned from the post on Thursday a day after pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol

President Trump speaks to a rally in Washington, D.C., January 6, 2021. (Jim Bourg/Reuters) President Trump on Wednesday urged his supporters who have stormed the U.S. Capitol building to “go home in peace.” “I know you’re hurt,” Trump said in a pre-taped video posted to Twitter. “We had an election that was stolen from us.

I’ve been thinking a lot today about the Al Smith Dinner. That’s the dinner that raises money for charity in New York, where the Catholic archbishop of New York invites both presidential candidates in presidential-election years. It’s always controversial among some Catholics and other believers in God and the dignity of vulnerable human life, because

Supporters President Trump gather in front of the Capitol Building where security has been breached in Washington, D.C., January 6, 2021. (Stephanie Keith/Reuters) Members of Congress reconvened Wednesday night to continue the process of certifying November’s presidential election results. The joint session of Congress was suspended Wednesday afternoon after a sea of protesters swarmed Capitol

President Trump address a campaign rally in Dalton, Ga., January 4, 2021. (Leah Millis/Reuters) It had been 24 years since a Democrat won Georgia’s electoral votes when Joe Biden claimed them two months ago, and the last Democrat to take a Senate race in the Peach State was Zell Miller in 2000 — a conservative

President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by Congress, in Washington, January 6, 2021. (Jim Bourg/Reuters) President Trump on Wednesday again urged Mike Pence to “do the right thing” and send the electoral votes back to the states for recertification, though

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen in a police van after he was arrested by British police outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, England, April 11, 2019. (Henry Nicholls/Reuters) A judge in the U.K. denied bail to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Wednesday, just days after denying an American request that he be extradited to