The oral arguments earlier this year on the SB-1070, the infamous Arizona immigration law, made it difficult to read how the Court was going to rule on most of its provisions, although the Court seemed on balance more sympathetic to Arizona’s position. Given how things looked after that, today’s decision in Arizona v. United States […]
Scott Lemieux
Scott Lemieux is a political science professor at the University of Washington. He writes for the blog Lawyers, Guns & Money. Follow @lemieuxlgm
Posted inLaw and Justice
Key Rulings Reveal Partisan Divides On Court
As the Dorsey and Knox decisions make clear, the Supreme Court should be a bigger issue in the presidential election than it currently is.
Posted inLaw and Justice
Diluting the Sixth Amendment
We’re still waiting on the big Supreme Court decisions to come down, but a ruling from today illuminates the character of the Court.
Posted inLaw and Justice
Department of Justice Acts to Prevent Disenfranchisement in Florida
The Obama administration’s reaction to illegal voter disenfranchisement may seem like no-brainer … but remember 2000?
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
The Supreme Court’s Passive-Aggressive Gutting of Habeas Corpus
The latest outrage from the Roberts Court involves not something the Court did but what it didn’t do. Today, the Court refused to hear appeals from seven people who have been detained without charges at Guantanamo Bay. In 2008, the Supreme Court formally posed as a defender of habeas corpus in Boumediene v. Bush, holding […]
Posted inLaw and Justice
Racist Searches and Drug Arrests Fine With New York GOP
The governor is proposing decriminalizing the public possession of small amounts of marijuana, but don’t expect the legislation to get past state Republicans.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Should Obama Have Abandoned Health Care Reform?
The small benefits that would have been reaped from leaving health care on the drawing board weren’t worth it in the long run.
Posted inLaw and Justice
1st Circuit Rules DOMA Unconstitutional
And the fact that Republican judges wrote the opinion augurs well for future repeal on the Supreme Court-level.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
The Continuing Importance of the Voting Rights Act
If anything, it should be strengthened to combat discrimination all around the country.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
The War on Contraception Enters the Courts
A new lawsuit has petitioners fighting for the right to impose their beliefs on others with taxpayer money. And the federal courts, increasingly filled with the fringes of the Republican Party—might take the claims seriously.