Jeffrey Toobin’s New Yorker piece has the details.Â
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 inMoney, Politics, and Power
Doing the Right Thing Was the Right Thing
Today is obviously a great and historic moment for President Obama, who decided today to follow the Prospect‘s Jamelle Bouie’s advice and openly favor same-sex marriage. The effects are primarily symbolic, but it’s still a good thing that he decided to match his excellent policy record on LBGT issues with the correct position on a […]
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
Striking Down the PPACA: Still Not A Desirable Outcome
Jon Rauch has an imaginary dialogued with the late Ted Kennedy in which he argues that a Supreme Court decision striking down the Affordable Care Act (a k a the PPACA) might actually be good for liberals. “If the Supreme Court guts another important law and conservatives cheer even louder,” Rauch argues, “their credibility as […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Motives, Principles, and Political Leadership
Paul Waldman’s post about the uselessness of motives in evaluating politicians reminds me of a question a student asked me this week when assessing the Johnson administration. To paraphrase, my student said that his impression was that while LBJ may have signed two important civil rights bills, his motives for doing so were far from […]
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
Dworkin on Why the PPACA is Constitutional
Ronald Dworkin has an article defending the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in the New York Review of Books that offers an excellent primer on the relevant issues. There are two sections I’d recommend in particular. First, in Section II Dworkin does the most lucid job I’ve seen so far in […]
Posted inLaw and Justice
Bush-Appointed Judge Does the Full Lochner
In order to argue against the Affordable Care Act, one has to disavow the entire modern welfare state.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
Of Course a Decision Striking Down the ACA Would Be “Judicial Activism”
The bigger question is whether such activism would be justifiable.
Posted inLaw and Justice
An Unreasonable Search for Justification
The conservative majority on the Supreme Court votes to ignore the Fourth Amendment.
Posted inLaw and Justice
Judging With Double Standards
New research shows that sexism and racism play an unfortunately large role in the evaluation of state judges.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
Don’t Wish For Judicial Overreach
Sometimes a devastating defeat is just a devastating defeat.
