How we can reduce, make more humane, and ultimately eliminate a practice that, in Justice Kennedy’s words, drives prisoners “to the edge of madness”
Law and Justice
Posted inLaw and Justice
This Prosecutor is Wrong About the Death Penalty, But He’s Also Right
A few months ago, Dale Cox, the acting district attorney in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, told a reporter from the Shreveport Times the country needs to “kill more people.” The dramatic increase in capital convictions in Cox’s parish, which now accounts for almost 50 percent of those in all of Louisiana, was also the subject of […]
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Scalia’s Temporary Retreat from Textualism
In a 1996 essay, Antonin Scalia declared war on judicial activism. He criticized justices for ruling according to their personal predilections and blasted the American legal system for being populated by “lawmaking” judges who usurp the democratic process by using whatever means necessary to bring the case to a desired resolution. As a result, Scalia […]
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Columbia University Was Invested in Incarceration—Until Students Stopped It
Inside the nationwide campaign to keep university endowments out of the prison business.
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Unhappy Justices
The Supreme Court’s conservative wing seems increasingly out of touch with 21st century America—and reality.
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But Was the Court’s Ruling on Marriage Democratic?
Contrary to critics, extending rights to long-oppressed groups lies at the heart of our democratic system.
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Republicans Need to Find a New Culture War to Fight
Old battlegrounds like gay rights are becoming much less controversial, even among conservatives.
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Scalia’s Presumption of Reasonable Republicans
Justice Scalia’s dissent in King v. Burwell rests on a deeply misguided faith in GOP leaders at the state level.
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The Civil Rights Movement and the Politics of Memory
As opportunists try to hijack the movement’s legacy, let’s remember what actually occurred.