Scalia: God has been good to US because ‘we have done him honor’

Our country’s constitutional traditions do not require government to be neutral between religion and nonreligion, Justice Antonin Scalia said on Saturday in a speech to Catholic high school students. Scalia said government can’t favor one religion over another, but government has been allowed to support religion over nonreligion for hundreds…

Jan 4, 2016 8:51 AM CST

Chemerinsky: 2 Texas cases before SCOTUS could have big implications for race in the US

During the week of Dec. 7, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in two of the most high profile and likely most important cases of the term. On Tuesday, Evenwel v. Abbott will be argued, which concerns how voting districts should be drawn for state and local elected bodies. On…

Dec 3, 2015 7:30 AM CST

Chemerinsky: 10 lessons from Chief Justice Roberts’ first 10 years

On Monday morning, October 5, the Supreme Court will begin its 11th term with John Roberts as Chief Justice. On Sept. 29, 2005, Roberts became the 17th Chief Justice of the United States. Here are 10 observations about the first decade of the Roberts Court. 1. The court is deciding…

Sep 30, 2015 8:30 AM CDT

Supreme Court’s unsigned rulings favor law enforcement; Reinhardt sees link to racial issues

The U.S. Supreme Court is using brief, unsigned opinions to rule against prisoners challenging their convictions and plaintiffs suing for alleged misconduct by government officials. The opinions find no violations of “clearly established” federal law and no violation of “clearly established” legal principles, so that prisoners’ habeas appeals must fail…

Jul 21, 2015 11:38 AM CDT

Should tapping veiled woman on the shoulder be actionable? Law institute says yes; law prof says no

As many readers will recall from their law school torts class, a defendant who has injured an unusually sensitive plaintiff likely won’t win by arguing that a different person would have been OK. But does the American Law Institute go too far, in its latest restatement of torts, by suggesting…

Jun 23, 2015 3:30 PM CDT

UK and US legal systems both sprung from the Magna Carta, but many jurisdictional differences exist

A major theme of the ABA London Sessions commemorating the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta is its effect in binding two of the leading common law jurisdictions in the world, the United States and the United Kingdom. But underneath that sheen of commonality lies a whole…

Jun 12, 2015 1:05 PM CDT

Federal cyberstalking trial blames courthouse shooter’s widow, son and daughter for slaying of woman

There’s no dispute that former police officer Thomas Matusiewicz shot two women to death at a Delaware courthouse on Feb. 11, 2013, as they were headed to a child-support hearing, and then committed suicide. But an unusual federal cyberstalking trial now underway in Delaware also seeks to hold his widow,…

Jun 12, 2015 11:10 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: Are judges politicians? SCOTUS renews the question

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Williams-Yulee v. Florida State Bar (PDF) will have a significant effect in judicial election campaigns and will create great uncertainty as to the constitutionality of other restrictions of speech by candidates for elected judicial offices. The court upheld a Florida law, based on a…

Jun 4, 2015 8:30 AM CDT

Which justices give the most speeches? Sotomayor tops law prof’s ‘celebrity index’

Justice Sonia Sotomayor tops a “celebrity index” developed by a law professor who is documenting the increase in reported public appearances by U.S. Supreme Court justices. Law professor Richard Hasen of the University of California at Irvine looked at news reports of appearances and interviews by justices since 1960 and…

Jun 2, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

June is busting out all over with big-time SCOTUS decisions

U.S. Supreme Court terms have ended with a bang in recent years. In 2012, a last-day-of-the-term decision upheld most of the Affordable Care Act. In 2013, the justices struck down a key provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act on their final day. And last June, the court held…

Jun 1, 2015 5:35 AM CDT

Does a country have a legal duty to reduce its carbon footprint? Dutch court to decide landmark case

Concerned that the Netherlands isn’t doing enough to reduce its carbon footprint, a group of nearly 900 citizens filed a highly unusual lawsuit against the Dutch government in 2013. Asserting violations of human rights and tort law, the class action (PDF) seeks a court ruling requiring the government to cut…

May 4, 2015 10:50 AM CDT

Indian tribes are retaking jurisdiction over domestic violence on their own land

Diane Millich was only days into her marriage when her husband first hit her. So began her year of "horrific terror." Millich, a member of the Southern Ute tribe of southwestern Colorado, called tribal police many times from her home on the reservation. But because her husband was not an…

Apr 1, 2015 6:02 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: SCOTUS gets another look at the Affordable Care Act

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments March 4 in one of the most important cases of the term, King v. Burwell, which could determine the fate of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, decided in 2012, the Supreme Court upheld…

Feb 25, 2015 9:15 AM CST

New project rewrites SCOTUS opinions from a feminist perspective

Feb 1, 2015 3:30 AM CST

Evaluate law by happiness impact, profs suggest; is 20 years in prison four times worse than five?

Three Chicago-based law professors are suggesting an alternative to cost-benefit analysis in evaluating laws: well-being analysis, which looks at happiness and quality of life. In their new book Happiness and the Law, the law professors use research such as the General Social Survey, which tracks happiness and quality of life,…

Jan 13, 2015 5:45 AM CST