The Potential Nomination of Merrick Garland

Background After graduating with honors from Harvard University and Harvard Law School, D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland clerked for Judge Henry Friendly on the Second Circuit and then for Justice William Brennan. Garland has spent most of his career in public service, much like Justice Samuel Alito.  Both served as Assistant United States Attorneys and [...]

Monday round-up

Two interviews with Justice Stevens appeared this weekend, renewing speculation over the timing and political consequences of his eventual retirement from the Court.  The Justice told Adam Liptak of the New York Times that although "there are still pros and cons to be considered…. I do have to fish or cut bait, just for my own [...]

Event: The Impact of the Citizens United Decision on Federal Elections

Last week, former FEC Commissioner Hans A. von Spakovsky (now affiliated with the Heritage Foundation) moderated a panel discussion, sponsored by the Heritage Foundation and the free speech and election law practice group of the Federalist Society, that examined the practical impact and potential outcomes of the decision in Citizens United v. FEC.  The panel "“ [...]

Citizens United, Shareholder Rights, and Free Speech: Restoring the Primacy of Politics to the First Amendment, Part II

The following is the conclusion of an opinion piece on the decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission by Professor Bradley A. Smith.  The piece starts in the post below, here. At the same time that the Citizens United v. FEC dissenters launch their remarkable assault on shareholder rights, they claim to be defending [...]

Citizens United, Shareholder Rights, and Free Speech: Restoring the Primacy of Politics to the First Amendment, Part I

The following is an opinion piece on the decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission by Bradley A. Smith, Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Designated Professor of Law at Capital University Law School and chairman of the Center for Competitive Politics.  Professor Smith is a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission.  The [...]

What Should Congress Do About Citizens United?

Below, Laurence H. Tribe, Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School, discusses last Thursday’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (08-205). There is no doubt that Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission marks a major upheaval in First Amendment law and signals the end of whatever legitimate claim [...]

Citizens United v. FEC in plain English

By now, you have likely heard the news:  The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the government may not keep corporations (and probably, as Lyle reasons in his post yesterday, labor unions) from spending money to support or denounce individual candidates in elections.  While the business entities may not give money directly to campaigns, they may [...]

Thursday round-up

American Needle v. NFL, in which the Court will consider whether the National Football League and its teams are one entity for purposes of federal antitrust law, is getting a lot of attention prior to its oral argument next Wednesday. The January edition of the ABA Journal asserts that a ruling in favor of the [...]

Wednesday round-up

Coverage of the Court's Monday orders continues.   David Savage of the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle's Bob Egelko have stories on Carachuri-Rosendo v. Holder, an immigration case in which the Court will address whether legal permanent residents who have been charged multiple times for drug possession but not labeled as repeat offenders [...]

Monday Round-up

The stakes for the outcome of Citizens United and the McCain-Feingold law have been raised after the D.C. Circuit’s decision last Friday in Emily’s List v. FEC. The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Blog of the Legal Times and Election Law Blog each analyze the appellate opinion, which struck down federal campaign finance [...]

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