Chalk up a big loss for constitutional rule of law, thanks to an Obama Administration sleight-of-hand reported on the front page of today’s Washington Post. When the Executive Branch needs legal advice, it goes to the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice. OLC is like an in-house Supreme Court: it evaluates the constitutionality of pending legislation and issues binding opinions on the legality of different policy options. And like a court, OLC has a strong institutional memory and tradition; its legal opinions generally don’t change much from …
The University of Notre Dame recently announced that it would be welcoming President Obama to speak at its graduation in May. Among the questions that should be asked as President Obama’s speech approaches is how the administration’s views about private school choice—and specifically, the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program—may conflict with the university’s strong commitment to supporting Catholic education. Last fall, the Bush administration released a report highlighting the crisis facing faith-based private schools in urban communities. Across the country, roughly 1,000 Catholic schools have closed per decade since the 1960s.
