In one of the most important votes on Obama’s lower court judicial nominees, Democrats were unable to overcome the filibuster of Ninth Circuit Court nominee Goodwin Liu in a vote in the U.S. Senate this afternoon. It takes 60 votes to end a filibuster under the Senate rules, and the final vote was only 52 in favor of cutting off debate, 43 opposed, one senator voting “present” (Sen. Orrin Hatch), and four not voting. Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska crossed party lines to oppose Liu, making it the first successful …
We have had the first break in the Democratic cone of silence over President Obama’s proposed Executive Order that attempts to implement provisions of the failed DISCLOSE Act. The EO would require government contractors to report all of their contributions (including the personal contributions of their employees) to candidates, as well as donations to third-party, independent organizations that engage in political speech prior to bidding on government contacts. John Fund at the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Steny Hoyer (D-MD.), House Minority Whip and the second-ranking member of the …
It should come as no surprise to anyone that a panel of judges of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order today refusing to lift the stay issued by a federal district court against Arizona’s immigration law. After all, the Ninth Circuit is the most often overturned appeals court in the nation, full of judges who routinely issue results-driven opinions that flout the law and precedents issued by the Supreme Court. We all knew the litigation over Arizona’s law, which requires police officers to check on the immigration status …
Should it be any surprise that in a state like Wisconsin that has been under the thrall of liberals for far too long, a local judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the collective bargaining law recently passed by the legislature? Or that the judge sees nothing wrong with interfering directly in the legislative process? Judge Maryann Sumi issued her one-sentence order without a written explanation. The complaint filed by Democratic District Attorney Ismael Ozanne claims that a meeting of the Joint Committee of Conference on the collective bargaining …
The Obama administration got a well-deserved rebuke today from Judge Roger Vinson in the Florida lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare (aka the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act). Judge Vinson issued a new order in response to a bizarre and obtuse “motion to clarify” that the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed on February 17. Vinson’s original order on January 31 could not have been clearer: He declared the entire law unconstitutional and specifically said that, because he presumed that officials of the executive branch would adhere to the law …
President Obama calls Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to curtail the collective-bargaining rights of state employees an “assault.” But the real assault is the conspiracy that has existed for decades between elected officials and public-employee unions — and taxpayers are the ones who wind up battered. The unions get salaries, health benefits, and pensions far in excess of what the average taxpayer in the private sector earns. In exchange, the unions contribute huge amounts of money to the elected officials who agreed to these outrageous and fiscally bankrupting perks.
Just as it did last year in the Citizens United decision, the Supreme Court today upheld the First Amendment in a virtually unanimous opinion in a very difficult case. In Snyder v. Phelps, the Court held that the First Amendment shields the Westboro Baptist Church from a state tort claim. Albert Snyder filed a lawsuit in Maryland against the founder and members of the church for intentional infliction of emotional distress, intrusion upon seclusion, and civil conspiracy after they picketed the funeral of Snyder’s son, Matthew Snyder, a Marine Lance …
On February 23, Attorney General Eric Holder announced in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner that President Obama had instructed him to no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), but that he would notify the courts of DOJ’s “interest in providing Congress a full and fair opportunity to participate in the litigation,” i.e., to defend DOMA. The president’s decision seems driven by politics and violates his law enforcement duty, calling into question the integrity of our justice system. It contravenes long-standing Justice Department policy …
Today, President Barack Obama concluded, and Attorney General Eric Holder announced, that the administration will not defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). DOMA defines marriage as between a man and a woman for the purposes of federal law, and clarifies that no state has to recognize a homosexual marriage from another state. The President’s announcement is refreshing in its honesty, at least insofar as it drops the farce that the administration has been offering anything even remotely approaching a vigorous (and professional) defense of the federal statute. On this …
I don’t usually feel a personal connection to a Supreme Court decision, but as the parent of three children, I was elated (and relieved) to see the Court come to the right conclusion today in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth. The Court’s holding that state tort suits against vaccine manufacturers are preempted by federal law is absolutely crucial to maintaining the continued availability of the many vaccines that protect the lives and health of tens of millions of Americans, particular school-age children like mine. The parents of Hannah Bruesewitz sued the manufacturer …
