Consider the following relationship, and ask yourself whether it's more likely causal or purely coincidental.  Among the numerous elements of American exceptionalism, the United States maintains the world's strongest protections for intellectual property (IP) — creations of the mind, such as patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade…

The war on cops is moving from the streets to the U.S. Supreme Court. Last week, the Justices heard a case that threatens police officers with financial ruin if they make arrests, and the charges later get dropped. It started with a late night bash. District of Columbia police officers were called by neighbors at 1 a.m. to investigate a rowdy party…

When it comes to shamelessness and sheer chutzpah, it's difficult to top labor union leaders.  First, they tenaciously fight right-to-work laws, which simply allow individual employees to decide whether or not they wish to join unions.  It apparently hasn't dawned on them that compulsory membership is more befitting the former East Germany…

If you can't win, change the rules. Democrats and progressive activists are joining forces to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to interfere in how election districts are drawn in all 50 states. In Gill v. Whitford, they're challenging how Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin drew the state's election map. The justices will hear the case on Oct. 3. If they…

"Do you consider yourself an orthodox Catholic?" Sen. Dick Durbin asked Notre Dame Law School professor Amy Coney Barrett, a nominee for a federal appeals court, yesterday.   Since Durbin inquired in the form of a question, we can only assume that Barrett's answer was pertinent to the confirmation. That is problematic considering the…

This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit — often labeled the nation's second-highest court — secured a significant victory for the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.  At issue in Wrenn v. District of Columbia was the following question:  Can the government require citizens to demonstrate…

This week, the Supreme Court blew a critical opportunity to interrupt the ongoing assault by states like California against Second Amendment rights.  Scratch that.  Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito, all of whom joined the landmark D.C. v. Heller majority affirming the individual right to keep and bear…

Conservatives can breathe another sigh of relief.  Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, liberal scolds and Donald Trump skeptics assured the American electorate that he couldn't possibly reach the White House, and even if he somehow did, he would cruelly cast aside promises to govern as a conservative and nominate conservative judges in…

This week offered conservatives and libertarians a delightful spectacle in Judge Neil Gorsuch's testimony during Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings on his nomination to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court.  Gorsuch performed so brilliantly, and his antagonist Judiciary Committee liberals performed so…

If Democrats want to filibuster President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, they're entitled to do it. In fact, Democrats are free to try and stop federal appeals court Judge Neil Gorsuch's confirmation for any reason they desire, whether ideological or personal, or even no particular reason at all. There is nothing in the Constitution that compels…

A little intellectual integrity is apparently too much to ask of Second Amendment restrictionists.  Witness the ever-shifting and contradictory legal rationalizations in their unrelenting campaign to infringe upon Americans' right to keep and bear arms, as convenience and changing circumstance dictate.  Last week, the Fourth Circuit Court…

Judge James Robart, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington State, believes there is no basis for President Trump's executive order temporarily suspending non-American entry from seven terrorism-plagued countries. In court last week, Robart questioned Justice Department lawyer Michelle Bennett about the administration's decision…

During last year's presidential campaign, Donald Trump assured wary voters that, "I am looking to appoint judges very much in the mold of Justice Scalia."  From that point forward, the question of whether the distinctively mercurial Trump could be trusted to adhere to his promise remained a matter of frequent debate.  This week…

Opening shots are being fired over Donald Trump's anticipated Supreme Court nomination. A conservative advocacy group is running television ads urging Trump to appoint a justice in the mold of the late Antonin Scalia. New Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer fires back that Democrats will try to block any nominee who isn't "mainstream."…

Imagine the following harrowing scenario.  In the predawn hours one morning, you and your family are jarred from your sleep by a deafening pounding at your front door.  Naturally disoriented, you peer out your window to the bewildering sight of multiple police vehicles, blinding lights flashing, with your neighbors gawking from their doorsteps…

In alarming news this week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that murders in the United States soared an astonishing 10.8% just last year.  That same day, "stop and frisk" and similar police techniques achieved sudden prominence after Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton clashed during their first debate.  To her…

Leveraging federal authorities like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to persecute political opponents stands among the most grave abuses that officials can commit, as Richard Nixon learned the hard way four decades ago.  This month, an Obama Administration and IRS attempt to evade legal reckoning for their own admitted abuses suffered a stinging…

Did Hillary Clinton violate federal law by using an unsecured personal email system as Secretary of State?  That question generated intense commentary this week.  Because of the inherent political implications, however, most commentaries unfortunately generated more heat than light.  It's therefore worth highlighting the applicable…

Last week the Supreme Court of the United States voted that President Obama exceeded his authority when he granted exemptions from the immigration laws passed by Congress. But the Supreme Court also exceeded its own authority by granting the University of Texas an exemption from the Constitution's requirement of "equal protection of the laws,&…

Nothing stirs the passions of Democrats these days quite like the prospect of gutting the Constitution. In an unprecedented act of pretend political bravery, House members held a catered sit-in, demanding that Republicans allow a vote to strip away protections of Second, Fifth and Sixth Amendments of the Constitution. It was quite the scene. There…

Throughout my legal career, I've always favored what is known as the "English Rule," meaning that losing litigants should generally be required to pay the winning parties' fees and costs.  Under our current "American Rule," in contrast, each side generally pays its own fees and costs, win or lose.  That has always struck…

We recently discovered that Peter Thiel, the libertarian billionaire co-founder of PayPal and early investor in Facebook, bankrolled wrestler Hulk Hogan's lawsuits against the blog network Gawker Media. Now, as someone who considers himself a near-absolutist on free speech, I'm open to hearing arguments for why we need tort reform in these sorts of…

This week, two high-profile political events refocused Americans' attention on the judicial branch.  Also this week, two new legal victories for Second Amendment rights remind us why it matters.  First, Donald Trump released his much-anticipated list of potential U.S. Supreme Court nominees, which conservative and libertarian judicial observers…

Throughout American history, our First Amendment freedoms of speech and association have frequently demanded the security of anonymity.  Without that protective anonymity, Americans seeking to bring about political change or introduce politically incorrect opinions into the marketplace of ideas risk persecution by government officials or public…

Americans outraged by Obama Administration and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) efforts to target and persecute conservative organizations just received a spring gift from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.  By way of refresher, thousands of private organizations each year - charities, churches, political organizations, schools and other groups…

In May 2005, Senator Harry Reid (D - Nevada) unequivocally renounced any Senate obligation to even vote on President George W. Bush's nominations, let alone confirm them, even though he had won reelection just months earlier:   "The duties of the Senate are set forth in the U.S. Constitution.  Nowhere in that document does it say…

Justice Antonin Scalia’s death last month was a terrible loss for the U.S. Supreme Court and for the country. Scalia was one of the sharpest minds ever to sit on the High Court. And he was one of three reliably originalist votes on the court (the other two being Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito). His replacement, whomever it may be, will pale…

Republicans need to ask themselves a couple of questions before they battle over Barack Obama's eventual nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. Is there any good reason to allow this president to change the ideological composition the Supreme Court radically? What is the political downside of denying him? For one thing, despite…

"The President ... shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court...."  —United States Constitution, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 In the deepening partisan dispute over the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy following Justice…

Democrats are giddy over the prospect of President Obama replacing conservative Justice Antonin Scalia with a liberal. But Republicans are equally adamant about blocking Obama's lame-duck appointment. "This vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president," says Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. It's rare that a president…