First Amendment violations are not always as blatant as the government colluding with social media companies to shut down unpopular speech or forcing students to remove armbands signaling their aversion to the Vietnam War. Some free speech violations lurk behind ivy-covered walls. In one of the New Civil Liberties Alliance’s latest cases, Issak v. University…

“All professions are conspiracies against the laity,” George Bernard Shaw wrote in his 1906 play The Doctor’s Dilemma. However, the story of the Benedictine monks of Saint Joseph Abbey shows that professions can sometimes be conspiracies against the clergy, too. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina battered the forest near the Abbey, felling a great deal of…

The Court’s opinion in Loper Bright and Relentless is, obviously, about what to do with an ambiguous statute.  But when paired with the dissent, the twinned cases tell a story of jurisprudential tectonic plates grinding against each other in a way that—if we pay close attention—might give us a deeper appreciation for the proper role…

Prior to last Thursday’s Supreme Court oral argument in the consolidated birthright citizenship cases, most legal prognosticators proclaimed the high court would finally put an end to nationwide injunctions. Afterall, a majority of the justices in concurrences or dissents had criticized the granting of—by single district court judges—injunctions that applied on a nationwide basis and…

On April 24, I had the pleasure of arguing before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Newman v. Moore.  During the argument, the panel of judges inquired as to what is the appropriate standard for removing judges from office, and whether that standard is different from the standard…

When Covid-19 hit in March 2020, governors quickly showed they were willing to abuse their emergency powers. They closed schools and most businesses, taking what at first seemed reasonable measures to prevent viral spread in crowded rooms. But then they also closed outdoor public spaces—parks, trails, beaches, waterways, and even children’s playgrounds. They had police…