Outside the Beltway

Public opinion on the Supreme Court has declined significantly, largely because Republicans don’t like the Supreme Court very much right now.

China adds to its status as the honey badger of intellectual property law.

A police officer in Cincinnati has been indicted for murder in a case that seems to be a pretty clear cut example of improper use of force.

Chris Christie says he would ignore states that have legalized marijuana if he became President. Fortunately, he will most likely never be President.

After 30 years in prison, Jonathan Pollard will be released later this year.

Not surprisingly, Tom Brady’s appeal of his Deflategate suspension was not successful.

Reports are circulating that the Obama Administration is considering releasing Jonathan Pollard, and many are seeing it as an effort to placate Israel in the wake of the Iran deal.

A big win in Court for the former Texas Governor, but it’s unclear what this means politically.

Removing the responsibility to investigate police misconduct from the prosecutors who have to work with those police on a daily basis is a good idea.

Dylann Roof has been indicted in Federal Court for completely unnecessary reasons.

The Afghan Army isn’t doing so well against the Taliban right now.

An authoritarian ego trip for all to see.

A few days late, but a story worth noting if it has escaped notice.

Relying on a particularly strained and incredulous legal analysis, the EEOC has ruled that laws against discrimination based on gender also bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Almost exactly three years after the attack on a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, James Holmes was found guilty late yesterday.

Tragedy in Tennessee.

Despite the clear language of the 14th Amendment, Texas is apparently refusing to issue birth certificates to some children born in the United States whose parents happen to be in the country illegally.

Contrary to what Donald Trump claims, immigrants are less likely to commit crime than others.

A good first step, but there’s a lot more than needs to be done to reform the criminal justice system.

New information in the Dylann Roof case shows that the background check system used for gun purchases is still prone to human error.

Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is likely going to Federal Prison very soon.

A Federal Judge has uphold a Patent Office ruling revoking the Redskins Trademarks on the ground that they are “disparaging” toward Native Americans.

A County Clerk in Kentucky is being sued because she thinks she can refuse to do her job and still keep that job.

The Federal Government is threatening to hold up plans for a new Redskins stadium unless the team changes its name.

He definitely wouldn’t appreciate it, but in some sense you can thank Robert Bork for the Supreme Court’s opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges.

A long history of opposing marriage equality could end up hurting Republicans even though that battle is over in this country.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a major case about public employee unions that could go a long way toward restraining their power.

A new poll shows that solid majorities of Americans support the Supreme Court’s decisions on Obamacare subsidies and marriage. It’s a different story for Republicans.

The Supreme Court’s decision on marriage equality seems to have revived an idea that has been mentioned before, but as it has always been, the idea of “getting government out of marriage” is little more than a simplistic slogan.

The Supreme Court agreed yesterday to wade back into the thorny issue of race and higher education.

The Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the way the death penalty is administered, dealing a serious blow to opponents of the death penalty.

SCOTUS has upheld the use of election commissions to draw Congressional district lines.

There are still legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act pending after King v. Burwell, but they aren’t quite as substantial as what we’ve seen over the last five years.

The Attorney General of Texas is responding to the Supreme Court’s marriage ruling by telling Clerk’s who issue marriage license that they are free to ignore the law.

There’s a lot of pandering and outright nonsense in the wake of the Supreme Court’s legalization of gay marriage.

In week a that has seen discussion of lost causes, the Chief Justice of the Alabama Surpreme Court appears poised to fight one last battle.

Wherein I take the view that as our understanding of language changes, so too does our application of the Constiution.

If you’re under 21 in Hawaii, you’re still technically an adult but you can’t buy tobacco.

The reaction of many of the GOP candidates to the decision in Obergefell v. Hodges is about what you’d expect, but there are a few interesting surprises.

A proposed California law would require all students who attend public school to be vaccinated, with limited exemptions for medical reasons.

The Supreme Court has issued a ruling whose roots can be found in case law going back half a century.

The US Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 that the U.S. Constitution contains a right to same-sex marriage.

A Congressman wants to force Supreme Court Justices to get their health care through the ObamaCare exchange.

The era of legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act is over.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev appeared in public for what is likely the last time in his life, apologized for the crimes he committed, and was unsurprisingly sentenced to death by a Federal Judge.

The Supreme Court ruled that police are not entitled to access to a hotel registry without a warrant.

The Supreme Court has struck down a program that forced farmers to turn over a portion of their crop to the government without compensation.