Outside the Beltway

Last week, the Mexican Supreme Court pushed that country further down the road toward legalization of marijuana for all purposes.

On Tuesday, Michigan joined the ranks of the states where marijuana is legal and several other states legalized it for medical purposes.

A Federal Judge in Maryland has ruled that discovery can proceed in a case alleging that President Trump has taken payments from outside sources in violation of the Constitution

Just over a week before two states will be voting on referendums to legalize recreational marijuana, a new poll finds that two-thirds of Americans support legalization.

Former Arizona Sheriff and Senate candidate Joe Arpaio is suing The New York Times for defamation. He doesn’t appear to have much of a case.

Marijuana is now legal in Canada, and many people are watching the country to see how it adjusts to this change.

One month before voters in several states head to the polls to vote on legalization referendums, a new poll shows that public support for legalization remains at record high levels.

A Supreme Court first by the newest Justice.

As the Senate prepares for a key procedural vote on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh this morning, the Judge’s fate remains up in the air. However, signs are pointing to reasons for Republican optimism.

A Federal Judge ruled late last week that a lawsuit under the Foreign Emoluments Clause by more than 200 Congressmen and Senators can proceed forward.

Another day, another plea agreement in the Mueller investigation. This one could prove to be problematic for the President.

With a new trial set to start in Washington at the end of the month, reports are circulating that President Trump’s former campaign manager is looking to cut a plea deal.

A new report says that the Trump Administration lobbied the National Park Service to edit photos of the crowd at President Trump’s Inauguration.

The first day of the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings was much ado about pretty much nothing, but then that can be used to describe a process whose outcome is pretty much foreordained.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh reportedly told Senator Susan Collins that he considers Roe v. Wade
“settled law.” This will likely be enough to get her support and that of another holdout Republican Senator.

Another step forward in the seemingly unstoppable movement toward nationwide legalization.

White supremacists held a rally in Washington on Sunday, and almost no one but their opponents and the police showed up.

Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination appears to be on track for confirmation before the new Supreme Court term begins in October.

Another Federal Judge has dealt a legal blow to President Trump’s effort to shut down the DACA program.

Next week, some of the same groups that rallied in Charlottesville last year will be gathering in Washington, D.C. and the D.C. Metro is considering a transportation plan that is causing controversy.

A Federal Judge in Washington State has, at least temporarily, blocked the release of files that would allow anyone to make a 3-D printed gun. The First Amendment seems to clearly indicate that this ruling is wrong.

A Federal Judge in Maryland ruled last week that a lawsuit against the President based on a rather obscure provision of the Constitution could go forward.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down part of a Hawaii law barring open carry of weapons, but this win for gun rights advocates may turn out to be short-lived.

The Garden State has put a hold on marijuana prosecutions in anticipation of full legalization by the end of the year.

Initial polling on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court find the public more divided than they have been for other recent SCOTUS picks, but that’s unlikely to impact the fate of his nomination.

Mariia Butina, a Russian “gun rights activist, is accused of being an unregistered agent of the Russian government and attempting to influence Republican Party policies regarding Russia in an operation that pre-dates the Trump Presidential campaign.

A selection that is likely to keep the Senate GOP united and red-state Democrats up for re-election under pressure to vote to confirm.

In November, Michigan voters will be able to make their state the tenth state to legalize marijuana. This is just the latest step in what seems to be an irreversible trend.

President Trump’s short list of potential Supreme Court nominees consists mostly of conventionally conservative, well-qualified, jurists.

Notwithstanding the rhetoric of the President and his supporters, most Americans believe that immigration is a good thing for the United States.

Pending the mere formality of approval by the Governor-General, Canada will soon become the largest nation in the world where recreational use of marijuana is legal.

Donald Trump’s former Campaign Manager was sent to jail, a move that likely increases the pressure on him to cooperate with Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

Both President Trump and Ivanka Trump are profiting handsomely from their time in the White House.

There are twice as many suicides as homicides in America.

One of the most prominent Circuit Courts of Appeal in the nation will begin live-streaming nearly all of their oral arguments.

The Supreme Court has declined to accept yet another Second Amendment case for review, continuing a streak that goes back some eight years.

A writer at National Review is proposing a compromise on the issue of transgender rights. Needless to say, many conservatives aren’t very happy about it.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans support marijuana legalization according to a new poll.

The Trump Administration has suffered another setback in its efforts to repeal DACA.

Travis Reinking shot four people dead in Nashville over the weekend with a gun that he wasn’t supposed to have access to. Thanks to what seem to be loopholes in existing gun laws, he had one anyway.

The highest ranking Democrat in the Senate has introduced a bill that would effectively decriminalize marijuana nationwide and leave it up to each state to decide how far they wish to go with regard to cannabis regulation. It’s a huge step in the right direction.

Whoops.

A Federal Judge has struck down the revised version of the ban on transgender members of the military from serving openly, and the ruling has significance that goes well beyond the issue at hand.

Another Federal Court loss for gun rights activists challenging state laws banning “assault weapons.”

Yet more troubling news about the proposed citizenship question on the 2020 Census.

A Federal Judge is allowing a lawsuit alleging that President Trump is improperly benefiting from business being done at the hotel in Washington, D.C. bearing his name to go forward.

A proposal that has no chance of passing may harm the movement he’s seeking to help.

A woman who was at the center of one of the most important Supreme Court cases in American history has died at the age of 75.

Like many Presidents before him, Donald Trump wants a line-item veto. Getting there won’t be easy, nor should it be.

The President’s new attempt to ban transgender Americans from serving in the military is as legally defective as the original ban was.