Constitutional Law: Quick Squib on Supreme Court Oral Arguments on Affordable Care Act
Well, as of yesterday — Day 2 (of 3) — in the oral arguments before the SCOTUS on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, many commentators began raising dire warnings of this rather extremist, right-wing Court actually deeming the health care mandate unconstitutional. Some observations of my own: 1. Justice Kennedy was to
Read moreConstitutional/Criminal Law: Rare Praise for U.S. Supreme Court Rulings
March 23, 2012 / by joe chater / in Constitutional Law Matters, Criminal Law Matters, Halifax Law Articles
I know that decisions later this Supreme Court Term will generate an altogether different reaction. However, on March 21, the Supreme Court did issue two, related rulings addressing the Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel during plea bargaining. In Lafler v. Cooper and Missouri v. Frye, the Court formally recognized the responsibility that defense
Read moreConstitutional Law: Embracing Your Inner Lorax – The Constitutional Standing of Trees
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/03/18/441242/revisiting-the-lorax-do-trees-have-rights/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews Credit to Think Progress and to Peter Lehner of NRDC. This issue has fascinated me for several years. Lehner does a remarkably good job of summarizing the arguments for recognizing the rights of organizati
Read moreConstitutional: Interesting Article from AlterNet Relevant to Community Standards in Obscenity Cases
http://www.alternet.org/story/154539/the_bible_belt%27s_love_affair_with_%28gay_and_straight%29_porn_?page=entire Full credit to AlterNet and author Alex Henderson. Henderson’s article, titled “The Bible Belt’s Love Affair with Gay & Straight Porn,” documents the arguable reality involving individuals in states
Read moreLabor/Employment Law: Great News – Circuit Court in Tallahassee Declares Unconstitutional Three Percent State Employee Pay Deduction
March 7, 2012 / by joe chater / in Constitutional Law Matters, Employment Law, Halifax Law Articles, Uncategorized
http://feaweb.org/_data/files/2012_Court_Rulings_Docs/Order_on_Motions_for_Summary_Judgment1.pdf The opinion is attached. It is an exceptionally well-written order. Please note, within minutes, the State filed its notice of appeal with the First District Court of Appeal (despite publicly stating, previously, that it would abide by the Circuit C
Read moreConstitutional Law: DOMA Declared Unconstitutional – Link to Opinion from U.S. District Court
Well-crafted, succinct opinion as to how the DOMA is violative of the Equal Protection Clause. This District Court Judge was impressive with the legal scholarship backing his order. http://blogs.findlaw.com/courtside/2012/02/defense-of-marriage-act-ruled-unconstitutional.html?DCMP=NWL-cons_breakingdocs
Read moreConstitutional Law: Founding Fathers Principles on the Commerce Clause
Special acknowledgment to ConsortiumNews.com: http://consortiumnews.com/2012/02/24/madison-father-of-the-commerce-clause/. It is important — critical — to debunk the garbage coming from certain less-than-reputable constitutional and political sources regarding the scope and underpinnings of our Commerce Clause. By the way, I am ba
Read moreElection Law: Voter Suppression Law Nabs Another Innocent Victim – High School Teacher Registering Students to Vote
http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/southeast-volusia/2011/10/23/new-florida-election-law-stirs-up-controversy.html This is what is wrought by the official effort to suppress the vote. A high school teacher who helped her seniors register to vote may now get hit with thousands of dollars in fines. With no evidence of vote fraud — b
Read moreCriminal/Constitutional: Great Opinion Re: Limits on Government’s Ability to Search Electronic Devices
September 18, 2011 / by joe chater / in Constitutional Law Matters, Criminal Law Matters, Halifax Law Articles
Credit must be provided to colleagues at NACDL for this insightful case: The government’s application for a search warrant to search all electronic devices in the target’s possession without a filter team and permitting a plain view is denied as constituting a general warrant. In re United States’s Application for a Search Warrant to Seize an
Read moreConstitutional: Does GPS Tracking Violate the Fourth Amendment?
Much catching up to do. I have been inundated with case matters over the past month — most of a constitutional nature, or involving labor law. Any way, as I ply through the issues I have set aside for comment and posting, I wanted to start with this nicely crafted article re: the constitutional issues arising from GPS devices. Credit to
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