The Death of DOMA
January 28, 2021
Jack M. Balkin— The two important federal challenges brewing in the courts—the struggle over California’s Proposition 8 and the challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act—converged on the Supreme… READ MORE
Tag: Supreme Court
What Kinds of “Supreme Court Reform” Could Rebalance the Supreme Court?
October 7, 2020
Mark Tushnet— Progressives both in Congress and outside it have begun to talk seriously about “Supreme Court reform” in the aftermath of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing and her replacement—as… READ MORE
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Opera
October 6, 2020
William N. Eskridge Jr.— Ruth Bader Ginsburg passionately loved her family, her job as a judge, constitutional law, and opera—not always in that order. I first came to know and… READ MORE
The Chances of a 4-4 Supreme Court Split on Election Issues is Not a Reason to Rush a Supreme Court Confirmation; it’s a Reason to Wait to Confirm a Justice
October 2, 2020
Rick Hasen— Within minutes of the announcement of Justice Ginsburg’s death, we started seeing the argument advanced that a Supreme Court confirmation needs to be rushed so that a Justice is in… READ MORE
Bostock and Originalism
July 15, 2020
Mark Tushnet— On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court decided Bostock v. Clayton County. Dividing 5-4, the Court held that the ban on employment discrimination “because of sex” in Title… READ MORE
Rethinking the History of Religious Freedom
May 22, 2019
Robert Louis Wilken— In the Supreme Court case Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 1940, that upheld compulsory pledging of allegiance to the U.S. flag in schools, Justice Felix Frankfurter, writing… READ MORE
The “Seriatim Practice” of the Supreme Court
March 6, 2019
Paul W. Kahn— We can imagine a state in which courts issued judgments without explanation. The need to settle disputes requires some form of adjudicatory mechanism; it does not… READ MORE
On “Chefs,” Wedding Cakes, and Corporate Personhood
November 13, 2018
Kent Greenfield— I was driving the other day with my kids in the car. Henry, like most five-year-olds, is full of questions. “Where do people come from?” “If you could… READ MORE
Closing the Courthouse Doors to Challenges to the Trump Presidency
March 15, 2017
Erwin Chemerinsky— The first weeks of the Trump presidency demonstrate that the federal judiciary must be available as an essential check to enforce the Constitution. Already many lawsuits have been… READ MORE
The Children of the Amistad
March 9, 2015
Benjamin N. Lawrance— March 9 marks the 174th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision U.S. v Amistad, one of the most celebrated U.S. “freedom suits.” Since the case’s conclusion in… READ MORE
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