Search for: "Jonathan H. Adler"
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15 May 2023, 8:23 am
[The current debate is a replay of debates we have had before (and will likely have again).] In yesterday's New York Times, Michael McConnell explains why "The idea that the 14th Amendment gives the president unilateral power to borrow is dangerous nonsense." He writes: Section 4 of the 14th Amendment, enacted in the wake of the Civil War, says: "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law … shall not be questioned." The… [read post]
3 Jan 2023, 6:43 am
[The former First Amendment litigator and Dispatch co-founder becomes a columnist at the New York Times.] The New York Times has hired conservative lawyer and commentator David French as a regular opinion columnist, beginning January 30. French has been a senior editor at The Dispatch, which he helped found, and a contributor to The Atlantic. He was also a writer at National Review Online for several years. As long-time VC readers likely know (but others may not), French previously… [read post]
3 Jan 2023, 5:44 am
[Outgoing Senator Ben Sasse on what divides Americans.] Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE), who will soon take leave of the Senate to become President of the University of Florida, has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on "America's True Divide: Pluralists vs. Zealots." It begins: The most important divide in American politics isn't red versus blue. It's civic pluralists versus political zealots. This is the truth no one in Washington acknowledges but Americans must realize if… [read post]
17 Jun 2022, 10:45 am
[In remarks to the American Constitution Society, Justice Sonia Sotomayor shares her thoughts on the senior-most Associate Justice.] Yesterday, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor addressed the annual conference of the American Constitution Society. Her remarks were covered in the New York Times, CNN, and Huffington Post. Video of the remarks is available here. As noted in the NYT report, Justice Sotomayor defended the Court. Justice Sonia Sotomayor urged an audience of… [read post]
11 Mar 2022, 3:41 am
[Companies may be required to provide broader climate-related disclosures to investors, but would such a requirement survive legal challenge?] In 2007, a handful of states, public interest groups and New York City asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to mandate broader disclosure of climate-related risks. They may be about to get their wish. Yesterday the SEC posted public notice that it plans to vote on "whether to propose amendments that would enhance and standardize registrants'… [read post]
6 Feb 2022, 8:03 am
[An interesting exchange on the implications of early agency power to revise tax assessments.] Last year, Professor Nicholas Parrillo published an important article challenging the conventional originalist narrative concerning the nondelegation doctrine, "A Critical Assessment of the Originalist Case Against Administrative Regulatory Power: New Evidence from the Federal Tax on Private Real Estate in the 1790s." In this article (which I noted here), Professor Parrillo discussed how early… [read post]
30 Jan 2022, 7:16 am
[An observation about the role of law professors in recent administrations.] One of the things that surprised me about President Trump's judicial nominations was the (relatively) large number of legal academics he tapped for the federal appellate courts. Among the law professors President Trump appointed to the federal bench were David Stras, Joan Larsen, Steve Menashi, Stephanos Bibas, Allison Eid, Neomi Rao, and (of course) Amy Coney Barrett. By comparison, there were relatively few law… [read post]
14 Aug 2025, 12:43 am
[Interesting results from a survey of undergraduates at two universities] Northwestern University researchers Forest Romm and Kevin Waldman report in an op-ed on the results of a series of interviews they conducted with undergraduates. Between 2023 and 2025, we conducted 1,452 confidential interviews with undergraduates at Northwestern University and the University of Michigan. We were not studying politics — we were studying development. Our question was clinical, not political: "What… [read post]
11 Jul 2025, 10:14 am
[The D.C. Circuit resolves a dispute over which set of visa regulations bind the public.] Today, in National Council of Agricultural Employers v. U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit helped bring a little more clarity to the question of when a new regulation becomes binding upon the public. Senior Circuit Judge Ginsburg wrote for court, joined by Judges Katsas and Childs. The introduction of Judge Ginsburg's opinion effectively summarizes the nature and… [read post]
15 Apr 2025, 7:51 am
[A useful reminder from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to read circuit rules before filing. ] One of the lessons I learned when clerking on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is that it is always important to consider Article III standing when suing the federal government, even if the government does not raise standing as a defense. I can still recall an oral argument at which one of the judges effectively told a litigant they could sit down if they could not explain the… [read post]
26 Mar 2025, 9:13 am
[An interesting new study on how state bar requirements may affect the quality and quantity of legal services.] Are state bar licensing requirements just a barrier to entry that reduces the quantity and increases the cost of legal services? Do they also improve the quality of legal services and protect consumers? Count me among those who is generally skeptical of state occupational licensing requirements. So I read with interest a new study bt Adam CHilton, Jacob GOldin, Kyle Rozema, and Sarath… [read post]
1 Mar 2025, 4:49 am
[Tax professor Erik Jensen suggests taxes on large university endowments are not as good idea as some people think.] Some universities have multi-billion-dollar endowments. Should they be taxed? I am no tax expert, but I have long been concerned that the case for taxing endowments looks a bit like the case for taxing wealth generally. Yet some conservatives support the former while opposing the latter. In 2017, as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Congress imposed a 1.4 percent tax on the net… [read post]
29 Jan 2025, 9:51 am
President Trump's decision to fire over a dozen agency inspectors general may be legal, but he has made other moves that are almost certainly unlawful under existing Supreme Court precedent, Humphrey's Executor in particular. On Monday, Trump purported to fire two Democratic members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Chair and General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board. Any one of these dismissals could result in litigation, and one in particular could… [read post]
30 Dec 2024, 9:15 am
Does an individual's socio-economic background affect their likelihood of success in academia or their field of study? It certainly might. A new study, "Climbing the Ivory Tower: How Socio-Economic Background Shapes Academia," by Ran Abramitzky, Lena Greska, Santiago Pérez, Joseph Price, Carlo Schwarz, and Fabian Waldinger, casts some light on this subject. Here's the abstract: We explore how socio-economic background shapes academia, collecting the… [read post]
30 Oct 2024, 11:45 am
Cornell University recently sanctioned students who were involved in a protest that disrupted a university job fair. At least fifteen students have been suspended, according to this report. After the sanctions were announced, a student asked "Why are you punishing students for free speech?" a student asked interim president Michael Kotlikoff after the sanctions were announced. No one is being punished for speech, he explained. Rather, some students are being punished for disruptive… [read post]
27 Sep 2024, 7:55 am
On Tuesday, October 1, I will be participating in the Federalist Society's annual Supreme Court term preview event in Washington, D.C. Those joining me in examining what is in store for October Term 2024 will include Paul Atkins, Lisa Blatt, Erin Hawley, and John Moran. Sarah Isgur will moderate. Registration info is here. For those interested in a deeper dive in the term's first environmental case, City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, I moderated this… [read post]
23 Sep 2024, 12:07 pm
[A prominent appellate practitioner responds to recent attacks on the justices and the Court.] Political attacks on the Supreme Court and individual justices are increasingly commonplace. Those who disagree with the court's rulings are not content with criticizing the Court's holdings, rationales, and reasoning. They increasingly target the Court itself, and question the integrity of the justices. The Supreme Court bar, by and large, has been relatively quiet in the face of these… [read post]
3 Jul 2024, 9:30 am
[There is no textual basis for "immunity" as such, but there are structural reasons why some degree of insulation is inevitable. ] Justice Barrett's concurring opinion in Trump v. United States is more satisfying than the majority on several counts. On the issues upon which Barrett and the Court's majority disagree, she has the better of the argument. Given the lack of any explicit textual basis for presidential immunity, I also believe her formulation of how to think about… [read post]
21 Jun 2024, 10:35 am
[The justices are rushing to close out the term before the end of June. ] The Supreme Court issued nine opinions in two days this week as the justices work to finish up October Term 2023. The justices have decided forty-seven cases thus far, with fourteen left to go (though these fourteen may be decided in as few as twelve opinions). Wednesday, June 26 will be the next opinion day. If the justices are ready to issue four or five opinions per day, they could meet the traditional-if-informal deadline… [read post]
14 Jun 2024, 1:05 pm
[The justices still have over one-third of the term's cases remaining.] The Supreme Court issued six more opinions this week, bringing the total of decided cases to thirty eight. Twenty-three cases remain, which is a substantial number if the Court is going to complete its work before the end of June. As was true two weeks ago, the rate at which cases have been decided matches that of last term, but is well behind the rate of decision-making we observed in prior years. In theory, there are… [read post]
