The future is bleak for democrats and judicial liberals. The average age of the four conservatives is 60.75 years (Roberts(53), Scalia (72), Thomas(60), Alito(58)). The average age of the four liberals, however, is 75.7 years (Stevens(88), Souter(69), Ginsburg(75), Breyer(70)). Justice Stevens, an active octogenarian and avid tennis player who frequently reads briefs on the beach [...]

Volokh (twice), DailyKos, and some others have been talking about the Emoluments Clause and how it disqualifies Hillary from accepting the position of Secretary of State. First, the clause: No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States [...]

Earlier tonight, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama joined Pastor Rick Warren at his California megachurch for an event pegged as “The Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency.” The interviews, each an hour in length, were separated by thirty-six tense seconds in which the presumptive nominees shared the stage (and an awkward hug [video here!]). [...]

All of this John Edwards business has got me thinking about early voting. I am registered to vote in Texas, where Election Codes 81.001 and 82.005 specify that I can ”vote early” – up to seventeen days before any federal election. Say, hypothetically, that John Edwards had rallied for a victory in South Carolina and [...]

Opinio Juris has rather extensive coverage of today’s Medellin decision. I’ve spent the last hour plowing through most of it and I can say that it is both insightful and extensive.

Primary and caucus results are all about expectations. Candidates spend the weeks before an election day campaigning hard and attacking their opponents, but they suddenly hit the brakes about 48 hours before the vote and begin setting up low expectations for the results. The point of this move is to create the perception of success, [...]

Today I’ve mused quite a bit about both how much I hate Dallas and also about a small constitutional question. I accidentally bought a Dallas Morning News instead of an Austin-American Statesman today at lunch, and this article was on the center of the front page. This was my first clue that I had bought a Dallas [...]

Barack Obama is seen by some as the savior of US politics. Literally, the bi-racial/former constitutional law professor/community organizer/best selling author/US senator is raking in the cash. Did I mention he’s black? Bi-racial to be more accurate. Literally, I’ve just listed Barack Obama’s formal qualifications to be the President of the United States. Call me [...]

Ann Althouse has a rather interesting article about Justice Steven’s recent speech at the Ninth Circuit’s Judicial Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. Its obvious from the location of this judicial conference that congressmen aren’t the only ones who take junkets. Regardless, this is the most interesting part of her recap: I think, after all — he’s [...]

The Washington Post had a article recently about the way in which more and more American’s are viewing the court as too conservative. 33% of Americans feel that the Court is too conservative and only 47% believe that the court is balanced. 55% of Americans agree with the court’s ruling in Carhart but 70% disagree [...]