Author: Kent Scheidegger

USCA9 Issues Split Decision in Sanctuary City Grant Case

by · Jul 13, 2020 10:49 am

Not surprisingly given its prior narrow interpretations, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today affirmed the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on the sanctuary city grant issue. That is, the federal government cannot deny federal law-enforcement grants for a state’s refusal to inform immigration authorities when they release a deportable alien from prison and related matters. However, the court vacated the nationwide aspect of the injunction, limiting it to California.

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Texas Resumes Executions

by · Jul 9, 2020 3:22 pm

Texas resumed executions yesterday after a 5-month hiatus that was due in part to Covid-19 and in part to flaps over whether clergymen would be allowed in the execution chamber. Juan Lozano and Michael Graczyk report for AP:

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas inmate received lethal injection Wednesday evening for fatally shooting an 82-year-old man nearly three decades ago, ending a five-month delay of executions in the nation’s busiest death penalty state because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Indian Country

by · Jul 9, 2020 8:49 am

The U.S. Supreme Court ended its term today with a 5-4 bombshell decision that much of Oklahoma remains “Indian country” for the purpose of prosecuting crimes, even though it hasn’t been that in reality for a century. The Court also decided two politically charged cases regarding subpoenas for President Trump’s financial records.

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And the Truth Shall Get You Fired

by · Jul 2, 2020 2:52 pm

The witch-hunt atmosphere in American academia continues to get worse. Hans Bader has this post at Liberty Unyielding noting the recent ouster of Stephen Hsu as vice president for research at Michigan State University. Hsu’s crime was publicizing research done at his university, which is exactly what you would expect a VP of research to do. But the particular piece of research reached a Forbidden Conclusion.

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Supreme Court Upholds Expedited Removal of Alien Apprehended at Border

by · Jun 25, 2020 11:27 am

The U.S. Supreme Court today upheld the 1996 Act of Congress that sharply limited judicial review for aliens whose claims of asylum are not found credible by immigration authorities. The opinion of the Court, joined by five Justices, upheld the statute entirely. The Court rejected the claim that the statute violated the Suspension Clause. That clause protects the right to seek habeas corpus relief for its original purpose, release from illegal custody. It provides no constitutional right for a person seeking to remain in this country when the government intends to release him to his own country.

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Of Mobs and Monuments

by · Jun 25, 2020 10:28 am

The present fad of monument toppling vividly illustrates the dangers of resorting to force rather than waiting for the process of government, which certainly can be agonizingly slow. Even when street action is initiated by people with good intentions, the forces unleashed inevitably spread beyond those intentions. There are no “controlled burns” in street mobs.

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What the Data Say About Police

by · Jun 24, 2020 4:10 pm

Roland Fryer, professor of economics at Harvard, wrote this op-ed for the WSJ, published yesterday.

In 2015, after watching Walter Scott get gunned down, on video, by a North Charleston, S.C., police officer, I set out on a mission to quantify racial differences in police use of force. To my dismay, this work has been widely misrepresented and misused by people on both sides of the ideological aisle.

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