American Constitution Society

Senator To Take On Nation's Overflowing Prisons

2009-01-06T18:21:38Z

Virginia Senator Jim Webb (D) is attracting attention -- and some praise -- for a measure he plans to introduce this spring on finding ways to reform the criminal justice system. The Sentencing Law and Policy Blog lauds Webb’s endeavor , saying that although “too few federal lawmakers are concerned with overflowing prisons, due to an ailing economy and tight budgets nearly every state lawmaker is deeply concerned about how best to cut prison populations without hurting public safety.”...(read more)

High Court Urged To Hear Case Over Animal Cruelty Law

2009-01-06T16:21:37Z

The U.S. solicitor general is urging the Supreme Court to review a 2008 federal appeals court decision that invalidated a federal law banning videos depicting animal cruelty. The New York Times reports that the Federal Depiction of Animal Cruelty Act , signed into law by President Bill Clinton, was struck down in July by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as an unconstitutional violation of free speech. The law was enacted, in part, to outlaw the production of “crush videos,” which...(read more)

Minority Coaches Struggle To Land Top Posts In College Football, Article Finds

2009-01-05T20:48:11Z

African American coaches are struggling to make advancements in college football according to a report from the Sports Law Blog . The blog’s reporting notes that African American athletes make up more than half of the scholarship players in Division I college football, but that there are only six African American coaches of the 119 head coaching positions. The sports blog says that the hiring practices in college football clearly ignore an NCAA policy that is similar to the NFL’s “Rooney...(read more)

Continuing Media Focus On ACS

2009-01-05T18:37:55Z

More national media outlets are taking note of ACS leaders who have been tapped for top positions in the forthcoming administration or are advising its transition teams. NPR’s Ari Shapiro reported on “Weekend Edition” that “a different legal group is on the rise in Washington: the American Constitution Society.” According to the NPR piece , during the Bush years, the conservative Federalist Society was influential and that now ACS appears to have a receptive audience...(read more)

Obama Taps Former ACS Board Member Dawn Johnsen For Key Justice Dept. Post

2009-01-05T17:30:18Z

President-elect Barack Obama announced today that he “intends to nominate” Dawn Johnsen, a professor of law at Indiana University School of Law, and until a few days ago an ACS Board of Directors member, as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel. A statement from the president-elect’s transition Web site, Change.Gov, notes Johnsen’s ACS affiliation and also that she served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel from 1997...(read more)

The New Second Amendment: A Bark Worse Than Its Right

2009-01-05T16:01:27Z

by Adam Winkler, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law In June, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling on the Second Amendment right to bear arms, D.C. v. Heller . For over 70 years, the federal courts had read that amendment to protect only a state’s right to organize militias, like the National Guard. In a long-awaited victory for the gun rights movement, the Court in Heller held that the Second Amendment protected an individual’s right to own guns for personal self-defense...(read more)

New Administration, Congress Set To Move On Employment Discrimination Ruling

2009-01-05T15:44:16Z

The new administration and Congress are likely to move quickly on enacting legislation trumping a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court that stifled the ability of workers to bring employment discrimination claims, The New York Times reports. As the newspaper notes, President-elect Barack Obama, as a senator, sponsored a bill that would overturn the high court decision which tossed aside Lilly Ledbetter’s lawsuit against Goodyear alleging sex-based employment discrimination. Lower federal courts had upheld...(read more)

Happy Holidays

2008-12-24T15:31:18Z

ACS is closed for the holidays from December 24th - January 5th. Posting will resume on a regular basis on January 5th. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!...(read more)

Securing Administration E-Mails For Historical Record Remains Ongoing Struggle

2008-12-22T21:20:26Z

A combination of technical and legal barriers may impede the transfer of the Bush administration’s records to the National Archives by the end of its term, the Washington Post reports. Among the 300 million electronic messages and 25,000 boxes of documents, there are hundreds of thousands of e-mails that were reported missing in 2005 that the White House only recently began trying to recover. Moreover, Vice President Cheney is asserting that his office may determine whether his records are...(read more)

Look Beyond Constitutional Interpretation When Picking Judges

2008-12-22T20:09:44Z

by Glenn Sugameli, Senior Legislative Counsel at Earthjustice . Sugameli has also headed Earthjustice’s Judging the Environment Project on federal judicial nominations and the environment since 2001. One of President Obama’s most enduring legacies will be the nominees he selects for lifetime seats on trial courts, the circuit courts of appeal that have the final say in 99 percent of cases, and the Supreme Court. There are 44 current and 21 announced future federal court vacancies. Retirements...(read more)

Array of Remedies Should Be Available For Gender Discrimination In Public Schools

2008-12-22T16:12:07Z

by Dina Lassow, Senior Counsel, National Women’s Law Center . Ms. Lassow analyzes Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee, which was recently argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee , which was argued before the Supreme Court on December 2, 2008 , presents the question – on which the Circuits are fairly evenly split – of whether Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 preempts a constitutional claim brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983...(read more)

Calif. Court Says Schools Can Use Affirmative Action, Despite Prop. 209

2008-12-22T15:40:45Z

A California state court tossed aside an effort to prohibit the Los Angeles Unified School District from using affirmative action policy in admissions for its magnet school. A lawsuit was lodged against the school district by proponents of Proposition 209, which banned affirmative action policies by the state. The 2nd District Appellate Court, however, said that a judicial order of 1981 mandating affirmative action could not be undone by Proposition 209. The state appellate court noted that Proposition...(read more)

EPA Action Weakens Efforts To Limit Power Plant Emissions

2008-12-19T18:15:01Z

A ruling from the Environmental Protection Agency may ease the way for the construction of more power plants. The Washington Post reports that the ruling from late yesterday will allow the construction of new power plants without technology to limit carbon dioxide emissions. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the EPA could regulate the gas under the Clean Air Act. But in the ruling from EPA administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, the agency declared it did not need to regulate the pollutant...(read more)

Pentagon Working On Plan To Close Military Prison

2008-12-19T15:41:56Z

The Washington Post reports that Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked his staff to create a plan to shutter the military prison at Guantanamo Bay . Gates’ press secretary Geoff Morrell told the newspaper that the Pentagon needs to have the plan ready by the time President-elect Barack Obama takes office on Jan. 20. A plan to close the prison would also likely touch on the future of the military commission, The Post reported. ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero lauded the announcement...(read more)

Administration Issues Rule Aimed At Serving Health Care Providers' Beliefs

2008-12-18T17:41:55Z

The Bush administration issued a new Health and Human Services regulation to yank funding from health care providers who do not comply with an order that allows a slew of health care workers to refuse treatment that they claim violates their religious beliefs. The regulation has long been pushed by religious lobbying groups, such as the Family Research Council. It would, according to The Washington Post , apply to more than 584,000 health care facilities and allow some pharmacists, citing religious...(read more)