Further Thoughts on Halbig and Originalism [Gerard Magliocca in Concurring Opinions, 8/26/14]: “Since my post on Halbig and originalism drew several great comments (including a response by Larry Solum, I thought would add some clarifying thoughts.”

http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2014/08/further-thoughts-on-halbig-and-originalism.html

Obama to James Foley’s killers: ‘America does not forget’ [Poliitico, 8/26/14]:  “Rooting out a cancer like ISIL won’t be easy and it won’t be quick,” Obama told the American Legion’s annual convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. “But tyrants and murderers before them should recognize that kind of hateful vision ultimately is no match for the strength and hopes of people who stand together for the security and dignity and freedom that is the birthright of every human being.” 

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/obama-isil-james-foley-110352.html

Transparency's Unlikely Foe [EB Express, 8/27/14]: Organized labor in California has decided to oppose legislation that would require political groups to prominently disclose their donors.

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/transparencys-unlikely-foe/Content?oid=4054554

Bills asks California voters to consider restoring bilingual education [Sac Bee, 8/27/14]: Californians would vote in 2016 to repeal the state’s ban on bilingual education under a bill the Legislature is sending to Gov. Jerry Brown. Over Republican objections, the Senate passed Senate Bill 1174 Tuesday night, 25-10. 

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/26/6657101/bills-asks-california-voters-to.html#mi_rss=Capitol%20Alert

Court overturns convictions in Amish hair attacks [AP, 8/27/14]: An appeals court has overturned, in a 2-1 decision, hate-crime convictions of 16 Amish found guilty in beard- and hair-cutting attacks on fellow members of their faith in Ohio.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AMISH_ATTACKS

Read the decision in U.S. v. Miller at:

http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/14a0210p-06.pdf

Supreme Court may take up D.C. drug case [Wash Times, 8/27/14]: Civil liberties groups see judicial overreach

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/25/supreme-court-may-take-up-dc-drug-case/

How the Supreme Court Protects Bad Cops [Erwin Chemerinsky Op-Ed in NY Times, 8/26/14]: In recent years, the court has made it very difficult, and often impossible, to hold police officers and the governments that employ them accountable for civil rights violations. This undermines the ability to deter illegal police behavior and leaves victims without compensation. When the police kill or injure innocent people, the victims rarely have recourse.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/27/opinion/how-the-supreme-court-protects-bad-cops.html?_r=0

Video-Recording Police-Citizen Encounters is Necessary but Not Enough [Justia, 8/27/14]: Professor Dorf weighs the benefits and costs of equipping police with wearable cameras.

http://verdict.justia.com/2014/08/27/video-recording-police-citizen-encounters-necessary-enough

Exceptional Freedom: How many exceptions are there to the First Amendment? [Concurring Opinions, 8/27/14]: How many “well-defined and narrowly limited classes” of exceptions are there or precisely how many “historic and traditional categories” of speech fall outside of the First Amendment?

http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2014/08/fan-29-first-amendment-news-exceptional-freedom-how-many-exceptions-are-there-to-the-first-amendment.html

Supreme Court social media rap-lyrics case brings Eminem into the fold [Ars Technica, 8/25/14]: When does online speech become a 'true threat' unprotected by the US Constitution?

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/08/supreme-court-social-media-rap-lyrics-case-brings-eminem-into-the-fold/

Read the appellant brief in Elonis v. U.S. at:

http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/eminem.pdf

Nice Try, Obama [Slate, 8/26/14]: The president's latest accommodation to the contraception mandate has one problem: Religious employers won't go for it.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/08/obama_s_new_contraception_mandate_accommodation_religious_employers_are.html

Judge Posner Lets It All Hang Out at 7th Circuit Hearing on Gay Marriage [CNS, 8/26/14]: During oral arguments Tuesday on the constitutionality of Indiana's and Wisconsin's bans on same-sex marriage, 7th Circuit Judge Richard Posner demanded that attorneys distinguish their states' laws from a "savage history" of discrimination "based on hate," akin to racial segregation, which hurts children.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/08/26/70781.htm

Home-care aides don't owe union fees, but court stops short of overruling a key precedent [Mark Walsh in the ABA Journal, 9/1/14]: A case about a group of Illinois home-care aides who did not want to pay a union's collective-bargaining fees did not attract much attention when the Supreme Court granted review last October. The Teacher’s Guide to the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law has information on this case, Harris v. Quinn.

http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/home-care_aides_dont_owe_union_fees_but_court_stops_short_of_overruling_a_k/

Obamacare and Immigration [EB Express, 8/27/14]: Fears about deportation have kept many Latinos from signing up for health insurance in California.

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/obamacare-and-immigration/Content?oid=4054592