By a 6-3 vote the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week in Medellin v. Texas that the president can’t force a state (his own, Texas) to abide by an international legal decision. From one point of view this is a rejection…

During Tuesday’s oral argument on the Second Amendment, a majority of the court seemed ready to recognize an individual right to bear arms. A good summary of the argument can be found on the Scotus blog. Justice Anthony Kennedy, often the…

The FBI has acknowledged again that it has abused its National Security Letter authority. This is the fourth straight year that FBI abuses of the letters have been uncovered.

National security letters are administrative subpoenas used by FBI agents to…

There is an epidemic of sports teams and state high school sports authorties trying to control images shot at games. Closest to home, the Illinois High School Association has been trying to force photographers to sign agreements not to later…

Next month the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the big gun case from the District of Columbia. There is a saying about the Supreme Court following the election returns. Well it also pays attention to the news. I…

Washington University is buzzing in preparation for the Feb. 19 speech by former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. (See this link for Student Life articles.) Campus Democrats and peace groups plan to protest the speech.

The Student Union is paying for…

(Update: For those interested, i’ve posted the text of Perry’s opinion at the bottom of this post. I’ve also posted the statement of Franklin McCallie, former Kirkwood High School principal, who tried unsuccessfully in 2003 to mediate the dispute between…

U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber upheld Valley Park’s law that suspends the license of any business that employs an illegal immigrant. Backers of the law saw the decision as a complete vindication of the city’s efforts to make it…

On the same day that he gave the State of the Union speech, President Bush issued a signing statement questioning four provisions of the Defense Authorization Bill - including one provision written by Sen. Claire McCaskill and Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), which would…

The Post-Dispatch’s Virginia Young had an interesting story Sunday on Rep. Jim Lembke, who is trying to impeach a judge from across the state. Rep. Lembke, who represents Lemay, is going after Laclede County Associate Circuit Judge Christine Hutson. Rep.…