The Ninth Circuit correctly dismissed Jose Padilla’s lawsuit against John Yoo, the former Department of Justice official who provided key analysis of legal questions arising from the war on terrorism. But being the traditionally liberal and oft-reversed Ninth Circuit, the court could not leave well enough alone and issued an…
Thankfully, the law sometimes reflects common sense. Here’s an example: Innocent people ordinarily do not remain silent when accused of having committed a crime or some other misconduct. As the result, it is reasonable to infer that such an accusation is true if a person does not deny it. In…
Abstract: With regard to the Lacey Act, The Heritage Foundation and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) can agree on one point: The act should be enforced through the civil justice system or the administrative process. In a recent paper, however, the UCS has…
An article by Jon Adler at the Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine Website,[1] written on behalf of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA), is quite critical of the recently introduced Freedom from Over-Criminalization and Unjust Seizures (FOCUS) Act of 2012. The thrust of the article is that…
How did a law originally enacted to target poaching of migratory birds evolve to authorize an armed raid of a guitar factory in search of wooden veneers imported without the proper paperwork? The Lacey Act was the first federal wildlife conservation statute, narrowly targeted at the interstate sale in poached…
The Heritage Event on AZ's immigration law is reported on KPNX (Phoenix, AZ). …
Robert Alt discussed the legal issues regarding fracking on Your News Now. …
Cully Stimson discusses Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's trial for his involvment with the 9-11 terrorist attacks on 'America's Newsroom' on Fox News. …
Ernest Istook discusses the Obamacare Hearings before the Supreme Court on WJLA. …
Abstract: Despite the fact that each state has statutes that punish domestic violence, the federal government intervened in 1994 with the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The Senate is now expected to consider the newest reauthorization of the act—S. 1925—which includes radical changes that…
Abstract: Next week, the Supreme Court will hear challenges to Obamacare (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) centered on the constitutionality of the legislation’s individual mandate and Medicaid expansion. From a legal perspective, the Court’s decision will…
Abstract: The heart of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, popularly known as “Obamacare,” is an unprecedented mandate that individuals purchase health insurance. The briefs of the parties challenging Obamacare and their supporting amici…
Currently, two of the PATRIOT Act’s key provisions are up for reauthorization by Congress. As the deadline draws nearer, it is important to re-engage on the importance of the PATRIOT Act and explain how the law helps authorities to track down terror leads and dismantle plots before the public is…
Statement before the Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate Introduction Chairman Leahy, Ranking Member Grassley, and Members of the Committee, I thank you…
Abstract: Under the Lacey Act, it is a federal offense to import fish, wildlife, or plants “in violation of any foreign law.” Such legislation violates one of the fundamental tenets of Anglo–American common law: that “men of common intelligence” must be able to understand…
Nullification Is Unconstitutional The Nullification Temptation: In order to challenge the federal government’s unconstitutional actions, states…
Over the past 10 years, special interests have engaged in a highly coordinated, well-funded campaign to fundamentally alter the composition of America’s state courts. The campaign’s goal: to exclude conservative, rule-of-law judges from the bench. This campaign has been bankrolled by George Soros, a hedge fund operator with a net…
Abstract: Liberals are currently engaged in a concerted effort to redefine judicial activism. Rather than accepting the true definition of judicial activism—when a judge applies his or her own policy preferences to uphold a…
On Tuesday, March 20, the Supreme Court hears oral argument in two cases involving the constitutionality of sentences of life without parole (LWOP) for teenage murderers. The real issue before the Court is this: Will the Court again “find” or “invent” a heretofore undiscovered constitutional prohibition and thus strike an…
This is the last of our four-part series on Occupy Wall Street, transcribed from a recent Heritage Foundation event on...…
Yesterday in a joint press conference with the Canadian prime minister and Mexican president, President Obama expressed...…
Google is growing up. That was the message company representatives shared at Heritage this week on the Silicon Valley...…
The House of Representatives is poised to pass legislation today that prohibits the National Labor Relations Board from...…
Just imagine if a President announced that his administration would not be prosecuting anyone for violating the...…
This week the State Department has placed some 64 Russian officials on a visa blacklist that would prevent them from...…
A bill introduced in the Russian Duma last Tuesday would allow the Foreign Ministry to blacklist foreigners believed to...…
This week, Judge Roger Vinson of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida became the...…
Heads of state and global leaders gathered at the U.N. this week to bemoan a lack of progress on meeting many of the...…
As everyone knows, Arizona, chafed by the Federal government’s inability to control the flow of illegal immigrants into...…
Director, Rule of Law Programs and Senior Legal Fellow