This is a story that connects some dots we might well imagine have no connection: a 19th century murder, a 21st century adoption, Native tribal sovereignty, Supreme Court Justices past and present, and a law firm where we work. Constitutional history can sound academically remote until dots connect at a personal level relevant to our lives today ...
Art piracy has captured the news. Scotus has decided Andy Warhol’s artwork was not a fair use of a photograph of Prince and a Manhattan jury found that Ed Sheeran didn’t pirate the Marvin Gaye classic “Let’s Get It On”. Sheeran played his guitar and sang in the courtroom to show the jury that his Grammy-winning song “Thinking Out ...
On campus, springtime brings finals week and the distracting tug of hanging out outside . We’re grading final papers from a bunch of Gen Zers, eight page essays on how their lives connect with the U.S. Constitution. I wish I could share them, as the stories are inspiring, whether it be about the immigrant origins of their families, or a decision to ...
“….in order to form a more perfect union…”
Preamble
“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”
Winston Churchill
Is the U.S. Constitution too hard to change, to make “more perfect,” to amend?
One of America’s most thoughtful commentators on the topic of amendability is Sixth Circuit Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton. ...
Illustration by Bruce Petrie
You’ve heard that sometimes it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. This month the Biden Administration will be asking Scotus for both, to forgive $400 billion in student loan debt, with stakeholders including not only students and families, but also state and federal governments and taxpayers.
If ...
“The Transportation Security Administration discovered more than 6,500 firearms in carry-on bags in 2022, a record... TSA found a gun stuffed into a whole un-cooked chicken at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida.”
Wall Street Journal - January 18, 2023
Does the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms extend ...
Scotus just heard oral arguments in the celebrated “Prince Case” involving a photographer’s claim that the Warhol Foundation and its namesake infringed her copyright in her now famous Prince photo, not reprinted here, right, but you can look up the photo and Warhol’s Orange Prince on your phone in a few seconds. There were several ...
Oil Sketch by Bruce Petrie
Can a website designer post a notice that she doesn’t do wedding websites for gay couples? Colorado said no. But website design firm 303 Creative will have its day in the Supreme Court this December, arguing that Colorado’s use of its public accommodation/anti-discrimination law violates the First Amendment by ...
Summer has its rituals, its some-things-never-change continuities like a ballgame with a grandchild. Summer also has an annual ritual of the Scotus Nine announcing decisions before their vacations. But this year was different, really different. The 2022 term was about discontinuity, change and many unfinished issues.
While the leak of Dobbs ...
During his famous debates with Stephen Douglas in 1858, a young lawyer with presidential aspirations (still without the signature beard he would grow in 1860) listened as Douglas called him “two-faced”. “If I had another face, do you think I’d wear this one?” Lincoln replied.
For Independence Day 2022 I painted Lincoln as that younger ...