Supreme Court Clerks and the Death Penalty
Professor Matthew Tokson · July 2020 88 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. Arguendo 48 My first weeks as a Supreme Court clerk were, in many ways, shocking. I was shocked to be sitting in Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s office, listening to her discuss the upcoming term. I was awestruck as I wandered the Court’s red- carpeted halls,... Read More
Chiafalo v. Washington: Presidential Elections Are Messy Enough Already
In Chiafalo, the Supreme Court averted electoral chaos. This November, it may need do so again.
The Bottom Lines in the Trump Subpoena Cases: More Losses Than Wins for the President, but No One Is Going to See His Tax Returns Soon
Congress now has a roadmap that it can follow when it wants to obtain documents from the public at large, as well as the executive branch.
The 2020 Ministerial Exception Cases: A Clarification, Not a Revolution
Morrissey-Berru is a reassuring nod toward the continuity of a principle long rooted in the American tradition of church-state separation.
June Medical Services v. Russo: A Temporary Victory for Reproductive Rights
Stare decisis, it seems, is in the eye of the beholder.
Seila Law v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Score One for The Unitary Executive Theory
This is not an argument that a presidential firing is necessarily the only way for this issue to be decided, but only that there was no reason to reach out to decide a constitutional issue when the parties did not disagree and when principles of constitutional avoidance pushed in the opposite direction.
Espinoza: Roberts v. Thomas on the Future of Religious Liberty Jurisprudence
Many conservative commentators have agreed with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who called the decision “a historic victory.” It was a victory for those who would like government to support religious education, but it was not nearly as historic as it could have been.
United States Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B.V.: How Do We Know When Something Is a Name?
The Court’s opinion isn’t as straightforward as it purports to be.
Regents of Univ. of Calif.: Trump Administration Held Accountable by the APA but a Missed Opportunity for the Constitution
With this case, the Court’s discomfort with directly confronting race and racial animus was on full display.
Bostock, Zarda, and R.G & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes: Affirming Equality and Challenging Textualism
If the Justices cannot agree on the meaning of “because of sex” in a statute enacted or amended in their lifetimes, then it is difficult to conclude that textualism can resolve legal disputes.