Professional Commentary

Stephen Bainbridge :"Now that Congress has approved the legislation to give federal courts jurisdiction over the Terry Schiavo case, I am finding myself oddly unable to reach a definitive assessment of that action. As I see it, Congress'...

Larry Ribstein, University of Illinois College of Law:"Schiavo is about abortion, at least that much is obvious. Terri Schiavo is a "fetus" tethered by life-giving machines rather than to her mother. There's speculation about whether she shows signs of life....

Michael Froomkin, University of Miami School of Law:"So much one could say about the entire Schiavo mess; How can the GOP support this anti-federalist measure without any hint of shame? How can the same GOP that says federal power should...

Ellen S. Podgor, Georgia State University College of Law:"With the upcoming release of Martha Stewart from prison, the press is writing of her experiences and future. The Wall Street Journal provides a view of her life in prison here, AP...

Douglas Berman :"When the Supreme Court declared in Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002), that the Eighth Amendment prohibited the execution of mentally retarded offenders, the Court punted a number of tough administrative...

Stephen Bainbridge :"I'm increasingly opposed to the death penalty on both pragmatic and moral grounds, but I nevertheless found much to agree with in Justice Antonin Scalia's scathing dissent from the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision striking down the...

Richard Posner, University of Chicago Law School:"I approach the issue of immigration reform (theoretical reform - neither Becker nor I are considering the political obstacles to radical changes in immigration law) somewhat differently. I begin by asking: why restrict immigration...

Jack Balkin, Yale Law School:"Today, in Johnson v. California, the Supreme Court held that California's practice of segregating newly arrived prisoners by race for up to 60 days was subject to strict scrutiny. Justice O'Connor wrote the majority opinion. Justices...

Jim Maule, Villanova Law School:"...ost, if not all, of the discussion presupposes continuation of the social security system, with changes in the way revenues are gathered to fund it. A few proposals discuss changing benefits, either...

Kenneth Anderson, Washington College of Law, American University:I want to go back to something that everyone has already talked to death - the UN report from a week or two back concluding that although Darfur involves mass murder, it does...