Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Alvin Roth on Organ Markets
Nobel laureate Alvin Roth argues in a Washington Post op‑ed that the United States should legalize payments for kidney donors. He cites roughly 130,000 new kidney‑failure cases each year, a $55 billion Medicare burden, and a waiting list of 90,000 patients versus only about 30,000 transplants in 2025. Roth contends that a regulated market could supply the estimated 70,000 additional kidneys needed, cut dialysis costs, and save thousands of lives. He acknowledges concerns about donor exploitation and equity, urging safeguards and possible subsidies for low‑income recipients.
Virginia Supreme Court Voids Virginia Gerrymander
The Virginia Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, invalidated a 2026 ballot initiative that would have authorized partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts. The majority held that the General Assembly’s process violated Article XII, Section 1 of the Virginia Constitution, rendering...
US Court of International Trade Rules Against Trump's Section 122 Tariffs
The U.S. Court of International Trade issued a 2‑1 decision striking down the Trump administration's Section 122 tariffs, which imposed a uniform 10% duty on a broad swath of imports. The majority held that the government failed to demonstrate the...
Second Amendment Roundup: A Tale of Two Waiting Periods
The First Circuit upheld Maine's 72‑hour firearm waiting‑period law in Beckwith v. Frey, while the 10th Circuit struck down New Mexico's seven‑day waiting period in Ortega v. Grisham. Both cases stem from the 2023 Lewiston, Maine mass shooting and the...
Content Moderation and the First Amendment
The Supreme Court’s recent rulings, most notably Moody v. NetChoice, treat algorithmic content curation on social‑media platforms as protected speech under the First Amendment. Critics argue this leaves substantive moderation unchecked and propose reclassifying platforms as state actors or common...
Restricting Speech By Purportedly Protecting Children
Governments worldwide are invoking child‑protection arguments to impose speech restrictions, from Russia's 2012 website blacklist to recent U.S. and U.K. legislation. In Utah, the Minor Protection in Social Media Act—requiring age verification and restrictive defaults for minors—was halted by a...
Second Amendment Roundup: How a Fake Citation Misled Courts to Uphold "Sensitive Place" Gun Bans
The Second Circuit’s *Antonyuk v. James* upheld New York’s “sensitive place” gun bans by citing a supposed 1792 North Carolina statute that never existed. The decision misread colonial law, treating a privately‑published collection as binding authority, and the reasoning was adopted by...
Vanderbilt Student's Lawsuit Over Suspension for Alleged False Accusations Can Go Forward
A federal judge in Middle District Tennessee allowed several of Vanderbilt University student Poe's claims to proceed, including negligence, Title IX selective‑enforcement, and breach‑of‑contract allegations related to his year‑long suspension for alleged false accusations. The court found genuine issues of material...
NAACP Seek To Recall Callais Judgment So It Can Seek Reconsideration
On April 29 the Supreme Court issued a rapid judgment in the Callais case, prompting the NAACP to request an immediate issuance of the opinion. Hours later the civil‑rights group filed a motion asking the Court to recall that judgment...
Elite Panic and the Push to Regulate "Misinformation"
The article examines repeated elite panic over online misinformation surrounding the 2024 global elections, especially in the EU, and the subsequent regulatory push. Despite warnings that AI‑driven disinformation could sway billions of voters, analyses by EDMO and the Alan Turing...
How Bad Facts Make Good First Amendment Law
The Supreme Court’s 1931 decision in Near v. Minnesota struck down a Minnesota law that allowed prior restraint of a scandal‑filled newspaper, establishing that the First Amendment forbids government bans on publications before they appear. Publisher Jay Near’s anti‑Jewish, anti‑corruption...
Just "Felonious Peccadillos"; I'm "Overqualified for Oklahoma"; Bar Association, "Bring It on Bitch": Surprisingly Ineffective in Fighting Disbarment
The Oklahoma Supreme Court disbarred former legislative candidate and attorney Barlean after he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor domestic‑assault charges and repeatedly violated court‑ordered probation conditions. The court highlighted his pattern of violence, failure to complete anger‑management, and abusive communications...
Posting Video of 10-Year-Old Hockey Player's "Tantrum" Isn't Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
The Illinois Appellate Court reversed a lower‑court ruling and held that posting a YouTube video of a 10‑year‑old hockey player’s on‑ice outburst does not meet the legal threshold for intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED). The court stressed that conduct...
Today in Supreme Court History: May 4, 1942
On May 4, 1942 the Supreme Court heard arguments in Wickard v. Filburn, a landmark New Deal case. The dispute centered on an Ohio farmer’s wheat surplus and whether the federal government could limit production under the Commerce Clause. The Court’s eventual...
"Martial Home"
Eugene Volokh points out a recurring typo in U.S. case law where "marital home" is mistakenly written as "martial home." A quick Westlaw search reveals the error appears in more than 600 judicial opinions. Volokh jokes that the mistake may...