Elena Kagan and the Supreme Not-A-Court | The Hill Column

  The Supreme Court is supposed to decide questions based on the law, not public opinion. Yet its power consists solely in its ability to issue pieces of paper, which have no effect unless other officials, the ones with guns and money, respect it and are willing to enforce its decisions. Justice Elena Kagan and Chief Justice John…

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Making History End, Again | LA Review of Books (Review of “Liberalism and Its Discontents” by Francis Fukuyama)

  LIBERALISM — THE IDEA that the purpose of government is to guarantee individuals the freedom to shape their own lives — is, Francis Fukuyama observes, “under severe threat around the world today.” Political rights and civil liberties became more widespread in the late 20th century, but have since been in retreat. His new book, Liberalism…

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Religion and Samuel Alito’s time bomb | The Hill Column

  An irresponsible sentence that Justice Samuel Alito wrote eight years ago may now excuse religious people from nearly every legal obligation they have, so long as a hypothetical, nonexistent government program could substitute for it. That became clear this week when Judge Reed O’Connor declared in Braidwood Management v. Becerra that employers with religious objections may offer health plans…

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