Month: July 2009

Office of Congressional Ethics Referrals

Post author By Eric Brown
Post date July 14, 2009
Categories In House

The Office of Congressional Ethics made five referrals last quarter, according to Roll Call. OCE’s second quarter report is available here.

The Media Exemption, the First Amendment, and Citizens United

Post author By Eric Brown
Post date July 14, 2009
Categories In Const Law Issues, Courts & Cases

The Institute for Justice’s Bert Gall and Steve Simpson wrote this editorial discussing the “media exemption” and campaign finance laws. The press remains one of the most important bulwarks against tyranny. The solution is to protect free speech on principle, regardless of the identity of the speaker. Banning a corporation from spending its own money […]

Judge Sotomayor and Precedent

Post author By Eric Brown
Post date July 14, 2009
Categories In Const Law Issues

Here Hans von Spakovsky contrasts Judge Sotomayor’s statements in her introductory remarks with her actions on the Second Circuit in Landell v. Sorrell. So there is no question that Sotomayor refused to follow Supreme Court precedent on campaign-finance law. This was no real surprise since she has an extreme view on this issue. She has […]