The Chamber of Commerce, which has labored mightily for decades to use the courts to deregulate the United States, just won another battle. Last week, the Supreme Court did its bidding by eviscerating the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority under the Clean Water Act to protect vast swaths of wetlands, taking another whack at the agency specifically and regulatory authority in general. Just last year, the Court decimated EPA’s power to address climate change under the Clean Air Act. Both cases were ostensibly based on the doctrine of “textualism,” which purports to follow the text...…The Chamber of Commerce, which has labored mightily for decades to use the courts to deregulate the United States, just won another battle. Last week, the Supreme Court did its bidding by eviscerating the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority under the Clean Water Act to protect vast swaths of wetlands, taking another whack at the agency specifically and regulatory authority in general. Just last year, the Court decimated EPA’s power to address climate change under the Clean Air Act. Both cases were ostensibly based on the doctrine of “textualism,” which purports to follow the text...WW…

Last month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new election law allowing him to run for president without resigning his seat as governor. But that’s not the most significant part of the new law. It also imposes several unnecessary restrictions on community organizations that engage in voter registration drives, making it even harder for such groups to register new voters. Voting rights advocates have already filed suit. The provisions may well be unlawful, even for a conservative Supreme Court. As I recount in a new report for the Institute for Responsive Government, community voter...…Last month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new election law allowing him to run for president without resigning his seat as governor. But that’s not the most significant part of the new law. It also imposes several unnecessary restrictions on community organizations that engage in voter registration drives, making it even harder for such groups to register new voters. Voting rights advocates have already filed suit. The provisions may well be unlawful, even for a conservative Supreme Court. As I recount in a new report for the Institute for Responsive Government, community voter...WW…

Bill Barr is killing Americans but sparing terrorists.In July the U.S. attorney general directed his Department of Justice to  the death penalty. Since his directive this summer, he’s used lethal injection to kill five federal Death Row inmates.Barr five murderers, rapists and torturers of children and the elderly. Men who inflicted unimaginable pain and suffering on their victims and surviving families. Barr unapologetically resumed capital punishment after a two-decade hiatus, “bringing justice to the most horrific crimes.” Barr’s tough on crime.Unless, of course, he’s not.Barr also...…Bill Barr is killing Americans but sparing terrorists.In July the U.S. attorney general directed his Department of Justice to  the death penalty. Since his directive this summer, he’s used lethal injection to kill five federal Death Row inmates.Barr five murderers, rapists and torturers of children and the elderly. Men who inflicted unimaginable pain and suffering on their victims and surviving families. Barr unapologetically resumed capital punishment after a two-decade hiatus, “bringing justice to the most horrific crimes.” Barr’s tough on crime.Unless, of course, he’s not.Barr also...WW…