Captain of the Black Sox One of the more curious and notable decisions rendered by the Maryland Court of Appeals in recent years is its short opinion in Ports v. Cowan, 426 Md.435 (2012) holding that Maryland, notwithstanding that it had an as yet unrepealed statute and public policy declaring marriage to be between […]
George Liebmann: Switzerland in America Gazette Newspapers, November 2, 2012 The ballot referendums are important since two cure-alls of the 1970s, campaign finance “reform” and strict reapportionment, have delivered the legislature to reliable partisans and ‘bundlers” of campaign contributions. Referendums have served the Swiss well. The casino bill and congressional redistricting reflect the culture […]
Saturday, 07 July 2012 From Today’s Wall Street Journal Regarding John Yoo’s “Chief Justice Roberts and His Apologists” (op-ed, June 30): Mr. Yoo’s characterization of Chief Justice John Roberts as another Charles Evans Hughes is a compliment. Hughes never sought to bar “expansion of the welfare state.” He designed systems of state insurance and public […]
___________________________________ by George W. Liebmann To the Bag: David Bernstein’s essay on the Brandeis brief (Autumn 2011) does not describe “winner’s history;” (page 15); Brandeis’ concerns with Supreme Court treatment of constitutional cases involving state governments remain largely unaddressed today. Moreover, it is simply not true that “ […]
Important issues go unaddressed because political donors don’t care about them 0 By George W. Liebmann1:46 p.m. EDT, April 5, 2012 If the Obama administration proceeds to electoral doom, blame rests on its surrender to its financiers and campaign organizers: Wall Street and public employee and construction unions. A Democratic administration […]
Letter to the Editor The role of money in political campaigns January 24 Regarding the Jan. 18 editorial “A less-than-super fix,” on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s statement that candidates should be allowed to collect unlimited donations: Mr. Romney is right on this issue. The 1974 campaign finance legislation was a cure […]
November 2011 Another Distant Warning Earlier this year, we drew attention to an impending treasury raid sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union in the form of a study proposing a massive building program for the Baltimore City public schools, to be carried out through the use of >funny financing= in the form […]
The Governor has appointed a reapportionment commission of flive members: his patronage secretary;President Miller, Speaker Busch. a businessman. and a former Republican delegate. safely ‘out of the loop’ as as respects his party’s leadership, The commissionis in effect a Society for the Protection of Democratic Incumbents, Was this the constitutional design? […]
In our February 2005 issue, we reviewed three ancient and venerable lawsuits: the Bradford school financing litigation in Baltimore City, now in its tenth year; the federal special education lawsuit, now aged 21; and another ‘baby’ lawsuit, the federal court housing litigation, now also ten years old….
Two of the four legislative sessions of Governor Ehrlich’s first term have passed, rendering appropriate an interim assessment of the administration’s performance on major issues facing state government. This review will necessarily pass over some important subjects such as the environment, where the administration has major successes to its credit. It will focus on four […]