9th Circuit tells Ashcroft he overstepped his boundaries...

another victory for state's rights...that other edge of the sword is cutting deeper.

Oregon's Death with Dignity Act

Ashcroft issued a directive in 2001 declaring that assisting suicide was not a legitimate medical purpose under the Controlled Substances Act, and saying that prescribing federally controlled drugs for that purpose was against the law.

In a 2-1 opinion, the 9th Circuit said, "We hold that the Ashcroft Directive is unlawful and unenforceable because it violates the plain language of the Controlled Substances Act, contravenes Congress' express legislative intent and oversteps the bounds of the Attorney General's statutory authority.
...
The attorney general's unilateral attempt to regulate general medical practices historically entrusted to state lawmakers interferes with the democratic debate about physician-assisted suicide and far exceeds the scope of his authority under federal law."

and so the pendulum swings...

the new adventure begins...

well, no rest for the wicked. It looks like I'm knee-deep in drafting an academic paper to be selected for law review. Nice topic, though, and not too complicated. for a 12 page paper with 1/3 footnotes, you can't get too deep.

bought books for summer session, things will start rolling again after memorial day.

still waiting to hear about whether I have any work this summer, things are looking slim. no worries...a little relaxation this summer is well deserved.

The long and winding road... 

WOO HOO!

My first year of law school is OVER!!!!

wow. I can't believe it, I barely survived.

not much of a break though...next week is law review competition, the week after that summer session starts.

I can't wait for summer session -- I'm finally going to be able to kick some tax law butt.

No job prospects though, but 5 units over 6 weeks is surely enough to keep me busy. And give me time to ride ROLLER COASTERS!!!

going to enjoy the day off by cleaning the house -- its amazing how disasterous things can get during final exams. now, where did I hide the vacuum cleaner?

Provincetown, MA votes to issue gay marriage licenses

wow. what an interesting battle.

the governor issued a statement earlier saying that he interprets a 1913 state law saying that MA can deny marriage to couples whose states would not recognize such marriage.

AND, in response to the people of Provincetown voting to allow such marriages, he claims to be the supreme interpreter of MA law.

well, Mr. Governor, I think you are wrong, and I think an MA court will also think you are wrong.

From what I've learned in Con Law, if the same separation of powers rationale applies on a national level to a state level, the executive is not the supreme interpreters of the law: the judiciary is. The governor cannot make law, he can only enforce. It is not his job to interpret the laws, it is the court's.

I can't wait till this hits the courts. They will likely strike down the 1913 law, perhaps on P&I grounds? This is a good question for Randy Barnett.

One down, four to go...

yep. the finals race is on [reason #1 for slow blogging].

I would just like to thank Randy Barnett, Raich, and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for shedding so much clear light and enabling me to tackle my exam with finesse. I would have been completely lost without you.

Florida Law keeping brain-damaged woman alive struck down...

lining up for the Constitutional showdown. Jeb Bush has appealed, will probably go up to the FL Supreme Court. Regardless of how the Supreme Court rules, it will head to the US Supreme Court.

I will, for now, side with the Court. The law was suspect to begin with, and I don't think that Jeb Bush should be given the power to decide if this woman lives or dies. Her constitutional right to privacy regarding her medical affairs cannot be tossed aside by an unconstitutional grant of power to the governor.

the problem is whether the Supreme Court will get the case before the feeding tube is pulled and/or she dies. If she dies, the case becomes moot. unless, the Supreme Court will take it on a "capable of repetition/evading review" rationale. But with regard to this plaintiff, it doesn't seem that this case would could arise again. there is a certain finality in death.

hmmm...good review for Con Law...final is tomorrow!!! yikes! back to that outline and practice exams...

Justice Souter assaulted during jog

he suffered minor injuries, was taken to the hospital and released this afternoon.

no one is saying why, but police say the attack was "random".