Tag / doj
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The Reality of the Fake News Hysteria
Since the 2016 election, “fake news” has become a stunningly popular topic among politicians in America and around the world. As of November 2017, the term’s usage had increased by 365 percent since 2016. Donald Trump played a major role in its popularization, with his attacks on the media often laced with the term “fake…
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What Is Sessions Smoking?
Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ memo reversing the hands-off approach to state laws allowing for the medical and/or recreational use of marijuana has introduced a great deal of tension between federal and state laws. While marijuana-friendly states were not given absolute freedom from federal law under Obama and former deputy Attorney General Jim Cole, they were…
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The (Mis)construction of Knowledge
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in two rulings nearly 15 years ago that sex offenders’ rate of re-offense, at almost 80 percent, is “frightening and high.” Since then, his “statistic” has been used by hundreds of lower courts and lawyers to defend policies that banish offenders from most communities. The severity of the punishment would be…
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Affirmative Action and Asian Americans
Since the Department of Justice announced its investigation into the effects of affirmative action on Asian Americans, there has been renewed attention on Edward Blum’s case against race-based admissions at Harvard. I’ve grown increasingly troubled with the fierce discussion that has erupted over this news. I could easily be a plaintiff in Blum’s case: first-generation…