Ted Noel

Western law is derived in large measure from Jewish legal principles. The rabbis expound on Rabbi Yishmael’s 13 Principles (Middot) of interpretation, even expanding to some by Rabbi Akiva. Perhaps the most important of all is kal vachomer,…

My regular readers know that I see a number of left-wing legal writings from day to day. One of the more sane (from time to time) pundits is Ilya Somin of George Mason University. In his latest piece, he bemoans the “Perils of the Unitary…

(h.t. to Mark W. Smith of the Four Boxes Diner here and here.)Welcome to your chance to nerd out on the difference between process and merits in legal actions. Our case of interest is AIDS Vaccine Advocacy v. Department of State. For…

On January 30, Pocahontas shouted into a microphone that “There is nothing in the Constitution that says ordinary citizens have a right to see what we spend our tax dollars on.” Aside from the frightening implications of such a statement,…

When people ask me, “How are you?” I answer, “Dazed, confused, and prone to wandering.” This flippant response is a way to avoid the common but meaningless “Fine” with a similarly unserious but likely humorous rejoinder. Unfortunately, as I…

Does Chucky Schumer really believe that $20 million for Sesame Street in Iraq will somehow benefit the U.S.? Or $7 million to promote LGBT advocacy in Jamaica and Uganda? Uganda enforces the death penalty for gays.The…

In President Trump’s executive order denying citizenship to anchor babies, the Left has found fertile ground for legal challenges. But we should avoid taking their shrill pronouncements at face value.Austin Sarat, “the William Nelson…

Speaker Johnson failed to get the debt limit extended with his “negotiated” Continuing Resolution. His 1,500-page “compromise” fell afoul of Grok’s prodigious abilities. Count on it: Elon didn’t read the entire bill. He had his AI do it for…

It’s easy to say that stuff has to go. Unfortunately, lots of Swamp critters have burrowed deeply into the muck surrounding the White House. And while Vivek and Elon are really smart, there are a couple of blind spots that can be fixed.…

President Trump’s signal accomplishment during his first term has to have been appointing and confirming judges who actually respect the Constitution. Now, he is moving quickly to set up an executive branch that will actually drain the…