This op-ed appeared on History News Network and in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, and is cross-posted on the Legal History Blog:

The recent anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education falls nearly 100 years since the 20th century's greatest civil rights lawyer, Thurgood Marshall, was born (July 2, 1908). Brown was a milestone in the nation's civil rights history; the case also christened Marshall, the plaintiff's lead attorney, as "Mr. Civil Rights." Not long after, Marshall would be eclipsed by a new generation of civil rights leaders. His greatest disappointment, however, was to see the court that decided Brown turn away from his legacy.

Mitt Romney issued the following message concerning Martin Luther King:

"On this day, we honor the vision and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who devoted his life to fulfilling the truth revealed at our nation's founding that all men are created equal. He proved that one man with a dream can make a difference. While we have made great strides, there is still much work to be done to ensure all Americans prosper economically, have access to affordable health care, and receive a quality education. The failure of our inner city schools is the great civil rights issue of our time.

"Dr. King's life serves as an inspiration to all Americans and to liberty-loving people all over the world who aspire for freedom where it is threatened or does not exist."

Mitt Romney issued the following message concerning Martin Luther King:

"On this day, we honor the vision and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who devoted his life to fulfilling the truth revealed at our nation's founding that all men are created equal. He proved that one man with a dream can make a difference. While we have made great strides, there is still much work to be done to ensure all Americans prosper economically, have access to affordable health care, and receive a quality education. The failure of our inner city schools is the great civil rights issue of our time.

Dr. King's life serves as an inspiration to all Americans and to liberty-loving people all over the world who aspire for freedom where it is threatened or does not exist."

Mitt Romney issued the following message concerning Martin Luther King:

"On this day, we honor the vision and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who devoted his life to fulfilling the truth revealed at our nation's founding that all men are created equal. He proved that one man with a dream can make a difference. While we have made great strides, there is still much work to be done to ensure all Americans prosper economically, have access to affordable health care, and receive a quality education. The failure of our inner city schools is the great civil rights issue of our time.

"Dr. King's life serves as an inspiration to all Americans and to liberty-loving people all over the world who aspire for freedom where it is threatened or does not exist."

"We are in a constitutional crisis," Kenya opposition leader Raila Odinga said today, as the Kenya election crisis continues to unfold.

Today's New York Times includes an extraordinarily peculiar editorial titled "Unite, Not Divide, Really This Time," which includes the following paragraphs:

In Mrs. Clinton’s zeal to make the case that experience (hers) is more important than inspirational leadership (Mr. Obama’s), she made some peculiar comments about the relative importance of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and President Lyndon Johnson to the civil rights cause. She complimented Dr. King’s soaring rhetoric, but said: “Dr. King’s dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. ... It took a president to get it done. ”

Today, at 3:00pm EST, I'll be appearing in Second Life for a panel discussion entitled "Do Avatars Dream of Civil Rights?," which is about the legal rights of end users and administrators in virtual worlds. The panel is organized by the USC Institute for Network Culture and Global Kids and sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation.

Although the title of David A. Adler's A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr.

I just published the following opinion piece in the Baltimore Daily Record. As should be clear, I think the law ought to prevent Fred Phelps from desecrating funerals, but have real concerns about whether the law in Maryland actually did.

It has been 52 years today since the Montgomery bus boycott began on a chilly December dawn as, one by one, city buses rolled by usually crowded stops, now empty of their African American riders.

Making meaningful the deeds of a famous man or woman for very young children is not an easy task for an author. Here are two outstanding biographies in picture book format which bring the boy Martin and the mature Martin's words to life for young readers.

Almost assuredly not. In fact, neither Senator Clinton nor Senator Obama is likely to be even halfway to the required total of 2023 delegates by then, and the delegate difference between them on February 6th is likely to be quite small.

Following up on Mark Graber's most recent post on the Supreme Court, consider why we might expect that the Supreme Court will not in fact produce principled results significantly superior to those produced by the national political process. One reason, famously suggested by Yale political scientist Robert Dahl, is that the U.S. Supreme Court tends, over time, to cooperate with the views of the dominant national political coalition. It does this by ratifying and legitimating most of the results of the national political process, by policing state and local governments so that they stay roughly in line with the views of national political elites, and (as Mark himself has pointed out) by acting as a political backstop to resolve controversies that national politicians would rather not have to take responsibility for.

The Supreme Court does tend to slow down rapid change when there is a shift in political regimes (and accompanying constitutional values), but eventually it goes along because new Justices appointed by the dominant national coalition replace older ones.

Paul Frymer's Black and Blue: African Amerians, the Labor Movement, and the Decline of the Democratic Party is an exceptional study of the relationships between the civil rights and labor movements during the second half of the twentieth century. Professor Frymer of the University of California, Santa Cruz, challenges both the common view in political science that courts cannot bring about social change, and the common view in law that courts are desirable agents for social change. The result is a far more nuanced understanding of the role of courts in American political and constitutional development. Judicial decisions matter, but they matter for reasons that confound scholars and policy activists. The book also tackles important problems in the politics of race.

This speech by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse accuses the Bush Administration of dictatorial powers. The Senator read classified OLC opinions that stated that the President is not bound by previous executive orders, that the President can determine for himself how they apply and whether to revoke them, that the President can waive orders by merely disregarding them in practice, and that the Justice Department must obey the President's determinations with respect to the operations of Executive Orders.

From the Sacramento Bee: The NBA's longest active sellout streak officially ended at Arco Arena Tuesday with the Kings setting a home opener low for Arco, as well as recording the league's worst attendance for a home opener this season...The announced attendance of 14,908 ended the Kings' streak of 354 consecutive sellouts dating back to Nov. 26, 1999. Arco seats 17,317.
...
"That's sad and embarrassing," said Brandon Castillo, a season-ticket holder and Sacramento political consultant. "I was shocked when I walked in. It was empty. I couldn't believe it."
...

Many supporters of Second Amendment rights are, pardon the pun, up in arms over the Bush Administration Justice Department's amicus brief in Heller, the Second Amendment case now before the Supreme Court. The government's brief recognizes an individual right to bear arms but argues that historically the right excluded felons (even though they are presumably part of "the People"). Moreover, it argues that the Second Amendment may permit a wide range of reasonable regulations of firearms.

This letter is from Phil Nutman & Jason Dolan. -JA

Dear fellow WGA members and supporters:

Further to previous discussions, we can now confirm that the Writers Guild of America members in Georgia have been formally invited to participate in next Monday's Martin Luther King Day parade and rally.

As this is the 40th anniversary of the King Day Parade, the Writers Guild of America is proud and

In a previous post I predicted that the Supreme Court would find for individual rights advocates in the upcoming Heller case, but that this might advantage gun control advocates and the Democratic party in the short run. Responding to my analysis, James Skoufis over at Real Clear Politics argues:

The headlines -- most of them, anyway -- are saying that Senator Clinton beat Senator Obama 51% to 45% in the Nevada caucus contest today. Except that some reports say Senator Obama "won," 13 delegates to 12. What's up? There's a debate going on over at Matt Yglesias's blog (and elsewhere, too, I venture to guess -- especially among the spinners).

Well, there are at least three different metrics by which today's contests could be evaluated.

Adrian Peterson capped off a truly amazing rookie season by leading the NFC to a 42-30 win in an entertaining Pro Bowl on Sunday in Honolulu.

Peterson rushed for 129 yards and scored two touchdowns in the second half to lead the NFC to a comeback victory. Peterson posed with the new car he won as Pro Bowl MVP at midfield after the game. He said his goal for the game was "to win the game and become MVP."

Mission accomplished.

It was a really spectacular way to finish off one of the best rookie seasons any running back has ever had in NFL history. Peterson set the rushing record against the San Diego Chargers with 296 yards, and became the first back ever to have two 200 yard rushing games in the same season. Now he became the second rookie ever to win the Pro Bowl MVP, joining Marshall Faulk, who did it in 1995.

Broncos safety John Lynch may have set it best about Adrian Peterson and the day he had on Sunday: "He's going to wreak havoc in this league for a long time."

I sure hope so. Congratulations, AP.

(The following is from WGA Member Joshua Beckett regarding the SEIU Rally that took place in downtown LA this past Thursday.)

Just wanted to brief those of you who missed the SEIU rally today. It was heartfelt...and loud!! There were many, many WGA members there -- it looked like there were almost as many WGA folks as SEIU marchers! And what a great feeling that was! Truly.

Grading constitutional law examinations provides an interesting window into what students are thinking and not thinking. As is the case with most professors, I find grading rather tedious, save for the occasional amusing mental typo. This year’s winner, on an examination that was quite good, was "the theory of the unitary executive gives the president the power to lead a rebellion against the United States." I hope no one tells Dick Cheney. Still, several points might be of broader interest and do not seem to be a violation of confidentiality.

As I noted in a previous post, I have been having an exchange with Professor Michael Klarman over at the American Constitutional Society. My last post seems particularly relevant to some concerns of Balkinization, so as either a public servive or, more likely, pathetic self-promotion, I've reproduced an edited version.

Michael Klarman’s work on the constitutional history of race correctly notes that American racial politics have historically been subject to periods of polarization, and that this polarization has had surprising consequences. Every major burst of civil rights activism in the United States has been preceded by an intense period of polarization, marked by increased militant commitments to the racial status quo in the south. To an extent rarely commented on, the Constitution of the United States may be responsible this polarization and may also bias ordinary politics toward more conservative racial views.

Today the White House admitted that it violated the anti-torture statute and the War Crimes Act and that it may seek to do so in the future.

What? Did it really say that?

The catch is that the White House admitted it was waterboarding but didn't admit that it was either torture or a war crime. The Associated Press reports:
The White House on Wednesday defended the use of the interrogation technique known as waterboarding, saying it is legal — not torture as critics argue — and has saved American lives.

President Bush could authorize waterboarding for future terrorism suspects if certain criteria are met, a spokesman said.

A day earlier, the Bush administration acknowledged publicly for the first time that the tactic was used by U.S. government questioners on three terror suspects. Testifying before Congress, CIA Director Michael Hayden said Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubayda and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri were waterboarded in 2002 and 2003. . . .

Brought to you by Fans4Writers. As always, we are inspired by their generosity and solidarity, and deeply grateful to them for their support.

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Monday, January 21), fans will be joining the picketing writers at NBC Burbank. All fans in the Los Angeles area (and beyond) are urged to join in on the picket.

NBC BURBANKPicketing Shifts:
2:30pm-5:30pm
3000 W Alameda Ave

From Wikipedia:

Pam Karlan

Rick Hills’s recent post over at Prawfsblawg on the Supreme Court’s decision in Riley v. Kennedy prompts me to react, not just because I was one of the appellees’ counsel in the case, but also because it brings up a larger point about the legal academy. I’ve never really written a blog post before, so forgive me if this is a bit long.

My co-counsel Sam Heldman, by the way, has written a series of responses to Rick in the Prawsblawg comments section that I highly recommend.

Rick tendentiously titles his post “Civil Rights Lawyers’ Ignorance of Local Government Law.” He claims that the lawyers in the case suffer from such “fundamental inexperience with local government and its peculiar issues” that they – we – cannot understand that the underlying ruling of the Alabama Supreme Court that we challenged “actually advanced minority voting rights.” (Rick’s italics) The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, Rick writes, “protects minority voters from the ignorance of civil rights lawyers.”