Justice Scalia

Justice Roberts Relied on Utility Air Regulatory Group in Upholding Obama Subsidies

The Chief Uses Scalia’s Words Against Him and I Can’t Resist Saying “I Told You So”

Today’s opinion in King v. Burwell  is a victory for common sense, not to mention for the millions of people who get subsidies under the Affordable Care Act to pay for health insurance.  In determining that the subsidies for health insurance extend not only to states that established their own exchanges but also to individuals served …

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What’s at Stake in Michigan v. EPA, the U.S. Supreme Court Hazardous Air Pollutant Case?

Decision expected in next few days

Although  King v. Burwell (the Affordable Care Act case) and Obergefell v. Hodges (the same sex marriage case) are garnering more attention, sometime between tomorrow and Monday  the Supreme Court will also hand down its decision in Michigan v. EPA.  In the Michigan case, the Court will decide whether EPA’s Clean Air Act rules to regulate hazardous air pollutants …

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Justice Scalia’s Puzzling Dissent

Justice Scalia’s dissent in EME Homer contains a number of unusual lapses in substance and tone.

As I’ve been studying the opinions in EME Homer,  I’m increasingly struck by the oddities of Justice Scalia’s dissent.  There was a flap last week about his blunder, later quietly corrected, in describing one of his own past opinions.  But that’s not the only peculiarity of the dissent. As a quick reminder, EME Homer involved EPA’s effort to deal with interstate …

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Posner versus Scalia Smackdown!

Environmental law revolves around statutes, so the topic of statutory interpretation is crucial for lawyers in the field. For the past thirty years, Justice Scalia has promoted an approach called textualism, which purports to provide an objective method of interpreting laws.  This approach often, though not always, leads to narrower reader of statutes than broader …

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Ruling by Justice Scalia Makes it Easier to Repeal Bush-Era Rules

Ironically, an opinion by Justice Scalia will indirectly help the Obama Administration repeal Bush-era environmental rules.

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How do we decide what is a “Water of the United States”? Rapanos revisited

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinions in Rapanos v. United States in 2006, it has been unclear exactly how the U.S. is to go about evaluating which wetlands and tributaries of navigable waters are subject to federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act.  Until recently, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asserted federal …

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