In 2013, Mike Hallatt was banned from every Trader Joe’s in the United States for stocking his car with their goods and reselling them in his Vancouver spinoff store, Pirate Joe’s. Trader Joe’s does not have any stores in Canada, yet their good...
Many Americans take clean air for granted, but it is the product of detailed federal regulations that weigh the economic costs of reducing pollution against the benefits of cleaner air to human health. Recently, however, the Environmental Protection ...
After 43 days, the longest US government shutdown in history ended on November 12, 2025. As of late February 2026, a partial government shutdown remains in effect. Its fiscal and social consequences are well-documented: The disruption of critical fed...
Hello readers, and welcome to the coldest March that I’ve experienced in some time. The federal government was closed on Monday because of snow (but not the Supreme Court), and as I write this column here at Brown, the temperature is currently 15 d...
Hello readers, and welcome to the coldest March that I’ve experienced in some time. The federal government was closed on Monday because of snow (but not the Supreme Court), and as I write this column here at Brown, the temperature is currently 15 d...
Increased citizen participation in government processes is a good thing – most of the time. Citizens interacting with the executive branch to initiate non-media highlighted issues is a good thing – most of the time. Improperly applied, though, th...
Increased citizen participation in government processes is a good thing – most of the time. Citizens interacting with the executive branch to initiate non-media highlighted issues is a good thing – most of the time. Improperly applied, though, th...
The Sochi Games have closed, and I am sure many citizens of Russia are wondering: was it worth it? The Olympics are expensive and disruptive to the host country. However, they are exceedingly popular with voters and bring a great sense of pride. They...
The Sochi Games have closed, and I am sure many citizens of Russia are wondering: was it worth it? The Olympics are expensive and disruptive to the host country. However, they are exceedingly popular with voters and bring a great sense of pride. They...
When Chief Justice of the Supreme Court William Rehnquist’s gavel struck in Bush v. Gore, the United States went into uproar. The court had just declared George W. Bush the victor of Florida’s electoral votes, and thus the presidency. For the...
When Chief Justice of the Supreme Court William Rehnquist’s gavel struck in Bush v. Gore, the United States went into uproar. The court had just declared George W. Bush the victor of Florida’s electoral votes, and thus the presidency. For the...
On his first day in office in January 2009, President Obama promulgated a number of executive orders that fulfilled various campaign promises. Like other presidents before him, Obama used these first executive actions to incorporate fundamental or sy...
On his first day in office in January 2009, President Obama promulgated a number of executive orders that fulfilled various campaign promises. Like other presidents before him, Obama used these first executive actions to incorporate fundamental or sy...
Last week, Harvard Law School hosted a conference titled Reconsidering the Insular Cases, focusing on the controversial Supreme Court decisions (the eponymous “insular cases”) that determined the legality of the United States’ relationship with...
Last week, Harvard Law School hosted a conference titled Reconsidering the Insular Cases, focusing on the controversial Supreme Court decisions (the eponymous “insular cases”) that determined the legality of the United States’ relationship with...
A recent episode of WBUR radio’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook discussed a major new policy debate: can big food be sued in the way big tobacco was? On the surface, many would say no, but others disagree. Ashbrook hosted guests on both sides of the d...
A recent episode of WBUR radio’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook discussed a major new policy debate: can big food be sued in the way big tobacco was? On the surface, many would say no, but others disagree. Ashbrook hosted guests on both sides of the d...
How much does it cost to win a gubernatorial election? Or to kick out an incumbent Republican Senator? How much does it cost to save the environment? Answers to these questions may become clearer in coming years. The 2010 Supreme Court Citizens Unite...
How much does it cost to win a gubernatorial election? Or to kick out an incumbent Republican Senator? How much does it cost to save the environment? Answers to these questions may become clearer in coming years. The 2010 Supreme Court Citizens Unite...
Hello, readers! Just a short update this week as we wait for the Supreme Court to hear more cases. First, in case you missed the breaking news, U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen “ruled Thursday [February 13] that Virginia’s ban on same-sex ...
Hello, readers! Just a short update this week as we wait for the Supreme Court to hear more cases. First, in case you missed the breaking news, U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen “ruled Thursday [February 13] that Virginia’s ban on same-sex ...
On Monday, former Senator Olympia Snowe visited Brown to deliver a lecture titled “Bridging the Divide: What Hyper Partisanship means for 2014… And How We Can Fix Washington.” Invited by the Taubman Center for Public Policy, Snowe was greeted b...
On Monday, former Senator Olympia Snowe visited Brown to deliver a lecture titled “Bridging the Divide: What Hyper Partisanship means for 2014… And How We Can Fix Washington.” Invited by the Taubman Center for Public Policy, Snowe was greeted b...
Since I first wrote about the U.S. government’s (“USG”) bulk collection of telephony metadata in September, public understanding of the program has changed dramatically. Dozens of opinions, orders and thousands of pages of court and...
Since I first wrote about the U.S. government’s (“USG”) bulk collection of telephony metadata in September, public understanding of the program has changed dramatically. Dozens of opinions, orders and thousands of pages of court and...
On Monday, Judge Bruce Selya spoke at the Watson Institute in an event titled “The View from Inside the FISA Courts.” Selya is a federal appellate judge in Providence, and former presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of R...
On Monday, Judge Bruce Selya spoke at the Watson Institute in an event titled “The View from Inside the FISA Courts.” Selya is a federal appellate judge in Providence, and former presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of R...