March 8, 2017 (Fault Lines) — While working for the New York Times as the paper’s Supreme Court correspondent, Linda Greenhouse won the Pulitzer Prize and embarrassed the paper along the way as well. After leaving...

March 1, 2017 (Fault Lines) — I don’t particularly mind sending somebody to prison knowing that he or she may die within the walls. The following image captures my lizard brain as I pronounce such a...

February 22, 2017  (Fault Lines) — Since I handle death penalty habeas cases, I must be careful not to express opinions on the merits of pending or impending cases involving the death penalty. While I discuss...

February 15, 2017 (Fault Lines) — Sure, Omaha is flyover country, but it is no longer a hick town. It is bumping up against the one million mark (915,312). It has a law school, most of...

February 8, 2017 (Fault Lines) — As Chris Seaton pointed out in his uproarious post last week on Fault Lines, crime in Florida is sui generis. As all lawyers know, “sui generis” is Latin for “laugh your...

February 1, 2017 (Fault Lines) — If you are a judge on my Court of Appeals, you will travel to the seat of the court in St. Louis. You will hold court in a stunning 29-story building...

January 25, 2017 (Fault Lines) — I was sitting on my ever-expanding ass, minding my own business, when one of my law clerks came to me with a declaratory judgment complaint that had just been filed....

January 18, 2017 (Fault Lines) — The Judiciary Act of 1789 established the original 13 federal judicial districts and called for appointment of a Marshal for each district. The Senate confirmed President Washington’s nomination of the first...

January 11, 2017 (Fault Lines) — Scientists tell us that greenhouse gases (water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O)) are polluting our atmosphere. Today, I write about a different sort of...

January 4, 2017 (Fault Lines) — Although I don’t see the legal significance, Professor Doug Berman featured United States v. Mateo-Medina, No. 15-2862 (3d Cir. Dec. 30, 2016) on his preeminent sentencing blog.  See Third Circuit...