Buried in the more than 800 pages of the bipartisan legislation is language mandating the creation of the innocuously-named “photo tool,” a massive federal database administered by the Department of Homeland Security and containing names, ages, Social Security numbers and photographs of everyone in the country with a driver’s license or other state-issued photo ID.

Employers would be obliged to look up every new hire in the database to verify that they match their photo.

Bill: http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/legislation/EAS13500toMDM13313redline.pdf

Biometric Database of All Adult Americans Hidden in Immigration Reform

At America's top schools, graduates leave without reading our most basic writings on the purpose of constitutional self-government.

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This is sad to hear as it should be required reading.

Peter Berkowitz: Why Colleges Don't Teach the Federalist Papers

S. 1945 would require the U.S. Supreme Court to permit television coverage of all open
sessions, unless a majority of justices vote to bar such recordings. The Supreme Court
currently prohibits recording devices in the courtroom.
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That would be great.

S. 1945 A bill to permit the televising of Supreme Court proceedings

A woman who invoked the Fifth Amendment to protect herself from having to turn over a password as part of a criminal case has lost her appeal in federal court.

Ramona Fricosu must now turn over the password used to encrypt a hard drive that was seized during a search of her home as part of a mortgage fraud investigation in Colorado Springs, Colo. Investigators believe the laptop holds information that may be pivotal to the case.

The ruling was handed down Tuesday by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colo., which said it lacked jurisdiction because the case has yet to be resolved in a lower court.

Woman pleading Fifth in password case loses appeal

MIAMI — In a case closely watched by law enforcement nationwide, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether a Florida police dog's sniff outside the front door of a house with a marijuana growing operation is an illegal search.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi wants the justices to reverse a state Supreme Court decision that the K-9's sniff runs afoul of the Fourth Amendment protection against illegal search and seizure. Eighteen states and the territory of Guam have filed a brief in support of Bondi's position, concerned that other state courts might start issuing similar decisions.

Supreme Court to hear case of Franky the K-9

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Republican leaders in the House are delaying efforts to bring to a vote legislation seeking to hike limits on insider trading, but they said Congress will still move forward with a bill in the wake of media reports about congressional insider trading.

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The beltway is so broken.

Republicans delay vote on insider trading limits

Dahlia Lithwick opines that, "calls for Elena Kagan to recuse herself from the Obamacare case are ridiculous." As I had noted in the previous post by Monroe Freedman, I don't believe that Justice Kagan's email provided grounds for recusal. But there is a second asserted ground, namely, that Justice Kagan allegedly participated on the matter while she was Solicitor General. The debate on that issue (which, in my view, Lithwick mostly sidesteps with strawman arguments) asks whether Kagan "served in governmental employment and in such capacity participated as counsel, adviser or material witness concerning the proceeding or expressed an opinion concerning the merits of the particular case in controversy." (28 U.S.C. §455(b)(3))

Debate continues on recusals of Justices Thomas, Scalia, and Kagan (and no knock-out blows have yet been thrown)

Occupy Atlanta organizers said Sunday that they plan to again try to camp at a city park, setting up yet another showdown with police a night after 20 people were arrested during a rally that spilled into the streets.

The group will hold its general assembly meeting Sunday evening, then march back to Woodruff Park downtown, said organizer Tim Franzen. Atlanta police spokesman Carlos Campos said police would continue to enforce the law.

Occupy Atlanta plans 2nd attempt to camp at park

This weekend marks the 20th anniversary of Clarence Thomas's appointment to the Supreme Court. In his first two decades on the bench, Justice Thomas has established himself as the original Constitution's greatest defender against elite efforts at social engineering. His stances for limited government and individual freedom make him the left's lightning rod and the tea party's intellectual godfather. And he is only halfway through the 40 years he may sit on the high court.

Twenty Years of Justice Thomas

Despite acting boldly to address the economic crash, the voters lost confidence in the Democrats
on the economy in the years since the heady days of the 2008 presidential election -- and that is
mostly still true. That loss of confidence is the principal reason why Democrats lost control of
the House in 2010 and why the election for President and the Congress in 2012 could be
competitive. This wave of research shows a path for Democrats to gain the ascendancy on the economy.

No incumbent President since Roosevelt has won reelection with greater than 8 percent
unemployment. Current Democratic narratives too often fail to meet voters where they are in
how they perceive and experience the economy and, even more importantly, do not speak to
voters‘ aspirations and goals when thinking about the economic future. They do not take the
voters economic understanding seriously when indeed, they are dead serious.

A Path to Democratic Ascendancy on the Economy Report on the Economy Projec