About The Author
Marc Charisse is the editor of The Evening Sun. Dr. Charisse has a Ph.D. in First Amendment law and history, and has taught communication law and constitutional law at the University of Washington in Seattle and Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Fla. Charisse can be reached at mcharisse@eveningsun.com.
Author Archives: Marc Charisse
Nothing to ‘like’ about Facebook bullies
A recent story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution describes 14-year-old Alexandria Boston as “a slender, rough-and-tumble sort of girl” who looked forward to her middle school’s annual field day activities. But last year was different. Instead of letting loose a little … Continue reading
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How would Justice Holmes vote on health care?
As the Supreme Court begins its second day of oral arguments on the national health-care law, I’m reflecting back to Holmes’ famous dissent in Lochner v. New York. The majority in that infamous decision ruled that a constitutional “right to … Continue reading
Free speech and costly cancer sticks
Hard cases, observed Oliver Wendell Holmes, make bad law. With all due respect for the eminent jurist, I think he had it backward. Often, it’s good laws that make hard cases.
Court seems torn over “right to lie”
Conventional wisdom is that it’s always risky to read too much into what side individual justices appear to take in oral arguments before the Supreme Court. The justices can push the side they disagree with in hopes of spotting holes … Continue reading
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Tagged alvarez, first amendment, free speech, medal of honor, right to lie, supreme court
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No class debate on right to lie
A Loyola law professor sent me a copy of a blog post on Alvarez, the “right to lie” case the Supreme Court is hearing arguments on today. Prof. Aaron Caplan writes that he hoped for a good classroom debate on … Continue reading
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The forgotten right to be let alone
So where in the Constitution does it talk about GPS tracking? Well, it doesn’t. But that didn’t stop the nine members of the U.S. Supreme Court from unanimously ruling recently that the practice raises serious constitutional concerns. Decided in late … Continue reading
Public funding levels campaign field
A group of local citizens plans to mark the anniversary of Citizens United with a protest on the Gettysburg square noon Saturday. This column originally ran The Evening Sun in December 2010. Please see previous entry on Citizens United as … Continue reading
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Court can’t make elections any worse
A group of local citizens plans to mark the anniversary of Citizens United with a protest on the Gettysburg square noon Saturday. I wrote this column Jan. 30, 2010, shortly after the Citizens United decision, and stand by it, with … Continue reading
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Does dog’s nose violate the law?
Does a police K-9′s sniff outside a house give officers the right to get a search warrant for illegal drugs, or is the sniff itself an unconstitutional search? Florida’s highest court has said Franky the drug dog’s super nose crosses … Continue reading
Twitter stalking or free speech?
A federal judge in Maryland recently ruled the First Amendment protects your right to defame religious leaders, to predict and wish for their violent deaths. At least as long as you say so online, thousands of times, and to who … Continue reading
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