August 11, 2026

Original Pancake House: a winner, no matter what you order

On a morning like today’s, with the weather just a starting to feel a little warmer, but a cover of clouds still hanging over Salt Lake Valley, the best way to start the day is with pancakes. And nobody does better pancakes, or more varieties of them, than the Original Pancake House. Found in Sugar […]

Utah Legislature Watch: a few bills I’m following

Conservative, moderate or liberal: there have been a few bills that bug me this session of the Utah Legislature, and there have been a few that I liked that just aren’t making it. Here are four that sample both. One I liked: As biker, I liked Senator Niederhauser’s bill that would have allowed bikers at […]

Life at 133 questions an hour; or, do the Supremes really care what the lawyers think?

Curiously, to many, Justice Clarence Thomas rarely asks questions during oral arguments at the Supreme Court. If at all. Here’s a run down of his stats, as well as some other interesting numbers related to questioning by Supreme Court Justices (according to Constitutional Daily): 5 – Years Clarence Thomas has gone without asking a question […]

Precedent for Presidential Refusal to Defend Statutes the Administration Believes to be Unconstitutional

Initially I questioned the Obama Administration’s refusal to defend DOMA. On reflection, however, there may be precedent for their actions. Ilya Somin points out several precedents in both Republican and Democratic administrations that support the premise that the President may be justified in not supporting legislation he deems unconstitutional. During the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Truman […]

Utah Legislature Watch: “Lawyers should be good lobbyists…”

“..but really, they’re pretty lousy.” http://twitter.com/#!/PubliusDB/status/40847592678109184 Ironic, I know. But that’s the word from Doug Foxley. Last week I attended a Utah Bar CLE entitled “Utah State Bar Day at the Legislature.” Except, we really didn’t get over to the legislature itself. We sat in an auditorium over in the Capitol Office Building, and the […]

News Flash: Unions limit liberty, contribute to fiscal stress

I’ll let Chris Edwards commentary at CATO speak for itself: Statistical studies find that unionized public sector workers earn a wage premium of about 10 percent over non-unionized public sector workers… employee compensation represents half of all state and local government spending. Aside from inflated wages, public sector unions have pushed for excessive pension benefit […]

Meet a lawyer who practices Third Amendment law

Really? I doubt it. I’m about 89% sure that this is a joke…. A lawyer who practices Third Amendment law. That’s right. That’s the amendment about quartering soldiers in your home. T “Scotch” Reynolds: Third Amendment Lawyer | Big Legal Brain. BLB: Just what is the Third Amendment? Scotch: I can quote it, if you […]