Born in Fort Benton, Montana, Jim holds degrees from Montana State University, Tufts University, and the University of Chicago Law School. Jim taught for 38 years at Lewis & Clark Law School and served as Dean from 1993 to 2006. Jim is co-founder of Northwest Free Press nd currently serves on the Hoover Institution Task Force on Property Rights, Freedom and Prosperity. Jim was a Distinguished Bradley Scholar at the Heritage Foundation and serves on the boards of the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment, the Classroom Law Project and the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation. He is a member and former Chair of the Executive Committee of the Environment and Property Rights Practice Group of the Federalist Society. Jim is a member of the Montana Bar Association and is admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. Jim is the author of more than 150 articles and chapters and dozens of op-eds on a wide array of legal and policy topics. In 2010 Jim was the Republic nominee for United States Senator for Oregon
Originally published in The Daily Caller — May 11, 2012 – Obama did’nt flip-flop on gay marriage – Flip-flopping has long been perceived to be a negative in American politics. Mitt Romney was for abortion rights before he was against them. He was for Romneycare, but is against Obamacare. For these changes of heart (or [...]
Yesterday I took a flight from Washington-Dulles Airport to PDX. As I boarded, I noticed that Oregon’s 1st District Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici was seated in row 4. After working my way back to my seat in row 30, I noticed that Washington’s 3rd District Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler was seated in row 29. I don’t [...]
Originally published in The Telegraph — May 7, 2012 – Francois Hollande’s election victory is a symbol of the EU’s decline By Nile Gardiner Nicolas Sarkozy’s defeat at the hands of French Socialist leader Francois Hollande has sent shock waves throughout Europe, and will significantly challenge the fragile austerity consensus across the EU. Jean-Marc Ayrault, [...]
Originally published in The Daily Caller — May 4, 2012 – About a week ago, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman pronounced April “the month the confidence fairy died.” The confidence fairy is the idea that economic revival will come when people have confidence that regulations will be predictable, taxes low and stable, and government [...]
A Speech Delivered to Portland Rotary — May 1, 2012 – Can Congress mandate that you and I purchase health insurance on penalty of payment of a fine if we do not? As a matter of raw political power? Absolutely. We saw it happen in 2010, complete with Cornhusker kickbacks and Louisiana purchases. But [...]
Originally published in The Oregonian — April 29, 2012 – Several rural Oregon counties are on the brink. Two solutions have been proposed — one new, one old. The old idea is to get another extension of direct federal payments under the Secure Rural Schools Act. This may yet happen, though it is currently derailed [...]
IT’S NOT ABOUT INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS OR STATES’ RIGHTS; IT’S ABOUT POWER: Originally published in The Daily Caller — April 26, 2012 – In his coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court’s hearing on the validity of Arizona’s immigration law (S.B. 1070), ABC News reporter Terry Moran stated that the issue before the court is: “Does Arizona [...]
Originally published in The Daily Caller — April 20, 2012 – If Senator William Proxmire were alive and still representing Wisconsin in the United States Senate, there is little doubt the General Services Administration’s $823,000 Las Vegas spending spree would make the GSA a leading candidate for a 2012 Golden Fleece Award. Alas, the awards [...]
And there were not many to begin with — Last week Oregonian columnist Dave Lister wrote “that the Democratic Party establishment is intent on replacing Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz.” He went on to identify several financial backers of Fritz’s challenger Mary Nolan. Apparently some of those individuals or entities complained to the newspaper that [...]
Originally published in Defining Ideas — April 13, 2012 – Constitutional Footsie – How can we have rule of law when judges can amend our founding document at their whim? The term “living constitution” doesn’t poll well. That’s what Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) president and founder Doug Kendall told participants in a teleforum sponsored by [...]
Originally published in The Baltimore Sun — April 13, 2012 – Why shouldn’t law clinics help farmers? State-funded university programs are weighted in favor of environmental activism – Maryland state Sen. Richard Colburn is fed up with the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic’s lawsuit against a local chicken farm. But rather than try to [...]
Originally published in The Daily Caller — April 11, 2012 – Speaking in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Tuesday, President Obama said “this election will probably have the biggest contrast that we’ve seen since the Johnson-Goldwater election — maybe before that.” The president may well be correct, but the extremist this time around is not the [...]
Yesterday CBS’s 60 Minutes program included a segment titled “An Imperfect Union: Europe’s debt crisis”. Correspondent Steve Kroft reported that “until recently, their monetary union had brought stability and prosperity to the continent’s social democracies, producing good wages, generous benefits, long vacations. . . .” He went on to interview London financial analyst Louise Cooper [...]
PRESIDENT OBAMA SETS THE STAGE FOR A POLITICAL ASSAULT ON THE SUPREME COURT – Originally published on The Daily Caller 04/03/12 – President Obama says that the Supreme Court would be taking an “unprecedented, extraordinary step” by overturning the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), since the act was passed by “a strong majority [...]
INDIVIDUAL MANDATE CASE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BEGIN RESTORING FRAMERS’ VISION: Originally published in The Daily Caller — 3-26-12 – Today the United States Supreme Court began three days of hearings on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Challengers claim the law’s mandate that individuals purchase insurance or pay a [...]
Originally published in The Daily Caller — 03/23/12 – Obama tries to have it both ways on Keystone pipeline – During his 2008 campaign, Barack Obama promised hope and change. Based on his speech Thursday in Cushing, Oklahoma, it seems that he’s hoping voters won’t notice as he changes his positions with the political winds. [...]
Originally published in The Daily Caller — 03/22/12 — With the biggest federalism case in decades about to be argued before the Supreme Court, the political left and right are clearly divided. Conservatives are hopeful that at least five justices will find the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. If that happens, liberals will [...]
Democrat Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian and his challenger Republican Senator Bruce Starr learned last Friday that the election they thought was to take place in May is now scheduled for November. Both had campaigned for months on the assumption that the election would be in May. Now they must figure out how to finance a [...]
