Albert Yoon has an interesting new article, Editorial Bias in Legal Academia, on the selection of law review articles authored by professors who teach at the journal’s own school. For those familiar with law reviews, the paper just tells you what you already know. But it’s still pretty interesting, especially for current law review editors. […]
Author Archive | Orin Kerr
First Monday
According to to 28 U.S.C. § 2, today is the first day of “a term of court” at Zip Code 20543. Happy First Monday, everyone. To read up on the cases currently on the Supreme Court’s docket, go here.
Political Ignorance and Political Parties: Two Questions for Ilya
I’ve enjoyed Ilya’s posts on his new book, which I look forward to reading, and I hoped he wouldn’t mind two questions about his argument. My first question is about political parties, and my second question is how he deals with majority preference for bigger government. 1) My first question considers whether political parties overcome […]
Justice Ginsburg on the 2016 Presidential Election
A notable quote from an interesting profile of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Robert Barnes in the Washington Post: Ginsburg understands politics but does not feel she faces a deadline to leave so that Obama, whom she admires, can choose her successor. “I think it’s going to be another Democratic president” after Obama, Ginsburg said. […]
Wittes, Vladeck, and Kerr Debate NSA Surveillance, Edward Snowden, and the FISC
Last week, the GW Law chapter of the Federalist Society hosted a debate, Should You Be Angry about the NSA Surveillance Disclosures — And if so, At Whom?, featuring Benjamin Wittes of Brookings and Steve Vladeck of AU. I played a mixed role as partial moderator and partial participant. The event was audiotaped and has […]
Is Gmail Illegal?
Last week, Judge Koh handed down a significant decision about the legality of e-mail scanning in the case of In Re: Google, Inc Gmail Litigation. In this class action, a class of Gmail users and people who sent e-mail to Gmail users complain that their e-mails were unlawfully wiretapped in violation of the Federal Wiretap […]
“Upcoming U.S. Supreme Court Term ‘Crammed With Blockbuster Cases,’ Say Incredibly Biased People”
From Kyle Graham at NonCuratLex, some humorous commentary on Supreme Court commentary. For what it’s worth, so far the constitutional criminal procedure docket of the Court is sparse and the cases look pretty minor. That may change if the Court accepts one of the cell-phone search cases. But at least right now, it’s a quiet […]
“How 30 House Republicans are Forcing the Obamacare Fight”
Byron York offers this very interesting column on the House GOP for The Examiner.
David Kris Publishes the Best Defense (By Far) of the Lawfulness of the NSA’s Telephony Metadata Program
Lawfare has posted a hugely helpful essay for those wanting to understand the NSA’s telephony metadata program and to read the best legal defense of that program: David S. Kris, On the Bulk Collection of Tangible Things (.pdf, 67 pages). Kris was the head of DOJ’s National Security Division from 2009 to 2011, and he […]
As Expected, Second Circuit Reverses Judge Weinstein in Child Porn Case
Back in 2011, I had a post titled “Second Circuit Clerks, Get Ready: Judge Weinstein’s New Opus Concluding Mandatory Minimum For Child Porn Distribution is Unconstitutional (At Least for Younger Defendants).” My post began: There are a lot of debates about “judicial activism” in which some question whether the term has real meaning. Fortunately, there […]
DC Court of Appeals Strikes Down Law Making It a Felony to Be Present in a Car When There is a Gun in the Car
The very interesting decision is Conley v. United States, authored by Judge Glickman with a concurring opinion by Judge Thompson.
The Obama Administration and (Future) Feeder Judges
As Jonathan notes below, Harvard Law professor David Barron, former Acting AAG of the Office of Legal Counsel, has been nominated to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. It’s interesting that the Obama Administration seems to have nominated recently an unusual number of feeder-type candidates to the circuit […]
“Does Technology Lead to Tyranny? – The Fourth Amendment and New Technologies in a Digitized World”
Last Friday, I spoke on a very interesting panel about how the Fourth Amendment should respond to new technologies hosted by the Heritage Foundation. The panelists were Miguel Estrada of Gibson Dunn, Susan Herman of the ACLU and Brooklyn Law, and me. Paul Larkin of the Heritage Foundation moderated. You can watch the panel here:
Open Thread on the Government’s Brief in United States v. Auernheimer
Yesterday I provided a link to the government’s merits brief in United States v. Auernheimer, the computer crime case involving the CFAA, the identity theft statute, and the scope of venue for criminal cases. When I posted the link to the defense merits brief back in July, there was a long comment thread debating the […]
The Excellent Lawfare Blog and Its New Competitor, Just Security
In the last year, I’ve become a fairly regular reader of Lawfare, the blog focused on national security law started a few years ago by Benjamin Wittes, Jack Goldsmith, and Robert Chesney. It’s a really terrific blog that offers in-depth coverage of national security law issues in nearly real-time with a host of informed and […]