Archive | December, 2004

Newspapers and websites around the world are reporting what purport to be the results of a Cornell University poll on attitudes of Americans towards Muslims in the United States. The newspapers and websites are reporting that 44% of Americans say that they want to curtail the civil liberties of Muslim Americans. Here is the summary […]

Back in 1997, John Lott wrote an article in the Journal of Legal Studies putting forward data that seemed to show that right-to-carry (gun) laws reduced violent crimes. That article, and the subsequent book “More Guns Less Crime” influenced me and many others — including state legislatures that passed right-to-carry laws based in significant part […]

My friend Rob Morris reports that Henry “Lighthorse Harry” Lee (Robert E. Lee’s father), has been renamed: [Lighthorse Harry] earned his nickname during the American War of Independence as commander of the Legion of Virginia. The nickname Lighthorse Harry has followed the man for over 200 years. Imagine dashing the dashing Lighthorse Harry, rallying his […]

Howard links to this very interesting report about the Bush-appointed judges on the Eighth Circuit, the federal court of appeals that covers Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota. I particularly liked the description of Judge Colloton:   Lawyers appearing in front of Judge Colloton have seen him take the bench with the appendices […]

In an essay on judicial ethics in Legal Affairs, Judge Alex Kozinski raises an interesting hypothetical relating to whether judges should bend rules to reach particular results.   [C]onsider this example: You are reviewing a criminal appeal where a young man has been convicted of murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. You […]

has taken the view that “[t]he Second Amendment secures a right of individuals generally, not a right of States or a right restricted to persons serving in militias.” The document is dated Aug. 24, 2004, but it has apparently just been put on the Web site very recently. The opinion is long and detailed, and […]

The second edition of my Academic Legal Writing textbook has just been published, and it now covers how to get onto law review — with, among other things, lots of tips on write-on competitions — as well as how to write the student articles that law review members (and others) write. Most first-year law students […]

I thought I’d chime in with a few thoughts on Orin’s questions below, which is whether conservatives, who tend to support state autonomy, are hypocritical for favoring tort reform. 1. Tort liability for commercial activity is a form of regulation of commerce. As economists have pointed out, tort liability is another way to regulate behavior. […]

Andrew Sullivan writes: DEAR PRUDENCE: Slate’s often diverting advice columnist answers a gay correspondent who’s offended when someone finds out he’s gay and says: “What a waste.” Here’s Prudence’s reply: Prudie believes you are misinterpreting the remark. Rather than implying that the gay person has “no sort of life of their own,” Prudie finds it […]

On the Greedy Clerks board, AWC raises an interesting question: are conservatives hypocritical for favoring federal tort reform? After all, conservatives are usually in favor of limited federal goverment. When it comes to tort reform, however, many conservatives sing a different tune: suddenly they switch to talking about the dangers of state regulation and the […]

Tom Palmer has several posts on this (see here, here, and here). Thanks to Jacob Levy for the pointers. Incidentally, I’m not opposed to helping foreign bad guys on occasion — consider helping Stalin against Hitler, or helping dictators against Communists. (Sometimes this may have been mistaken, but often it was not; the South Koreans […]

I’ve often heard that line from gun control advocates, who are trying to pooh-pooh people’s concerns that some seemingly modest gun controls are just the prelude to much broader gun bans. Well, here’s what the AP reports reports: San Francisco supervisors want voters to approve a sweeping handgun ban that would prohibit almost everyone except […]

How did our Chief Conspirator miss the obvious Caddyshack joke? “You don’t have to go to college. This isn’t Russia. Is this Russia? This isn’t Russia.” From (believe it or not) the Chevy Chase Quotes Page. I doubt that Chevy’s latest quotes will make the cut.

The Bush Administration’s claims of legal authority relating to the war on terror have been taking a beating in the courts recently. The latest round is a decision by Judge John Bates of the U.S. Distict Court for the District of Columbia finding federal court habeas jurisdiction over claims by a U.S. citizen held in […]

Several people have asked me what I think about the AP story, Hacker Gets Record Sentence for a Computer Crime. The story reports:   One of three Michigan men who hacked into the national computer system of Lowe’s hardware stores and tried to steal customers’ credit card information was sentenced Wednesday to nine years in federal […]