Archive | July, 2007

The imminent formation of a liberal new party not tied to Hamas or Fatah, with many prominent supporters: “This movement would be based on liberal ideas and advancing democracy and human rights in the PA,” said Zakut. “The idea is to have a pragmatic movement that would support the idea of two states on the […]

if this Asheville Citizen-Times report is correct: A couple who said they were protesting the state of the country by flying the U.S. flag upside down with signs pinned to it found themselves in jail following a scuffle with a deputy Wednesday morning. Mark and Deborah Kuhn were arrested on two counts of assault on […]

If you support a reintroduction of the Fairness Doctrine — which is to say a rule under which broadcasters are obligated to give “each side of [the debate on public] issues … fair coverage” — how would you envision its being enforced? 1. Multiple sides: For instance, say that a talk show host argues in […]

A colleague of mine wants examples that would go in these paragraphs (paragraphs that are broken up here for easier reading online): Businesses often seek to find new applications for existing products. Hummers, the transport of choice of the Governor of California, began as a multipurpose military vehicle known as Humvees. And the commonly prescribed […]

Many comments on the recent child custody thread point out that judges are supposed to decide based on the best interests of the child, and that they may therefore evaluate parents’ childrearing decisions in ways that government officials normally don’t. And I agree that this is in considerable measure true. But there should remain, I […]

From the Albany Times-Union: Some of the 5,000 prospective lawyers who took the essay portion of the state bar exam online this week fear their efforts have been lost because of a computer glitch…. John McAlary, executive director of the state Board of Law Examiners, said a small number of candidates were affected by the […]

Ward Farnsworth, a friend of mine who teaches at Boston University law school, has just published a new book, The Legal Analyst. It’s an excellent book, especially for law students and incoming law students — thoughtful, well-written, and useful. I’m delighted to say that Ward will be guest-blogging about the book next week. For now, […]

In a New York Times op-ed piece today, Justin Wolfers, a very smart Wharton Business School professor, argues that legalization of a certain type of betting can reduce the risk of players or referees acting to affect betting outcomes. Wolfers’ key assumption is that most gambling scandals involve point shaving but not throwing of games. […]

GWU law professor Arnold Reitze, one of the nation’s leading experts on environmental law, has an essay in The Environmental Forum arguing that the political scramble to address energy security and environmental pollution from automobiles has led to an unsustainable and unwise fixation on ethanol. The renewable content mandate for gasoline is all about subsidizing […]

In a Washington Times op-ed yesterday Gail Heriot and I noted that Congress “has been on a binge diet of junk social science.” Josh Wright provides another example at Truth on the Market–price gouging legislation. Update: The second link originally was incorrect. That has now been fixed.

Via Law.com comes an interesting wire story about a U.S. Attorney declining a federal judge’s request to prosecute a lawyer for criminal contempt. The U.S. Attorney in Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday declined a federal judge’s request to prosecute prominent Mississippi attorney Richard F. Scruggs and his law firm for criminal contempt in a Hurricane Katrina […]

The National Law Journal reports from the Ninth Circuit Judicial conference that many of the circuit’s judges do not like proposals to split up the circuit. The Los Angeles Times op-ed that has some judges grousing was written by Vanderbilt University Law School professor Brian Fitzpatrick, who was also a law clerk to 9th U.S. […]

I quoted and criticize below an Iowa appellate decision that said (paragrpah break added): Harold argues that Anjela [who is now age 7 -EV] is a child of one-fourth of Korean heritage and it is important for her to be allowed maximum involvement with her heritage. He contends that Anjela’s paternal grandmother, Song, is a […]

From what is otherwise a pretty standard “best interests of the child” analysis in a child custody case, Foster v. Waterman, 2007 WL 2119125 (Iowa App. July 25): Harold argues that Anjela [who is now age 7 -EV] is a child of one-fourth of Korean heritage and it is important for her to be allowed […]

A few weeks ago, I posted about whether credit card providers should be liable for knowingly facilitating sales of infringing materials. A Ninth Circuit decision said that this did not constitute contributory infringement; Judge Kozinski dissented, saying it did, and I generally endorsed his position, at least as a matter of current law. Many commenters […]