Archive | August, 2009

From the Las Vegas Sun article that I quoted below: He said he was not aware that any of the companies were already engaged in illegal activity at the time that he helped to set up them. My guess: The author or the copyeditor was enforcing some (entirely spurious) rule against splitting an idiom such […]

S.C. Stats. §§ 63-19-2440 and -2450 generally ban under-21-year-olds from possessing or consuming alcoholic beverages. (There are some exceptions, including for consumption in religious ceremonies and in the minor’s parent’s home.) But South Carolina Constitution, art. XVII, § 14 provides, Every citizen who is eighteen years of age or older, not laboring under disabilities prescribed […]

The State of Illinois Admissions Review Commission is scheduled to release its report/recommendations tomorrow on its investigation into admissions practices at the University of Illinois. The University of Illinois’ website on the Commission is here. (Former Dean) Heidi Hurd’s written submission to the Commission is here. Those interested in reading her testimony will find it […]

My wife and I are pretty conservative financially – our second car is a 1992 Honda Civic, bought used from a neighbor with 30,000 miles on it in 1998, and it now has 60,000 miles on it, because – again, part of our pretty financially conservative life style – we live walking distance to my […]

The Las Vegas Sun reports: State Sen. Mike Schneider today agreed to pay $150,000 in punitive damages to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by his 2004 election challenger, Danny Tarkanian…. Schneider accused Tarkanian of setting up telemarketing companies that were later found to be running scams and that he turned “state’s evidence” against the telemarketers […]

By the way, here’s what I say in my syllabus about the alienation of affections and criminal conversation. I hope the “pedagogical goals” section helps explain why I’ve decided to include it, though part of the reason is just that it’s a fun subject that’s likely to get students excited, which is especially important late […]

So having yet again heard about how the U.S. is the only U.N. member, other than Somalia, not to sign the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, I decided to read the thing. This led me to be tentatively pleased that we haven’t signed and ratified it. (I say tentatively because my view […]

Andrew Hall, superstar energy trader, has made Citicorp hefty amounts of money through the proprietary trading his group (Phibro) undertakes in the energy markets. More power to him. The terms of his contract, so far as one can tell from news reports, obligate Citicorp to pay him something on the order of $100 million, essentially […]

I’ve finally finished my syllabus and supplemental readings for the Torts class I’ll be teaching this Fall; if you want to take a look, it’s here. I try to create pretty detailed syllabuses for my first-semester students, in which I discuss the pedagogical goals for each unit and often pose questions or give background information; […]

John Culhane is continuing a series of posts this week on religious liberty and gay marriage. (See here, here, and here) The posts have been very informative and lively. In today’s post, he takes the view that there is no need for special religious-liberty exemptions in SSM but offers an especially creative and interesting alternative. […]

The WSJ law blog reports that Senators Arlen Specter (D-PA) Jack Reed (D-RI) and Edward Kaufman (D-DE) are pushing legislation to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientific-Atlanta. In this case, the Supreme Court held, 5-3, that private rights of action under Section 10(b) of the Securities Act do not reach […]

The Associated Press reports: The Obama administration is refusing to quickly release government records on its “cash-for-clunkers” rebate program that would substantiate — or undercut — White House claims of the program’s success, even as the president presses the Senate for a quick vote for $2 billion to boost car sales. . . . The […]

A Zogby press release reports 83% support for laws that let pretty much all law-abiding adults, at least ones age 21 and above, get licenses to carry concealed weapons. (These are generally “shall-issue” laws, because they provide that a license “shall issue,” rather than just may be issued, if certain largely objective requirements for licensing […]

Over at Opinio Juris, Roger Alford has a short post on the cash for clunkers program and any issues that might arise under the WTO, including some interesting stats on what kinds of cars are being bought.

A reader passed along the “all your computer are belong to us” story that first broke on the Glenn Beck show; here’s PolitiFact’s summary, with the government response: [On his show, Beck quoted the following statement from cars.gov]: “This application provides access to the DOT CARS system. When logged on to the CARS system, your […]