Archive | August, 2009

Gravity and Levity. Check out this recent post that gives a layperson’s introduction to path integrals, and a plug for the beauty of calculus, in a few nicely written paragraphs. But I was particularly taken with this post (and the ones that link to it) on the idea that as a psychological matter, people tend […]

I am currently in Bozeman, Montana. I did not come here to see the President. Rather, this past week I attended a conference for judges and law professors on Terrorism, Civil Liberty, and National Security, sponsored by the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment. The conference ended yesterday, so now I’m fishing. Today […]

So holds a 2-1 panel decision of the Texas Court of Appeals in Freedom Communications, Inc. v. Coronado. The case involved a political ad attacking an incumbent D.A. for “st[anding] against children who have been sexually abused, sexually assaulted, or physically injured, and st[anding] with those who would commit such heinous crimes.” The ad included […]

As you can tell from some of my recent posts (e.g., this one and this one), I think that some courts have broadened tort liability far beyond where it should be. But remember that one reason why people comment about such cases is that they strike them as wrong. Generally speaking, I don’t say as […]

From the Associated Press: An African-American man from Mississippi … pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to making a threat [against a black college student] in November 2008. [Dyron] Hart admitted creating a name and using a white supremacists’ photo to pose as a white man who planned to kill blacks because Barack Obama had […]

Yesterday, I blogged about the silent alarm case: A store was being robbed. The safe was set up to trigger a silent alarm to the police station when it was opened (supposedly contrary to company policy). The police came. There was a shootout with the criminals, in which a patron died. The patron’s family sued […]

A comment on the census / illegal aliens thread asked whether any states allow noncitizens to vote. I don’t think they generally do that now, though some municipalities might. But apparently they used to do it in the past. Here’s what I blogged on the subject seven years ago: 1. I generally oppose noncitizens’ voting […]

How many representatives should each state have? The answer currently turns on total state population. But a Wall Street Journal op-ed by LSU law professor John Baker and pollster Elliot Stonecipher argues that this is unconstitutional: The apportionment should be determined by counting only citizens plus permanent resident noncitizens. I don’t think this is right, […]

a group blog founded by the Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Adam Thierer, turns 5 today. Congratulations!

I am breaking radio silence midweek, in the midst of writing a chapter in my little book, Returning to Earth: Abiding Principles of US-UN Relations: The Obama Administration and Beyond … the chapter, as it happens, is titled: “The UN-of-Values: From Human Rights to Multiculturalism in the General Assembly and Among the NGOs.” This chapter […]

The Tenth Circuit divided 2-1 today on the constitutionality of banning guns for persons who have been convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor. The issues arises because federal prosecutors petitioned for a Writ of Mandamus, to stop a Utah district judge from employing a jury instruction which the prosecutors did not want. The issue was […]

Solers, Inc. v. Doe, decided today by the D.C. Court of Appeals, strikes me as a very important case for litigators. The facts: Appellant Solers, Inc. “is a for-profit Virginia corporation with its principal place of business in Arlington, Virginia. [Its] work principally consists of developing software and other technology for agencies within the Department […]

Yale University Press has decided not to include controversial Danish cartoons depicting Muhammad in a book about the cartoons and the resulting controversy. Other depictions of Muhammad slated for inclusion in the book, The Cartoons that Shook the World, have also been pulled. The NYT reports: The book’s author, Jytte Klausen, a Danish-born professor of […]

Professor Bainbridge looks at the slippery slope potential of health care reform, and it quite concerned. The trouble is that slippery slopes in politics appear to obey the same laws of physics that control friction in real-world slopes; in both cases, it takes more energy to start something sliding than it does to keep it […]

The case — Kelly v. Kroger Co., 484 F.2d 1362 (10th Cir. 1973) — is from the 1970s, but it continues to be cited, and its logic is consistent with the logic of other recent negligent provocation arguments, so I thought I’d pass it along: [D]ecedent was a customer in defendant’s store in Kansas City, […]