The cover of next week’s Newsweek features a picture of Sarah Palin, along with the headline “How do you solve a problem like Sarah?” The cover is one more example of the periodical’s positioning itself as the ideas journal for people who think that the New York Times’ in-house editorials are middle-of-road, but have too […]
Archive | November, 2009
Reading While Traveling, Hard Copy and No Internet
By Kenneth Anderson on November 14, 2009 4:29 pm in Academia, Counter-Terrorism Policy, Economy, Finance, Financial Crisis, Freedom of Speech, International Human Rights Law, International Law, Legal Professor, Legal Scholarship, Robotics, Targeted Killing, Terrorism
I’ve been traveling recently, and so have been away from posting. One of the enforced virtues of traveling – one of the few virtues of traveling for me these days – is the plane flight with no internet. And if the big guy in front of me reclines his seat, as he always does, I […]
New York: Where “Underutilization” Equals “Blight”
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys sing “there’s nothing you can’t do” in New York. That may be true for Hova, but it’s not supposed to be true when it comes to eminent domain under New York law. A purported “public purpose” is insufficient to seize private property for economic development. So government authorities resort to “blight” […]
Alleged Religion-Based Attack in California
An interesting story from the Pleasanton Weekly: Abdul Walid Hamid pled not guilty Thursday morning to charges of battery, grand theft, exhibition of a deadly weapon and a possible hate crime. Police arrested the 22-year-old Hayward man Nov. 4 after he reportedly robbed a person and scared others at Stoneridge Shopping Center…. According to reports, […]
Blogger poll: Stupak amendment hurts Dems. Dems need to motivate base; Repubs need outreach to independents
This week’s National Journal poll of political bloggers asked “Would Democrats be helped or hurt politically if Congress enacts health care reform legislation containing abortion restrictions similar to those passed by the House?” On the Left, 79% said “hurt,” while the Right was fairly closely split between “helped,” “hurt,” and “not much impact.” I voted […]
NY Times Blog Discussion on the Implications of Pfizer’s Decision to Abandon its New London Facility Near the Site of the Kelo Takings
By Ilya Somin on November 13, 2009 12:30 pm in Eminent Domain, Kelo, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
The New York Times Room for Debate blog has a forum on the implications of Pfizer’s decision to abandon its New London headquarters. Pfizer and its New London facility had previously played a key role in instigating the condemnations that led to the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the use of eminent domain for “economic […]
Does a Military Court-Martial of Fewer than Six Persons Violate Due Process?
The U.S. Supreme Court held, in Ballew v. Georgia, that the constitutional right to a jury trial requires a jury consisting of no fewer than six persons for non-petty offenses. Does this standard apply in military courts-martial? Not according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. This morning, the the D.C. Circuit […]
Yeah, That’s A Good One:
As most people are well aware, a variety of copyright and trademark disputes have prevented the online distribution of the most valuable catalogue of musical recordings known to humanity — viz., the songs of the Beatles, whose value in the online marketplace surely exceeds a billion dollars. So imagine everyone’s surprise when the online seller […]
It Was Only a Matter of Time:
I actually discussed this idea many years ago, but never went any further than that, and now Josh Blackman has set it up: a fantasy league based on the future dispositions of Supreme Court cases! The basic rules: For each case on which the Supreme Court grants cert, points are allocated for * The Outcome: […]
Is the Greg Craig Watch Over?
Speculation has swirled over the future of White House Counsel Greg Craig for weeks. Now, it appears, the speculation is over. Both the Washington Post and Associated Press report that Craig will announce he is leaving the administration tomorrow. The new White House Counsel? Bob Bauer. More from Marc Ambinder here. UPDATE: It’s official. One […]
Joe Klein Again
Given that Joe Klein has engaged in another tantrum, first repeating the ridiculous charge that Jewish neoconservatives somehow mesmerized John McCain into being unduly confrontational regarding Iran, then launching into expletive-laden tirades against Jamie Kirchik, and finally telling the Washington Post that Jewish neocons sometimes “put the interests of Israel above the interests of the […]
ACORN Challenges Congressional Defunding
ACORN has filed suit challenging Congress’s decision to defund the organization. The Center for Constitutional Rights, which is representing ACORN, alleges the defunding decision is an unconstitutional Bill of Attainder. The Washington Post and New York Times cover the suit. Related VC posts are here.
D.C. Court of Appeals Accepts (Partly) Defendant’s Second Amendment Claim
The case is Plummer v. United States, decided today. Several years ago, before D.C. v. Heller, Plummer was convicted of carrying a pistol without a license and of possessing an unregistered firearm. (He was acquitted of the greater offense of carrying a pistol without a license outside one’s home, so the jury essentially found — […]
Putting Heidegger in the library’s grave of discarded lies
Monday’s New York Times has an interesting article about the forthcoming English edition of Emmanuel Faye’s book Heidegger: The Introduction of Nazism into Philosophy in Light of the Unpublished Seminars of 1933-1935. In brief, Faye argues that Heidegger’s pro-Nazi views were not incidental, but were at the core of his life’s work. Accordingly, suggests Faye, […]
The Second Amendment on Military Bases
A reader asks whether the ban on soldiers’ carrying weapons for self-defense on military bases would violate the Second Amendment. One could equally ask whether bans on carrying on military bases by non-soldiers — civilian employees, soldiers’ friends and family members, and such — would be unconstitutional. I think the answer to both questions is […]