I posted a draft of my new forthcoming article earlier today, and it occurs to me that I should make a special request: I would particularly like to receive comments on the article from federal magistrate judges. The gist of the article is that magistrate judges don’t have the power to do something that a […]
Archive | March, 2010
EEOC Determination in the Debbie Almontaser / Khalil Gibran International Academy / Intifada NYC T-Shirt Case
The New York Times reports, linking to the full determination. Here’s the background: The controversy surrounding the dual-language [English-Arabic public] school [the Khalil Gibran International Academy] began in early 2007, shortly after the city announced that Ms. Almontaser, a longtime teacher, would lead it. A group of opponents, including conservative commentators and a City University […]
Oh, That’s Funny, Because I Happen to Have [Officer Krupke] Right Here
Right after he was invoked in the discussion of the phrase “police officer”, up he comes with a story (for the accuracy of which I of course cannot personally vouch). Thanks to John Fast for the pointer.
New Article, “Ex Ante Regulation of Computer Search and Seizure”
I have just posted a new draft article, Ex Ante Regulation of Computer Search and Seizure, forthcoming in the Virginia Law Review. The article is a response to dynamics that have been evolving over the last decade in the lower courts that were turned up to eleven by the Ninth Circuit’s en banc decision in […]
We Got Screwed!
I’m not ordinarily the complaining sort – really. But my boys on the Temple basketball team really got shafted by the NCAA Committee this time around, and it burns me up. A #5 seed?? The A-10 regular season champion and tournament champion? Temple’s RPI places it number 8 in the country — the teams on […]
Relative Risks of HIV Infection Among Gay and Bisexual Males
The issue came up on this blog some years ago, and remains relevant to the debate about limits on gay males’ donating blood and other fluids and tissues. I therefore I thought I’d note the data from the latest CDC report (apparently just released last week, though it was based on 2006 data): [T]he rate […]
Punishing a lawyer for his clients (continued)
An interesting post by Ed Whelan at Bench Memos. Ed states: According to reliable sources, the White House had settled on [Sri] Srinivasan to fill one of the two vacancies on the D.C. Circuit. (Both of the vacancies predate President Obama’s inauguration; indeed, the older one is the seat John Roberts vacated in 2005 to […]
Slippery Slopes
Say what you will about the likelihood of “slippery slopes” — and I’ve said more than most people — but it’s hard to categorically deny the possibility when the supporters of legislation are touting the possibility as a positive feature. From Nancy Pelosi, quoted by Ezra Klein (The Washington Post): My biggest fight has been […]
Irish Referendum on Removing Blasphemy Ban from Constitution
The Guardian reports: Ireland is to hold a referendum [this fall] on removing a blasphemy ban from the constitution, the justice minister announced yesterday. At the beginning of the year, the republic introduced legislation making blasphemy a crime punishable with a fine of up to €25,000 … The law defines blasphemy as “publishing or uttering […]
No News Yet on the Cert Petition in the First Amendment Abortion Clinic Picketing Case
I blogged about the case a few months ago, and signed an amicus brief supporting review — Colorado v. Hill has created a good deal of uncertainty in lower court decisions, and I think this would be a good opportunity for the Court to clarify matters. Stuart Buck has much more on the case; I’m […]
European Languages Outside Europe
Which European language has the highest ratio of native speakers outside Europe to native speakers within Europe?
Citizens United to stop the Citizens [who are] United Against Citizens United
So here’s a cute little trademark dispute. Those stalwart defenders of free speech, Citizens United, apparently are not so crazy about being on the receiving end of the First Amendment’s free speech guarantee. The group, which as you know won a huge victory last month in the Supreme Court in its First Amendment challenge against […]
Balkin on the “Slaughter Solution”
Stanford’s Michael McConnell thinks the so-called “Slaughter Solution,” through which the House of Representatives to pass the Senate health care bill and a reconciliation package of amendments with a single vote, is unconstitutional. Yale’s Jack Balkin is not so sure. He thinks the “Slaughter Solution” — what he calls “deem-and-pass” — could be done constitutionally, […]
Andrew McCarthy Sticks to His Guns (And He May Be Pointing Them at You Next)
I posted a few days ago about about why I thought Andrew McCarthy’s position about the DOJ lawyers who had represented Gitmo detainees was ridiculous. I checked back in to see what McCarthy has written since. McCarthy hasn’t respond to my post, as far as I know, but he has written more about his views […]
Be Careful With Campaign Contribution Data
A commenter pointed to this OpenSecrets.org page, which seems to report that 70.8% of all federal contributions (not independent expenditures) in 2007-2008 came from business, and only 2.7% from labor (though put together the Democrats still got more than Republicans, both looking at total money and at PAC money; that’s relevant to the original post […]