The New York Times reports that former Bush Administration Assistant Attorney General Peter Keisler has criticized conservative attacks on Obama Administration appointees at the Justice Department who performed pro bono legal work for Guantanamo detainees. Good for him. From Charlie Savage’s report: Peter D. Keisler, who was assistant attorney general for the civil division in […]
Archive | March, 2010
Political Ignorance and the Proliferation of Elected Offices
Prominent political blogger Matthew Yglesias recently wrote an interesting post arguing that the proliferation of elections increases the difficulty of acquiring enough information to vote in an informed manner. He quotes a post by Jonathan Bernstein, which expresses bewilderment at the range of offices he voted on in a recent Texas election: Yesterday was election […]
Emoticons and the Law
From Lenz v. Universal Music Corp. (N.D. Cal. Feb. 25, 2010), “Stephanie Lenz’s lawsuit against Universal Music over the ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ dancing baby takedown” (emphasis added): Plaintiff Stephanie Lenz (“Lenz”) moves for partial summary judgment … with regard to six affirmative defenses asserted by Defendants Universal Music Corp., Universal Music Publishing, Inc., and Universal […]
Anatomy of a Rumor
How did the folks at Radar Online ever get the idea Chief Justice Roberts was going to retire? It appears the folks at ATL have found the answer [UPDATE: link fixed].
Not Exactly the Most Trusted Source In News
Which one of these recent headlines of the tabloid site “RadarOnline” is not like the other? VIDEO: Jersey Shore’s “The Situation” Co-Stars with Sandra Bullock in Re-Enactment WORLD EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Shocking Violence Inside Jackson Home EXCLUSIVE: Tiger Woods Wife Moving Back In With Him EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Considering Stepping Down […]
Restoring Faith in Climate Science
The NYT reports on various efforts to restore the credibility of climate science and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in the wake of “ClimateGate” and the discovery of a handful false claims and misrepresentation of scientific research in portions of the IPCC reports. The unauthorized release last fall of hundreds of e-mail messages from […]
Will Dawn Johnsen Finally Get a Vote?
Once again, the Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to be Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel. The vote was along party lines, 12-7. BLT reports: Johnsen, a law professor at Indiana University at Bloomington, still has a long way to go if she is to be confirmed. Republicans […]
“Is College Censorship Destroying Our Society’s ‘Sophistication Machine’?”
That’s the new book project that Greg Lukianoff of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is taking on — read more about it in this Huffington Post blog.
The Law of Flipping the Bird
A recent artice, Ira P. Robbins, Digitus Impudicus: The Middle Finger and the Law, 41 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 1403 (2008), tells you pretty much all you would want to know.
Washington Night Life “Has Come of Age”
So sayeth the New York Times. It’s true that the beer offerings have improved dramatically in the last two years.
“Number of Lothian Patients Made Ill by Drinking Rockets”
That’s a headline from the Edinburgh Evening News. Prof. Geoffrey Pullum (Language Log) discusses this, and points to the broader phenomenon, which has been labeled crash blossoms. (No it’s not the rockets that are crashing.)
With Friends Like These…
“Castrate Knut [the polar bear], Say Animal Rights Activists.”
U.S. Backs Bluefin Tuna Trade Ban
The Washington Post reports that the U.S. will support a proposal to list Atlantic bluefin tuna on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. This would have the effect of prohibiting all international trade in this valued fish. A single prized specimen has sold for as much as $175,000 in Japan. […]
From Justice to Lawyer
Who was the most recent U.S. Supreme Court Justice to resign from the Court and later return to the practice of law?
Utah May Try to Use Eminent Domain to Take Federal Government Land
The Utah House of Representatives recently enacted a law that would enable the state to seize federal land using its power of eminent domain (see also this shorter account) [HT: Edward Lopez]: Long frustrated by Washington’s control over much of their state, Utah legislators are proposing a novel way to deal with federal land — […]