Today KUER, Salt Lake City, devoted an hour to discussion of the current surge of interest in states’ rights. The four participants each appear in a different quarter of the program. The guests were Utah State Representative Ken Sumsion, me, Chip Ward (who claims that the state’s rights advocates are not sincere) and Alison LaCroix of the University […]
Archive | April, 2010
Opinio Juris Discussions of Targeting of US Citizen
By Kenneth Anderson on April 7, 2010 8:35 pm in Counter-Terrorism Policy, Targeted Killing, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
Scott Shane’s report in this morning’s NYT on the Obama administration putting the radical cleric, but US citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, on the kill or capture list has stirred a lot of discussion. (Update: let me add Max Fisher’s Atlantic discussion as well.) Scott Shane: The Obama administration has taken the extraordinary step of authorizing the […]
A Crime to Repeatedly Insult a Minor
That’s what draft Suffolk County Resolution No. 1390-2010 would do (some line breaks added): “CYBER-BULLYING” shall mean [(a)] engaging in a course of conduct or repeatedly committing acts of abusive behavior over a period of time [(b)] by communicating or causing a communication to be sent by mechanical or electronic means, posting statements on the […]
Thoughts on the Revolution (?) in Kyrgyzstan
1. I know where Kyrgyzstan is! Roughly. I feel good about that. 2. Its capital — Bishkek, right? [Checking.] Woohoo! 3. Any place that ends in -Stan is a place I suppose we should be at least slightly worried about. 4. This having been said, and my “knowledge” of Kyrgyzstan having been exhausted, whom in […]
Virginia “Confederate History Month” Proclamation
[UPDATE: Gov. McDonnell has just apologized, and said that he would add an anti-slavery paragraph to the resolution: “WHEREAS, it is important for all Virginians to understand that the institution of slavery led to this war and was an evil and inhumane practice that deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights and all Virginians are […]
A Reminder About Comments
As we’ve mentioned before, we want comments on our site to be polite. First, polite commentary tends to encourage substantive and thoughtful responses. Rude commentary tends to drive away the substantive responders, and instead just yields more rudeness. Second, I just don’t like rudeness, and I don’t want my site to be a vehicle for […]
Prosecutorial Subpoena to Unmask Blogger — Without Any Good Faith Interest in Criminal Investigation — Would Violate the First Amendment
So holds Rich v. City of Jacksonville (M.D. Fla. Mar. 31). Of course the decision rests on the plaintiff’s claim that the prosecutor in fact was just trying to unmask the blogger so he could be subjected to private retaliation — the blogger posting things critical of the leadership of his church — rather than […]
Events of Possible Interest:
If any of you happen to find yourself in New Haven CT on Friday, I’ll be giving a talk on “How Can we Defend Free Speech on the Internet?” at the Yale Law School at 12:15 PM — details here. And in what will surely be a more interesting and aesthetically pleasing event, my son […]
The FCC and the Internet:
Yesterday, as you are probably aware, the DC Circuit, in a unanimous opinion, held that the FCC’s action in 2008 — ordering an Internet Service Provider (Comcast) to stop interfering with its customers’ use of peer-to-peer networking applications — was ultra vires and unsupported by any statutory grant of authority to the agency. The decision […]
Court Strikes Down Military Base’s Ban on Anti-Islam Car Decals
The case is Nieto v. Flatau (E.D.N.C.), decided a week ago. Camp Lejeune policy banned the display of “extremist, indecent, sexist or racist” messages on cars. Mr. Nieto had been required to remove from his car an “Islam = Terrorism” decal, a “Disgrace My Countries [sic] Flag and I will SHIT On Your Quran” decal, […]
Where, According to Tort Law, Should Accused Criminals and Ex-Convicts Live?
The Kansas case where a university — as landlord — was held potentially liable for not evicting a dorm resident who was accused of raping a fellow resident raises a broader question: Where should accused criminals (whose criminal cases are still pending) and ex-convicts (who have been released from prison) live, at least so far […]
“Up from Slavery”
An excellent article in Reason by David Boaz, Executive Vice President of the Cato Institute, and one of the leading libertarian figures in the country today. An excerpt: For many libertarians, “the road to serfdom” is not just the title of a great book but also the window through which they see the world. We’re […]
Scrambling Scrabble
Mattel, the maker of Scrabble, is changing the rules to permit the use of proper nouns for a new edition of the game. For traditionalists, Mattel will also continue to sell games with the old rules.
Upcoming Talks
I usually forget to post information about upcoming talks, but not this time. Here are some of the programs in which I’ll be participating over the next few weeks. Ohio Northern University Claude Pettit College of Law – A debate with Professor Bradford Mank of the University of Cincinnati on “Environmental Protection: Government Regulation vs. […]
New Institute for Justice Report on Asset Forfeiture
By Ilya Somin on April 6, 2010 11:10 pm in Asset Forfeiture, Due Process Clause Property Rights, Property Rights
The Institute for Justice, a prominent libertarian public interest law firm, has an important new report detailing the many abuses of property rights in the asset forfeiture system. Here are a few of the key findings: In most states and under federal law, law enforcement can keep some or all of the proceeds from civil […]