Archive | 2010

From Martin v. Bear, 5 Penn. L.J. Reps. 17 (Ct. Com. Pl. 1851), the court rejected “the suggestion that courts of original jurisdiction ought not to investigate constitutional questions, but should, without scruple, execute every act of the legislature, however unjust and unconstitutional, and thus leave the injured party to seek his remedy, as best […]

An interesting post from Prof. Geoffrey Pullum (Language Log) (which he posted two weeks ago): Sex and the City 2 premiered in London last night. Sarah Jessica Parker arrived in a black strapless dress from the house of her favorite British designer, and what she told her fans provided another interesting example of what Mark […]

At Reason.com, Damon Root situates the judicial activism debate in the context of conservatism and libertarianism in this lengthy and thoughtful piece that is well worth reading in its entirety. Here is a taste: “Judicial review is doubtless the main issue that separates conservative and libertarian jurisprudes,” says Roger Pilon, an influential legal thinker who […]

Over on Pileus Stanford law professor–and new blogger–Marcus Cole provides his measured take on Elena Kagan’s nomination. You should read the whole thing, but here is his bottom line: What does distinguish Kagan, however, is her track record as Dean at Harvard Law School, particularly with respect to the recruitment of conservative faculty. Contrary to […]

This morning, I suggested that people who find errors in a Westlaw or Lexis version of a document help their fellow users by e-mailing the correction to west.referenceattorneys@thomson.com or source.acquisition@lexisnexis.com. I suggested that this is especially nice if it’s an error that confused you or risked leading you into an error of your own — […]

If you run across an error in a Westlaw or Lexis version of a document, help your fellow users by e-mailing the correction to west.referenceattorneys@thomson.com or source.acquisition@lexisnexis.com. This is especially so if it’s an error that confused you or risked leading you into an error of your own — once you’ve figured out the problem, […]

I reveal the answer in this Washington Times column today.

Late Tuesday night, F.A. Hayek’s “Road to Serfdom” is the #1 Bestseller on Amazon (this afternoon I think it was ranked about 200-300). There’s a reason: the book was the subject of Glenn Beck’s show today. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out Glenn Beck. One day he is (ridiculously) calling Cass Sunstein “the most dangerous […]

Reader Jeff Semenak, who lives in Lansing, reports that the Lansing State Journal courthouse notes occasionally mention that someone has been convicted of “seducing an unmarried woman.” I checked and indeed found over 30 such notes from 2002 to 2008. The statute, Michigan Penal Code § 750.532, provides, Any man who shall seduce and debauch […]

Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, sitting en banc, dismissed a lawsuit against the federal government by owners of a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant targeted by a U.S. missile strike on political question grounds.  Judge Griffith wrote the opinion for the court in El-Shifa Pharmaceutical Industries Co. v. United States, which begins: […]

Prof. Mark Liberman (Language Log) discusses the name of the soccer team Real Salt Lake, which plays in a place that el Rey de España hasn’t claimed sovereignty over in nearly 200 years.

Gene Healy says yes.