This morning, the Supreme Court unanimously reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Berghuis v. Smith. The Court held, in an opinion by Justice Ginsburg, that the Sixth Circuit had erroneously concluded that the Michigan Supreme Court’s rejection of criminal defendant Diapolis Smith’s Sixth Amendment claim involved an unreasonable application of […]
Archive | 2010
Gene Patent(s?) Invalidated:
When I teach the patent law material in my Introductory Intellectual Property class, we discuss the (very fundamental) principle that “naturally-occurring” things are not patentable subject matter – that patents only cover creations springing from the human mind. “But wait a second,” someone often asks, “what about all those ‘gene patents’ I read about in […]
The Tournament of Novels:
First Things is having a “Tournament of Novels.” Vote here. I just learned about it and so missed voting in the first round but just cast my vote in the second round. Some of the match-ups were very clever, such as Lord of the Rings versus Atlas Shrugged in the first round. (HT: Mere Comments). […]
Self-hating Wolverine
Chapman Law School professor Hugh Hewitt runs an excellent blog, with plenty of stimulating commentary, even for people who disagree with Hugh’s viewpoint. Some people, however, were put off by Hugh’s adamant defense of the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers. Discerning readers have learned to take Hugh’s prediction of Republican election wins with many […]
“What Sort of Burden Does It Place on the University … to Strike ‘of Our Lord’ from the Diploma?”
So asks commenter Skibum3157 on the Trinity University thread: I think people in most instances should probably just deal with the dating system. Nevertheless, what sort of burden does it place on the university to strike the language “of our Lord” from the diploma? To me, it seems the refusal to do so is based […]
Kentucky
The entire U.S. population in 1790, a bit under 4 million, is less than the 2008 population of Kentucky, which itself is a bit smaller than the average state. The urban population in 1790, defined as population residing in places with 2500 or more inhabitants — a bit over 200,000 — is less than the […]
“Year of Our Lord”
The San Antonio Express News reports that some Trinity University students are trying to get the university to drop “In the Year of Our Lord,” on the theory that “By having the phrase ‘In the Year of Our Lord,’ it is directly referencing Jesus Christ, and not everyone believes in Jesus Christ.” They are apparently […]
Can a State Use Eminent Domain to Take Federal Land?
Steve Bainbridge and co-blogger Eugene Volokh ask whether states are permitted to use eminent domain to take federal land. The question is occasioned by Utah’s recently enacted plan to condemn federal land within its territory. For reasons I discussed in this earlier post inspired by Utah’s plans, the answer is almost certainly no. Indeed, as […]
A Sad Victory for Thuggery in Texas
By Eugene Volokh on March 29, 2010 4:57 pm in Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education reports: A student performance of an excerpt from Corpus Christi, a play positing Jesus Christ as a gay man, was canceled this past Friday at Tarleton State University (TSU) in Texas amid controversy and calls for censorship. The performance of the excerpt, which was to be directed by […]
Paul Robeson, “Let My People Go”
Happy Passover!
How Many Global Deaths from Arms?
That’s the title of a new article which I have just submitted en masse to law reviews. [Note: the full text hasn’t yet appeared on SSRN. So here’s a link to the full text via Berkeley Electronic Press.] Here’s the abstract: Currently, the United Nations is drafting an Arms Trade Treaty to impose strict controls on […]
I can’t resist …
It’s almost like Christmas. I just got the cover design for Skating on Stilts, my policy memoir about DHS, terrorism, and technology. I found the artist, Mart Klein, on line and explained the basic picture I had in mind. Much credit to Hoover Press, though, for the font and cover design. Book covers, like everything […]
“Can a State Take Federal Land by Eminent Domain?”
That’s what my UCLA Law School colleague Professor Bainbridge asks, pointing to this AP story: Fed up with federal ownership of more than half the land in Utah, Republican Gov. Gary Herbert on Saturday authorized the use of eminent domain to take some of the U.S. government’s most valuable parcels. I don’t know of any […]
Was the Individual Mandate a “Republican Idea”?
Many commentators have noted that the individual mandate is an idea that some Republican politicians and right-of-center thinkers used to support. Over the weekend the Associated Press reported that many on the right once championed an individual mandate as part of a broader health care overhaul. Not only does the Massachusetts health care reform championed […]
Pro-Life Speech “Upsetting” and “Not OK” for the Duke University Women’s Center
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education reports: Duke University’s Women’s Center has canceled an event about motherhood because the sponsor was engaging in pro-life expression elsewhere on campus. A Women’s Center representative told Duke Students for Life (DSFL) that “we have a problem” and an ideological “conflict” with the event, which was supposedly canceled […]