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 […]
Archive | 2010
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 […]
Telos Returns to ‘New Class’ Analysis and the Critique of the ‘Wholly-Administered Society”
The critical theory journal, Telos, returns to one of its earliest themes, the critique of what its editors in the 1970s and 80s termed the “wholly-administered society” and “New Class” analysis. It shifted away from those themes and modes of analysis for a long time, but it has re-opened that discussion with a bang. Editor […]
Effective Lawyering?
Any thoughts on whether this is likely to be effective, or to annoy the judge? (Or should I assume that the lawyer properly estimated the preferences of the particular judge before whom he was appearing?) I. DÉJÀ VU When I curled up in my cozy lounger two weeks ago to enjoy yet another defense motion […]
The Chief Beneficiaries of Citizens United?
A CNN article by Jeffrey Toobin asserts, among other things, that The political effect of, if not motivation for, the [Citizens United] decision was clear: Citizens United looks to be a big win for Republicans, who are the likely beneficiaries of the newly lubricated corporate largesse. But is that really so? In California, one of […]
Interesting Libel Decision Arising from the Vaccine / Autism Debate
From Arthur v. Offit (E.D. Va. Mar. 10, 2010) (some paragraph breaks added): This action arises out of a brief passage in a lengthy magazine article profiling Defendant Paul Offit, M.D., a Philadelphia pediatrician and infectious disease specialist. Plaintiff Barbara Loe Arthur (also known as Barbara Loe Fisher) is the co-founder and acting president of […]
Why Suspect When You Can Find Out?
A commenter on an earlier thread, which touched on why police departments are seen as “paramilitary organizations,” writes: Also relevant regarding the perceived more military nature of the police is the use now of the word “officer” to refer to what used to be called a “policeman” or “policewoman.” “Officer” is a term that has […]