From Judge Ikuta’s concurrence in U.S. v. Duckett (9th Cir. Dec. 17): Although I join the majority in full [in, among other things, rejecting the defendant’s Second Amendment argument on the strength of Vongxay -EV], were I not bound by United States v. Vongxay, 594 F.3d 1111 (9th Cir.2010), I would examine whether, notwithstanding the […]
Archive | 2010
Illegal in New Hampshire to Repeatedly Use “Offensively Coarse Language” With the Purpose to Annoy
N.H. Stat. § 644-4 makes it a misdemeanor to, among other things, “[m]ake[] repeated communications at extremely inconvenient hours or in offensively coarse language with a purpose to annoy or alarm another.” In re Alex C. (N.H. Sup. Ct. Nov. 30) upheld the conviction of a minor for sending 20 instant messages in the span […]
HSBC provides propaganda and banking services for the Iranian tyrants
Jennifer Rubin’s Washington Post article, “A bank that proudly does business in Iran,” explains it all. As a result, I just called HSBC to cancel my credit card.
Man Prosecuted for Reading Wife’s E-Mail Without Her Authorization
From the Detroit Free Press: Oakland County prosecutors, relying on a Michigan statute typically used to prosecute crimes such as identity theft or stealing trade secrets, have charged Leon Walker, 33, with a felony after he logged onto a laptop in the home he shared with his wife, Clara Walker. Using her password, he accessed […]
Why the Medicaid Mandates on States Violate the General Welfare Clause
My new op-ed in Monday’s Wall Street Journal with Mercer law professor David Oedel, ObamaCare and the General Welfare Clause, explains why the new Medicaid mandates imposed on the states suffer from the same General Welfare Clause problem as did the Cornhusker Kickback: Remember the Cornhusker Kickback? In a frantic effort to move ObamaCare through […]
Law and Regulation of Central Banking?
I am curious as to whether any law school offers a (seminar?) course on the law and regulation of central banking, either specifically on the Fed in US domestic law or else something like “comparative central banking” in the transnational law curriculum. I’d be interested in responses as to courses, syllabi, reading, and course topics. […]
10 Best Legal Shows in TV History
The Criminal Justice Degrees Program has posted its 10 Best Legal Shows in TV History, along with YouTube clips from each show. In tenth place it lists what I believe to be the best lawyer show of all time: The Defenders, starring E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed: The Defenders was a successful courtroom drama series […]
Cato and My Amicus Brief in Sixth Circuit
On Wednesday, the Cato Institute and I filed an amicus brief in the lawsuit brought by the Thomas More Law Center. (This is the complaint dismissed by District Court Judge Steeh prior to District Court Judge Hudson finding the individual mandate to be unconstitutional.) In our brief, we describe the existing doctrine governing the Necessary […]
Merry Christmas
To all VCers everywhere who celebrate it, Merry Christmas, and to everyone a joyous holiday season. It is snowing large wet flakes here in DC on Christmas morning. In my case, my wife and I drove down on Thursday to Chapel Hill, North Carolina and drove my wife’s elderly parents up to DC to join […]
How Does He Know When You’ve Been Bad or Good?
This was supposedly written for and sung at a US Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel Christmas party during the Carter administration; please let me know if you have a more precise attribution: You’d better watch out, You’d better not cry, You’d better not pout; I’m telling you why. Santa Claus is tapping Your […]
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas, and best wishes for a happy new year.
And Now a Word From Nathaniel Adams Coles
Santa Showed Up at Mass Tonight
Santa Claus showed up at the end of the Children’s Mass at our parish church tonight (ably aided by Tod Lindberg). Santa (let it be noted for the official record) pronounced Your Correspondent “Nice” and presented him with a candy-cane. I’m not Catholic, and so am not schooled in the deep matters of Catholic theology. […]
Obama Administration Defends Bush Polar Bear Position
By Jonathan H. Adler on December 24, 2010 4:48 pm in Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environment
Politico reports that the Obama Administration is defending the Bush Administration’s decision to list the polar bear as a “threatened” species, rather than “endangered” species, under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). As I discussed in this series of posts, environmentalist groups petitioned to have the polar bear listed as an endangered species due to the […]
The EPA’s Christmas Present
Yesterday the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was entering into two proposed settlement agreements to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants and oil refineries under the Clean Air Act. The two agreements resolve lawsuits filed against the EPA by several states and environmental groups seeking the imposition of new source performance […]