New York Law Journal: A stir recently erupted in the securities class action bar after Baer issued an order in a case against Gildan Activewear Inc., directing two of the largest firms in the field, Labaton Sucharow and Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, to “make every effort” to put at least one woman and one […]
Archive | 2010
UVA Repeals its Speech Code
I’m pleased to read from FIRE that my law school alma mater UVA has repealed its speech code and now has a Green rating from FIRE. UVA joins William & Mary, which already had a Green rating. I’m disappointed that I cannot say the same about George Mason, which still has a Red rating. But […]
Politicizing Soda Science
Today’s NYT reports on how New York City’s health commissioner pressured his staff to create a scary anti-obesity ad campaign, featuring this ad, even if it meant stretching the available scientific evidence on the potential health consequences of drinking a can of soda per day. In the end, they produced an ad that was “defensible” […]
FBI Arrests Man in Planned Terrorist Attack on DC Metro
The story is here, the indictment is here, and the search warrant executed at the suspect’s home is here. The AP summarizes: A Pakistani-born suburban father was trying to enlist in a terrorist organization in January and was eager to become a martyr when he unknowingly walked into an FBI sting and began helping plan […]
A Case That’s Actually About Falsely Shouting Fire (Almost)
All the incomplete quotations of Justice Holmes’ “falsely shouting fire” line make me pleased to see today’s decision in People v. Hanifin (N.Y. Sup. Ct. App. Div.): Defendant parked his car in the middle of Main Street in the Town of Union, Broome County in front of a business that, among other things, manufactures engine […]
DC Bar Event on Representing Cooperators in Criminal Cases
This past summer, I was elected to serve on the Steering Committee of the Criminal Law and Individual Rights Section of the District of Columbia Bar. As part of my ‘steering’ duties, I wanted to steer readers to an interesting brown bag lunch we’re putting on next Monday, Representing Cooperators in Criminal Cases. Details, with […]
Tribe v. Sotomayor
In May 2009, in the wake of news that Justice David Souter would retire from the Supreme Court, Jeffrey Rosen penned “The Case Against Sotomayor” for The New Republic, in which he argued thatthen-Judge Sonia Sotmayor was not the best available nominee. Rosen reported that he was hearing from others on the Left who were […]
Marital Rape
I got a mass e-mail about this, and it seems to be making the rounds, so it struck me as worth blogging about. Telegraph (UK) reports: Sheikh Maulana Abu Sayeed[, president of the Islamic Sharia Council,] said that sex without a wife’s consent was “not good” but could not be called rape…. In an interview […]
New Video in Rand Paul Supporter Incident
I don’t have any personal interest one way or the other in the whole so-called “head stomping” incident with the Rand Paul supporter. And it seems obvious that there are overly-zealous political supporters of all stripes who can commit acts of violence, especially spontaneous violence when they are in a large group. One can, and […]
“Islamophobia”
Nice catch by James Taranto (Wall Street Journal‘s Best of the Web): [T]he New York Times’s Robert Wright offers Williams a lecture: (Note to Juan Williams: Over the past nine years about 90 million flights have taken off from American airports, and not one has been brought down by a Muslim terrorist. Even in 2001, […]
And Now for an Example of Ineffective Appellate Advocacy
Check out this Ninth Circuit petition for rehearing. A tip: The phrase “slime ball, piece of shit, ass clown judges ([names deleted by EV] — this means you)” could use some editing. And it only gets better. Thanks to Paul Milligan and Lowering the Bar for the pointer.
Antidiscrimination Laws and Religious Organizations
Prof. Doug Laycock — one of the leading Religion Clauses scholars in the nation — and the Becket Fund have just filed an excellent petition for certiorari asking the Court to review EEOC v. Hosanna-Tabor (6th Cir. 2010). The issue is well described in the petition itself: This Court has long recognized the right of […]
“Ronald Reagan, Extremist Collaborator”
Just published at The New Ledger, an article describing the Democratic effort to label Ronald Reagan as an “extremist,” during his 1966 campaign for Governor of California. Thanks to all the VC folks who responded to my bleg a few days ago, and provided good research leads.
Our Amicus Brief Urging the Supreme Court to hear the Columbia University “Blight” Takings Case
By Ilya Somin on October 28, 2010 10:58 am in Blight, Eminent Domain, Kelo, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
I recently wrote an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to hear the Columbia University blight takings case, on behalf of the Institute for Justice (the public interest law firm that litigated Kelo v. City of New London, among many other important property rights cases), The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and the Cato Institute. […]
Buying Your Vote Back
In many states, convicted felons lose the right to vote, at least temporarily. In Tennessee, restoration of a felon’s voting rights is conditioned upon payment of court-ordered victim restitution and child support obligations. Is this unconstitutional? A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit thinks not. In Johnson v. Bredesen, […]