The Princeton Review has just released its 2011 law school guide book, “The Best 172 Law Schools,” which includes rankings based upon extensive student surveys. According to their press release (cached here), Brown University’s law school ranked number one in the “best professors” survey category. Congratulations to all our friends on Brown’s law faculty. (Hat […]
Archive | 2010
Article V Conventions: Pros and Cons
The American Spectator magazine has a balanced article, by Philip Klein entitled, “Is It Time for a Convention?,” about the pros and cons of calls for an Article V amendments convention. It includes this: AT THE TIME of the founding, the ability of the states to call a convention to propose amendments was seen as […]
Laws Against Low Prices
One of the most common ways government violates the right to make a living is through rules that prohibit businesses from charging low prices. Probably the most famous case about this issue is Nebbia v. New York, in which the state of New York, in the depths if the Great Depression, made it illegal to […]
Sixth Circuit Holds Ohio Can’t Prohibit “rbST-Free” Labels
Last month, in International Dairy Foods Association v. Boggs, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit struck down Ohio’s regulations barring dairy processors from labeling milk as “rbST-Free,” but upheld the agency’s ability to require disclaimers for some rbST-related product claims, subject to First Amendment constraints. In the process the decision illustrated […]
More on Insider Trading on Capitol Hill
There’s more on apparent insider trading on Capitol Hill from Deal Journal, Thom Lambert, and Professor Bainbridge. MORE: The WSJ reports Rep. Brian Baird and others will renew their push to enact the “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act,” a bill to prohibit insider trading by members of Congress and their staffs.
Time to Revise Mandatory Minimum Sentences?
Along with my former colleague Erik Luna, I’ve just published an article on mandatory mimimum sentences. The article, which can be downloaded from SSRN here, tries to find common ground on the issue of revising mandatory minimum sentences in the federal criminal justice system. Here’s the abstract: One of us (Cassell) is a former federal judge nominated by […]
Harlan Before Hand
I was just reading a fascinating old Fourth Amendment decision, United States v. Kirschenblatt, 16 F.2d 202 (2d Cir. 1926), and I realized the appeal featured one of my favorite Justices appearing before one of my favorite Judges. John Marshall Harlan II represented the United States as an Assistant U.S. Attorney (back when Emory Buckner […]
Is Procrastination Rational?
The current issue of The New Yorker has this interesting article on procrastination, which, appropriately, I just read instead of doing actual work I need to finish. It seems to me that procrastination is rational to the extent we can’t be sure of future events. As uncertainty about future events increases, putting off preparations now […]
Yale Talk Tomorrow Evening
I’ll be speaking at Yale Law School for the Federalist Society tomorrow night at 6:10. The topic is my forthcoming book, Rehabilitating Lochner. Jack Balkin of Balkinization (and, incidentally, the Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale) will provide comments. It should be a lively evening.
From North Carolina Blogger to Active Al Qaeda Member
The Jawa Report reports. NPR likewise mentions the traitor (Samir Khan), though in passing, in a story that begins this way: The single biggest change in terrorism over the past several years has been the wave of Americans joining the fight — not just as foot soldiers but as key members of Islamist groups and […]
Motor Dealers And Protectionism
Commenter rpt asks “Have you studied motor vehicle dealer restrictions?” Indeed, I have (and discuss them in chapter 7 of my book). Restrictions on auto dealerships are often explicitly designed to protect established businesses against economic competition. Take, for example, Illinois. That state’s Motor Vehicle Franchise Act establishes a government committee that decides whether to […]
Is Protectionism A Legitimate State Interest?
Thank you to Prof. Volokh for the opportunity to discuss my book The Right To Earn A Living. One of the major themes of my book is that under today’s legal standards, courts refuse to participate in one of the mist crucial tasks of a free government: to prevent the exploitation if government’s coercive powers […]
Diamond, Mortensen and Pissarides Win Economics Nobel
The 2010 Nobel Prize in Economics has been awarded to Peter A. Diamond, Dale T. Mortensen, Christopher A. Pissarides for their work on “search markets,” and labor markets in particular. The press release announcing the choice reads: Why are so many people unemployed at the same time that there are a large number of job […]
How Unions Exploit Anti-Competitive, Private Interest Law-Making
Occupational licensing laws aren’t the only realm in which government deprives us of the freedom of economic choice simply to serve private interest groups. Consider the United Food and Commercial Workers’ war on non-union grocery stores like Wal-Mart. In many communities, union supporters persuade local officials to use zoning restrictions to bar the opening of […]
Should Taboos Be Taboo?
MIT psychologist Steven Pinker recently delivered an interesting speech to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education where he argued that we should be extremely skeptical about taboos on the expression of various views [HT: Michael Rappaport]: Today, I think it is the scientific study of the mind that people tend to blend with deep […]