Adam Liptak reports on the apparent polarization of Supreme Court clerks. According to Liptak, Supreme Court justices increasingly hire only those who clerked for judges who share their ideological disposition. Justices appointed by Democratic presidents hire those who clerked for lower court judges appointed by Democratic presidents and justices appointed by Republican presidents hire those […]
Archive | 2010
Blog Symposium on Jonathan Zittrain’s Future of the Internet
Concurring Opinions is hosting a lawblog symposium on Jonathan Zittrain’s book The Future of the Internet — and How To Stop It. I’m one of the many contributors.
Judge Denies Stay on Stem Cell Research Injunction
Following the August 23 preliminary injunction issued by federal District Court Judge Royce Lamberth to block NIH funding of embryonic stem cell research, the Justice Department filed a motion requesting that the injunction be stayed pending an appeal to the D.C. Circuit. In a very short, 2-page order this afternoon, Judge Lamberth denied the stay […]
Goldsmith on Addington
Over at the Lawfare Blog, Jack Goldsmith offers an interesting take on the recent announcement that David Addington has joined the Heritage Foundation as its new Vice President of Domestic and Economic Policy Studies.
SCOTUSBlog 4.0
SCOTUSBlog has unveiled a new look and new content. Check it out.
More Studies on Studying
The NYT reports on studies on effective study habits. Among other things, the it discusses studies showing that some simple, and potentially counter-intuitive, techniques can enhance recall and retention. In particular, it suggests that varying study environments and mixing up content in study sessions enhance the effectiveness of studying. So don’t always study in the same […]
You Have Reached the End of the Internet
In case you’re wondering about the fate of the Ultimate Legal Blog Comment thread, it seems that it is now at 1,032 comments and is still going. Fraud!!! UPDATE: I have amended the post, as it seems that my earlier conclusion that the thread had been shut down by the software was incorrect.
An alternative approach to footnote *
As Orin wisely notes in the immediately preceding post, the typical law review article first footnote disclaimer “all errors are the author’s alone” provides no useful information to the reader. Below are some alternatives which I have used: “All errors are society’s fault.” 29 Hamline L. Rev. 520. “Any errors are the fault of no-one in particular; […]
Because We Thought The Errors In Your Article Were Cass Sunstein’s Fault
It is common in the author footnote of law review articles — you know, the footnote that follows the author’s name that tells you who the author is — to thank people who have read drafts of the articles and offered comments to help improve it. It is also common to follow that expression of […]
Well, That’s Comforting
From the concurring opinion of four Justice in Ex Parte Milligan (1866), arguing that Congress has the power to establish domestic military tribunals for certain crimes during wartime: We have no apprehension that this power, under our American system of government, in which all official authority is derived from the people, and exercised under direct […]
“Rape by Deception” Turns Out to be a Plea Bargain
A few weeks ago, Israeli newspapers reported that an Arab man had been convicted of “rape by deception” after having intercourse with a Jewish woman while pretending to be a Jew. Various blogs ran with the story. The more sober blogs noted that the crime of rape by deception was established as a crime in […]
In Which the Author Admits That He Owns a Marc Jacobs Suit
“Say goodbye to Mr. Chips with his tattered tweed jacket; today’s senior professors can afford Marc Jacobs.” Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus, Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids — And What We Can Do About It. I share many of the concerns expressed in Christopher Shea’s Sunday NYT book review […]
Paranoid about Paranoids
Ross Douthat pens another excellent column in yesterday’s New York Times. He observes that “obsessing about the paranoia of the masses is often a way for American elites to gloss over their own, entirely nonsymbolic failures.” For example, “Today, establishment liberals would much rather fret about the insanity of the Republican base than reckon with the […]
Do You Have Your Own Drone Yet?
Behold, the personal drone, controlled by Ipad, Itouch, Iphone, available on pre-order for later this year from Amazon.
The Washington Post on Targeting Killing and US Citizens
By Kenneth Anderson on September 6, 2010 2:48 pm in Targeted Killing, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
Due to the press of a deadline for something else, I am not able to comment as fully as this all deserves, but I wanted to flag this morning’s editorial in the Washington Post, essentially defending and, in some ways, extending the Obama administration’s position on targeted killing, whether using drones or human teams, including […]