Cleveland is preparing to launch a new “high-tech” trash collection system in the city and begin policing whether city residents recycle. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer: The move is part of a high-tech collection system the city will roll out next year with new trash and recycling carts embedded with radio frequency identification chips […]
Archive | 2010
Why Wasn’t United States v. Arizona Filed in the Supreme Court from the Outset?
[UPDATE: In writing this, I missed Cohens v. Virginia (1821). Under Chief Justice Marshall’s constitutional interpretation in that case, the Court does not have original jurisdiction over United States v. Arizona, but only has appellate jurisdiction. For more on that, please see this post.] Several readers asked me why United States v. Arizona — the […]
Rick Hills vs. Brian Leiter on Tenure
NYU lawprof Rick Hills has posted a good critique of Brian Leiter’s (and others’) defenses for tenure (for which see here and here). For my own criticisms of tenure, see here, here, and here. Some of the exchange between Hills and Leiter has do with possible conflicts of interest in the debate. For example, Leiter […]
The Case Against Restrictive Constitutional Standing Requirements
In my last post, I explained why conservatives and liberals may be changing their traditional positions on standing. In this one, I briefly explain my view that “constitutional” standing requirements are both a bad idea and not required by the Constitution. Right from the start, I should emphasize that my argument only applies against claims […]
A Possible Endorsement Test Case for the U.S. Supreme Court?
In today’s American Atheists, Inc. v. Duncan, a Tenth Circuit panel struck down the Utah Highway Patrol’s practice of allowing twelve-foot-high crosses as roadside memorials for fallen troopers. The practice, the panel held, violated the Establishment Clause because it had the effect of endorsing Christianity. (For pictures of the crosses, which included the names of […]
McKenna v. Edgell and Civil Liability for Police Officers Responding to 911 Calls for Assistance
Yesterday, a divided panel of the Sixth Circuit decided a Fourth Amendment case on civil liability for police officers who respond to 911 calls to provide medical assistance. The case, McKenna v. Edgell, was written by Judge Karen Nelson Moore, with Judge Rogers dissenting. It seems to me that the majority opinion is based on […]
Are Right and Left Changing Where They Stand on Standing?
By Ilya Somin on August 18, 2010 10:00 pm in Conservatism, Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Gay Marriage, Health Care, Standing
Traditionally, conservative scholars and judges have advocated narrow views of constitutional “standing”: the level of “interest” litigants must have at stake in the outcome of a case in order to give them a legal right to sue. For their part, liberals have usually promoted the opposite view: constitutional rights should not be denied based on […]
High School Football Practices and Ramadan
The Detroit News reports (thanks to Prof. Howard Friemdan (Religion Clause) for the pointer): Practicing four or five hours, with a break in between during the hot days of August without food or water is potentially dangerous. To prepare for Ramadan, Fordson coach Walker Zaban scheduled practices at night. Monday’s practice began at 12:01 a.m., […]
A Thought from Prof. Michael McConnell
By Eugene Volokh on August 18, 2010 7:02 pm in Freedom of Association, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities, Religion and the Law, Religious Freedom
Stanford law professor (and former judge) Michael McConnell, who represented the Christian Legal Society before the Supreme Court in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, e-mails this: I had a mischievous thought, which I thought I would offer to your blog: I have a suggestion for the City of New York City, if it wishes to […]
Third Circuit Strikes Down Another Campus Speech Code
By Eugene Volokh on August 18, 2010 6:39 pm in "Hate Speech", Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
The case is McCauley v. University of the Virgin Islands, decided today. The court holds that the K-12 school cases — “Tinker, Fraser, Hazelwood, Morse, and other decisions involving speech in public elementary and high schools” — “cannot be taken as gospel in cases involving public universities,” and strikes down (at least when applied to […]
Hasen on Ninth Circuit’s Stay in Prop. 8 Case
Rick Hasen of Election Law Blog reads the tea leaves of the Ninth Circuit’s granting of a stay in Perry v. Schwarzenegger at the ACSBlog. His bottom line: The grant of the stay request by the motions panel tells us very little about the Ninth Circuit’s likely resolution of the merits. for those who want […]
More Piracy Blogging at Opinio Juris
Chief Conspirator Eugene mentioned the dismissal of the piracy case (US v Said) in US district court yesterday, along with some important initial commentary by piracy law expert (i.e., universal jurisdiction law expert) Eugene Kontorovich. Over at the international law blog Opinio Juris, Julian Ku and David Glazier comment further. Like Eugene, they think the […]
The High Cost of Copyright:
In my classes in IP law and copyright, I sometimes have difficulty conveying to students the “cost” side of the copyright regime. That is, though we often make reference to implementing the right copyright “balance” in our law, I think students (and others, for that matter) are often uncertain as to exactly what is being […]
Top 10 Books in Corporate Governance:
A list by J.W. Verret. Looks about right to me. Any major errors or omissions?
Obama bans over 100,000 rifles
According to The Korea Times, the Obama administration has blocked efforts by the South Korean government to sell over a hundred thousand surplus M1 Garand and Carbine rifles into the United States market. These self-loading were rifles introduced in 1926 and 1941. As rifles, they are especially well-suited to community defense in an emergency, as in […]