Even before Mel Gibson made his infamous anti-Semitic remarks, Gibson became a very unpopular and disliked figure in Hollywood due to the controversy over The Passion of the Christ and his remarks that skirted close to Holocaust denial. After a drunk Gibson said, “Fucking Jews… The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the […]
Archive | 2010
The Bimodal Distribution of Lawyer Pay
There has been much grousing in the legal profession and blogosphere about the recent National Association of Law Placement report finding that recent law graduates have a “bimodal” pay distribution: while those who get jobs in big firms have starting salaries around $160,000 per year, few others top $75,000. No doubt, this finding will lead […]
James Webb on Affirmative Action and Race
In his much-discussed recent Wall Street Journal op ed, Virginia Senator James Webb makes some good points about affirmative action and race, but also some key mistakes and omissions. On the plus side, Webb’s article highlights the contradictions between the “diversity” and compensatory justice rationales for affirmative action. He also correctly suggests that slavery and […]
Will jihad jump the shark?
We’ve seen a rash of homegrown Islamist terrorists in recent years, and there has been a lot of agonizing about why. One explanation that I haven’t seen elsewhere still strikes me as plausible: The attraction that adolescents and the disaffected feel toward groups that their parents and teachers fear. If you’re feeling marginalized, after all, […]
Warren for CFPA?
President Obama is reportedly considering whether to nominate Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency created by the new financial regulatory reform bill. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is reportedly opposed, and some Senate Democrats wonder whether she could be successfully confirmed. UT’s Sandy Levinson thinks this decision is an […]
“Top Secret America” — what was the Washington Post thinking?
I’ve been wondering why the Washington Post spent two years putting together the story that it rolled out this week — “Top Secret America.” The report essentially covers the world of classified contracting, and it was delivered with the fanfare that the Post usually reserves for a Woodward exclusive or a big, deep scandal. But […]
My Wall Street Journal “Weekend Interview”
On Wednesday afternoon, I had a scrumptuous lunch at Grifone in New York City with James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal as he interviewed me for Saturday’s regular “Weekend Interview.” The interview, entitled, “A Commandeering of the People,” is now posted (with a link that I believe is available without subscription). The conversation lasted […]
Westlaw Makes Clear That Its Policy Is to Correct Transcription Errors, Even for Old Cases
Earlier this week, I noted that a Westlaw reference attorney informed me that Westlaw doesn’t correct transcription errors in its versions of old cases. (The error that I was trying to get corrected was in Thorn v. Blanchard, 5 Johns. 508 (N.Y. 1809); the Westlaw version incorrectly reported the name of the court that decided […]
Cultural Defense Accepted as to Nonconsensual Sex in New Jersey Trial Court, Rejected on Appeal
From today’s opinion in S.D. v. M.J.R. (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div.), a domestic restraining order case: The record reflects that plaintiff, S.D., and defendant, M.J.R., are citizens of Morocco and adherents to the Muslim faith. They were wed in Morocco in an arranged marriage on July 31, 2008, when plaintiff was seventeen years old. […]
Debating Tenure
The New York Times has a forum debating the institution of academic tenure. Economics blogger Megan McArdle recently criticized the institution in this blog post. One of the interesting aspects of the tenure system is that even many of its principal beneficiaries – tenured professors – agree that it is a severely flawed institution that […]
Decision About Hindu Gods Not Getting Stock Trading Accounts Now Available
I’ve uploaded Shri Ganpati Panchayatan Sansthan Trust v. Union of India; many thanks to Vicki Steiner of the UCLA Law Library for tracking it down for me.
The International Court of Justice Sort of Rules for Kosovo
The International Court of Justice was asked for an advisory opinion on the question of Kosovo’s secession declaration. The request came from the General Assembly, as drafted by Serbia, and the framing of the question is partly why I title the post “sort of” rules for Kosovo. The question was framed as whether the secession […]
For the ‘Too Good To Be True’ File
So let me get this straight: according to the Las Vegas Sun, the Fab Four, a Beatles ‘tribute band’ [a lousy generic descriptor for bands like this, imho – how about ‘murder band’ instead], is suing the Fab 4, a different Beatles ‘tribute band,’ alleging that The Fab 4 is “essentially identical in sound and […]
May Child’s Grandfather Adopt the Child, While the Child’s Mother Retains Her Parental Rights?
That’s the issue in In re Adoption of A.M., decided yesterday by the Indiana Court of Appeals. The biological father was fine with the adoption, which terminated father’s parental rights — the plan was basically for the grandfather (on the mother’s side) to take on the father role, with the mother retaining her role as […]
Obama Campaign Adviser Participated on JournoList
Jared Bernstein, chief economist for Vice President Joseph Biden, served in 2008 as an economic adviser to the Obama campaign. At the same time, he was a member of JournoList, the controversial progressive email list. Bernstein’s bio at Politico, which appears not to have been updated since 2008, states: “He is an economic adviser to […]