Today the Senate voted to repeal the ethanol excise tax credit that it saved earlier this week. By a vote of 73-27, the Senate approved the amendment offered by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Tom Coburn (R-OK). As The Hill reports, many Democrats who had voted against the measure on procedural grounds switched to […]
Archive | June, 2011
“Anarchists” Protest Against Cutting Government
Self-styled “anarchists” have recently mounted violent protests against the Greek government’s proposed budget cuts: Greek anarchists threw petrol bombs and clashed with police during a major protest Wednesday against fresh government austerity measures, with at least two people reported injured. Dozens of hooded and self-styled anarchist youths hurled water bottles and stones at police outside […]
“The Physical Computer and the Fourth Amendment”
The Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law has just published a very interesting article on computer search and seizure law: Josh Goldfoot, The Physical Computer and the Fourth Amendment, 16 Berk. J. Crim L. 112 (2011). I disagree with it for reasons explained here, but it’s a welcome contribution to the scholarship. Thanks to FourthAmendment.com for […]
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Stanley Cup, but Were Afraid to Ask
Kent Russell of the new Grantland sports blog has a fascinating piece on the history of the Stanley Cup, hockey’s most prestigious trophy. Interestingly, the Lord Stanley after whom the cup is named was not a hockey fan and probably never even saw a hockey game in his life. Let me also take this opportunity […]
Today’s Miranda Trivia Question
Today the Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 decision interpreting Miranda v. Arizona in which the dissent criticizes the majority for not being true to Miranda and concludes with the following warning: Under today’s new, “reality”-based approach to the doctrine, perhaps these and other principles of our Miranda jurisprudence will, like the custody standard, now […]
“Fidelity to principles of federalism is not for the States alone to vindicate”
Today the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a unanimous opinion in Bond v. United States, holding that an individual indicted for violating a federal law has standing to raise federalism-based challenges to the relevant statute. The outcome of this case was not much in doubt, as the federal government had conceded that the judgment of […]
Possible Narrowing Construction for the Tennessee Ban on Posting Images that Cause “Emotional Distress” “Without Legitimate Purpose”?
I blogged about this issue last week — a quick Lexis query suggests this was the first site to discuss this, but I’m not positive — and I noticed lots of other sites linking to the post and discussing the same statute. Now the Daily Caller reports that a Tennessee legislator (or perhaps more than […]
Did Bush Administration Target Liberal Blogger?
The NYT reports that a former CIA official is alleging that the Bush Administration sought damaging information on liberal blogger Juan Cole, a University of Michigan professor who had been quite critical of the Bush Administration’s foreign policy.. From the story: In an interview, [former CIA officer Glenn L.] Carle said his supervisor at the […]
Buying Conservative Endorsements on Talk Radio
Why is it that some conservative talk radio personalities always seem to cite the same sources as authority over and over again? Is it because each one, after carefully considering the work of various think tanks and policy shops, has concluded that one outfit in particular is really the best and most reliable? Or could it […]
Supreme Court Expands Good-Faith Exception to Exclusionary Rule To Include Reliance on Overturned Law
The Court’s decision in Davis v. United States is here. The vote was 7-2, with Justice Alito writing for the majority and Justice Breyer dissenting (joined by Justice Ginsburg). The key question for the future development of Fourth Amendment law is if and when defendants can challenge adverse Fourth Amendment precedents in criminal cases. The […]
Will “Master of Disaster” Be Disbarred?
The WSJ law blog reports that the board of governors of the Kentucky Bar Association voted to disbar noted plaintiffs’ attorney Stanley Chesley for alleged misconduct in a case that produced a $200 million settlement against a diet pill manufacturer. Chesley allegedly convinced a judge to approve awarding the attorneys 49 percent of the settlement […]
Stanford Constitutional Law Center Academic Fellowship
If you’re interested in becoming a law professor, you should consider applying for the two-year Stanford Constitutional Law Center Academic Fellowship. The Stanford Constitutional Law Center is directed by Professor (and former Circuit Judge) Michael McConnell, who is one of the top constitutional scholars in the country; and while the Center fellowship is new, but […]
The Growing Conflict Over the Legality of the Libya Intervention
A bipartisan group of ten members of the House of Representatives recently filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the US military action in Libya. Meanwhile, Speaker of the House John Boehner has sent a letter to the president stating that the Obama Administration will be in violation of the 1973 War Powers Act unless […]
Bruins Win the Stanley Cup
As a Bruins fan for almost thirty years, and having waited all that time for a Stanley Cup win, I think this picture best expresses my feelings tonight:
DOD or CIA in Yemen?
The ace Wall Street Journal national security reporting team, followed closely by the Washington Post and the AP, have been reporting in the last couple of days on the CIA being tasked to carry out an expanded Predator drone targeted killing program in Yemen. I’ve been meaning to blog on this, but meanwhile Robert Chesney […]