What should libertarian-leaning folk make of former Utah governor Jon Huntsman’s presidential bid? Most press accounts characterize Huntsman as a “moderate” — and he certainly appears to have framed his candidacy that way — but he bears little resemblance to what usually counts as a “moderate” in the GOP. He has some positions that are […]
Archive | August, 2011
A Good Supplement for a First-Year Torts Class?
Some of my students want to get a supplement for their first-year torts class, to get a fuller explanation of what we discuss in class. (They might also want a clearer explanation, though they may be too politic to say so — naturally, I try to be clear, but doubtless at times I don’t fully […]
Asian Carp Win Again
The Great Lakes states are concerned about the potential spread of Asian carp, an invasive species not native to North America, into the Great Lakes. They fear the carp could have significant negative ecological and economic consequences for the region. For the past few years, these states have sought (unsuccessfully) to obtain an injunction requiring […]
News You Can Use?
Alexis Madrigal at The Atlantic reports: This week, I talked with Dan Russell, a search anthropologist at Google, about the time he spends with random people studying how they search for stuff. One statistic blew my mind. 90 percent of people in their studies don’t know how to use CTRL/Command + F to find a […]
Greece Abandons Sharia Law Resolution of Muslim Family Law Disputes
I came across a story about this (thanks to InstaPundit for the pointer), and I asked Prof. Robin Fretwell Wilson (Washington & Lee) for her thoughts, since she has written on this Greek practice. (Note that the old Greek regime didn’t just enforce religious arbitration agreements entered by the parties. Rather, it specifically routed Muslim […]
Faculty Positions at George Mason
I’m chairing GMUSL’s faculty appointments committee this year, and, barring unexpected budgetary vagaries, we do have some entry-level positions open. The purpose of this post is to solicit application from potential candidates who are not otherwise on the market via the AALS process. To apply, please send your materials to me at deliotb@gmail.com and also […]
WI Supreme Court Altercation Ends Not with a Bang, But a Whimper
This past June a disagreement between two justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court allegedly turned physical. Official inquiries were launched and the matter was referred to a special prosecutor. That inquiry has concluded, the Journal-Sentinel reports, and no criminal charges will be filed. “The totality of the facts and the circumstances and all of the […]
Red and Blue Eurozone Sovereign Bonds? Or, the ‘Duro’?
One persistent question about the crisis in the eurozone is why it is a crisis for the euro at all. The sovereign debt of individual states is denominated in euros, but the issuer remains a national government, not the “eurozone” or the European Central Bank or the EU or anything other than Greece, Italy, Germany, […]
Interesting Survey on What Elective Courses Lawyers Wish They Had Taken in Law School, and What Courses Were Most Useful
GW Law School (where I teach) recently sent an e-mail to its alumni asking for their views of what elective courses they now wish they had taken in law school, and also which elective courses they took that have proved most useful to them. The response was light — the school received 576 responses out […]
One Out of Three Law Professors at the “Top 13” Law Schools Has A Ph.D.
Joni Hersch and Kip Viscusi have posted an interesting paper counting the number of law professors at the “top” schools that have Ph.D. degrees. Of course, “top” is in the eye of the beholder: Hersch and Viscusi divide schools into the “Top 13” and then the “Top 26.” A few of the findings: At the […]
Civil Rights, Free Speech and Freedom Buttons
The First Amendment proved a crucial tool during the civil rights movement. Likewise, much First Amendment jurisprudence arose during the galvanizing social movement of the 1950s and 1960s, as civil rights protestors marched in the streets, protested segregation laws, assembled on public streets and faced defamation suits for speaking out on public abuses. Consider the […]
Can the GOP Be Anti-EPA and Pro-Environment?
Most of the GOP’s Presidential hopefuls have been savage in their criticism of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Indeed, some have called for the agency to be dismantled. Could this possibly be a good idea? I’m all for criticizing the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of federal environmental regulation — I’ve certainly done my share — but […]
Are Administrative Law Judges Granting Disability Benefits Too Often? And Is The Law Governing Their Decisionmaking Unconstitutional?
I just read a very interesting paper from my colleague Dick Pierce that I think deserves more public attention: What Should We Do About Administrative Law Judge Disability Decisionmaking? Pierce looks at the evidence that Administrative Law Judges have been granting Social Security disability benefits much too often, to applicants who are not actually eligible […]
Involuntary Manslaughter Conviction for Asking Jealous and Dangerous Ex-Boyfriend to Drive You to the House of the New Boyfriend?
I just ran across an interesting 2009 case that I thought I’d note for our readers. Here’s a brief and oversimplified summary of the facts: Danna Back dated Nicholas Super, but then decided to get back together with an earlier boyfriend, Daniel Holliday. Back knew that “Super threatened Holliday with a gun several times,” and […]
An Enlightening Law Review Article Title
I just came across a law review article title that does an unusually good job of intriguing and informing its likely readers. As you’ll see in a moment, it is entirely meaningless to most people who don’t know the two cases it refers to (which is one reason I generally recommend against including case names […]