Prof. Mark Liberman (Language Log) has all about this “exchange” — in this instance, a literal fistfight rather than a figurative one — all about whether to “elevate the status of Russian to a second language, equal to Ukrainian, in about half the regions of the country, including Kiev.” You have to see the picture, […]
Archive | May, 2012
Vulgarity, Film Ratings, and Context
Prof. Julie Sedivy (Language Log) has a very interesting post about a British film ratings controversy involving a Ken Loach movie that uses the word “cunt.” The film rating people are distinguishing “aggressive” uses of the word from “non-aggressive” uses; a British commentator faults this for being a double standard, and a class-based one at […]
Beyond Incivility
Patterico and Aaron Worthing recount sinister legal and personal harassment as a consequence of their blogging. Worthing and his wife reportedly lost their jobs, but Patterico could have been killed. He woke up to an armed SWAT team at his door as someone spoofed his phone and called the police to his house. Even those […]
Federal Judge Strikes Down Denial of Benefits to Same-Sex Partner under DOMA
The San Francisco Chronicle reports: Congress violated constitutional standards on legalized bigotry when it denied federal benefits from same-sex spouses and excluded domestic partners of state employees from long-term health coverage, a federal judge ruled Thursday. The decision by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of Oakland was the second by a Bay Area judge this […]
Fumento on “Today’s Right-Wing Darlings”
Conservative writer Michael Fumento explains his discomfort with the “extreme right” in Salon. While I think portions of his essay are overstated, I generally agree. Further, like Professor Bainbridge, I found this passage worth repeating: Civility and respect for order – nay, demand for order – have always been tenets of conservatism. The most prominent […]
McConnell on “The Liberal Legal Meltdown Over ObamaCare”
By Jonathan H. Adler on May 25, 2012 8:16 am in Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Uncategorized
In today’s WSJ, Stanford law professor and former federal appellate judge Michael McConnell has an op-ed commenting on the tone and content of much liberal commentary on the individual mandate litigation. It begins: In apparent panic at the tenor of the Supreme Court argument over the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare), liberal […]
The Affordable Care Act and the Rumor Mill
I was puzzled by the sudden spike in coverage earlier this week, both here and elsewhere, on how to spin various possible outcomes of the Affordable Care Act litigation (and how the other side was trying to spin them). It may just be a coincidence, of course, but a story from National Journal made me […]
Flashing Headlights to Warn Oncoming Drivers of a Speed Trap = Constitutionally Protected Speech
So held a Florida trial court judge, and he wasn’t the first — I think I’ve seen this in a few cases, but the one for which I have a citation is State v. Walker, No. I-9507-03625 (Williamson Cty. (Tenn.) Cir. Ct. Nov. 13, 2003) Whether this is the right answer is not clear. It’s […]
Rape Conviction Overturned When Supposed Victim Recanted — What About the Civil Damages Award?
The Los Angeles Times reports: A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has reversed the 2002 rape and kidnapping conviction of former Long Beach Poly football standout Brian Banks. Banks, now 26, was wrongly convicted of the charges based on the testimony of Wanetta Gibson, an acquaintance. Gibson testified that Banks raped her on the […]
EU competition bureau creating yet another intellectual property regime?
I was struck by the EU competition bureau’s recent threat to punish Google because of “the way Google copies content from competing vertical search services and uses it in its own offerings.” (Vertical search services are specialized search engines like Yelp and Kayak that help people find local restaurants or cheap flights and rental cars.) […]
Injunctions Against Speech That “Ha[s] a Substantial Adverse Effect … on … [a Person’s] Privacy”
I’m writing an article that indirectly touches on this question, and I thought I’d ask our readers for their take on it. I’d particularly like to hear from people who are knowledgeable about privacy law, and who (unlike me) support information privacy speech restrictions, such as the disclosure-of-private-facts tort. Minnesota has an interesting statute that […]
Popehat
There has been lots of interesting stuff at Popehat recently — especially Ken’s posts about online speech and harassment. Well worth reading.
Evolving International Law and Defining Offenses
By Eugene Kontorovich on May 24, 2012 11:58 am in Alien Tort Statute, Constitutional Law, International Law
The Fourth Circuit’s noteworthy decision in U.S. v. Dire is probably the first court of appeals decision in a piracy prosecution in nearly 200 years. The Fourth Circuit decision is important not only for some novel pending piracy cases, but for the Alien Tort Statute and broader questions about the interplay of U.S. and international […]
When is it Legitimate for Judges to Base Constitutional Decisions on their Perceived Legitimacy?
By Ilya Somin on May 24, 2012 10:00 am in Constitutional Theory, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Public Opinion
In a previous post, I argued that Supreme Court justices should not decide the individual mandate case based on the decision’s effect on their perceived “legitimacy.” Mark Tushnet asks, why not? [W]hy exactly shouldn’t [Chief Justice John Roberts] worry if he believes that a Court decision — any one, really — will impair the Court’s […]
Astronomical Vegetable
What vegetable’s name is etymologically connected — distantly, to be sure — to an astronomical concept (not just the name of a particular object, such as the name of a planet or a star)? There might well be many answers, but I have one in mind.