Many leading science fiction and fantasy writers have been libertarians, or at least significantly influenced by libertarian ideas. The late Ray Bradbury, who passed away last week, was one well-known example. In this short article published in Prometheus, the journal of the Libertarian Futurist Society, I try to explain why science fiction is so much […]
Archive | June, 2012
Sixth Circuit Smackdown Watch
Today the Supreme Court issued a unanimous per curiam opinion summarily reversing a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Parker v. Matthews. The opinion begins: In this habeas case, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit set aside two 29-year-old murder convictions based on the […]
Today’s Unusual Lineup: Elgin v. Dept. of Treasury
This morning the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Elgin v. Department of Treasury, in which the Court held that the Civil Service Reform Act precludes district court jurisdiction of suits by federal employees alleging they were fired unconstitutionally. The Court’s lineup in this case is quite unusual. Justice Thomas wrote the opinion of the […]
Peter Gleick’s Possible Involvement in Drafting Fake Heartland Document: Either Not Investigated or the Relevant Results Not Released
After an investigation commissioned by the Pacific Institute, Peter Gleick has been reinstated as its President. The Institute released a carefully worded statement saying that the investigation supported what Gleick had said “regarding his interaction with the Heartland Institute.” Gleick had eventually admitted that he had pretended to be a board member of Heartland to […]
Personal Electronic DeDeputys
From St. Joseph’s College, a secondary school in Ireland: Mobile phones and other electronic deDeputys can be very useful and helpful – however, we have noted that their usage has become far too frequent and impedes good communication Mobile phones, MP3 players, iPods or any other electronic deDeputys (excluding calculators) must be powered off and […]
Crime for Minor to Post or Send Messages That “Emotional[ly] Distress” Another Minor?
That’s what a Pennsylvania bill, unanimously passed last Fall by the state Senate and referred to the House — titled “cyberbullying by minors” — would provide: A minor [i.e., an under-18-year-old] commits a misdemeanor of the third degree if: (1) the minor knowingly transmits or disseminates any electronic communication, including a visual depiction of himself […]
Oscar-Winning Schindler’s List Producer Disinvited from Giving Speech at High School Because He’s Too Conservative
That’s what the Hollywood Reporter reports, stating that school district officials acknowledged the incident and apologized for the principal’s disinvitation decision: [Gerald Molen] was invited to speak to the graduating class at a Montana high school. But upon arriving, was told by the principal he would not be allowed to deliver the speech he had […]
Podcast on the creation of the Second Amendment
By David Kopel on June 8, 2012 5:55 pm in Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Guns, Militia, Originalism
For my co-authored textbook Firearms Law and the Second Amendment, I’ve been doing a series of podcasts on each chapter. Now available is the podcast for Chapter 4, which covers the Philadelphia Convention, the ratification debates, the creation of Bill of Rights, and St. George Tucker’s contemporaneous exposition of the original meaning of the Second […]
Privacy law rots from the head
Privacy kills. Fish, this time. The main difference between US and European data protection law is this: in the United States, laws are usually written to solve a particular privacy problem, whereas in Europe all personal data is broadly protected by a set of grand principles. Both privacy regimes produce plenty of unanticipated consequences and […]
About “The Most-Cited Law Review Articles of All Time” (Posting 4)
An article just published in Michigan Law Review, written by me and Michelle Pearse, includes an updated version of my study of the most-cited law review articles. Students of legal education may be interested in which law schools and law reviews contributed the most supercited articles. On the list of the most-cited legal articles of […]
And That’s Why the United Nations Is So Special
That’s not me talking in the post title, it’s Economist blogger Emma Bond, writing on her Tumbler blog about a friend’s email, which makes note of the following UN entity: Open-ended Ad Hoc Working Group of the General Assembly on the Integrated and Coordinated Implementation of and Follow-up to the Major United Nations Conferences and […]
The Kochs Respond to the Washingtonian Article on the Cato v. Koch Conflict
Charles and David Koch have posted a response to the recent Washingtonian article on the origins of the Kochs’ lawsuit seeking to take control of the Cato Institute. Since I did a post on the original article, it’s only fair that I link to the response as well. That said, neither the original article nor […]
“[Not] Every Statement That Causes a Hearer Fear or Painful Memories Is … a Threat”
“[O]ur interpretation of the law of criminal threats must leave some room for speech that is less than perfectly sensitive.” So says the D.C. Court of Appeals (the highest court in D.C. analog to a state court system), reversing a conviction in In re S.W. (D.C. June 7, 2012). Naturally, such generalities don’t by themselves […]
Search History as Evidence in a Criminal Trial
From People v. Zirko (Ill. Ct. App. June 5, 2012) (paragraph breaks added): In the case at bar, we hold that the Internet evidence admitted at trial was relevant to prove that Zirko committed the murders of Mary and Margaret or that Zirko solicited another person to murder Mary. The Web sites accessed and search […]
Fair Use Exception Allows South Park Segment Parodying Viral Video
So holds an entertaining decision of the Seventh Circuit in Brownmark Films v. Comedy Partners.