“Armando,” a featured writer at the Daily Kos, takes issue with David Brooks’s column suggesting that the federal government is guilty of overreach. Brooks’s column never mentions the Supreme Court, constitutional law, labor regulations, Oliver Wendell Holmes, baking, or anything else that would bring Lochner v. New York to mind. Nevertheless, Armando, who apparently mistakes […]
Archive | June, 2012
A Short Toot of My Own Horn (A Little Off-Key)
As co-blogger Jonathan Adler noted here, Fred Shapiro and Margaret Pearce have published the results of their (pretty exhaustive) study of the “Most-Cited Law Review Articles of All Time.” There’s some interesting stuff in there (at least, for those of you who are interested in the structure of the legal academy and its institutions). To […]
How Antivirus Software Fails
Mikko Hypponen of F-Secure, an antivirus company, has a revealing post on the limits of antivirus software. He notes that Flame, Stuxnet, and Duqu were all reported to antivirus firms months or years before they were flagged as malware. He blames the failure of his company and other antivirus firms on the sophistication of Western intelligence agencies: “As far […]
Public opinion about the National Rifle Association
In April, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found that the National Rifle Association was viewed favorably by 68% of Americans, and unfavorably by 32%. Unlike most polls, the Reuters poll apparently did not allow “unsure” or “undecided” as a choice. In each of the demographics which the poll provided–Republicans, Democrats, independents, whites, and blacks–the NRA was viewed favorably […]
Central Basin Municipal Water District Suing for Libel
So reports the L.A. Times, and notes a problem with the lawsuit: Government agencies aren’t allowed to sue for libel (even if they are alleging that the speaker was knowingly libeling them). From New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964): For good reason, “no court of last resort in this country has ever held, or […]
Vote — or Else
A recent mailing to Wisconsin voters from an outfit called the Grater Wisconsin Committee lists the recipient’s neighbors and details who has (and has not) voted in order to encourage neighborly pressure on those who’ve failed to make it to the ballot box. UPDATE: It turns out the design of this mailing has an academic […]
The Most-Cited Law Review Articles of All Time
Frad Shapiro and Michelle Pearse have published “The Most-Cited Law Review Articles of All Time” in the Michigan Law Review. Top of the list is Ronald Coase’s “The Problem of Social Cost,” and it’s not even close. The article also includes the most cited articles, by year, from 1990-2009.
Col. Davis Loses on Appeal
Colonel Morris Davis was allegedly fired from his position as assistant director of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Division of the Congressional Research Service, which is a part of the Library of Congress for criticizing Bush and Obama Administration policy regarding the trial of alleged terrorist detainees. Specifically, Col. Davis wrote an op-ed in […]
“Confront and Conceal”: New Stuxnet Revelations
Despite serious concerns about the damage that these leaks will do to national security, I confess to being fascinated by the New York Times’s compelling and highly plausible account of the Stuxnet worm’s origins. Drawn from a book due to come out next week, the article says that Stuxnet originated in the Bush Administration, was […]
Can A Judge Order Individuals to Consent to Facebook Disclosing Their Status Updates?
This issue arose in Juror Number One v. Superior Court, handed down yesterday by the California Court of Appeal, Third District. Because the facts of the case are likely to recur, and they involve a statute I have written a lot about, I thought I would blog my thoughts on the case. The case involves […]