In this recent column, political analyst Sean Trende explains why the current state of the economy is likely to lead to a very close election in November. Various pundits have suggested that Romney should be doing much better in the polls, given the weak economy. Romney is indeed a far from inspiring candidate. But, as […]
Archive | August, 2012
NYT v. NYT
Arthur Brisbane, the NYT‘s public editor for the past two years, wrote his final column this weekend. In that column, he commented: I had taken up the public editor duties believing “there is no conspiracy” and that The Times’s output was too vast and complex to be dictated by any Wizard of Oz-like individual or […]
Neil Armstrong, RIP
Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon, has just passed away. He is one of the very few people about whom we can predict with a high degree of confidence that he will still be remembered centuries from now. The Moon landing is likely to be considered an epochal event in world […]
D.C. Circuit Upholds Stem Cell Research Funding, Again
The D.C. Circuit today upheld, for the second time in 16 months, President Obama’s Executive Order permitting the National Institutes of Health to fund human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research. The same issue was before the court last year on an appeal of a preliminary injunction that would have halted all federal funding of hESC […]
Would the North be Better Off Without the South?
The New York Times has a review of a recent book by travel writer Chuck Thompson which argues that the rest of the country would be better off if the South seceded. In the nineteenth century, the main advocates of secession were southern supporters of slavery, though a few northerners flirted with the idea too. […]
Two Big Decisions from D.C. Circuit
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued two significant decisions today. In the first, Sherley v. Sebelius, a unanimous panel affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the federal government rejecting a challenge to federal funding of emryonic stem cell research. Chief Judge Sentelle wrote for the court. Judges Henderson […]
Do Law Schools Consider Applicants “Holistically”?
By David Bernstein on August 24, 2012 9:05 am in Academia, Affirmative Action, Fisher v. University of Texas, Law Schools
Prof. Mike Dorf has a post at Dorf on Law describing the brief he coauthored on behalf of the Association of American Law School in Fisher v. University of Texas. The gist of the brief is that if the Supreme Court reasons that Texas may not engage in affirmative action preferences because its race-neutral ten-percent […]
There Has Been Some Increase in Civility on the Bench
A bit of digging into United States v. Dickinson (Ark. Terr. 1820), which I blogged about below, revealed this fact about Judge Scott, who decided the case. From A Documentary History Of Arkansas: During a game of whist … in 1824, [Judge Scott’s colleague] Judge Selden contradicted a lady player’s account of the score. Judge […]
A Story About Two Families
I read a very interesting opinion today — Cathey v. Ogea (La. Ct. App. Aug. 22, 2012) and I thought I’d talk briefly about it. Give me a few moments, please, and let us focus briefly on the facts before we turn to evaluating and debating the law. Melissa Ogea’s four children have the misfortune […]
News Rep. Akin Could Use, from Missouri’s Neighbor to the South
Dan Greenberg (The Arkansas Project) notes that the report of United States v. Dickinson, 1 Hempstead 1, 2 n.1 (Ark. Terr. 1820) — possibly the very first reported case from the Arkansas Territory — says the following: The old notion that if the woman conceived, it could not be a rape, because she must in […]
The Rise of Asset Forfeiture Abuse
By Ilya Somin on August 23, 2012 4:55 pm in Asset Forfeiture, Due Process Clause Property Rights, Property Rights
Co-blogger Orin Kerr describes a planned effort by one local government to raise revenue by increasing asset forfeitures through the use of drug-sniffing dogs. Unfortunately, this is just one example of a growing trend of using asset forfeiture as a fundraising tool for law enforcement agencies. In this recent post, I rounded up many sources […]
The Ruby Ridge murders, 20 years later
By David Kopel on August 22, 2012 11:48 pm in Criminal Law, Executive Branch, Growth of Government, Guns, Self-Defense, Targeted Killing, War on Drugs
The Prologue to my book No More Wacos: What’s Wrong with Federal Law Enforcement and How to Fix it, includes a section on the Ruby Ridge case. Much more on Waco and Ruby Ridge is available on the Waco page on my website.
Town Plans to Raise Revenue By Combining Drug-Sniffing Dogs With Asset Forfeiture
They say a dog is man’s best friend, and the town of Henry, Tennessee is hoping that dogs can help the town raise revenue in tough times: At the Henry Mayor and Board of Alderman meeting on Tuesday, board members decided to allow police chief David Andrews to institute a K9 program for the Henry […]
Hayek in the NY Times
Some good quotes from guys who actually know what they are talking about for a change: Pete Boettke and Bruce Caldwell. But while I think the article is better than average–because the author actually describes Hayek’s actual views accurately by letting Boettke and Caldwell describe them–I think the author fails to close the logical loop. […]
The Dennis Prager Show
I’m scheduled to appear on the Dennis Prager show tomorrow from 1:30-2:00 to discuss the auto bailouts and the rule of law. You can listen here if you are interested. Last week the Treasury Department issued a report that ups the estimated losses on the auto bailout to $25 billion.