Some of our readers might be interested in the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship. Tom Bowden sends along a bit of info about what they do: The Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship is a non-profit that provides grants for the benefit of academic professionals engaged in serious scholarship based on Ayn Rand’s philosophy and writings. The Foundation […]
Archive | August, 2012
Sixth Circuit Rules That Pinging a Cell Phone to Determine Its Location is Not a Fourth Amendment “Search”
The decision handed down this morning is United States v. Skinner, and it was 2-1 on the Fourth Amendment merits. The defendant used a pre-paid cell phone obtained by providing false identity information (also known as a “burner“) to communicate with co-conspirators as he brought a motor home filled with marijuana from Arizona from Tennessee. […]
House Sues AG Holder Over “Fast & Furious” Documents
Yesterday the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee filed suit against Attorney General Eric Holder over the AG’s refusal to turn over more documents related to the “Fast and Furious” gun-walking scandal. The suit challenges the AG’s assertion of Executive Privilege in refusing to turn over more documents to the committee. Politico reports on the […]
Anatomy of a Privacy Victim
Adam Mueller, a police-the-police campaigner, has been convicted and sentenced to three months in jail for recording and posting telephone conversations with a police captain, a high school principal and a school secretary in Manchester, NH. Mueller was calling for comment on a student’s cell phone video allegedly showing a Manchester officer using excessive force. […]
Annals of Poor Customer Service Policy: Verzion FIOS
I’ve sang the praises of Verizon, especially relative to Comcast, but now I’m peeved. My two-year service contract for Verizon Triple Play has expired and now I need/want a month-to-month contract. However, I’ve been told that because I’m an existing customer, I’m only eligible for a two year contract. If I were a new customer, I […]
Johnny Pesky, RIP
Boston Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky passed away today. Gordon Edes of ESPN has a good obituary here: More than anybody else, Johnny Pesky embodied the Red Sox. More than anybody else, Johnny Pesky loved the Red Sox. More than anybody else, Johnny Pesky shared that love with anyone who ever asked for a picture, […]
Will Drones Be the Next Privacy Victim?
Greg McNeal’s article for Forbes argues that the UAV industry is now squarely in the privacy lobby’s sights. That means that the industry must be demonized and creepified relentlessly until new legal constraints are imposed on public and private use of the technology. All the signs are there. The left-leaning privacy groups have already recruited Drudge […]
The Boy Scouts’ Other Discriminatory Policy
Over the last decade, a lot of attention has focused on the Boy Scouts’ policy banning gays and lesbians from participating as Scouts or working for the organization. Most recently, a group of Eagle Scouts have returned their merit badges in protest of the policy. Unfortunately, very few have protested the Boy Scouts’ equally unjustified […]
Question about U.S. Educational Performance
I often read in right-of-center sources about how despite the huge increase in real terms in U.S. spending on public schooling since the early 1980s, test scores haven’t gotten any better. This strikes me as the types of static analysis that free-market types often criticize in other contexts. For example, real wages (putting aside the […]
Tom Goldstein on the Development and Choices Behind SCOTUSblog
A very interesting interview, at least for those of interested in blawgology: An excerpt from the transcript: [B]ecause other people realize, or at least perceive, that the blog has an audience inside the building, people will try and use the blog to affect the Justices. So, constantly, we’re getting approached by people asking us to […]
St. Paul Cops Shoot Dog in Wrong-Door Raid, Force Handcuffed Kids to Sit Near the Corpse
Mike Riggs has the details at Reason’s Hit and Run blog. The family has filed a $30 million lawsuit, but tar and feathers would be more appropriate.
Federal Judge in Hawaii Rejects Same-Sex Marriage Claim
By Dale Carpenter on August 11, 2012 4:11 pm in Constitutional Law, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Same-Sex Marriage, Sexual Orientation
In Hawaii, gay couples may enter civil unions with all the state-based rights and legal protections of marriage, but without the official designation of being “married.” Same-sex couples sued to have the status of marriage, urging that they had a fundamental right to marry under the Due Process Clause and that the state could not […]
Public Ignorance About Paul Ryan
Political scientists John Sides and Lynn Vavreck have a helpful post summarizing survey data showing that most of the public knows little or nothing about newly selected GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan: A series of polls done by YouGov for the Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project suggests that most people have never heard of Paul […]
Blog Post Cited in a Ninth Circuit Opinion
Congratulations to David Post, whose Commerce Clause “Holding v. Dictum Mess” Not So Simple post was cited in United States v. Henry (9th Cir. Aug. 9, 2012). Court citations to blogs (except the mighty Sentencing Law & Policy) are rare enough that I thought it worth noting.
“University of California Jewish Student Campus Climate Fact-Finding Team” Calls for Banning “Hate Speech”
By Eugene Volokh on August 11, 2012 1:52 pm in "Hate Speech", Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
Fortunately, it appears that UC President Mark Yudof — a noted First Amendment scholar — is not going along with this. Here’s the relevant passage, which the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education rightly condemns: 2) UC should adopt a hate speech-free campus policy. While many campuses have adopted hate-free campaigns or issued commitments affirming […]