My Mayer Brown LLP colleagues Andy Pincus and Kevin Ranlett have a very good post on the Class Defense blog about Kiobel (the Alien Tort Statute Case) and how broadly it ought to be read. Much worth checking out, if you’re at all interested in the ATS.
Archive | April, 2013
Interesting New Decision About the Neutrality Act of 1794 and the Mavi Marmara Gaza Blockade Runner
From Bauer v. Marmara (D.D.C. Apr. 18, 2013): This lawsuit arises from the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip …. The plaintiff claims to have identified several ships that violated the blockade in order to provide assistance to terrorist groups in the Palestinian territories. The plaintiff thus brought suit under the Neutrality Act, a […]
The American Athens Becomes a Prison City
Two Chechen Islamist terrorists have succeeded in turning Boston, America’s cradle of liberty, into a prison. Just when we had gotten used to obscene lines and searches at airports as the price we pay for safety, the lockdown of Boston illustrates the extent to which civil liberties are at stake in the war on terror. […]
The Med Express / James Amodio Affair — What Not to Do If You’re an Online Seller (or Its Lawyer)
Paul Alan Levy has two good posts on this incident (which involves the company that sells on eBay as “med_express_sales,” not the other companies that have unfortunately similar names). From the first, which describes how Med Express filed suit against a woman based on that woman’s true statement about a problem with the firm’s deliveries […]
Fool me once …
Sources: ACLU on street cameras and CISPA; EFF on street cameras and CISPA
Unfortunate Organization Name
The City of Othello, Washington gives us the Othello Police Department. That must be one of the places that puts on “domestic violence training.” UPDATE: For more on a related topic, see The Trojan Doctrine: Trademarks and the Law of the Horse.
One-handed authors
Dear Harvard Law Review executive editors, Are you still enforcing the rule against unmatched “on the other hand”s, which Eugene discusses below? If so, please get rid of it; it’s stupid. I vaguely recall having tried to get rid of it in 2003, and I vaguely recall that I was unsuccessful. Sincerely, An executive editor […]
Confessions of a Copy Editor
The Chronicle of Higher Education has an interesting and thoughtful article by Prof. Anne Curzan about her discovery that one of the supposed rules she had been enforcing for years as a copy editor was in fact not a recognized rule at all: I have had an inkling for a while now that as a […]
Missouri v. McNeely and Exigent Circumstances to Conduct Blood Tests for Drunk Driving Cases
Today the Supreme Court handed down Missouri v. McNeely, a Fourth Amendment case involving whether the government needs a warrant to draw blood after a suspect’s arrest for drunk driving to determine the suspect’s alcohol level. The Court held that whether a warrant is required “must be determined case by case based on the totality […]
Kiobel and Academic Fallability
By Eugene Kontorovich on April 17, 2013 12:54 pm in Alien Tort Statute, International Human Rights Law, International Law
Alongside the Health Care Act decision, Kiobel is an example of the professoriate failing to predict the issues that would be taken seriously by the Court both on substance and style. When the Second and Ninth Circuit began questioning “foreign cubed” suits a few years ago, the great majority of scholars dismissed such claims as […]
SCOTUS Affirms Second Circuit Dismissal of ATS Suit in Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum
The US Supreme Court released its long-awaited Kiobel decision this morning, affirming the Second Circuit’s dismissal of the plaintiffs’ Alien Tort Statute claims. Chief Justice Roberts wrote the opinion, joined by Justices Scalia, Alito, Thomas, and Kennedy. Justice Kennedy wrote a separate concurrence; Justice Alito did likewise, joined by Justice Thomas. Justice Breyer concurred in the judgment, […]
Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Important Property Rights Case
As Damon Root notes, The Supreme Court recently refused to consider Ilagan v. Ungacta, an important Public Use Clause property rights case. I wrote an amicus brief on behalf of numerous public interest organizations and law professors urging the Court to take Ilagan and use it as an opportunity to clear up major ambiguities left […]
We’re right based on some rationale, we’re pretty sure…
I enjoyed the quote from the end of the takings case that Eugene pointed to yesterday: Another judge might find the magistrate judge’s opinion or this opinion inexact in this or that particular of constitutional law. Nonetheless, this Ordinance is an unmistakable, abusive, and coercive misapplication of governmental power, perpetrated to cynically evade the Constitution. […]
George Gershwin, CISPA, and the President’s Veto Threat
This White House sure knows how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The President’s threat to veto CISPA (Download Cyber – S A P ) will likely kill cybersecurity legislation for the year. Here’s the sentence that I believe will eat away at support for the legislation among its last defenders in Silicon […]
Interesting New Takings Clause Case
From Hillcrest Property, LLP v. Pasco County (M.D. Fla. Apr. 12, 2013): Before 2025 Pasco County must build more and larger roads to accommodate the inevitable increase in automobile traffic. Preferring to avoid the payment of “just compensation” after acquiring the necessary land by eminent domain, Pasco County has hatched a novel and effective but […]