Long-time readers will recall the controversy over tenure for Columbia professor Joseph Massad. Massad’s defenders argued that his tenure was only in doubt because pro-Israel forces were out to get him due to his anti-Israel views. I wrote in response, after Massad received tenure It’s often alleged, as in the Finkelstein case at DePaul, that […]
Archive | May, 2013
Jonathan Rauch’s New Kindle Book, Denial: My 25 Years Without a Soul
My friend Jonathan Rauch, whose writing as well as analysis I’ve long much admired, has a new short Kindle book out, Denial: My 25 Years Without a Soul (sold for only $1.99). Rauch is a visiting scholar at brookings and the author of the more traditional books, including Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free […]
Turkish Blogger Sentenced to 13 Months in Prison for Criticizing Mohammed
Hurriyet Daily News reported last week: An Istanbul court has sentenced Turkish-Armenian writer Sevan Nişanyan to 58 weeks in prison for an alleged insult to the Prophet Muhammad in a blog post. The prosecutor had been seeking one and a half years of jail time for Nişanyan on charges of “insulting the religious beliefs held […]
Arab Israeli Legislator Proposes Ban on Insults to Mohammed (and Possibly All Cartoons of Mohammed)
Israel Hayom reports: Arab MK Ibrahim Sarsur (Ra’am-Ta’al) has reintroduced [together with two other legislators from Arab parties] legislation that would lower the threshold for what is considered a racist offense and would ban the publication of materials that disparage the Prophet Muhammad [as well as Moses, Jesus, and various religious scriptures] through a “cartoon, […]
Yun-chien Chang on Takings Compensation
How much should the government pay to compensate property owners whose land it has condemned? Legal scholars, jurists, and economists have been debating this issue for centuries. The Supreme Court has interpreted the Fifth Amendment’s value requirement of “just compensation” as requiring “fair market value” compensation – roughly the amount of money that the property […]
If That’s the Case for Holder Lying Under Oath, It’s Not Just Weak — It’s Bordering on Silly
My co-blogger Jonathan Adler points out the story reporting that the House Judiciary Committee is investigating whether Eric Holder lied under oath: The panel is looking at a statement Holder made during a back-and-forth with Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) about whether the DOJ could prosecute reporters under the Espionage Act of 1917, an aide close […]
Did Eric Holder Lie to Congress?
The Hill reports that the House Judiciary Committee is investigating whether Attorney General Eric holder lied to Congress when testifying about the Justice Department’s surveillance of reporters and media organizations. The panel is looking at a statement Holder made during a back-and-forth with Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) about whether the DOJ could prosecute reporters under […]
Is Murder in a State Without the Death Penalty a Mitigating Factor in a Federal Death Penalty Case?
In 2002, Marvin Gabrion was convicted of first-degree murder in federal court for the 1997 killing of Rachel Timmerman. Gabrion had allegedly raped Timmerman and she was scheduled to testify against him in state court days before she and her infant daughter disappeared. Timmerman was bound, gagged, and tossed into a lake where she drowned. […]
Liberals, Free Speech, and “Gruesome Images” of Aborted Fetuses
The Scott v. Saint John’s Church in the Wilderness case (in which I’m representing petitioners pro bono) has been in the news a bit, including both in the New York Times and in the conservative media, and I’ve seen quite a few comments complaining about how “liberals seek to ban photos of aborted children” or […]
Assessing the Case Against Gay Marriage
Northwestern University Law Professor Andrew Koppelman recently posted an excellent article assessing recent arguments against gay marriage put forward by leading anti-gay marriage legal scholars and political philosophers. Here is the abstract: The case for same-sex marriage has been politically triumphant, and its victory looks inevitable. It nonetheless is curiously incomplete. It has succeeded, not […]
The Sixth Circuit Wins One
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has had quite a losing streak in the Supreme Court. For the past few years, on over twenty straight cases, the Supreme court has reversed the Sixth Circuit decision in every case in which the Court accepted cert. The lion’s share of these cases concerned grants […]
You Read it Here First
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page picks up the possible relation between the New York Times’ blatant call for IRS harassment of right-wing Jewish groups for their political views and the ensuing IRS harassement of rights-wing Jewish groups for their political views. You read it here first…
Penalties for Underperforming Politicians
By Ilya Somin on May 29, 2013 11:15 am in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Political Ignorance, Politics, Public Choice
Law professor Glenn Reynolds (AKA Instapundit) has an interesting column in USA Today advocating that we increase penalties for politicians who do a poor job in office: As scandals explode across Washington… one thing that I’ve noticed is that the people involved don’t seem to suffer much…. Government officials are happy making and executing plans […]
Noel Canning Recess Appointments Case — Amici Weigh In
NLRB v. Noel Canning, 12-1281, the case seeking Supreme Court review of the validity of President Obama’s 2012 recess appointments to the NLRB, is now on a glide path for a June Conference (setting up a decision whether to hear the case before the Justices go into recess). Amici are now weighing in on whether, […]
Quantum of Proof in University Sexual Assault Investigations
When a university is deciding whether to expel, suspend, or otherwise discipline a student for an alleged sexual assault, how much proof should the university proceeding require? Should the student’s guilt be shown by “clear and convincing evidence”? By a “preponderance of the evidence,” which is what the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights […]