The 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies begins this Thursday on the campus of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. I’m moderating a legal history panel on Thursday at 1:30, in Bernhard 106, called Law as Culture: Secular Punishment and Divine Retribution in Medieval Ireland (Panel 90). Here are the paper titles: Beheading, Hanging, and Being […]
Archive | May, 2013
CONSTITUTION USA with Peter Sagal Premiers Tonight on PBS
A new 4-part miniseries, CONSTITUTION USA with Peter Sagal premiers tonight on PBS (check your local listings). Here is the preview of tonight’s episode on Federalism: Watch A More Perfect Union – Preview on PBS. See more from Constitution USA with Peter Sagal. Last summer I was flown to O’Hare, where Sagal picked me up […]
Business and the Roberts Court Revisited (Again)
Sunday’s NYT featured an extensive article by Adam Liptak arguing that the Roberts Court has been particularly friendly to business interests, particularly in comparison to its predecessors. This is not a new claim. In fact, Liptak has reported on the Roberts’ Court’s alleged pro-business leanings before, drawing on many of the same experts (including yours […]
Historical Linguistics and Alphabets
This very interesting Washington Post story discusses some linguists’ controversial claim that they have identified a 15,000-year-old “proto-Eurasiatic” language superfamily (thanks to Paul Milligan for the pointer); I can’t speak to the merits of the claim, of course, but here’s one passage from the newspaper article that struck me (italics added): In addition to Indo-European, […]
Minneci v. Pollard and the liability of federal private prisons
The Reason Foundation’s Annual Privatization Report 2013, which has been released in chunks over the last few months, is now all out. In the Criminal Justice and Corrections section, you’ll find my article on Minneci v. Pollard, a Supreme Court decision from last year on federal private prisons’ Bivens liability. Here’s an excerpt: Early in […]
PBS’s Constitution USA Series
PBS’s Constitution USA with Peter Sagal premieres tomorrow, Tuesday, May 7, and runs each Tuesday until May 28; it sounds like a very interesting project. The show will include, among many other things, interviews with Akhil Amar, Randy Barnett, Jody Freeman, Rick Garnett, P.J. O’Rourke, Jack Rakove, Judge J. Harvie Wiklinson, and me. Here are […]
Mine Safety Skirmishes
Today’s Cleveland Plain Dealer has an interesting investigative report on how mine operators fight mine safety penalties imposed by the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Here’s a taste: Critics say that in fighting back, mine owners are clogging up the appeals process and wearing down a system that lacks resources to match the challenge. Like […]
Epstein on The Lawyer Bubble
Richard Epstein reviews Steven Harper’s The Lawyer Bubble: A Profession in Crisis in today’s WSJ. The review begins: Law schools are under siege. Applications have dropped to around 54,000 annually, from around 100,000 in 2004. First-year enrollment has slipped to under 40,000 students, from 50,000 in 2010. Jobs are scarce—especially for students coming from lower-tier […]
Ayers Defends Weather Underground Bombings
So Bill Ayers was here in Northeast Ohio over the weekend. He was the keynote speaker at the annual commemoration of the 1970 shootings at Kent State University. The Akron Beacon Journal reports: There is no relationship at all between what Weather Underground members did and the bombings that two brothers allegedly committed on April […]
The FDA’s Two-Track Response to Plan-B Ruling
Last month, a federal district court rejected the Department of Health and Human Services’ decision not to allow the sale of Plan-B contraception over-the-counter to females under 17. On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) responded. On Wednesday, the FDA announced it would allow Plan-B to be sold over-the-counter to females 15 and older. […]
Self-Driving Vehicles – How Soon and Who Will Bear the Liability Costs?
Self-driving cars are receiving a lot of attention these days – partly as the technologies that make them possible advance and partly because, well, we the public are more aware of them and are realizing there is quite a lot to discuss regarding their regulation and use. As the technologies that appear to be making […]
Another Suit Filed Against IRS Rule on Tax Credits in Federal Exchanges
Last week, several small business owners and individuals filed suit challenging the legality of an IRS rule purporting to authorize tax credits for the purchase of qualifying health insurance policies in federal exchanges. The complaint is here. The suit is being coordinated by the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the plaintiffs are represented by Michael Carvin […]
More on the GOP and the Internet
Back last fall, I suggested (here, and here) that there appeared to be some movement among the Republicans to take on the mantle of “Internet freedom/innovation” as a political position, both because it is an issue on which the Democrats, with their hands deep into Hollywood’s pockets and vice versa, are very vulnerable, and because […]
Supreme Court of Rock and Roll
From James Wilson Pickett to the Elena Light Orchestra, compiled by Kevin McGuire.
Law Student Arrested, Chiefly for Anti-Semitic and Racist E-Mail to Student Government (and for Offensive Posts About Professors)
Here are the relevant details from the affidavit in support of the arrest warrant: That, on February 25, 2013 at about 0855 an email was sent to the Student Bar Association (SBA) email account, (SBAIULAWSTUDENT@uconn.edu) which is located on the University of Connecticut School of Law, at 45 Elizabeth Street, Hartford, CT, from the account […]