Co-blogger Dale Carpenter rightly poses the question of what an authorization to use military force in Syria would actually authorize. The Obama Administration has just released the text of its proposed congressional resolution, which might help answer that question. Here is the most important part: AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES (a) Authorization. […]
Archive | August, 2013
What Will A Proposed Authorization for Military Force in Syria Authorize?
By Dale Carpenter on August 31, 2013 6:05 pm in Constitutional Law, Military, Obama, War and Armed Conflict
Now that the president has vowed to seek Congress’s approval even for what he promises will be very limited military action in Syria, an interesting question arises. What will the authorization authorize him to do? The president will want an expansive resolution, allowing him maximum flexibility to do what he thinks necessary to accomplish what […]
Obama Will Seek Congressional Approval for Military Intervention in Syria
By Ilya Somin on August 31, 2013 2:57 pm in Congress, Constitutional Law, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
President Obama announced today that he will seek congressional approval for US military action against Syria in retaliation for the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons [BUT SEE IMPORTANT UPDATE BELOW]: President Barack Obama said that the United States “should take military action against Syrian targets” in a Rose Garden address Saturday. However, he said […]
Events in Salt Lake City and Chicago Next Week
If you’re in Salt Lake City, you might be interested in this event: Next Thursday at noon, I’ll be speaking at a CLE luncheon for the Constitutional Law Section of the Utah Bar. I’ll be joined by co-conspirator and University of Utah law professor Paul Cassell, as well as professors Carissa Hessick and Amy Wildermuth, […]
VA Must Extend Benefits to Married Same-Sex Couples, District Court Says
By Dale Carpenter on August 30, 2013 3:25 pm in Beyond DOMA, Constitutional Law, Equal Protection, Sexual Orientation, Supreme Court
In the aftermath of United States v. Windsor, the Obama administration is adopting a generous position on the availability of federal benefits to married same-sex couples, as co-blogger Will Baude pointed out yesterday in a post on the IRS ruling regarding their federal tax status. So far, in contrast to their almost open resistance to Lawrence […]
“Nine Questions About Syria You Were Too Embarrassed To Ask”
A very helpful explanation from Max Fisher at The Washington Post. From the introduction: The United States and allies are preparing for a possibly imminent series of limited military strikes against Syria, the first direct U.S. intervention in the two-year civil war, in retaliation for President Bashar al-Assad’s suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians. […]
Pawn Shops Boom as Consumer Retail Banking Retreats
Well, its not like I didn’t predict that a boom time for pawn shops would be coming in the wake of the Durbin Amendment, Credit Card Act, restrictions on overdraft protection, CFPB, etc. And now the New York Times reports that the past few years have in fact boomed as an increasing number of consumers, […]
Columbia Journalism Review on Defense Attorneys in Computer Crime Cases
The story is in two parts, The Lawyers Hackers Call and ‘Find the Best Defense Attorney You Can’, and it includes quotes from me and several others. I had related thoughts in 2011 here.
Liability for Texting Driver
Kubert v. Best (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Aug. 27, 2013) holds: We hold that the sender of a text message can potentially be liable if an accident is caused by texting, but only if the sender knew or had special reason to know that the recipient would view the text while driving and thus […]
Four Points on Syria
By Eugene Kontorovich on August 30, 2013 5:44 am in International Law, National Security, War and Armed Conflict
1. “Internal” Separation of Powers. Forget whether President Obama went through Congress, or the Security Council, or even our NATO friends. The real question is if the Administration wants to prevent atrocities in Syria, why turn to the Navy? Isn’t this the job of the Atrocities Prevention Board? 2. More Evidence of Evolution. Barack Obama […]
Does Congress Have the Power to Enact A General Ban on the Use of Bugging Devices?
Since 1968, federal law has prohibited the use of bugging devices — secret microphones — to record private conversations. Here’s the relevant text: [A]ny person who . . . intentionally intercepts, endeavors to intercept, or procures any other person to intercept or endeavor to intercept, any . . . oral . . . communication [is […]
“Country Music is … Like Benjamin Franklin.”
Pseudonymous blogger and political theorist “Miss Self-Important” has an interesting and entertaining post in defense of country music that I thought I’d share. My two favorite passages: Country music’s virtue is its adherence to the view that music has real emotional power, and that lyrics are part of that power. If a song bothers with […]
Obama May Plan Only a Very Limited Intervention in Syria
In reaction to Britain’s refusal to take part in military operations against the Syria government, Obama administration officials are saying that the operation they plan is so limited that they won’t need much allied support: President Barack Obama is prepared to act without Britain, officials said, noting that unlike U.S. involvement in the 2011 military […]
It’s a Been a Hard Day for Distinguishing the Satirical Pieces from the Real Ones
So says my friend Walter Olson. Here are two examples: (1) Slate: If You Send Your Kid to Private School, You Are a Bad Person “Reading Walt Whitman in ninth grade changed the way you see the world? Well, getting drunk before basketball games with kids who lived at the trailer park near my house […]
Size Still Matters in the Federal Government’s War on Marijuana
Co-blogger Will Baude makes a good point in noting that the Justice Department’s new memo on federal marijuana enforcement takes a more favorable tone towards large state-licensed marijuana businesses than its 2011 predecessor. Unfortunately, however, this is only a very minor shift. The new memo states that prosecutors should not use “the size or commercial […]