Expanding on Will’s post from Wednesday (and his prior post here), it seems to me the argument that corporations, as such, cannot press religious liberty claims (or, to put it another way, cannot “exercise” religion) is wholly unsustainable. As Will notes, a consequence of this position would be the denial of religious liberty claims made by churches. […]
Archive | August, 2013
The Behavior of Nonprofits
I’ve randomly come across two stories that illustrate a truism about “nonprofits”–their leaders often act a lot like leaders of for-profit organizations, seeking to expand market share and the like. In particular, it’s well-known that non-profits very rarely declare their mission to be over and wind up operations. The famous example is the March of […]
The most awesomest judge…
…must have been the English judge Mr Justice Maule, who used a bigamy case to comment on the embarrassing state of marriage and divorce law in 1845: Prisoner at the bar, you have been convicted before me of what the law regards as a very grave and serious offence: that of going through the marriage […]
Walsh on Lithwick on Virginia’s Cert Petition in Moose v. MacDonald
Over at Walsh’s Law, Kevin Walsh responds to Dahlia Lithwick’s recent column on the Virginia cert petition seeking to review the Fourth Circuit’s decision in MacDonald v. Moose. The issue in Moose is the effect of the Supreme Court’s decision in Lawrence v. Texas. The sodomy statutes at issue in Lawrence punish more conduct than […]
Interesting New Gun Case from Massachusetts’ Highest Court
From Firearms Records Bureau v. Simkin (Mass. Aug. 8, 2013): Simkin is a New Hampshire resident and a federally licensed firearms dealer who is engaged in the “buying and selling [of] firearms in the region, from private parties, at gun shows, and at auctions.” Since 2002, he has held a temporary nonresident Class A unrestricted […]
Reflections of the Judge Who Sentenced Future-D.C.-Circuit-Clerk Shon Hopwood
Shon Hopwood may be the most famous law student currently enrolled at the University of Washington. Hopwood spent time in federal prison for bank robbery, reformed, found a passion for the law, wrote a book about it, and will be clerking on the D.C. Circuit for Judge Janice Rogers Brown — an incredible redemption story. […]
My Whereabouts and the Coming Academic Year
As some of you have guessed, my family had to cut our stay in Lima, Peru short. Everything’s fine, but we had some medical issues that were better treated in the U.S. So, I’m back in Virginia. It was too late to undo my academic leave for 2013-14, however, so I’ll be on leave from […]
A Knowledgeable but Selfish Electorate May be Better than a Well-Meaning but Ignorant One
By Ilya Somin on August 8, 2013 2:50 pm in Democracy, Democracy and Political Ignorance, Elections, Political Ignorance, Public Opinion
In my last post, I discussed economist Dwight R. Lee’s article about why most of the electorate does not decide who to vote for on the basis of narrow self-interest. Unfortunately, the very same incentive structure that leads most voters to base their decisions on the public interest also leads most of them to be […]
NSA Screening International E-mails and Texts for Foreign Intelligence Information
Charlie Savage has a significant article in the NY Times about the scope of NSA surveillance involving people inside the United States and outside the United States. In 50 U.S.C. 1881a(a), Congress approved surveillance via “the targeting of persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States to acquire foreign intelligence information.” That authorization […]
“Bitcoin Is a Currency or Form of Money” for Purposes of American Securities Laws
So holds SEC v. Shavers (E.D. Tex. Aug. 6, 2013), a case involving the failed “Bitcoin Savings & Trust”: First, the Court must determine whether the BTCST investments constitute an investment of money. It is clear that Bitcoin can be used as money. It can be used to purchase goods or services, and as Shavers […]
Selfish Voters are Not the Problem that Ails Democracy
By Ilya Somin on August 8, 2013 11:40 am in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Elections, Political Ignorance, Public Opinion
Both right and left have standard stories explaining how selfish voters often prevent the government from adopting good policies. The right-wing story – made famous by Mitt Romney’s much-derided “47 percent” speech last year – is that voters become dependent on government transfer programs and then support those programs despite the harm they cause to […]
Lawsuit Challenges Richmond, CA’s Plan to Use Eminent Domain to Condemn Mortgages
By Ilya Somin on August 7, 2013 11:10 pm in Eminent Domain, Just Compensation Clause, Kelo, Property Rights
A group of bond investors has filed a lawsuit challenging the California City of Richmond’s plan to use eminent domain to condemn mortgages: Bond investors including Pacific Investment Management Co. and BlackRock Inc. (BLK) are seeking a court order blocking Richmond, California, and Mortgage Resolution Partners LLC from seizing mortgages through eminent domain, saying the […]
Court Rejects Religious Discrimination Claim Based on Associated Press’s Rejection of Plaintiff’s Religiously Themed Article
From Mehdi v. Comm’n on Human Rights & Opportunities (Conn. Ct. App. official release date Aug. 13, 2013): [T]he plaintiff filed a discrimination complaint against Thomas Curly/Associated Press, alleging that he had been denied services based, in part, on his religious beliefs in violation of [the Connecticut ban on discrimination in places of public accommodation]. […]
Do Corporations Have a Right to Sell Kosher Meat?
I’ve seen some skeptical responses to my previous post about corporations and free exercise, of which Dahlia Lithwick’s and David Gans’s are emblematic. My point, recall, was that the Third Circuit’s logic led to the conclusion that churches don’t have free exercise rights, and that even though the Third Circuit said that that didn’t have […]
Second Circuit Reverses Judge Weinstein in Poker Case
A year ago, I had a short post on a new decision interpreting the federal gambling laws: Is Playing Texas Hold’ Em a Form of Gambling? No, rules Judge Jack Weinstein, at least for purposes of the Illegal Gambling Business Act (IGBA), 18 U.S.C. § 1955, because Texas Hold’em “is not predominately a game of […]