Prof. Walter Effross (American University) has an interesting list of suggested law blog topics (plus an item on Disclosures, Disclaimers, and Designs of Ethical and Effective Law Blogs and Law Firm Web Sites). Naturally, you shouldn’t start a blog on a topic unless you’re really interested in the topic, but looking through a list like […]
Archive | August, 2013
Originalism and the Fourth Amendment
My co-blogger Randy Barnett raises some classic questions about originalism in his post below, Can Lawyers Ascertain the Original Meaning of the Constitution? Having spent some time trying to grapple with the original meaning of the Fourth Amendment specifically, especially in the course of writing this recent article, I thought I would offer some thoughts […]
Can Lawyers Ascertain the Meaning of the Living Constitution?
By Ilya Somin on August 19, 2013 6:11 pm in Constitutional Theory, Originalism, Representation-Reinforcement
I agree with most of what co-blogger Randy Barnett says in his recent post responding to critics who claim that lawyers and judges cannot determine the original meaning of the Constitution. But I think we should also pay attention to the opposite question of whether lawyers can figure out the meaning of the living Constitution. […]
“Anti-Christian Pogroms” in Egypt
Nina Shea (National Review Online) reports: The litany of attacks is long: St. George Church, St. Mary’s Church, Good Shepherd’s Church, the Pentecostal Church, in Minya; St. Therese Church, Church of the Reformation, Church of the Apostle, Holy Revival Church, St. John’s Church, in Assiut; Church of the Virgin Mary in Cairo, St. Damiana Church, […]
Copyright Extension Prediction?
Prof. Glynn Lunney asked the following question on an academic discussion list I’m on; with his permission, I’m reposting it here: Anyone interested in starting a pool on whether Congress extends copyright for another 20 years by 2018? Or will the Mickey Mouse of Steamboat Willie actually fall out of copyright, though not necessarily into […]
Can Lawyers Ascertain the Original Meaning of the Constitution?
In the comments on my blog post praising the originalist analysis of the Fourth Amendment by Professor Donald Dripps, some commentators raised the predicable canard that one must be a trained historian to identify the original meaning of the Constitution. This is actually an interesting question as it goes to the heart of both the […]
Singaporean Resort Owner in Malaysia Arrested, Loses Permanent Residency, for Letting Buddhists Meditate in Muslim Prayer Room
The Malay Mail reports: The holiday resort owner in Sedili Besar, near Kota Tinggi, was released on police bail yesterday, after being remanded for four days to facilitate investigations into him allowing the resort’s surau to be used for a Buddhist religious ceremony. Johor police had said that the investigation papers of the case were, […]
Interesting Self-Defense Story
From the Sarasota Herald Tribune: [Vickie] Rock, 50, of Riverview, came outside armed with a .45-caliber handgun and saw [Daniel] Robertson beating [his girlfriend Christy] Vasilakos with a metal object, said Hillsborough sheriff’s spokesman Larry McKinnon. When Rock tried to intercede, Robertson turned on her. Rock suffered several facial injuries before firing at least one […]
Two Petitions on Searching Cell Phones Reach the Supreme Court
In recent weeks, two cert petitions have been filed seeking review of how the Fourth Amendment applies to searching a cell phone incident to arrest. Although the two cases raise the same legal issue, the facts of the two cases actually are pretty different. And the difference in the facts reflects the fast-moving evolution of […]
District Court Holds That Intentionally Circumventing IP Address Ban Is “Access Without Authorization” Under the CFAA
During the debate over the Aaron Swartz case, one of the legal issues was whether Swartz had committed an unauthorized access under the CFAA when he changed his IP address to circumvent IP address blocking imposed by system administrators trying to keep Swartz off the network. There was significantly more to the CFAA charges than […]
Digital Searches and the Original Meaning of the Right to be Secure in One’s “Papers”
University of San Diego law professor Donald A. Dripps has an important new article in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology: “Dearest Property”: Digital Evidence and the History of Private “Papers” as Special Objects of Search and Seizure (103 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 49 (2013)). (H/T Mike Ramsey at The Originalism Blog). In […]
No Injunction Against L.A. County Condom Requirement
Last fall, voters in Los Angeles County passed Measure B, the “Safer Sex In the Adult Film Industry Act.” This measure requires the use of condoms in adult films during sexual intercourse. Vivid Entertainment, Califa Productions and porn star Kayden Kross sued. Among other things, they argued that the requirement infringed upon their constitutional right […]
San Diego’s Recall Election and California Constitution Art. 3, Sec. 3.5
San Diego’s mayor, Bob Filner, has been accused of widespread sexual harassment (and even assault). He is the subject of a recall petition, and today marks the official beginning of the signature-gathering period. But San Diego’s laws governing recall are both somewhat confusingly-written, and remarkably stringent. The city attorney has already issued three legal opinions […]
Is the D.C. Circuit a “Broken Circuit”?
Earlier this summer, the Environmental Law Institute’s Environmental Forum featured a cover story on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by Doug Kendall and Simon Lazarus of the Constitutional Accountability Center entitled “Broken Circuit.” As the sub-head promised, this article made the case that “A new breed of activism on the Court […]
The “New Normal” in the Legal Profession
By Jonathan H. Adler on August 18, 2013 12:11 pm in Academia, Law School Tuition and Loans, Law Schools, Legal Profession
UNC’s Bernard Burk has an interesting new paper on changes to the legal profession and legal job market, “What’s New About the New Normal: The Evolving Market for New Lawyers in the 21st Century.” Here’s the abstract: Everyone agrees that job prospects for many new law graduates have been poor for the last several years; […]