Sunday at 10pm Eastern, Fox News will be rebroadcasting John Stossel’s special, War On The Little Guy, which includes a segment about my lawsuit on behalf of Kentucky entrepreneur Raleigh Bruner. Some years ago, Raleigh started a moving business in Lexington called Wildcat Moving. What he didn’t know was that if you want to start […]
Archive | January, 2014
Could Cellphone Cases Help Justin Bieber?
Jess Bravin has a report that could be of great interest to the VC readership’s Belieber contingent: The justices Friday agreed to decide when searching a cellphone requires a warrant—the very kind of evidence that Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies believe could link the “Believe” singer to the egging of a neighbor’s house. Deputies searched Mr. […]
Conservatives Adopt Progressive Priorities
Progressive constitutional doctrine underwent some interesting changes in the middle of the twentieth century. One was the return of liberty-based concerns in jurisprudence, and the repudiation of some of the more extreme Progressive democracy-based legal decisions. This is most notable in West Virginia Bd. of Ed. v. Barnette, which held that school children could not […]
Did Judge Martin Retire Because He Was Under Investigation? – UPDATED
Last July, Judge Boyce Martin announced his retirement from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Tonight, TPM reports that Martin made his decision “under a cloud of accusations that he had racked up nearly $140,000 in ‘questionable travel expenses.’” The details came out in a decision filed by five members of a federal panel […]
Federal Ban on Lobbyists’ Service on Advisory Committees May Violate the First Amendment
[UPDATE: Whoops, Jonathan beat me to it; I’m turning off comments, so people can post on that thread instead.] So holds Autor v. Pritzker (D.C. Cir. Jan. 17, 2014), a very interesting D.C. Circuit decision just handed down today. (Congratulates to my Mayer Brown LLP colleagues Charles Rothfeld and Joseph Minta, who represent the plaintiffs.) […]
Supreme Court Grants Cert in Both Cell-Phone Search Cases
Today the Supreme Court agreed to hear both of the pending cell-phone search cases; as explained here, one case, Wurie, involves an old-style flip-phone, and the second, Riley, involves a modern smart phone. The Court modified the Questions Presented in Riley to match that in Wurie, so the question presented in both is “[w]hether evidence […]
D.C. District Court Judge Friedman (Clinton Appointee) Rejects Challenge to Obamacare Federal Exchange Subsidies
There’s a lot to absorb in Wednesday’s opinion, but I can’t get past this analysis: Why would Congress have inserted the phrase “established by the State under [42 U.S.C. § 18031]” if it intended to refer to Exchanges created by a state or by HHS? But defendants [the government] provide a plausible and persuasive answer: […]
Payday Lending and Overdraft Protection
I’ve noted previously, I have a forthcoming paper with former Comptroller of the Currency Robert Clarke that examines competition between payday lending and bank overdraft protection. The central point is easy to grasp–payday lending and overdraft protection are products offered by different providers but which compete for the same customers. And evidence indicates that in […]
Judge Brody Rejects NFL Settlement Agreement
I’ve been following with fascination the overwhelming evidence about brain injuries caused by football. On the one hand, I believe in individual autonomy. On the other hand, I’m not really a fan of football. But I also don’t favor paternalistic policies that limit individuals from undertaking calculated risks. And yet, what about undisclosed risks? All […]
Bloggers = Media for First Amendment Libel Law Purposes
So holds today’s Obsidian Finance Group v. Cox (9th Cir. Jan. 17, 2014) (in which I represented the defendant). To be precise, the Ninth Circuit concludes that all who speak to the public, whether or not they are members of the institutional press, are equally protected by the First Amendment. To quote the court, The […]
Can the Government Exclude Lobbyists from Advisory Committees?
Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an interesting opinion in Autor v. Pritzker. Here’s how Judge Tatel summarized his opinion for the court: President Obama, seeking to reduce the “culture of special interest access,” directed executive agency heads to bar federally registered lobbyists from serving on advisory committees. Appellants, federally […]
Where is Congress in Obama’s Reforms on Section 215?
If I understand Obama’s new policy on Section 215, he is going to have the Executive Branch ask the judges on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to begin to limit when the Executive can query the Section 215 database. That is, he will ask the judiciary to take on a new power to limit […]
Are People Too Dismissive of Others’ Arguments or Not Dismissive Enough?
Economist Tyler Cowen argues that people too readily dismiss others’ arguments: One of the most common fallacies in the economics blogosphere — and elsewhere — is what I call “devalue and dismiss.” That is, a writer will come up with some critique of another argument, let us call that argument X, and then dismiss that […]
Live-Blogging President Obama’s NSA Speech
I’m going to try live blogging the President’s remarks today on NSA. I’ve never done this before, so don’t be surprised if the whole thing comes crashing down in the middle. 11:15: The President gives us a few history lessons and a tour of intelligence policies of the last quarter century. 11:19 The President summarizes […]
Jonathan Haidt on Psychology and Politics
A little while back I read Jonathan Haidt’s book The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion and had the opportunity to meet him and hear him speak at a book party in NYC. I’ve been meaning to say a few things about it and the recent appearance of a piece […]