Author Archive | Ilya Somin

One of the participants in the protest against shutting the down the LA urban garden is “tree sitter Julia Butterfly Hill.” During my wild and crazy youth, I worked as a babysitter, catsitter, dogsitter, and even rabbitsitter. The best-behaved were the rabbits, followed by dogs, cats, and humans in that order. But somehow I missed […]

Fifty-two years ago today (which is also “Flag Day“) the phrase “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance. [Thanks to a reader for the tip.]

Brian Leiter reports that the University of California, Riverside is renewing its effort to establish the fifth law school within the University of California system, and (according to the proposal) a “first tier” law school at that.

On Monday, the Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a class-action suit against KFC to force the fast-food chain to eliminate (or at least disclose) its use of partially hydrogenated oil — described by CSPI as “the chemically altered, trans-fat-laden oil that kills roughly 50,000 Americans per year.” The suit, filed in District […]

I don’t often agree with Alan Dershowitz. But he is absolutely right to note the double standards inherent in the near-universal praise for the the recent targeted killing of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi when contrasted with the near-universal condemnation of Israel’s very similar targeting of top Hamas terrorists. Many of the same governments and organizations that […]

A recent article in Scientific American, “The End of the Everglades?” proclaimed that the two wetlands cases before the Supreme Court “jeopardize[] 90 percent of U.S. wetland[].” According to article author Sara Beardsley, the pending decisions “will probably eclipse [the] importance” of current controversies over domestic surveillance and the detention of enemy combatants. I am […]

Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s analysis of the 2004 presidential election results has been subject to withering criticism, but it continues to get positive attention, such as in this (subscription-only) New York Times column by Bob Herbert. Election law expert Bob Bauer is not impressed. Meanwhile, Democratic pollster Marc Blumenthal continues his dissection of Kennedy’s claims […]

It seems that discussions about whether the equal protection clause applies to the X-Men and other mutants is moot. As the Disenchanted Idealist notes, a federal court has already determined that the X-Men (and other superheroes) are “nonhuman creatures,” at least for the purposes of U.S. trade law.

Among the many big cases awaiting decision from the Supreme Court are Rapanos v. United States and Carabell v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – two companion cases that challenge the scope of federal regulatory jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Argued in February (on Justice Alito’s first day), decisions are expected soon. According […]

Washington Post associate editor Robert Kaiser explains the Post‘s approach to classified information and other government secrets uncovered by its reporters. Among other things, he notes that government officials have a tendency to exaggerate the sensitivity of certain material, as happened in the Pentagon Papers case and the “Ivy Bells” story. Here is a taste […]

There are scads of songs about drugs, and even more that were influenced by the drug habits of their writers, composers, and performers. Some celebrate drug-induced highs, while others lament the horrors of dependence and addiction. Marijuana and heroin seem to be particular favorites for songwriters and musicians — the latter of which is responsible […]

Opponents of a proposed wind farm off the coast of Massachsetts inserted a provision into the 2006 Defense Authorization Act barring federal permits for new wind projects pending completion of a study on whether wind turbines may interfere with military radar. As a result, some one-dozen wind power projects arond the country are on hold, […]

He has plans for the University of Maryland School of Law. With your help, he hopes to “completely makeover the law school in [his] 75 minutes of power.”

Earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit heard oral arguments in Connecticut v. American Electric Power. In this case, several state attorneys general are suing a handful of utilities alleging that the utilities’ emissions of greenhouse gases contribute to the “public nuisance” of global warming. This is an innovative use […]

Law student blogger Ivan Ludmer considers equal protection for mutants. Whatever the proper legal answer, I am sure equal protection alone would not have satisfied Eric Magnus Lehnsherr. (LvPB)