Author Archive | Jim Lindgren

“in effect backing the terrorists against their victims”? Four of the smartest bloggers out there — Megan McArdle, Mark Kleiman, Kevin Drum, and Eugene Volokh — are discusing the merits of the NARAL ad. Kleiman writes: But one of the defendants in the earlier case [Bray] was in fact a previously convicted clinic-bomber, and the […]

In a 1983 memo, John Roberts raised questions about life tenure for federal judges: Two decades ago, however, he reasoned that long-entrenched judges could fall out of step with the society they serve. Limiting terms of federal judges would ensure a fresh supply of talent while guarding against “ivory tower” elitism, he wrote. The Constitution […]

I find the discussion of John Roberts’ pro bono work on Romer interesting because it shows one or both of two things: either Roberts favors sexual liberty or he really does approach legal issues as a lawyer, able even to offer his very valuable time without pay to helping a client take a position at […]

The New York Times book review section has a review of Harvey Kaye’s “Thomas Paine and the Promise of America” by Joseph Ellis (some NY Times content may not be available to non-subscribers). After setting out Paine’s influence on the American left, Ellis writes: Oddly enough, however, over the past 30 years Paine’s chief fans […]

At our host, Law.com, is by far the best thing I’ve read on the difficult decision of the left-wing lobbyists over whether to oppose the Roberts nomination. Not only is the implicit analysis in T.R. Goldman’s Legal Times article good, but the quotes are revealing: Some suggest the groups would be better off waiting for […]

At Bench Memos, there is an interesting discussion of whether the Senate can confirm Justice O’Connor’s replacement until her resignation is effective. Matthew Franck writes: Ed Whelan speculates about the effects of a delay in Judge Roberts’s confirmation, and along the way he notes that Justice O’Connor’s “resignation is effective only upon her successor’s confirmation.” […]

MoveOn is collecting signatures on a petition opposing the confirmation of John Roberts: Oppose John Roberts’ Supreme Court Nomination In nominating John Roberts, the president has chosen a right wing corporate lawyer and ideologue for the nation’s highest court instead of a judge who would protect the rights of the American people. Working for mining […]

USA Today reports that 51% of Americans polled consider the nomination of John Roberts excellent or good (tip to RealClearPolitics): An early sampling of public opinion found support for Roberts, but also a desire for more information about his views. A USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll of 625 adults Wednesday found: •51% called the choice excellent or […]

An interesting account from Sky News about the bomb on the double-decker bus: Security sources have told Sky News that a high explosive was found on the bus, similar to that used in the July 7 attacks. They said the strong smell of acetone would have sparked fears of a chemical attack. And the smell […]

The blog ThinkProgress has some superb posts on John Roberts (and other Supreme Court issues). For a new blog, they have certainly hit their stride quickly.

1. Response to Orin’s Response. Orin wrote that about two hours before his 8:38pm post Roberts futures were trading at 1% and (at 8:38pm) were trading at 99.5%. He concluded: “Looks like Tradesports was right after all — at least after the announcement was made.” In response, I pointed out (1) that at 6:38pm (two […]

Given our discussion earlier today, I thought that people might be interested in this chart of trading in Roberts futures at Tradesports since about 6:30pm ET. (click to enlarge) This is a 2-trade moving average. As you can see, Roberts became the favorite for the first time about 6:47pm ET (there were several trades between […]

NBC and AP are reporting that John Roberts is the nominee.

Orin Kerr asks about the accuracy of electronic markets. Saul Levmore has an interesting review of the evidence: Efficient Markets and the Role of Regulation: Lessons from the Iowa Electronic Markets and the Hollywood Stock Exchange Symposium: Revisiting the Mechanisms of Market Efficiency, 28 J. Corporation L. 589 (2003). Levmore reviews the evidence that even […]

[UPDATE: The post below reflected the betting consensus early to mid afternoon. By 5:50pm ET, the betting at Tradesports.com had switched, and the favorite was Edith Jones of the 5th Circuit (40-52%), not Edith Clement (19-29%).] ORIGINAL POST: According to Tradesports.com betting, Bush will choose Edith Clement to fill the O’Connor vacancy on the Supreme […]