It appears that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed might not get tried in New York City after all. The N.Y. Daily News reports: The White House ordered the Justice Department on Thursday night to consider other places to try the 9/11 terror suspects after a wave of opposition to holding the trial in lower Manhattan. The dramatic turnabout […]
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
The SEC Calls for Climate-Related Disclosures
The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 3-2 to issue an interpretive guidance to publicly traded companies on when they should disclose information to investors on the potential impact of business or legal developments relating to the issue of climate change. According to the Washington Post, the vote was along party lines, and the Republican commissioners […]
Lithwick on Alito & the SOTU
In response to attacks on Justice Alito for shaking his head and mouthing “that’s not true” in response to the President’s criticism of the Citizens United decision, Dahlia Lithwick writes: There was absolutely nothing wrong with the president’s criticism of the court’s decision, although as Linda Greenhouse points out, he was less than precise in […]
Mid-Atlantic Tour
I’m usually remiss about noting upcoming speaking events. In the off chance readers are interested, here are a few upcoming Federalist Society student chapter events at which I’ll be speaking: Today at noon I’ll be at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law to talk about “The Fable of Federal Environmental Regulation.” Next Tuesday, Feb. 2, […]
How About Them Apples?
Susannah Chapman and Paul Heald have another interesting study on crop diversity, this time focusing on apples. The paper, “Apple Diversity Report Card for the Twentieth Century: Patents and Other Sources of Innovation in the Market for Apples,” seems to show an increase in apple varietal diversity during the 20th century. Here’s the abstract: Contrary […]
One Sting Too Many
It’s one thing to pretend to be a pimp when interviewing ACORN employees. It’s quite another to pretend to be a telephone repairman to gain access to a U.S. Senate office and its telephone system. Apparently noted ACORN-sting filmaker James O’Keefe and some compatriots did not see the difference, and are now facing federal charges […]
Dorf on Thomas on Noriega
Michael Dorf has an interesting post explaining why he thinks Justice Thomas (joined by Justice Scalia) was correct to argue that the Court should have accepted certiorari in Noriega v. Pastrana. Professor Dorf concludes: What I admire about Justice Thomas’s Noriega dissent is that he presents the legal issues without even hinting that he thinks […]
Copenhagen on $2,200 a Day
CBS News has been reporting on what the government spent to send over twenty members of Congress, along with staff, spouses, and others, to the Copenhagen climate conference, and what they’ve uncovered isn’t pretty. More here.
Worst ConLaw Movie Ever?
Gerald Magliocca thinks the worst constitutional law movie ever is Tennessee Johnson. Is he right? I’m not sure what’s the best (or worst) ConLaw movie, but a few years back I identified what could be the best CrimPro Exam Fact Pattern song lyric (and that song apparently prompted some Harvard law students to write a […]
Supreme Court on the Kindle
I received an Amazon Kindle over the holidays, and I like it quite a bit. I’ve downloaded lots of free books and reference materials, in addition to some current reads. One disappointment I have is that many legal books I would like to download, such as Akhil Reed Amar’s America’s Constitution: A Biography, are not […]
Liptak on Stevens — A Minor Error and Not-So-Minor Omission
I was not particularly bothered by Adam Liptak’s highly favorable treatment of Justice Stevens in the NYT article David highlights below. Justice Stevens appears to be nearing the end of a long, honorable, and important tenure on the Court. He’s entitled to the occasional puff piece. I was struck less by the uncritical nature of […]
California’s Public Employee Pension Problem
I have not been following the details of California’s budget problems all that closely, but I was struck by the following passages in a Steven Greenhut op-ed from the WSJ: Approximately 85% of the state’s 235,000 employees (not including higher education employees) are unionized. As the governor noted during his $83 billion budget roll-out, over […]
Sunday Song Lyric
I am a huge Bob Mould fan. From Husker Du and Sugar through his solo work. His first solo album, Workbook, is one of my all time favorites. It’s filled with great songs. Here’s a taste of “Wishing Well.” Wishing well runs wet and dry I wish for things I never had Surrounds and wells […]
Bainbridge, et al. on Citizens United and Corporate Personhood
For those interested in the corporate personhood issue, Professor Bainbridge has several posts on the matter: Citizens United v FEC: The First Amendment Rights of Corporate “Persons” Citizens United, Corporate Personhood, and Nexus of Contracts Theory Citizens United v. FEC: Stevens’ Pernicious Version of the Concession Theory See also this post by Larry Ribstein at […]
Ending Judicial Nomination Fights
“Tit-for-tat” has produced a downward spiral of increased politicization and obstruction of judicial nominations. Now that Senate Democrats have lost their super-majority in the Senate — and have learned that even a super-majority does not guarantee quick confirmation — perhaps there is an opportunity for Republicans and Democrats to reach an accommodation over judicial nominations. […]