Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler

Dealers in various states, including New York and New Mexico, have decided to withdraw from the “cash for clunkers” program due to delays in government reimbursements — and perhaps not a moment too soon, as the Department of Transportation announced the program would end Monday (two months early) because it’s again out of cash.

The BBC reports on important new research.

On Friday, in Oryszak v. Sullivan, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected a secret service agent’s challenge to the revocation of her security clearance, and consequent dismissal. Judge Ginsburg wrote the majority opinion, but also wrote a separate opinion arguing that a case’s lack of justiciability does not necessarily indicate a […]

Yesterday’s fishing on the lower Yellowstone River was for the birds. Despite favorable weather conditions, we caught very little. I did, however, snag this picture of a bald eagle perched in a tree along the river. The fishing on the upper Yellowstone was much better today. Casting hoppers all day, I caught browns, rainbows, and […]

I am currently in Bozeman, Montana. I did not come here to see the President. Rather, this past week I attended a conference for judges and law professors on Terrorism, Civil Liberty, and National Security, sponsored by the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment. The conference ended yesterday, so now I’m fishing. Today […]

Yale University Press has decided not to include controversial Danish cartoons depicting Muhammad in a book about the cartoons and the resulting controversy. Other depictions of Muhammad slated for inclusion in the book, The Cartoons that Shook the World, have also been pulled. The NYT reports: The book’s author, Jytte Klausen, a Danish-born professor of […]

Professor Bainbridge looks at the slippery slope potential of health care reform, and it quite concerned. The trouble is that slippery slopes in politics appear to obey the same laws of physics that control friction in real-world slopes; in both cases, it takes more energy to start something sliding than it does to keep it […]

AutoBlog reports that Motors Liquidation Co., the entity that assumed GM’s liabilities and unwanted assets in the automaker’s bankruptcy proceedings, assumed GM’s polluted sites, but does not have the money to pay for cleanup. Before bankruptcy, GM estimated it had $1.9 billion in environmental issues and litigation liabilites. Motors Liquidation Co., though, has only about […]

General Motors claims its new Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid will get a whopping 230 miles per gallon in city driving, over four times more than the current leader, the Toyota Prius. GM readily admits that the Volt will not perform as well in highway driving, when the vehicle will rely more on its engine on […]

For years the chemical industry has fought additional federal regulation. They argued that existing laws, such as the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) were sufficient. Now, however, it appears they’ve changed their tune. The Washington Post reports: For the first time, chemical manufacturers said they are willing to furnish the Environmental Protection Agency with health […]

The LA Times reports that Attorney General Eric Holder is now expected to appoint a prosecutor to look into the alleged abuse of detainees during interrogations. Specifically, the report suggests the prosecutor will be asked to examine the narrow question of whether CIA personnel and others exceeded the limits on interrogation techniques that were set […]

One of President Obama’s first acts as President was to sign legislation overturning the Supreme Court’s decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber and make it easier to file pay discrimination claims. As David Ingram reports, this may have been a sign of more to come, as Congressional Democrats are seeking to undo several […]

The Cato Institute’s David Rittgers explains one of the more disturbing aspects of the new federal “hate crimes” law passed by Congress. States and the federal government are considered separate sovereigns. If someone has broken both state and federal laws, he can have a day in court in both systems. . . . A trial […]

Does a homeowner’s live-in boyfriend or girlfriend have the “apparent authority” to consent to a warrantless search of the property? What if the live-in boyfriend/girlfriend had no key and had shown up at the police station the morning of the search claiming to have been “thrown out” of the house? Would it matter if the […]

The movies of John Hughes helped define a generation. I can still recite much of the dialog from “The Breakfast Club” and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” from memory (much to the chagrin of my family). He may have only directed eight films, but he wrote over three dozen. No longer. John Hughes died Thursday of […]