Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler

Bill Henderson ponders whether law schools are preparing their students — or themselves — for the future. As with so much that Henderson writes, it’s a must read for those concerned about legal education. UPDATE: More from Blog Emperor Paul Caron here.

Recent articles in the National Law Journal, Daily Jorunal, and New York Times, highlight the Roberts Court’s record in environmental cases during the October 2008 term. All three articles note that the side favored by environmentalist groups lost in all five environmental cases heard by the Supreme Court this past term. This fact has also […]

So what ended up in the Waxman-Markey climate bill? Kevin Williamson and Stephen Spruiell look under the hood of this climate policy vehicle. The cap-and-trade legislation sparked a special-interest feeding frenzy — and this is precisely what we should have expected. As I’ve argued before, a cap-and-trade regime for greenhouse gases is more vulnerable to […]

Professor Scott Shane of CWRU’s Weatherhead School of Management cites evidence that entrepreneurial activity is declining in the United States. The number of employer firms created annually has declined significantly since 1990, and the numbers of businesses created and those claiming to be self-employed have declined as well. Most Americans would like to believe that […]

The WSJ reports that the hard push for renewable power in California could produce near-term power shortages, particularly in the even the California economy rebounds any time soon. California’s utilities are barreling ahead to try to meet a state mandate to garner 33% of their power from renewable sources by 2020, and some officials are […]

On Monday, Benjamin Wittes and Jack Goldsmith had an op-ed in the Washington Post arguing that the Obama Administration should not replicate the Bush Administration’s executive unilateralism in national security policy. Obama, to put it bluntly, seems poised for a nearly wholesale adoption of the Bush administration’s unilateral approach to detention. The attraction is simple, […]

The WSJ reports the cost of taxpayer funded trips by members of Congress has been increasing dramatically. Costs are up 50 percent since the Democrats took control of Congress in 2007; up 70 percent since 2005, when a ban on lobbyist-funded travel was imposed, and have tripled since 2001.

Douglas Kmiec, who served in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel during two Republican Administrations and headed up the legal advisory team for Mitt Romney’s presidential bid, will be named the Ambassador to Malta. After Romney withdrew from the presidential race, Kmiec threw his support behind Barack Obama and has since defended many of […]

The Judicial Council of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which was charged with reviewing the judicial misconduct complaint against Judge Alex Kozinski of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, has concluded its investigation. The council’s opinion admonished Kozinski for poor judgment, but noted that he acknowledged his mistake […]

It’s somewhat predictable. Another Supreme Court term ends, and commentators make sweeping generalizations based upon the result in a handful of cases. Thus, pundits proclaimed the arrival of a conservative revolution after the October 2006 Term, only to mount a hasty retreat after the October 2007 term failed to follow the script. Wednesday’s Washington Post […]

Lyle Denniston thinks it might be. I raised this issue (although before cert was granted in the Briscoe case) in a post yesterday morning.

It appears confirmation of Cass Sunstein to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at OMB will be held up because Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) is concerned about Sunstein’s embrace of certain animal rights arguments. The Hill reports: Chambliss worries that Sunstein

It appears so (at least insofar as not having two Senators is a “nightmare” and the U.S. Supreme Court declines to enter the fray). [OOPS. I see now that Eugene beat me to this.]

Jack Balkin ponders what may account for the Roberts Court’s “sudden minimalist turn.” It’s an interesting post, but I reject Balkin’s premise. There’s nothing “sudden” about the Roberts Court’s minimalism. Rather, a conservative minimalism has been the defining characteristic of the Roberts Court and, as a general matter, of the two newest justices. In this […]

The Supreme Court has set Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission for reargument in September — before the next term of the Court begins. So it would seem to be the last case of the October 2008 term. Yet unless the Justices turn it around super-quickly, the decision will be handed down during the October […]