Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler

The former scourge of the Clinton Administration, Judicial Watch, is sued by its founder. Details here.

The NYT “Room for Debate” blog has a set of essays on the “Buy America” provisions in the stimulus bill. There’s some good stuff in there, including the comments by economists Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Anne Kreuger noting that the provisions will cost more American jobs than they will save. The contribution by my Senator, […]

Via BLT, comes news that the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has just released three special master reports examining claims of a link between vaccines and autism. Each report examines an alleged case in which vaccination allegedly caused autism, and each finds the allegations wanting. different theory of causation, and each finds the theory wanting. […]

Marc Ambinder has an interesting post in which unnamed Obama Administration officials and national security law experts explain the Administration’s continued reliance on the state secrets privilege in the Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan case. Officials decided that it would be imprudent to reverse course so abruptly because they realized they didn’t yet have a full […]

David Luban has an interesting commentary on the Obama Administration’s decision to continue the assertion of state secrets privilege in Mohamed et al v Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc.. A taste: The state secrets privilege is the so-called “nuclear option” in litigation, which makes lawsuits against the government vanish without a trace by declaring unilaterally that all […]

Are radical reforms of the private health care system buried in the stimulus bill? Betsy McCaughey, whose 1994 cover story in The New Republic helped sink the Clinton Administration’s health care reforms, thinks so. In an opinion piece for Bloomberg, she writes: The bill’s health rules will affect “every individual in the United States.” Your […]

ABC News is reporting: The Obama Administration today announced that it would keep the same position as the Bush Administration in the lawsuit Mohamed et al v Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. The case involves five men who claim to have been victims of extraordinary rendition — including current Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohamed, another plaintiff in jail […]

Last week, Acting Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler filed a motion informing the Supreme Court that the federal government is no longer seeking review of New Jersey v. EPA, in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit invalidated the Bush Administration’s controversial mercury rule that sought to create a cap-and-trade system for mercury […]

The CQ “Legal Beat” blog reports that a Rhode Island man has already purchased the domain names www.elenakagan.com and www.soniasotomayor.com. Does he know something we don’t?

In United States v. Cuniff, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected a landowner challenge to federal jurisdiction. At issue was the scope of federal regulation under the Clean Water Act over privately owned wetlands after Rapanos v. United States. Assuming the Cuniff opinion paints an accurate picture of the relevant details, […]

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit decided United States v. Cundiff, a case arising out of Mulhlenberg County, Kentucky, concerning the scope of federal wetland regulations post-Rapanos. The wetlands at issue were a “festering eyesore,” according to the court, largely due to acidic runoff from an nearby abandoned mine site. […]

The AP reports: The United States will continue to hand foreign detainees over to other countries for questioning, but only with assurances they will not be tortured, Leon Panetta told a Senate committee considering his confirmation as CIA director. That has long been U.S. policy, but some former prisoners subjected to the process — known […]

Some commentators and trade experts have expressed concern that the “Buy American” provisions in the stimulus are not only wasteful, but potentially harmful in that they could be a prelude to greater protectionism, both here and abroad. For instance, last Saturday in the NYT, Douglas Irwin wrote: Steel industry lobbyists seem to have persuaded the […]

The AP reports that Goucher College professor Leopold Munyakazi was arrested for violating the conditions of his visa. [What, you were expecting someone else?] Munyakazi is accused of participating in the Rwandan genocide, charges he denies. Munyakazi is charged with murder and several genocide-related counts, according to a copy of an indictment provided by Munyakazi. […]

Very funny.