Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler

The Politico reports on a curious addition to the Obama transition personnel questionnaire for potential appointees to the new Administration. Tucked in at the end of the questionnaire and listed under “Miscellaneous,” it reads: “Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? If so, provide complete ownership and registration information. Has […]

Why let the Norm Coleman and Al Franken campaigns have all the fun. Thanks to Minnesota Public Radio, you can look at pictures of actual ballots cast in the Minnesota Senate race and vote on whether you think they contain votes that should be counted. In case you think it relevant, here is the Minnesota […]

South Carolina governor Mark Sanford writes in the WSJ that the federal government should not bail out state and local governments pinched by the current economic crisis. Whatever one’s view of the financial bailout measures enacted thus far, Sanford argues, allocating additional funds to state and local governments rewards behavior, such as unconstrained spending increases, […]

The other big ballot proposition news from California this year was the passage of Proposition 2, requiring more humane confinement conditions for farm animals, particularly chickens, pregnant pigs, and calves raised for veal. The full impact of the measure is a bit unclear, but could be quite significant, and not just for chickens. One VC […]

Yesterday, Judge Gilbert Merritt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit wrote quite a fiery dissent in Davie v. Mitchell, suggesting that the Court was effectively overruling Miranda v. Arizona. The majority in this case is reading the AEDPA statute unlawfully to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in violation of the […]

A former colleague passes along this gem of a story: Arizona State University student Alex Botsios said he had no problem giving a nighttime intruder his wallet and guitars. When the man asked for Botsios’ laptop, however, the first-year law student drew the line. “I was like, ‘Dude, no — please, no!” Botsios said. “I […]

I first heard a song by The Cure some twenty-five years ago — and apparently they’re still going. Robert Smith & Co. have just released their 13th studio album, 4:13 Dream, and it appears to be getting good reviews. I haven’t heard The Cure’s new stuff, but I’m still a fan of the old. “Boys […]

Politico reports that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may be “too controversial” a pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Some energy and environmental lobbyists are worried that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Deborah Howell, the Washington Post‘s ombudsman, assesses the paper’s campaign coverage: The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are […]

The Phoenix Buisness Journal reports that Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) warned that he would attempt to filibuster any Supreme Court nominations that he deemed too liberal. Kyl, Arizona

David Hoffman at Concurring Opinions ponders why so many law professors (particularly those of us who blog) assume that they (we?) have the ability to offer interesting and worthwhile political commentary. Among other things, he thinks law professor bloggers have drawn “the wrong lesson from their students’ willingness to write down every word they say.” […]

On Tuesday, while the rest of us were focused on the election, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a fascinating opinion. In Emergency Coalition to Defend Educational Travel v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Court unanimously rejected constitutional and statutory challenges to federal regulations limiting academic study abroad programs held […]

It is not often that a federal appellate judge criticizes the litigation strategy employed by a party before the court. It is also not very often that a party reverses its position in the midst of litigation after prevailing in its initial position. Yet that is what APCC Services appears to have done, much to […]

Representative Jeff Flake (R-AZ) lays out an agenda for House Republicans seeking direction after yesterday’s defeats. I suggest that we return to first principles. At the top of that list has to be a recommitment to limited government. After eight years of profligate spending and soaring deficits, voters can be forgiven for not knowing that […]

Politico reports that President-elect Barack Obama is considering Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the post of Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. A prior report suggested RFK was an early candidate for Secretary of the Interior. Tapping RFK Jr. for either post would be a profound mistake, and would almost certainly provoke a bitter confirmation […]