Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler

In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the American Film Institute has revised its list of the 100 greatest American films (reg. req’d). It has also compiled a series of other lists, including the 100 greatest movie songs. “Over the Rainbow” from the Wizard of Oz tops the list, and it is hard to quarrel with […]

Remember the FTC’s “Do Not Call” list? Well, individual listings expire after five years, so numbers will begin to drop off the list in 2008 if not renewed. The AP reports here.

I reviewed Roger A. Pielke, Jr.’s The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science and Policy in Politics in the summer issue of The New Atlantis. The review is now available on-line here. Pielke makes many interesting points in the course of his discussion of science politicization (and policy scientization), and the threat posed to science […]

On Sunday, economist Gregory Mankiw wrote a piece in the New York Times making the case for a “carbon tax.” Among other things, Mankiw discusses how a carbon tax could be adopted without imposing regressive tax burdens. [The] natural aversion to carbon taxes can be overcome if the revenue from the tax is used to […]

The America’s Future Foundation is sponsoring a search for the nation’s best college-age conservative or libertarian blogger. The contest is open to undergraduate and graduate student bloggers, ages 25 and younger. The winner will receive a grand prize of $10,000. The judges are Radley Balko (The Agitator), Robert Bluey (RobertBluey.com), Jonah Goldberg (NRO), Mary Katherine […]

We’re at the hospital, waiting for some test results. Doctors and nurses come in and out, monitors pulse and beep, the cuff inflates every fifteen minutes. It doesn’t look like Redheadlaw7 will deliver today, but Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work” still seems appropriate. Here’s a taste: I know you have a little life in you […]

Virginia has become the latest state to adopt the rule that landowners can be liable when trees on their property cause damage to neighboring properties. In the past, most states used the “Massachusetts rule,” which held that if a tree grew on your property but the branches hung into your neighbor’s yard, that neighbor could […]

The Washington Post ombudsman, Deborah Howell, investigates the reasons the Post and other papers refused to run two recent installments of Berke Breathed’s “Opus” comic strip. The purported justification was that the strips could be offensive to Muslims. Yet as Howell discovers, it does not seem that Muslims were offended. Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the […]

This week’s “Science Journal” column in the W$J (link for subscribers) reports on the interesting and provocative research of John Ioannidis, who argues that the results of most published scientific studies are wrong. Dr. Ioannidis is an epidemiologist who studies research methods at the University of Ioannina School of Medicine in Greece and Tufts University […]

The securities law case mentioned by Todd below, Stoneridge v. Scientific Atlanta is an extremely important case, probably the most important securities law case in the past decade. On Friday, October 5, the Center for Business Law & Regulation at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, in conjunction with the Federalist Society’s Corporate […]

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell fined New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick $500,000, and ordered the team to pay an additional $250,000 and lose one or more draft picks, for violations of league rules against taping an opposing team’s play signals. The Patriots will have to give up their first-round draft pick in 2008 if they […]

Pepperdine law professor Douglas Kmiec comments on UC Irvine’s disgraceful treatment of Erwin Chemerinsky in the LA Times. Here’s a taste: Erwin Chemerinsky is one of the finest constitutional scholars in the country. He is a gentleman and a friend. He is a gifted teacher. As someone who participates regularly in legal conferences and symposiums, […]

It seems pretty clear that the New England Patriots violated the NFL’s rules governing the use of video cameras in Sunday’s game against the New York Jets. Patriots coach Bill Belichick apologized for something today, but he did not say for what. He deferred giving any specifics until after NFL announces any potential sanctions. Among […]

Whether or not the President chooses to nominate Ted Olson as the next U.S. Attorney General, it appears he will not get the job. Earlier today Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised to block Olson’s confirmation if he is nominated. “He’s a partisan, and the last thing we need as an attorney general is a […]

The new issue of the ABA Journal presents a “scorecard” evaluating the Justice Department’s terrorism-related prosecutions. By the Journal‘s count, the DoJ has 31 wins, six losses and one tie. That is a better record that I would have guessed — even more so because the Journal counts a case as a “loss” if it […]