Today’s Washington Post has a story about how some conservatives are waking up to the unintended consequences of efforts to keep potential terrorists and their supporters out of the country. Conservatives who supported President Bush’s reelection have joined liberal groups in expressing outrage over his administration’s broad use of anti-terrorism laws to reject asylum for […]
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
“The Precise Date” Justice Stevens “Plans to Retire”:
ABC News Jan Crawford Greenburg, author of a forthcoming book on the Supreme Court, told Howard Bashman that Justice Stevens told her “the precise date he plans to retire.” For whatever reason, this claim has not received more attention or engendered greater uninformed speculation. UPDATE: Yes, this is probably a joke . . . but […]
America “Ununited” When It Comes to Weather:
Today’s NYT has an interesting story on how different parts of the United States can experience quite different weather extremes at the same time, and how this may influence American perspectives on climate change. Western Europe often experiences extremes of weather in a uniform way, as when a catastrophic summer heat wave in 2003 in […]
Dilbert’s Doubts on Torture:
Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams writes in the Washington Post that he used to believe torture could be an effective interrogation tool, but now he has doubts. If torture is not more effective than available alternatives, he argues, we need not debate whether it can be justified, as the answer would always be no. The burden […]
Sunday Song Lyric:
As I’ve noted before (though it hardly needs mentioning), songs about drugs are nothing new. Marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and LSD have all appeared and influenced classic song lyrics, but what about antidepressants or other modern pharmeceuticals? Are there (m)any great lyrics about Prozac? Lithium’s made at least two notable appearances in contemporary music. Nirvana scored […]
Big Environmental Grant:
Yesterday the Supreme Court granted cert in another significant environmental law case — actually two combined cases, National Association of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife and EPA v. Defenders of Wildlife — concerning the extent to which the Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires federal agencies to avoid actions that could harm endangered species when […]
U.S. News Measurements of Post-Grad Outcomes:
My colleague (and one-time VC guest bloger), Andrew Morriss has co-authored an interesting new paper with William Henderson on U.S. News‘ use of post-graduation criteria in its annual law school rankings. This aspect of the rankings, which include employment rates, average salaries, and bar passage, account for 20 percent of a school’s overall rank, and […]
More on Indiana Voter ID Decision:
Rick Hasen discusses the 7th Circuit’s decision upholding Indiana’s photo ID law here. See also here, and the AP story here. Hoawrd Bashman rounds up more news covereage here.
The Democratic Trade Agenda:
Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), the incoming Finance Committee Chair, has an op-ed in today’s W$J outlining his vision of “A Democratic Trade Agenda.” Is it a good one? That’s hard to tell. Here’s a taste: At a time when our country’s competitive strength depends increasingly on an aggressive trade policy, Americans are far less willing […]
Indiana Voting Law Upheld:
Today, in Crawford v. Marion County Voting Board, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit rejected a constitutional challenge to Indiana’s new photo ID requirement for voting. Writing for himself and Judge Diane Sykes, Judge Richard Posner held that the photo ID requirment did not impose an undue burden […]
Prop 2 & U.S. News:
How will the passage of Proposition 2 in Michigan impact the University of Michigan’s U.S. News ranking? Some interesting speculation from Michael Dimino and Alfred Brophy.
EPA Library Closures Update:
Last fall I posted on the Environmental Protection Agency’s plans to shutter its regional libraries. In the intervening months, it appears the EPA has moved forward with its plans, despite growing criticism and the concerns of the incoming Congressional leadership. Among those who have challenged the plans are library associations, EPA professional staff, and environmentalist […]
NYT Discovers “Middle” Ground on Climate:
On New Year’s Day, the New York Times published an interesting (if long overdue) article pointing out that there is much more to the climate change policy discussions than a debate between “believers” and “heretics.” Now, article author Andrew Revkin claims, there is a “third stance” emerging that “challenges both poles of the debate.” They […]
We’re Not Ready; Are You?
A new emergency preparedness study released by the Department of Homeland Security reports that Cleveland is among the worst-prepared metropolitan areas in the nation, at least with regard to emergency communication systems. The study, released today, evaluated the interoperable communications capabilities in 75 metropolitan areas. What’s Cleveland’s problem? Apparently Cuyahoga County lacks a countywide communications […]
Interrogation Law Is a Secret:
The Senate Judiciary Committee would like details on what the Justice Department considers to be the legal limits on coercive interrogation techniques (i.e. where harsh-but-permissible interrogation techniques end and torture or otherwise illegal conduct begins). The Justice Department says no dice. Regardless of one’s views of the proper limits of legal interrogation, this should be […]