Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler

As Julian Ku notes on Opinio Juris, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s opinion in NRDC v. EPA has potentially important implications for the domestic implementation of international treaty commitments. Specifically, the D.C. Circuit panel held that the post-ratification consensus agreements reached by parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete […]

Some found last week’s song lyric “dreary, depressing, [and] disgusting” (or at least one commenter did). For a contrast, this week I settled on something quite different. At the other end of the emotional spectrum from Metallica are alt-pop bands like the Lightning Seeds, Ian Broudie’s somewhat-solo project that produced unalterably happy and infectuous — […]

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports here and here that the Department of Education has corrected the list of fields eligible for SMART Grants to include those fields that were “inadvertently omitted.”

Jim Chen defends his characterization of Justice Scalia’s dissent from denial of certiorari in Tangipahoa Parish Board of Education v. Freiler as “the most scientifically irresponsible passage in United States Reports.” The most serious efforts to defend Justice Scalia’s performance in Tangipahoa invariably deflect attention toward the seamier aspects of the Scopes trial. In a […]

What is “the most scientifically irresponsible passage in United States Reports“? According to Jim Chen it is “Justice Scalia’s gratuitous swipe at evolutionary biology” in his dissent from denial of certiorari in Tangipahoa Parish Board of Education v. Freiler. Drawing upon his article “Legal Mythmaking in a Time of Mass Extinctions: Reconciling Stories of Origins […]

In 1950, Harper & Brothers published The God that Failed, edited by Richard Crossman, a collection of essays by prominent writers explaining their rejection of Communism. The contributors were all literary giants of their time: Ignazio Siolne, Richard Wright, Arthur Koestler, Louis Fischer, Stephen Spender, and Andre Gide. Each essay chronicled the author’s initial commitment […]

Scientists, archaeologists, and others have begun examining the claims of Jared Diamond’s best-selling Collapse, and some are finding that many of his claims do not hold up to serious scrutiny. For example, Diamond claims that the collapse of the Rapa Nui on Easter Island provides “the clearest example of a society that destroyed itself by […]

The New York Times reports on the Education Department’s curious exclusion of evolutionary biology from the list of subjects eligible for SMART grants here. According to a Department spokesperson, the omission was inadvertent and would be restored to the list. Deven Desai comments on Concurring Opinions here.

Washington atorney David Remes and Ramesh Ponnuru rehash the debate over whether Senators Kyl and Graham, Justice Stevens, and others misrepresented the congressional debate over the Detainee Treatment Act on National Review Online.

An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required) reports that evolutionary biology is absent from a list of majors eligible for SMART Grants from the Department of Education under the Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent program. The omission is conspicuous because evolutionary biology is the only field classified by the Department […]

Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit holds that a federal agency may be obligated to “Google” someone before invoking their privacy interests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Specifically, if an agency relies upon the privacy interests of a private individual to deny a FOIA request, it must make a […]

Michael Berry and I analyze the implications of United States v. Rosen in this NRO column. Here’s the introduction: Can journalists be prosecuted for knowingly reporting classified information related to the War on Terror? What about Washington lobbyists who pass on secret information concerning defense matters or foreign affairs? Some would be inclined to say […]

Given the number of Sunday Song Lyrics I’ve posted since 2004, it seems a Bob Dylan lyric is long overdue. The only problem is selecting which one. He has written so many songs — and there are so many potential lyrics — that the prospect of singling out a single song for the Sunday lyric […]

At the request of some readers, here is an index of past Sunday Song Lyrics, including the first run of SSLs that I posted as Juan Non-Volokh in 2004 (and two stray lyrics from 2005). 2006 August 13 – Panic! at the Disco, Build God, Then We’ll Talk August 6 – Bowling for Soup, 1985 […]

A splintered en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously concluded that the Speech and Debate Clause does not require the dismissal of suits against Congressional offices filed under the Congressional Accountability Act. Judge Randolph delivered the opinion of the court and wrote an opinion joined by Chief Judge […]