Via Paul Caron comes this story from USA Today about “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” an effort by 100 preachers around the country to challenge IRS rules that threaten churches with the loss of nonprofit status if they endorse candidates. The pastors will explicitly urge their congregations to support specific candidates in their sermons today. Given the […]
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
Administration Invokes State Secrets in Targeted Killing Case
The Washington Port reports the Justice Department “reluctantly” invoked the state secrets doctrine in seeking dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the alleged targeting of Anwar al-Aulaqi, a radical Islamic cleric (and U.S. citizen) believed to be in Yemen. Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that the groups are asking “a court to take the unprecedented […]
Lethal Injection with Nothing to Inject
There is a national shortage of one of the primary drugs used for lethal injections, thiopental sodium. Ohio only has enough of the drug for two more executions, at which point it will need to grant temporary reprieves or develop a new lethal injection protocol (which would, in turn, invite a new round of legal […]
Is Obama Complacent about Terrorism?
According to Bob Woodward’s new book, Obama’s Wars, President Obama seemed to suggest that a terrorist attack on the United States might not be a big deal. According to the Washington Post, the President remarked that “we can absorb a terrorist attack.” In an instant, a campaign-season talking point was born: The President does not […]
Lithwick on Conservatives’ View of the Law
In a scathing review of the new NBC drama, Outlaw, about an ethically challenged, conservative Supreme Court justice who resigns from the bench to seek social justice, Dahlia Lithwick describes “the Supreme Court conservatives’ view of the legal system” as “the law is an airless, mechanistic set of fixed rules that privilege those who write the […]
The Changing World of Securities Regulation
On October 8, the Center for Business Law and Regulation at Case Western Reserve University School of Law will be hosting a full-day symposium on “The Changing World of Securities Regulation.” The event features an incredible line-up of speakers, including SEC General Counsel David Becker, UVA Dean Paul Mahoney, law professors John Coffee (Columbia), Renee […]
Breyer’s Approach to the Constitution
Yesterday’s Washington Post has an interesting profile of Justice Stephen Breyer, keyed to the release of his new book, Making Our Democracy Work. “The court should reject approaches to interpreting the Constitution that consider the document’s scope and application as fixed at the moment of framing,” Breyer writes. “Rather, the court should regard the Constitution […]
Clunk (Again)
A new study confirms what many had concluded about the “cash for clunkers” program: It failed. Here’s the abstract: A key rationale for fiscal stimulus is to boost consumption when aggregate demand is perceived to be inefficiently low. We examine the ability of the government to increase consumption by evaluating the impact of the 2009 […]
Should Genetically Modified Salmon Be Labeled?
The Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to approve genetically modified salmon for human consumption. Aquabounty Technologies has submitted its “AquAdvantage” salmon, an Atlantic salmon genetically engineered to mature faster than wild salmon, for FDA approval. Thus far, things look good for Aquabounty, as the FDA’s staff review concluded that AquAdvantage salmon are as […]
Dirtier Dishes, Cleaner Lakes
The NYT reports on the mixed consumer reactions to “environmentally friendly,” low-phospate dishwashing detergents. Consumer produce manufacturers have begun selling low-phosphate detergents in response to laws in several states requiring product reformulation. The article also notes that the environmental benefits of reformulated products can depend on how consumers respond. Low-flow toilets don’t save as much […]
Sunday Song Lyric
The Kennedy Center will honor country legend Merle Haggard at the 33rd annual Kennedy Center honors this December. Now in his seventies, Haggard has had a remarkable — and remarkably influential — music career. Though he has a new album, I’d rather highlight one of his oldies, “The Bottle Let Me Down,” from 1966, a […]
Debating France’s Burqa Ban
Today’s WSJ has a debate between two members of its editorial board, Matthew Kaminski and Bret Stephens, over France’s decision to prohibit people from concealing their faces in public. The legislation is generally understood as a measure to prohibit women from wearing burqas with face veils in public. Stephens supports the measure (at least for […]
Cordray v. Fisher on the Constitutionality of ObamaCare
Today’s Constitution Day program at Case Western Reserve University is a debate on the constitutionality of health care reform between Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray and Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fisher. Indiana is among the states that have challenged the constitutionality of the program; Ohio is not. I’m liveblogging this event below the fold. I’ll […]
Elizabeth Warren to Get Advisory Appointment
ABCNews (among other news outlets) is reporting that President Obama will tap Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren to help get the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency off the ground, but is not (yet) planning to nominate her to head the new agency. President Obama will announce this week that Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard Law School […]
No Lomborg U-Turn on Climate
You read it here first, but in case there was any doubt, “skeptical environmentalist” Bjorn Lomborg appears in today’s WSJ explaining that he has not altered his views on the existence of climate change or whether it poses a serious environmental problem.