In the past few days there has been speculation that President Obama would name Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren to be the interim head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) created by the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation. What did Senator Chris Dodd think of this? TPMDC reports: In dismissing the rumor last night, […]
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
Is Koran-Burning Protected by the First Amendment?
In a recent interview with ABC News, Justice Breyer questioned whether burning a Koran would necessarily be protected by the First Amendment. Some excerpts: “Holmes said [the First Amendment] doesn’t mean you can shout ‘fire’ in a crowded theater,” Breyer told me. “Well, what is it? Why? Because people will be trampled to death. And […]
When the Innocent Confess
Do innocent suspects ever confess to crimes? Yes, and sometimes with extensive detail about the crime. How could this happen, short of police coercion? The NYT reports on research by UVa law professor Brandon Garrett on the question. New research shows how people who were apparently uninvolved in a crime could provide such a detailed […]
Re: The First Part of ObamaCare to Go?
I asked the question yesterday. Today Politico reports: “For the first time, the White House is asking Congress to amend the finished health care overhaul. The Obama administration Monday urged senators to scale back a tax reporting requirement in the health care law.” Specifically, Secretaries Tim Geithner and Kathleen Sebelius wrote to the Senate leadership in […]
The Father of American Politics
James Madison is often referred to as the father of the American Constitution. In a WSJ op-ed, Richard Brookhiser suggests Madison should also be regarded as “the father of American politics as we know it.” His essay concludes: James Madison helped build a republic. He was also an ambitious party activist who counted votes, stumped, […]
The First Part of ObamaCare to Go?
The NYT reports on growing bipartisan support for repealing one of the tax provisions contained in the health care reform legislation. To improve compliance, the law requires businesses to file a 1099 tax form identifying anyone to whom they pay $600 or more for goods or merchandise in a year. Businesses will also have to […]
Sunday Song Lyric
Live’s “Overcome” was not written as a 9/11 anthem, but it became one for many anyway. It was written before the attack, and appeared on Live’s mediocre “experimental” V, released in September 2001. In the wake of the World Trade Center’s collapse, the song struck a chord. Here’s the first verse: Even now the world is […]
Kagan’s Recusals
By Jonathan H. Adler on September 10, 2010 2:39 pm in Judicial Nominations, Kagan Nomination, Supreme Court
This week, Justice Elena Kagan “quietly recused herself” from ten more cases to be heard by the Supreme Court during the OT 2010 term, BLT reports. This means Justice Kagan has now recused in twenty-one cases, just over half of the forty cases accepted by the Court for the coming term. The high recusal rate […]
Tattoos as Speech
Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in Anderson v. City of Hermosa Beach, struck down a local ban on tattoo parlors on the grounds that tattooing is “purely expressive activity fully protected by the First Amendment.” This opinion conflicts with several district court and state court decisions that have upheld local […]
Judge Strikes Down “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
A federal district court judge in California has held that the military’s policy of prohibiting openly gay members of the military, known as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” is unconstitutional. Here’s a link to the decision (courtesy of How Appealing) and reports from the Los Angeles Times and the AP.
Justice Sotomayor at CWRU
Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor came to Case Western Reserve University today for a Q&A session with students at the School of Law. The private event was well attended by 400-plus students, and Justice Sotomayor spent over an hour fielding their questions on a wide variety of legal subjects. I was fortunate enough to attend, though […]
Labor Versus Clean Energy
Today the United Steelworkers filed a complaint alleging that China is unfairly (and illegally) subsidizing clean energy exports, such as wind turbines and solar panels. China has become one of the world’s largest producers of such technologies, but the Steelworkers allege it has gained market share through unfair trade practices. The Obama Administration has 45 […]
Carp Czar
No, that’s not a typo. The White House has appointed an “carp czar.” More precisely, the President named John Goss, former director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, as director of the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee, and intergovernmental group working to reduce the threat Asian carp pose to the Great Lakes ecosystem. Meanwhile, […]
Lawfare!
Lawfare is not just the name of a great new national security law blog, it’s also the subject of a conference this Friday at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Details, including information on viewing the webcast, here. UPDATE: Thoughts on “lawfare” and “Lawfare!” by Jack Goldsmith at Lawfare.
The Polarization of Supreme Court Clerks
Adam Liptak reports on the apparent polarization of Supreme Court clerks. According to Liptak, Supreme Court justices increasingly hire only those who clerked for judges who share their ideological disposition. Justices appointed by Democratic presidents hire those who clerked for lower court judges appointed by Democratic presidents and justices appointed by Republican presidents hire those […]