CrimProfBlog has posted a profile of Iowa lawprof Stephanos Bibas, one of the (if not the) best young criminal law scholars teaching today. You can access copies of his terrific and plentiful legal scholarhip here.
Author Archive | Orin Kerr
Federalism For Liberals:
Weighing in on today’s oral argument in Raich v. Ashcroft, the editorial page of The New York Times has balanced its contempt for the War on Drugs against its loathing of States’ Rights and reached a middle ground: the Supreme Court should rule that Congress lacks the power to punish medical marijuana in this case, […]
George Will on Filibusters:
From his Newsweek column, brought to my attention via Howard: The filibuster is an important defense of minority rights, enabling democratic government to measure and respect not merely numbers but also intensity in public controversies. Filibusters enable intense minorities to slow the governmental juggernaut. Conservatives, who do not think government is sufficiently inhibited, should cherish […]
Civil Liberties and the [French] War on Terror:
According to today’s New York Times, People . . . can be imprisoned [merely] for association with terrorists; a woman has been in jail for nearly a year awaiting trial on charges of knowing of a plot by her son, who is still under investigation. Haven’t heard about this case? Thinking of calling your Congressman? […]
High Speed Tax Evader:
An amusing story about a tax protestor with a fast car, a cell phone, and no sense of perspective. (Link: the brand new Academically Taxing, hosted by lawprof Clarissa Potter)
Al-Arian Terrorism Suppression Motions:
In the Middle District of Florida, pre-trial motions are flying in the terrorism prosecution of former professor Sami Al-Arian. The AP has this report about some recent motions to suppress filed in the case, and Howard offers this helpful link to a site including lots of press coverage of the case. The Middle District of […]
Keylogging Devices And the Wiretap Act:
A district court judge in California recently held that installing a keylogging device on a personal computer connected to the Internet does not violate the Wiretap Act. For my explanation of the case, together with an explanation of why I think the opinion is incorrect, see this case summary.
Law Schools, Political Causes, and Exclusion:
Should law schools take sides on what they perceive as questions of justice and morality? Will Baude considers the dangers of doing so in a post you can access here. In my view, there are interesting parallels between this debate and Eugene’s recent posts on using religious views as the basis for political beliefs (see […]
Police Officers and Gut Feelings:
Ken Lammers has an excellent post on the topic. In particular, it’s a must-read for any criminal procedure students out there.
Affirmative Action For Men:
The L.A. Times offers this fascinating article on colleges and universities that are lowering admissions standards for men to achieve equal numbers of men and women in the student body. (Hat Tip: Pejman.) Kevin Drum offers some pointed comments; I would only add that the reactions of stalwarts on both sides of this debate should […]
The Riot Act:
Ever wanted to read someone the Riot Act? Apparently all you need to do is find a group of 12 or more people “tumultuously assembled” and declare the following (preferably with a British accent, of course): Our Sovereign Lord the King chargeth and commandeth all persons being assembled immediately to disperse themselves, and peaceably to […]
The Nationals:
It’s official; the Montreal Expos are going to be renamed the Washington Nationals.
Punishing Journalists For Not Revealing Sources:
New York Times reporter Judith Miller has been held in contempt of court for her refusal to identify to a grand jury the source of who leaked the identity of Valerie Plame, an undercover CIA agent. Press coverage of the story has focused heavily on the prospect that punishing Miller might have the unfortunate effect […]
Alan Sokal and the Social Text Parody:
In 1996, physics professor Alan Sokal published a parody article on the social construction of physics in the journal Social Text. It turns out that Sokal’s website has copies of the original article, the Lingua Franca article in which he came clean about his spoof, and other writings about the controversy both by Sokal and […]
In Case You Are Worried
that the VC’s affiliation with law.com will render us bland and colorless, here is a reminder that being part of the Conspiracy is all about taking on the Man. (Link: Howard)