Author Archive | Todd Zywicki

Very nice piece on one of my top choices for the Court, Alice Batchelder of the 6th Circuit. Even if she doesn’t get the nod, I think this is a nice piece that captures not only Judge Batchelder’s intellect, experience, and work ethic, but also her genuine goodness and thoughtfulness as a person and a […]

Judge Michael Luttig is generally perceived and described as more “conservative” than Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III. Thus, I was surprised to read this tidbit in a Washington Post article this weekend: In a 2002 article in Judicature, published by the nonpartisan American Judicature Society, three political scientists compared Luttig’s recent opinions with those of […]

Last week Conglomerate tossed up the question of what should be recommended reading for incoming law students. I’ll toss up one now that is sure to be right up Conglomerate’s alley (as well as Bainbridge and Ribstein)–what business books would you recommend to law students who want to learn more about business and the “deals” […]

Sean Sirrine rounds-up the latest SCOTUS appointment odds from the various gambling houses around the world. As others have noted, these markets seem to be quite unreliable and thinly traded. BetUS, for instance, has Miguel Estrada at 3 to 1, which seems somewhat implausible. Update: Sean Sirrine says that these markets work good enough for […]

In response to the Supreme Court’s decision striking down New York’s discriminatory ban on interstate direct-shipment of wine, Governor George Pataki this week signed a new law legalizing interstate direct shipment of wine. The law takes effect in 30 days. The AP story is here. The story reports that Michigan, the other state involved in […]

In response to a rapid increase in childrens’ obesity rates over the past two decades, some politicians and interest groups have called for a ban on food advertising directed at children on the argument that such advertising has contributed to the children’s obesity problem. A new study by Federal Trade Commission staff reported yesterday, however, […]

I’ve Tivo’ed a number of recent programs on Winston Churchill recently, and have noted that he had a remarkable gift of showing leadership and building solidarity through the use of humor in times of crisis, i.e., WWII. He would often sort of poke fun at Hitler and the Nazi and thereby cut them down to […]

An amicus brief is being prepared to be filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of law students and law professors urging the reversal of the Third Circuit’s opinion in FAIR v. Rumsfeld. The brief will be filed in support of the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment. The brief is authored by my colleagues Nelson […]

Chicago Tribune has a story today about liberal Republicans joining with some Democrats to express their views on a proper Supreme Court nominee. According to the story, as a result of opposition from liberal Republicans, Edith Jones is reported to be “no longer under serious” consideration for the vacancy. As for the idea expressed in […]

Via Powerline, Professor Jonathan Turley comments on Supreme Court nomination politics and offers some advice to Senator Reid and the Democratic Party.

I received this email from a reader: Prof., I have yet to encounter articles on the desirability of Fed budget deficits. Today’s [Wednesday’s] news states that due to increased tax revenue, the Fed deficit this year was reduced $100 B, but is still at $338 B. This in conjunction with a story I saw in […]

A week or so ago, I posted on Ben Adler’s New Republic story interviewing conservative pundits on various questions related to the theory of evolution, intelligent design theory, and the teaching of both. In that post, I took for granted that Adler had reported the answers accurately, but now I’m not so sure. Mike Rappaport […]

I have long been interested in the great Bobby Jones and have wanted to learn more about him, especially after working at his old firm, Alston & Bird, out of law school (the firm was formed from the merger of Jones, Bird, & Howell and Alston, Miller & Gaines). Especially cool was the “Jones Conference […]

To quote Monty Python. Tom Smith has the sad truth here. An excerpt: A voice, crying in the wilderness, and then just crying By Tom Smith I just got some new data back from Lexis, with whom I am engaged in a massive citation study, but that’s another story. This data concerns law review articles […]

Yoi and Double Yoi! Forget O’Connor–how did I miss the news that the legendary Steelers announcer Myron Cope retired? And I was looking forward to a few more years of him trying to pronounce “Roethlisberger.”