Author Archive | Todd Zywicki

Here’s something that hadn’t previously caught my eye about the fallout from the Summers episode (from the Harvard Crimson): Part of the money will fund 40 new faculty appointments over the next five years “with priority given to the hiring of women and underrepresented minorities,” according to the report from the Task Force on Women […]

Last week I discussed the important new FTC Report that was released studying the causes of high gas prices. One of the factors discussed at length there was that of wide variance in fuel standards across the country, which creates varying fuel reformulation mixtures for different regions of the country. These different fuel standards can […]

Donald Lambro reports on legislative responses to Kelo in Washington and around the country: Fueled by mounting grass-roots anger over the high court’s 5-4 decision last month in the Kelo v. New London eminent-domain case, several state legislatures are expected to act on some kind of statutory ban before year’s end and more are expected […]

The Legal Times has an informative story digging into some of the cases decided by several of the Circuit Judges thought to be on the “short list.” (The link is in the Law.com newswire in the little box to the right under “Who Do Conservatives Want for the High Court?”).

Since I’m in the mood, one more good oral argument exchange in a different case. The case is on appeal because the plaintiff’s case was dismissed because his lawyer failed to file his expert witness list by the deadline set by the court. As a result, the court refused to admit expert testimony on behalf […]

Eugene’sOrin’s post on disastrous oral arguments (make sure you listen all the way to the end) reminds me of an oral argument that I observed while clerking: JUDGE: Counsel, your brief does not comply with this Court’s rule requiring one-inch page margins. COUNSEL: Your honor, I believe it does. JUDGE: I don’t think so. COUNSEL: […]

“Sunny days ahead for GOP as population shifts south.” But if it gets too hot in Georgia…

This guy thinks so: Eric Laverriere, 25, of Portland, Maine, was taken into protective custody by Waltham police and locked in a cell for nine hours until the effects of the alcohol wore off. Legal experts said his lawsuit, filed this week in U.S. District Court in Boston, is the first to challenge a state […]

Remember how Arlo Guthrie advised that you could get out of the military by “singin a bar of Alice’s Restaurant”? He forgot to mention the more obvious approach to avoiding the military–eatin at the counter of Alice’s Restaurant. From Michael Fumento’s column today: Even national defense is threatened. With Iraq already straining enlistment efforts, nearly […]

Law professor and FEC Chairman Brad Smith describes his fractious relationship with Sen. John McCain (from the Washington Times): Smith and McCain Bradley Smith is leaving Washington with a few words in regard to Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who opposed Mr. Smith’s appointment to the Federal Election Commission five years ago. Mr. Smith, […]

Apropos of judicial confirmations and predicting future judicial philosophy (as well as my post the other day on Bruce Ackerman’s characterization of Justice Souter as a “moderate conservative”), I received this email from a professor of property law: I’m writing in connection with your post and your article about Justice Souter not being a “moderate […]

Interesting observation by the head of the American Farmland Trust that Kelo may have an unexpected negative effect on conservation of open space: “With so much farmland on the urban edge and near cities still in steep decline, ex-urban towns could be tempted by this ruling to make farmland available for subdivisions.” The story on […]

The Chief answering questions on whether he’ll retire. (HT Drudge).

Given the subject matter of Eugene’s last three posts, is anyone else wondering whether maybe he needs to get a babysitter for the kids and have a nice romantic evening out with the wife?

I have become increasingly frustrated with the infatuation of many conservatives with “intelligent design” theory. Ben Adler has a series of Q&A sesssions with various conservative plenipotentiaries on The New Republic web site on the topic of evolution and intelligent design. While some of them acquit themselves well (by my subjective assessment), others do not. […]