Archive | Uncategorized

Apropos today’s Supreme Court decision to hear the D.C. Second Amendment case, I thought I’d post the final version of my “Necessary to the Security of a Free State,” 83 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1 (2007), which is forthcoming in a week or two. Here’s the Introduction (materially changed from the earlier version I posted […]

What is Justice Kennedy likely to do in the Second Amendment case the Court has granted?   As a general rule, Justice Kennedy tends to construe the Bill of Rights so its protections apply broadly but often yield to competing interests. If the question is whether a constitutional protection applies in an abstract sense to a […]

Two publications (Science and Cell) published papers today showing that scientists have succeeded in reprogramming human adult cells to behave much like human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Following on findings published several months using mouse rather than human cells, the researchers responsible for today’s results were able to spur the reprogramming by inserting four genes […]

1. Since the enactment of the 1976 D.C. ban on handguns and on home self-defense with any gun, handgun bans have been almost universally rejected by the American body politic. Indeed, 45 states now have laws to prevent the local enactment of laws like the D.C. ban. (Court, capital and handgun. Ft. Worth Star-Telegram.) Accordingly, […]

Yow! Here’s the story. My quick research seems to confirm that the military does have this sort of policy, on the theory that the bonus is an advance payment for a full term of service and the soldier isn’t entitled to keep it unless he completes the full term — even when the failure to […]

Since the Second Amendment is even more in the news today than usual, I thought I’d repost a link to my Sources on the Second Amendment, a Web page that includes: The text of related contemporaneous right-to-bear-arms provisions Calls for the right to keep and bear arms from state ratification conventions “The right of the […]

is now online; for more on the matter, see here.

This was expected, but is still big news. The reformulated Question Presented is pretty specific: “Whether the following provisions — D.C. Code secs. 7-2502.02(a)(4), 22-4504(a), and 7-2507.02 — violate the Second Amendment rights of individuals who are not affiliated with any state-regulated militia, but who wish to keep handguns and other firearms for private use […]

November 8: Michael Mukasey is confirmed as Attorney General of the United States. November 19: The Justice Department announces that Rachel Paulose, the highly controversial U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, is stepping down.   Eric Black seems to have the inside scoop on the dynamics inside the U.S. Attorney’s Office leading up to the […]

You can find defenses of Ron Paul from my criticisms here, here, here, here, and here. Unfortunately, the authors mostly engage in juvenile rhetorical antics, and none of them manage to address my central point: why does Rep. Paul’s campaign find it so difficult to simply issue a statement in Paul’s name that he neither […]

A very interesting new report from the U.S. Department of Justice, though limited to the top 75 largest counties (and covering 1990-2004). An example of the kind of data you can find: When the most serious arrest charge was murder, 45% were denied bail, and 35% were required to provide bail of $50,000 or more; […]

Federal Appellate Judicial Clerks 2008 reports some very interesting data about federal appellate clerkships. Note that the site has information only about 452 clerkships, and between active judges (165, with 3 or 4 clerks each) and senior judges (104, with 0 to 3 clerks each, I think), there are considerably more jobs out there than […]

Like David Bernstein, I doubt I will pick a particular presidential candidate to support. In my view, assessing candidates is a far more difficult business than many people seem to suppose. In looking over the candidate’s record, it’s necessary to separate out those positions that he or she took because of genuine commitment from those […]

You’ve probably heard of the “Chicago School” of legal thought. But did you know that there is also a “Maryland perspective” on the law? In today’s Baltimore Sun, the editors support the decision of Maryland Senators Mikulski and Cardin to block the judicial nomination of the current U.S. Attorney for Maryland, Rod Rosenstein, to the […]

from the 70 Columbia Professors’ statement criticizing Lee Bollinger; here’s the 61 professors’ statement: Statement of Dissent From CU-FAC Statement A group of faculty members in the Arts and Sciences has been circulating for signature a “statement of concern” to be presented to the Arts and Sciences Faculty meeting on November 13. The main accusation […]