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  Not sure whether that’s right, but, hey, “Think with the learned, and speak with the vulgar.”

A tangent from a statement by Senator Durbin, in the Judiciary Committee meeting ($) on the Mukasey confirmation: Judge Mukasey told me, quote, “Based on my own study, I believe the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to keep and bear arms,” end of quote. Thanks to David Codrea for the pointer.

Here’s an e-mail that was just forwarded to me by someone I know; I have no reason to doubt its authenticity, though if there is any mistake, please let me know. Rule #9 appears to be quoted accurately. November 9, 2007 Dear fellow WGAW members, I’m …, Chair of the newly-formed WGA West Strike Rules […]

Yesterday, California sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to rule quickly enough on the Golden State’s request for a waiver of Clean Air Act preemption of its greenhouse gas emission standards for new motor vehicles sold in the state. The state’s complaint is here. As a legal matter, there is not much to […]

The Washington City Paper has this provocative article on attorney temping. An excerpt:   For more and more law school graduates, this is the legal life: On a given day, they may plow through a few hundred documents—e-mails, PowerPoint presentations, memos, and anything else on a hard drive. Each document appears on their computer screen. They […]

Occasionally I hear people ask this question. Criminal prosecution for speech of course involves the government prosecuting and imprisoning or fining someone; injunctions of speech involve a court order barring speech; but when one individual sues another, is that really “state action” that’s governed by the First Amendment? Why isn’t it like a private employer […]

Rick Hasen explains why Stephen Colbert’s satirical candidacy, however funny, “raises some serious questions about the appropriate role of corporate money in the election process.

by a vote of 53-40. News story here.

This Working Paper, for which comments are solicited, examines the strengths and weaknesses of some leading Christian pacifist religious philosophers. The Article suggests that some intellectual arguments for pacifism are logically solid (once certain premises are granted), while others have serious flaws. The article discusses five influential philosophical advocates of non-violence Thomas Merton, Stanley Hauerwas, […]

So here’s an odd one.   Two years ago, Senior United States District Judge Robert Propst spent over two months preparing for and trying a complicated criminal case against polluters for polluting “navigable waters” under the Clean Water Act. On appeal following conviction, the Eleventh Circuit reversed Judge Propst in light of the Supreme Court’s intervening […]

If the winner of the “Best Law Blog” poll has to buy a consolation round for the runner-up bloggers, it looks like the answer is “yes.” Meanwhile, my favorite comment about this poll comes from Brian Leiter: [I]t’s a pretty silly affair. Even though the Volokh bloggers have been begging their readers (of whom, based […]

Yesterday the House passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The vote was 235-184, with 35 Republicans in favor and 25 Democrats against. It’s the first time either house of Congress has ever passed a gay civil-rights bill. Ted Kennedy is expected to introduce ENDA in the Senate soon. Some Senate Republicans are predicting it has a […]

Marty Lederman on Higazy: What was the justification for the court “sealing” Higazy’s allegations in the first instance? I am aware of no doctrine in law, or other policy, that permits the FBI or any other law-enforcement or intelligence agency to prevent individuals from describing how they were treated by our government. The fact that […]

In my last post about my paper, The Two Appointments Clauses: Statutory Qualifications for Federal Officers, I discussed the lack of a textual foundation for statutory qualifications within the Confirmation Appointments Clause. The Vested Appointments Clause, however, does appear to permit Congress to enact statutory qualifications. The textual reading here is pretty detailed, so it’s […]

Some are wondering whether the art market has peaked after a weak night at auction last night: High-profile impressionist paintings failed to sell at auction at Sotheby’s in New York prompting fears that art’s dizzy boom could be nearing an end. Works by Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Pierre-Auguste Renoir went unsold at Sotheby’s […]