- Did U.K. high official use pending Leveson press inquiry to browbeat newspaper? [Telegraph via Volokh]
- Canadian blogger sued over speech by Richard Warman has a legal defense fund [Blazing Cat Fur via Instapundit, 2010 Mark Steyn]
- “Introduction To Irony: Or, How To Take A Joke 10” [Wendy Kaminer, WBUR]
- Meat industry ex-employee sues blogger who led “pink slime” campaign [Popehat, Lunch Tray/Bettina Siegel]
- 1958 ordinance still on books in Ormond Beach, Fla. prohibits distribution of publications “belittling the traditional American institutions or folkways” [Volokh]
- “We have to concede” a rhesus monkey could not beat Mme. Taitz in court battle [Lowering the Bar]
- Common Cause vs. First-Amendment-protected political speech, part umpteen [Hans Bader, CEI]
Archive for December, 2012
Best of 2012: February
- Relieved to hear this: “The Village Voice is giving up on a scheme to force rivals to pay for permission to use the phrase ‘best of.’“
- UN official: evicting homeless could violate international human rights.
- Class actions on behalf of men who hoped pheromones in soap would attract women.
- Because the best way to show that it’s Not About the Money is to ask for $200 million.
- Recent rehab history no bar to school-bus-driver employment.
- In Des Moines, the high cost of vindication: Acquitted, but homeless.
Robert Bork, R.I.P.
Ilya Shapiro salutes the distinguished judge for his revival of originalism, his resistance to Warren Court lunacies, and his single-handed transformation for the better of the field of antitrust. “The injustice and character assassination done against him in 1987 was a watershed moment that changed American history and government for the worse,” notes Ted Frank.
More: NYTimes obit; Roger Pilon; John Podhoretz, Commentary; Timothy Sandefur; Adam White, Commentary, on the 1987 Supreme Court confirmation fight a quarter-century later; my extremely critical review of Bork’s 1997 Slouching Toward Gomorrah; Jay Nordlinger with an anecdote of Patrick Leahy and Judge Bork; more on Bork’s religious beliefs from Eric Olson (no relation) at Catholic World Report; Michael McConnell; Jeff Rosen. Andrew Grossman reminds us that even if we may take it for granted now, Bork’s work on antitrust was a big, big deal in the revitalization of economic dynamism.
Libertarians and right to work laws
My colleague David Boaz surveys the views of libertarians who criticize right to work laws as a (further) incursion on free contract (Sheldon Richman, Gary Chartier) and those who by contrast emphasize its possible advantages as a second-best solution amid a national labor law regime decidedly unfriendly toward liberty of contract (David Henderson, Shikha Dalmia). To which might be added the views of Steve Chapman, who finds the issue’s importance overrated, Robert VerBruggen vs. J.D. Tuccille; Iain Murray (second best); and critic Milton Friedman.
Meanwhile, Stephen Bainbridge recommends a history of the right to work movement by George Leef, Daniel Fisher notes that unions have been quite successful in some states like Nevada that do have right to work (on which more). And Mickey Kaus notes, regarding the wider debate: “Instrumental political arguments have become the major defense of Wagner Act unionism.”
U.S. Budweiser vs. Czech Budvar
Not many consumers are likely to confuse the two beers as they taste quite different. Even so: “The two companies have been in a legal battle since 1906. Today, the dispute is being waged through 61 suits in 11 countries.” [AP]
Public employment roundup
- Report: California state psychiatrist paid $822,000, highway cop $484K in pay/benefits [Bloomberg News via Dan Mitchell]
- “Florida Prison Guard Charged with $2.7 Million Workers’ Comp Fraud” [Insurance Journal]
- Agitprop video from California Federation of Teachers is educational, if only in unintended ways [Katherine Mangu-Ward]
- “California government employee unions spent nearly $100 million in the lead up to the November election” [Jon Coupal, Fox and Hounds] How San Bernardino went broke: a cautionary tale [Reuters]
- “Taxpayers funding 35 six-figure union chiefs at Transportation Department” [Examiner]
- Congress again strengthens legal hand of federal employees claiming whistleblower status [Paul Secunda] Mistrial in case of whistleblower group’s payment to government worker [WaPo]
- “Binding Arbitration’s Threat To State And Local Governments” [Ivan Osorio, CEI]
Best of 2012: January
- N.J.: Overdoses on Xanax, collects $4.1 million.
- Dressing psychiatrists like wizards on the witness stand.
- Some reviews of my book on legal education, Schools for Misrule.
- Scammers falsely claim to have been aboard the cruise ship Costa Concordia.
- State inspector to preschool: that treehouse has to go.
- Drunk drivers who sue over their accidents: we must consider their point of view.
Don’t
If you’re high-ranking figures in a federal prosecutor’s office, don’t resort to pseudonymous rants on comment boards to settle scores, especially not if it means commenting on open cases that your office is handling [three now-resigned officials from the U.S. Attorney’s office in New Orleans; WWL, Gambit, Daily Mail]
Cato’s new and improved website
The Cato Institute website has just emerged from a thorough revamp with a new look, faster loading, and better optimization for cellphones and other emerging platforms. And the Cato at Liberty blog, where I contribute often, now has a new home within the Cato.org domain.
Disposing of obsolete law
Who if anyone should be entrusted with the job? [NewTalk symposium with Stuart Taylor, Jr., James Maxeiner, Ron Faucheux. E. Donald Elliott, Mary Kiffmeyer]
P.S. Or how about a Regulatory Reduction Commission? [Wayne Crews and Ryan Young, Washington Times]