June 15 roundup

  • “The NYT revisits the Tawana Brawley rape hoax scandal — and Al Sharpton’s role.” [Ann Althouse]
  • Is there any hope of reforming or repealing FATCA, the crazy overseas banking regulation? [Frederic Alain Behrens, SSRN via TaxProf, earlier here, etc.]
  • Urbanophile is no fan of Toronto mayor Rob Ford, but also no fan of the campaign to drive him from office [Aaron Renn]
  • Landlords face legal risk taking on ex-offenders — so where are they supposed to live? [Volokh]
  • When does a strong central state advance individual liberty? Arnold Kling reviews Mark Weiner’s The Rule of the Clan [EconLib]
  • Unenforceability of contract holds back Indian tribes’ prosperity [Terry Anderson]
  • “Oklahoma High Court Nullifies State Tort Reform Law” [WLF, TortsProf, Tulsa World, Reuters, NewsOK, Beck (“the Oklahoma Supreme Court was plainly out of control in Ysbrand, and unfortunately it remains out of control to this day”), Douglas v. Cox]

2 Comments

  • The Tawana Brawley rape hoax and the current Zimmerman murder case share a feature beyond Sharpton. That is each “story” is blatantly false. Tawana said that she was held at a cabin by police officers and used as their sex slave. So the assailants would have known the penalties for kid napping and rape, but after smearing Tawana with dog feces and writting racial slurs on her skin, they were kind enough to drop her off at her house. Mario Coumo was so involved with himself that the inherent ridiculousness of Tawana’s story was no apparent to him. The New york Times pursued the story for months.

    In Zimmerman’s case, we know that Zimmerman was talking to the police who knew who he was. The police said a car was dispatched to his location. Then according to Charles Ogletree, the renowned Harvard professor, Zimmerman pursued Martin and shot him dead. Really? That is preposterous. If Zimmerman had a visible gun in his hand, how did he get the bloody nose and the wounds to the back of his head?

  • […] Supreme Court also nullified the state’s general tort reform in its entirety. (Here is some coverage: WLF, TortsProf, Tulsa World, Reuters, NewsOK, Beck (“the Oklahoma Supreme Court was plainly […]