“Snapping photos of livestock farms from an airplane is a legal and cost-effective way to help protect Nebraska and Iowa streams from runoff contamination, say officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.” The agency does not inform landowners that it is conducting the flights. [Omaha World-Herald, Reuters] “The EPA says it doesn’t rely solely on the aerial photos in taking enforcement actions against feedlots and their owners, but it does use them to identify businesses to target.” [Alexander Cohen, Business Rights Center]
Author Archive
Bloomberg’s soda Waterloo?
General derision continues from many quarters, if not all, for Mayor Bloomberg’s soda-snatch scheme. “Just don’t get caught with the weed AND a 24 ounce Coke” [NYT comment via John Elwood, Volokh] Baylen Linnekin finds it “just part of a typical news cycle in the Bloombergosphere” and points out that “The unsweetened juice of an apple — that symbol of New York City — contains at a minimum exactly the same number of grams of sugar per ounce (3.25 g) as Coca-Cola (3.25 g).” Ira Stoll suspects Bloomberg has surrounded himself overmuch with yes-men. More: George Will (“‘The essence of contemporary liberalism,’ ‘preposterous,’ ‘sinister'”)
Diversity hiring on law school faculties, cont’d
Point of Law has been continuing its discussion of racial preference and diversity hiring at law schools in the wake of the Elizabeth Warren brouhaha. I’ve now concluded my contribution with a second post (first one here). Excerpt from my new post:
…were competing approaches to diversity permitted, newcomers would be more likely to find an institution that suits their own desired experience: some would seek a pledge that advancement would be race- and sex-blind, others an assurance of encountering colleagues from backgrounds very different from their own.
Of course that’s not the world we live in. In our actual world, all law schools must conform to a prescribed format. Accreditation officials will haul up any institution that tries to be race-blind, and HLS will scramble to claim hiring credit for Prof. Warren’s vague family lore of Cherokee ancestry.
Should outsiders care? One reason to care might be if the prevalence of identity politics tends to reinforce the problem (assuming it is a problem) of ideological imbalance in the legal academy. In Schools for Misrule I conclude that it does, though only as one of many contributing factors….
AEI, “Global Governance and the Challenge to the American Constitution”
I was at this interesting event yesterday and you can follow my live-Tweeting here.
“Woman sues dead pilot for plane crash allegedly caused by drunken passenger”
You shouldn’t have let my common-law husband and his drunken coterie onto your charter flight, they were too obviously a safety hazard, alleges the suit, filed in a British Columbia court. [CNN]
Judge Easterbrook vs. the attitudinal model
At the Swarthmore commencement, Judge Frank Easterbrook explains why our Supreme Court would continue to generate many 5-4 cases even if all its members were appointed by a single President, and very many 9-0 cases even if its members were appointed by Presidents who were extremely different from each other politically. “In the United States, the Rule of Law really does differ from a Rule of Judges. Neutrality is a comfort to all who must stand before a court, and to all of us who favor equal justice under law.”
Mayor Bloomberg’s future appointees?
Harvard audience cheers as scientist proposes “requiring people to exercise.” [Barton Hinkle, Reason]
June 4 roundup
- “Man cited for littering after cash to panhandler hits ground” [USA Today]
- AIG and sunshine: “Spitzer’s Loose Public Talk and Private Emails” [Lawrence Cunningham, Concurring Opinions]
- Mississippi attorney took 45 percent contingency fee, but “all the contracts came up missing from [his] office” [Insurance Journal] When it comes to billing disputes, California state bar seems keen on protecting lawyers against clients [Lawrence Schonbrun, Recorder]
- Philip K. Howard on NPR [TED Radio Hour]
- About that “Constitution in Exile” bogeyman [Barnett, Bernstein]
- Come the revolution, comrade, you will gladly pay your Connecticut taxes: Gov. Dannel Malloy approves $300K for ultra-left New Haven People’s Center [CT News Junkie via Zachary Janowski, Raising Hale] Update: Governor reverses stance.
- New law keeps many homemakers from qualifying for credit cards [Sheryl Nance-Nash, Diane Katz/Heritage]
KNUS Denver radio this afternoon
I’ll be joining host Krista Kafer at “Backbone America” this afternoon at 5:30 Mountain Time to discuss food nannyism in Mayor Bloomberg’s New York and elsewhere. It’s 710 on your dial.
Police misconduct report map
A new Cato Institute project. More: Tim Lynch, Cato; Scott Shackford, Reason.
P.S. Destined for the map? “Police officer fired for driving 143 mph while drunk gets his job back” [BoingBoing]