Former counsel to the president John W. Dean comments on the recent news that a former aide to Hillary Clinton, Bryan Pagliano, is invoking the Fifth Amendment to avoid a subpoena seeking his testimony before several congressional committees. Continue reading →
Cornell University law professor Michael Dorf comments on the developing situation regarding Kim Davis—the Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk who refuses to grant same-sex marriage licenses—and argues that, with one possible exception, the courts were right to reject the legal claims put forward by Davis. Continue reading →
Posted In: Constitutional Law, Speech and Religion
Cardozo law professor Marci Hamliton describes the 2016 Republican presidential candidates’ views on abortion and women and distinguishes them from the views of the Republican Party that made Justice Sandra Day O’Connor the first female Supreme Court Justice. Continue reading →
Posted In: Politics, Reproductive Law
Hofstra University law professor Joanna Grossman comments on a recent Utah case where an unwed father forfeited his rights to contest the adoption of his child by not filing a paternity action. Grossman points out that this result is the product of balancing interests of unwed fathers against those of the child, mothers seeking to place children for adoption, and adoptive parents. Continue reading →
Posted In: Constitutional Law, Family Law
Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses possible implications a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that a woman’s having a naturally high level of testosterone in her body is insufficient grounds for barring her from competing in women’s athletics. Continue reading →
Posted In: Other Commentary
Chapman University law professor Ronald Rotunda discusses relative change in attitudes toward Jews in the United States and elsewhere in the world. Continue reading →
Posted In: Other Commentary, Speech and Religion
University of Illinois law professor and dean Vikram David Amar describes the problem of race-based peremptory challenges and argues that peremptory challenges be eliminated altogether on the grounds that we should not allow a person to be denied the right to serve on a jury for any reason that would not also suffice as a reason to deny that person the right to vote in an election. Continue reading →
Posted In: Constitutional Law, Courts and Procedure, Law Practice
Hofstra University law professor Joanna Grossman discusses the apparent conflict between the social norm that women’s breasts should be covered in public and the legal right of women (in most states) to be top-free in public. Continue reading →
Posted In: Civil Rights, Philosophy and Ethics
Cornell University law professor Michael Dorf discusses Donald Trump’s call to end birthright citizenship as part of immigration reform. Dorf argues that birthright citizenship implements widely shared and characteristically American values and that curtailing it would be a huge step backwards. Continue reading →
People Born in the United States Are Properly Citizens [ 8:13 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (144)Posted In: Constitutional Law, Immigration Law
Cornell University law professor Joseph Margulies reflects on his recent time spent shadowing the Cincinnati Police Department, describing its efforts to reform the relationship between the police and the community. Continue reading →
Posted In: Criminal Law, Law Enforcement
Former counsel to the president John W. Dean debunks the myth that Warren G. Harding—the twenty-ninth president of the United States—was African American and resolves in the affirmative the question whether he fathered a child out of wedlock. Continue reading →
Posted In: Other Commentary, Politics
Cardozo Law professor Marci Hamilton discusses the need for effective fences on the Internet that protect privacy but also permit authorities to enforce the law. Hamilton illustrates this need using examples such as the case of Jared Fogle, the former Subway spokesperson who is pleading guilty to charges of child solicitation and pornography, as well as the Internet’s use as a tool for empowerment for victims of child sex abuse. Continue reading →
Posted In: Technology Law
Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb analyzes a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit holding that when a person with a cellphone inadvertently calls a third party, thereby exposing personal communications, the caller retains no reasonable expectation of privacy in the matters disclosed for purposes of the federal Wiretap Act. Continue reading →
Posted In: Constitutional Law, Privacy
George Washington law professor and economist Neil Buchanan discusses the ongoing human rights disaster in the Dominican Republic stemming from that country’s treatment of Haitians. Buchanan argues that the United States should withdraw financial support for the Dominican Republic’s security forces in order not to provide support for human rights violations. Continue reading →
Posted In: Human Rights, International Law
Chapman University law professor Ronald Rotunda discusses instances of federal judges acting in manners inconsistent with their responsibilities. Continue reading →
Posted In: Courts and Procedure, Philosophy and Ethics
Law professor and dean designate of the University of Illinois College of Law Vikram David Amar reflects on his tenure as a professor and administrator at the University of California. While Amar extols the University as being the greatest public university system in the world, he highlights a few challenges that it faces as it moves forward. Continue reading →
Posted In: Education, Other Commentary
George Washington law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan discusses a topic that is gaining traction among Democrats in Congress and across the country—the suggestion that retirement benefits paid by Social Security be increased. Continue reading →
Posted In: Politics, Tax and Economics
Cornell University law professor Michael Dorf discusses the implications of a recent decision by a federal district court invalidating an Idaho law that criminalizes entering a “agricultural production facility” under false pretenses and also criminalizes creating an audio or video recording of what takes place there without authorization from the owners—known as an Ag-Gag law. Continue reading →
Federal District Court Invalidates Idaho “Ag-Gag” Law [ 7:56 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (171)Posted In: Constitutional Law, Speech and Religion
George Washington law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan debunks some of the Social Security myths spread by many conservative politicians. Specifically, Buchanan makes the following arguments: (1) Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme, (2) Demographics will not overwhelm social security, (3) the Social Security trust fund is more than simply “worthless paper” and we are not better off investing it on our own, and (4) Social Security will not go broke in the coming decades. Continue reading →
Posted In: Politics, Tax and Economics
Cornell University law professor Joseph Margulies continues his discussion of the conditions under which Tariq Ba Odah are being held at Guantanamo despite unanimous agreement by national security agencies that he is not a threat. Continue reading →
Posted In: Human Rights
