Academic

Tipler says "The Obama-Tribe 'Curvature of Constitutional Space' Paper is Crackpot Physics"

Posted on October 07, 2008
Hmm, I'm absurdly busy right now. But file this under: there's a lot to talk about here. This afternoon's legal history email brings news of Frank J. Tipler's latest article on ssrn, entitled "The Obama-Tribe 'Curvature of Constitutional Space' Paper...

The Lounge Welcomes Tommy Crocker

Posted on October 06, 2008
We're very pleased to welcome Professor Thomas Crocker as a guest in the Faculty Lounge. Tommy is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina where he teaches Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, and Jurisprudence. His recent publications...

Fact Checking the Debates

Posted on October 03, 2008
I'm sorry for those who know about this already, but I just learned of this today. The New York Times blog does fact checking on the debates, taking the claims and statements made by the candidates and giving the "real"...

Alabama Felon Disenfranchisement Update: Improper Voter Purges And Prisoner Vote Suppression

Posted on October 02, 2008
According to a news story in the Huntsville Times yesterday, the state has been improperly (and thus, presumably, illegally) striking registered voters from the voting rolls. State court administrators say eligible voters across Alabama are wrongly being denied the right...

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What Editors Want

Posted on October 02, 2008
In our occasional series, which flags important articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education, add: Lynn Worsham's What Editors Want. This one has lots of very practical advice on what editors of peer reviewed journals are looking for, especially in....

College Debate Under Fire: Postmodernism And The Moon

Posted on October 01, 2008
People unfamiliar with high school and college debate tend to express surprise and disgust about the nature of this fun activity. This response isn't new. This was true back in my high school days when spread debate was only beginning...

Hell Freezes Over; Cubs And White Sox In Playoffs Simultaneously

Posted on October 01, 2008
With a razor thin 1-0 victory tonight, the White Sox sealed a place in the playoffs. It's never fun to end your season in a slide (the Sox made a heroic late-season effort to blow it), but the last time...

Tagged by Millennial Law Prof

Posted on October 01, 2008
I was tagged by Assist. Dean Tracy McGaugh - the Millennial Law Prof, to name my top 5 non-legal blogs. Actually, just realized I've been tagged twice - second time by Feminist Law Prof Ann Bartow. Here goes: 1. Racism...

This Week is Banned Books Week

Posted on September 30, 2008
The last week in September is the week the American Library Association has set aside to raise awareness about book censorship. On the positive side, when the ALA first designated Banned Books week, in 1982, hundreds of books were being...

Of Book Challenges and Firings

Posted on September 30, 2008
Sorry for all of you who have apparently had enough of blogging about Sarah Palin. But two news stories today made me think about Palin. First, this week is Banned Book Week (see my earlier post). Second, just yesterday an...

Said the night wind to the little lamb . . .

Posted on September 30, 2008
Much has been written about the disaster that is Sarah Palin. (I tried to be nice, I truly did, but there really is no other word.) I don't have to rehash what has been stated clearly and repeatedly from those...

Watching My Past Dissolve

Posted on September 29, 2008
The world is turning topsy turvy these days. The biggest banks evaporate overnight. The market plunges - did anyone notice that NASDAQ dropped over 9% today? And a conservative Republican President is desperately attempting to sell a $700 billion market...

Economist Creates A Global Electoral College

Posted on September 29, 2008
I always enjoy new ways to come together and vote and/or bet on the Presidential election. Now the Economist, surely the world's best-written newsweekly, has gotten into this sordid business. They've created a Global Electoral College. Everyone votes for their...

Another Nomination for the Ceausescu Prize

Posted on September 28, 2008
We may have a winner! San Francisco Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier wants to introduce legislation to prohibit the private organizers of SF's Italian American parade from honoring Tommy Lasorda as its Grand Marshal. Need more be said? Such a blatant content-based...

With Apologies In Advance

Posted on September 28, 2008
ok, I told myself to lay off of Sarah Palin for a while and give you, dear readers, a break. But there's just soooo much to work with. Like this: "> Good Looord. Someone save us!!!

The Perfect Weekend?

Posted on September 28, 2008
Ok. I'm just back from Boston, where I attended a conference in honor of Morton Horwitz. I wrote a little bit about my thoughts about Horwitz' work recently. It was great--lots and lots of Horwitz' colleagues and friends talking about...

Are Ministers Who Endorse Political Candidates Constitututionally Entitled to a Tax Subsidy?

Posted on September 27, 2008
The Alliance Defense Fund has organized "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," in which various ministers will explicitly endorse a presidential candidate from the pulpit. The point of this exercise is to goad the IRS into cancelling the churches tax-exempt status under IRS...

Winona Minnesota Steps Up, Sort Of

Posted on September 25, 2008
Thanks to Euguene Volokh, we now learn that the Minnesota teen arrested on misdemeanor counts of flag desecration will not be prosecuted. Good news, to a point. The conduct may be constitutionally protected, but one this is for sure (at...

Palin Meets the Media . . . Sort of

Posted on September 25, 2008
So Americans have been calling on McCain to show us why Sarah Palin's qualified to be VP. Here's what we got today as she braved reporters in Manhattan after a visit to ground zero - and no, there's nothing after...

Michigan's "Holistic" Review of Law Applicants

Posted on September 25, 2008
Bill Henderson (Indiana) and Paul Caron (Cincinnati) have each exposed Michigan Law's shameless attempt to game the USNews rankings. Brian Leiter (Chicago) calls it a "new low." What has Michigan done? It has created the "Wolverine Scholars" program, under which...

Sketches And Memories: An Insider's Account Of Courtroom Chicago

Posted on September 24, 2008
Here's an interesting new book for trial and courtroom junkies. Rule 53: Capturing Hippies, Spies, Politicians and Murderers in an American Courtroom is the work of Andy Austin, a sketch artist from Chicago. Starting with the Chicago Seven trial (or,...

Maybe its a FEMA communications meltdown . . .

Posted on September 24, 2008
Local officials allowed Galveston residents to return to the island today to pick up the pieces of what's left. Its only supposed to reach 85 degrees, not bad by Texas standards, but still pretty hot if you're gutting a house....

President Palin, and Other Electoral College Curiosities

Posted on September 24, 2008
Rasmussen's current Electoral College projections raise some intriguing possibilities. Counting states leaning D or R, Obama has 255 votes and McCain has 247. The pure toss-up states are Virginia(13), NM(5), Nevada(5), NH(4), and Colorado(9). For discussion's sake, give McCain VA...

She can see Russia, she just can't talk to the press about Russia

Posted on September 24, 2008
I'm no fan of the anchor turned commentator, but am happy to see someone calling out the McCain camp for refusing to let the potential VP, one day maybe President, be seen talking to a foreign leader about anything other...

The World's Largest Hedge Fund: No Experience Required

Posted on September 24, 2008
My colleague, Karl Okamoto, has an op-ed today in the Inquirer, pointing out that the Paulson bailout proposal would effectively create the world's largest hedge fund. And he figures that Hank isn't going to manage the $700 million dollar fund...

The Bailout in Easy to Understand Terms . . .

Posted on September 24, 2008
If you are confused by the bailout, here's Rachel Maddow to explain it in commonsense terms. It would be even funnier if it wasn't so accurate. Also, as a professor of Constitutional Law, I must say that Paulson's request to...

The Punishment of Solitary Confinement

Posted on September 23, 2008
Yesterday, the New York Times ran an article entitled Two Decades in Solitary, detailing the life of Willie Bosket, who was sentenced to 25 years to life after stabbing a prison guard. Bosket-- who was the impetus, 30 years ago,...

New MacArthur Fellows named

Posted on September 23, 2008
Twenty-five new MacArthur Fellows were named today, including a saxophonist, an urban gardener, a fiber artist (sweetgrass baskets), a rural doctor, and a music critic. Each recipient of the "genius grant" will receive $500,000 over the next five years to...

Police Force Alvin Ailey Dancer to Dance

Posted on September 23, 2008
From AP news A performer with the Alvin Ailey dance company was forced to perform dance steps for Israeli police to prove his identity, according to published reports in the international media. Abdur-Rahim Jackson is traveling with the Alvin Ailey...

A Tale of Two Visions

Posted on September 23, 2008
I am so excited to be at The Faculty Lounge! I hope you'll enjoy my first post. Last Saturday, I attended a rally for Barack Obama here in Jacksonville. While Jacksonville has traditionally been a Republican stronghold - see here...

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