Now can we please please try to get out of the two wars, unemployment crisis, and tummy ache we’ve been avoiding since the tea baggers stormed the House?
Author Archives: nskam
Affordable Care Act Winning 3-2
On Tuesday another Federal District judge upheld the Affordable Care Act of 2010 against charges that Congress acted outside its commerce clause powers. This brings the five-ruling total to three rulings in favor of the laws constitutionality and two rulings against.
In other news, the Justice Department has effectively extended federal benefits to same-sex couples, after President Obama declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.
From the NY Times.
Read Judge Kessler’s 02/22/11 opinion upholding Obamacare (Congress acting within commerce clause powers).
“Coloring Book for Lawyers” for Kids!
Follow the link for the rest!
Unemployment and Revolution
“Not every country with an employment rate above a certain figure will necessarily face a revolution as each society has its own dynamics, but there are shared and distinct factors driving the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, said Tristan Cooper, head analyst of Middle East Sovereigns for Moodys Investors Services. Contagion into the wider region is more likely in countries that have large numbers of frustrated, unemployed citizens who are eager for political change.
Unemployment in Tunisia is reported at 13.3-15.4% as of the end of Decemeber.
Unemployment in Egypt is reported at 9.4% as of the end of December.
Unemployment in the U.S. is reported at 9.0% as of the end of January.
via the NY Times.
Seattle’s Superheroes
And thank you Phoenix Jones, for keeping Gotham safe for another day.
Like New York’s Guardian Angels, the Rain City Superhero Movement has picked up where the police left off — the streets. This calls into question whether vigilantism is legal.
In Alan Moore’s graphic novel, Watchmen, superheroes fighting crime were forced into retirement after passage of the Keene Act, a fictional piece of legislation which outlawed non-government affiliated vigilantes. No such laws have ever been passed in the United States but there is sufficient policy against so called “self-help”. See also self-defense of another.
For some historical background read up on the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance.
In other news: last week Scott Roeder was convicted of the murder of Wichita abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. Roeder shot Dr. Tiller as he handed out bulletins in the foyer of his church last year.
Is the Health Care Law Unconstitutional?
“Under the Due Process Clause, no Supreme Court decision since 1935 has struck down any state or federal legislation for infringing economic liberties, and any such action would be radically inconsistent with current constitutional doctrine.” –Professor Mark Hall of Wake Forest Law School
Prof. Hall is referring to the last statute to be struck down under the 5th or the 14th amendments, A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935). Two years later, the Supreme Court upheld Congress’ authority under the commerce clause in West Coast Hotel v. Parrish (1937). In that case, Congress sought to set a minimum wage for women which the Plaintiff claimed went beyond the regulatory power given to Congress by the commerce clause, which provides that Congress may pass any law so long as it is regulating economic activity interstate commerce.
The question of the day is whether it is within Congress’ authority to pass a law which, in part, requires U.S. citizens to purchase health insurance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Odds are it will. Recent cases where the Supreme Court ruled Congress overstepped it’s authority include U.S. v. Lopez (a guns near schools case) and U.S. v. Morrison (striking down the Violence Against Women Act as not affecting interstate commerce). The difference in those two cases was drawing a connection between the legislation’s effect and economic activity was tenuous at best, something the Court was unwilling to stomach.
Here, though, requiring citizens to purchase health care is clearly within the scope of the commerce clause as it clearly affects interstate commerce. Similarly, requiring South Dakota residents to own guns also affects interstate commerce. The difference? Rep. Hal Wick is proving his point backwards.
Via the NY Times.
Read Judge Steeh’s 10/7/10 opinion upholding Obamacare (Congress acting within commerce clause powers).
Read Judge Moon’s 11/13/10 opinion upholding Obamacare (Congress acting within commerce clause powers).
Read Judge Hudson’s 12/13/10 opinion excising Obamacare in part (Congress exceeded regulatory powers under commerce clause).
Read Judge Vinson’s 1/31/11 opinion striking down Obamacare in whole (Congress exceeded regulatory powers under commerce clause).
Laughter and the Supreme Court
Ryan A. Malphurs, a litigation consultant with a doctorate in communications, has just released a study on laughter at the Supreme Court. His findings are based on first hand observations during nine weeks of Supreme Court oral arguments, audio files of 71 oral argument cases, and transcripts from 2006-2007 Supreme Court oral arguments which contain the stenographer tag “(laughter)”. Additionally, Mr. Malphurs’ documented the topic which elicited each laughter episode.
Justice Scalia again turns out to be the funniest justice, and he is again followed by Justice Breyer. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who joined the court in 2005, after the Wexler study was completed, was squarely in third place, Mr. Malphurs found. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who came onboard in 2006, gave Justice Ginsburg stiff competition for the role of least funny justice who talks.
As a bonus, Mr. Malphurs’ illustrated a failed use at humor during the Roe v. Wade case. Advocate Jay Floyd began his opening argument with a failed joke that set the tone for his argument, Mr. Chief Justice and may it please the Court. Its an old joke, but when a man argues against two beautiful ladies like this, they are going to have the last word. Pausing for the justices laughter, and gaining only cold silence, Mr. Floyd struggled to gain momentum through the rest of his argument. A note to struggling comics: the Supreme Court is not a good place to try out new material. “Hey hey double K!”
From the NY Times.
Read the study.
Wikileaks Sued for $150MM by Florida Area Man
David Pitchford of Key West filed a prayer for relief in federal court in Miami last week against Wikileaks and Julian Assange for “NEGLIGENCE, INTENTIONAL and NEGLEGENT INFFLICTION of EMOTIONAL DISTRESS” (sic). Between the lack of spellcheck and the lack of professional counsel, Pitchford is going to be facing an uphill battle moving forward with his suit. Pitchford allegedly sued Osama bin Laden previously for similar acts.
As grounds for relief, Pitchford averred that he suffered the following injuries as a result of the Defendant’s acts (misspellings in the original):
A. A worsening of Plaintiffs hyper tention;
B. A worsening of Plaintiffs depression;
C. A worsenig of Plaintiff’s Stress;
D. Living in constant fear of being stricken by another heart attack and or stroke as a result of the foregoing;
E. In fear of being on the brink of Nucliar WAR
The Rankings Game
A number of law schools hire their own graduates, some in hourly temp jobs that, as it turns out, coincide with the magical date. Last year, for instance, Georgetown Law sent an e-mail to alums who were still seeking employment. It announced three newly created jobs in admissions, paying $20 an hour. The jobs just happened to start on Feb. 1 and lasted six weeks.
While this came as a surprise to some (even some academics) it’s happening everywhere. Why? The rankings game. In 1997 U.S. News& World Reports unrolled a rankings system which measures all accredited law schools in the nation based upon a point system taking into account things like average entry GPA and LSAT, cost, number of students to faculty, percentage of class that graduates, and percentage of graduates working nine months after graduation.
For a long while, the rankings game didn’t really matter and no one paid much attention. Sure someone from Stanford is going to have more job opportunities than say some from the University of Toledo, but it only went so far. Now, everyone’s playing the rankings game. What does this mean for prospective law students? Pedigree matters. And it matters more than ever before.
These days, law schools are doing everything they can to buttress their numbers and that includes handing out temporary, part-time research positions to recent graduates in order to boost employment numbers. Perhaps what is more appropriate is to figure out ways to create more jobs or better yet to not play into the rankings game. What do the rankings say about the quality of education? Nothing. But somehow that’s where we’ve ended up.
From the NYTimes.
Is Wikileaks Going to Get Someone (Besides its Founder) Killed?
Reasonable readers could agree that the headline, “U.S. Sends Warning to People Named in Cable Leaks,” would lead to the same conclusion expressed in this blog post heading. However, a closer reading reveals that the threat may be less severe that the U.S. government claims. A list of people that the NYTimes reports the U.S. government has cautioned about threats to safety as a result of Wikileaks’ cable releases:
- “hundreds of human rights activists, foreign government officials and businesspeople identified in leaked diplomatic cables” (Maybe)
- “Gene A. Cretz, the ambassador to Libya, who was recalled from his post last month after his name appeared on a cable describing peculiar personal habits of the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.” (Not in danger)
- “one midlevel diplomat has been moved from his post in an undisclosed country” (Not in danger)
- “the ambassador to Russia, John R. Beyrle, whose name was on cables critical of Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin” (Not in danger)
- “An American diplomat in Central Asia said recently that one Iranian contact, who met him on periodic trips outside Iran, told him he would no longer speak to him.” (Not in danger)
Note: Administration officials said they were not aware of anyone who has been attacked or imprisoned as a direct result of information in the 2,700 cables.
Note (additionally): A Pentagon spokesman, Maj. Chris Perrine, said Thursday that the military was not aware of any confirmed case of harm to anyone as a result of being named in the Afghan war documents.
Separately, isn’t it only a matter of time before the Russians slip some polonium 210 into Assange’s soup?
From the NYTimes.
Nick Kam 