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Balkinization
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Saturday, February 07, 2009
The party of big government versus the party of big government
JB
As a follow up to Andy's last post, it's worth noting that, some sixty years after the New Deal revolution, although Democrats and Republicans are deeply ideologically divided on how to structure the stimulus package, the Republicans in Congress are not arguing that the Democratic plans are unconstitutional. Indeed, the Republican alternative-- tax cuts and spending on a different set of programs-- presumes the basic constitutionality of many of the devices used in the New Deal and the Administrative and Welfare State. Friday, February 06, 2009
The revealing DeMint amendment
Andrew Koppelman This blog is not ordinarily a venue for the reporting of straight news, but a major vote in the Senate Wednesday evening has been ignored by the press. Senator James DeMint offered a substitute bill for President Obama’s stimulus package that would consist of nothing but tax cuts, most notably a massive reduction of the top income tax rate from 35% to 25%. The amendment was defeated, but 36 out of the 41 Republican senators voted for it. Posted 2:15 PM by Andrew Koppelman [link] Professors’ Brief in Seventh Circuit Guns Case Calls for the Restoration of the Privileges or Immunities Clause
Doug Kendall
Back in December, we blogged here that the Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller would lead to momentous incorporation question, and could open the door to the rejuvenation of the Privileges or Immunities Clause, the text in the Fourteenth Amendment that protects substantive fundamental rights against state infringement. Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Beyond Competition: Preparing for a Google Book Search Monopoly
Frank Pasquale
Like Robert Darnton, I look to the upcoming Google Book Search Settlement hearing with a mixture of wonder and trepidation. The prospect of constructing a digital library of Alexandria warms the heart of any scholar. But only the most naive optimist could ignore the perils of having one company, driven first and foremost by a profit motive, effectively in charge of the most comprehensive collection of the world's scientific and cultural heritage. The Catholic Church and intellectual freedom
Sandy Levinson
The Catholic Church, courtesy of Pope Benedict XVI, is currently facing facing "an internal and external political crisis," according to the New York Times. The reason is simple: The German-born and -raised former Joseph Ratzinger has welcomed back into full communion within the Church an excommunicated priest who had not only rejected the reforms of Vatican II, but also denies the existence of the Holocaust. The Vatican has released a statement stating that the views of Richard Williamson were “unknown to the Holy Father at the time he revoked the excommunication.” One may or may not choose to believe this. If it is true, it suggests a failure on the part of Vatican "vetters" that makes any of the Obama team's mistakes small beer indeed. Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Are we becoming Italy?
Sandy Levinson
Stereotypically, at least, Italy is often associated not only with incredibly beautiful scenery, friendly people, and wonderful food, but also with a propensity, shall we say, to avoid paying one's fair share of taxes (or perhaps one could simply skip "fair share"). Taxes may be, as Justice Holmes once suggested, the price we pay for civilization. However, the Holmesian bad man that, in some ways, the legal academy, in league with economists, has helped to create by using the heuristic as in fact the very model of the "rational individual," will try to free load off the "chumps" (Leona Helmsley's famous "the little people who pay taxes") while otherwise minimizing their own contributions to civilization. Bizarre Contrast On Tax Paying
Brian Tamanaha
For those of us who hope that the Obama Administration will usher in a new day in politics, alas, recent events have raised disappointing reminders of the old. Anyone can make a mistake on taxes, of course. But the tax mistakes of Cabinet nominees Geithner (now Secretary of the Treasury) and Daschle were big ones (in amount and type of error). Daschle's mistake was especially disheartening because it exposed that he made money--big money--by cashing in on his political connections. Nothing new there. Connecticut Federal Judge Quits, Citing the Lack of a Cost of Living Adjustment as the Reason
David Stras
Because I have blogged quite a bit about judicial pay, a reader sent me an article from the Connecticut Post reporting that a senior federal district court judge from Connecticut, Alan Nevas, made a decision to retire from the federal judiciary and cited the lack of cost-of-living increases from Congress as the reason for his decision, see here. Some excerpts from the article: Monday, February 02, 2009
The Future of Free Expression in a Digital Age
JB
I have posted a short essay, The Future of Free Expression in a Digital Age, on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Sunday, February 01, 2009
Search Engine Secrecy and the Public Sphere
Frank Pasquale
Should we worry about search engine bias? Consider some Republicans' fears that Google, a culturally liberal company, is skewing search results to favor Barack Obama and marginalize the right. Fox News yesterday reported conservative discontent at Google's rapid response to manipulated search results mocking Barack Obama, after its glacial efforts to defuse a "google bomb" aimed at George W. Bush: Emergency as opportunity
JB
Christopher Caldwell compares the Democrats' response to the fiscal crisis to a key element of the Bush' Administration's response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks: the invasion of Iraq:
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Books by Balkinization Bloggers
Jack M. Balkin, Living Originalism (Harvard University Press, 2011)
Jason Mazzone, Copyfraud and Other Abuses of Intellectual Property Law (Stanford University Press, 2011)
Richard W. Garnett and Andrew Koppelman, First Amendment Stories, (Foundation Press 2011)
Jack M. Balkin, Constitutional Redemption: Political Faith in an Unjust World (Harvard University Press, 2011)
Gerard Magliocca, The Tragedy of William Jennings Bryan: Constitutional Law and the Politics of Backlash (Yale University Press, 2011)
Bernard Harcourt, The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order (Harvard University Press, 2010)
Bruce Ackerman, The Decline and Fall of the American Republic (Harvard University Press, 2010) Balkinization Symposium on The Decline and Fall of the American Republic
Ian Ayres. Carrots and Sticks: Unlock the Power of Incentives to Get Things Done (Bantam Books, 2010)
Mark Tushnet, Why the Constitution Matters (Yale University Press 2010)
Ian Ayres and Barry Nalebuff: Lifecycle Investing: A New, Safe, and Audacious Way to Improve the Performance of Your Retirement Portfolio (Basic Books, 2010)
Jack M. Balkin, The Laws of Change: I Ching and the Philosophy of Life (2d Edition, Sybil Creek Press 2009)
Brian Z. Tamanaha, Beyond the Formalist-Realist Divide: The Role of Politics in Judging (Princeton University Press 2009)
Andrew Koppelman and Tobias Barrington Wolff, A Right to Discriminate?: How the Case of Boy Scouts of America v. James Dale Warped the Law of Free Association (Yale University Press 2009)
Jack M. Balkin and Reva B. Siegel, The Constitution in 2020 (Oxford University Press 2009)
Heather K. Gerken, The Democracy Index: Why Our Election System Is Failing and How to Fix It (Princeton University Press 2009)
Mary Dudziak, Exporting American Dreams: Thurgood Marshall's African Journey (Oxford University Press 2008)
David Luban, Legal Ethics and Human Dignity (Cambridge Univ. Press 2007)
Ian Ayres, Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-By-Numbers is the New Way to be Smart (Bantam 2007)
Jack M. Balkin, James Grimmelmann, Eddan Katz, Nimrod Kozlovski, Shlomit Wagman and Tal Zarsky, eds., Cybercrime: Digital Cops in a Networked Environment (N.Y.U. Press 2007)
Jack M. Balkin and Beth Simone Noveck, The State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds (N.Y.U. Press 2006)
Andrew Koppelman, Same Sex, Different States: When Same-Sex Marriages Cross State Lines (Yale University Press 2006)
Brian Tamanaha, Law as a Means to an End (Cambridge University Press 2006)
Sanford Levinson, Our Undemocratic Constitution (Oxford University Press 2006)
Mark Graber, Dred Scott and the Problem of Constitutional Evil (Cambridge University Press 2006)
Jack M. Balkin, ed., What Roe v. Wade Should Have Said (N.Y.U. Press 2005)
Sanford Levinson, ed., Torture: A Collection (Oxford University Press 2004) Balkin.com homepage Bibliography Conlaw.net Cultural Software Writings Opeds The Information Society Project BrownvBoard.com Useful Links Syllabi and Exams |