Sep

30

Attorney General Cancels Stay in Matter of R-A-, the Case of a Guatemalan Woman Seeking Asylum From Severe Domestic Violence

Posted by: Jessica E. Slavin | September 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Some of my former students will remember the domestic-violence asylum case, Matter of R-A-, which had been pending in a sort of limbo state since January 2001.  The R-A- case presents the issue of whether an immigrant may obtain asylum in the United States on the basis of her well-founded fear that she will suffer [...]

Sep

29

Fastcase: Free Online Research for All Wisconsin Bar members

Posted by: Jessica E. Slavin | September 29, 2008 | 1 Comment

If you are a member of the Wisconsin State Bar, beginning in November you will have free access to Fastcase.  Fastcase is a searchable online database of federal and state law.  The product overview at the Fastcase website makes the service look user-friendly.   Its coverage is fairly deep too, including state cases back to 1950 [...]

Sep

28

What Is an “Offense”?: Another ACCA Puzzle for the Courts

Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | September 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I’ve posted a few times on recent Armed Career Criminal Act cases (e.g., here).  With several Supreme Court decisions last term on the scope of the ACCA, this has been an especially dynamic area of federal sentencing law.  The cases nicely illustrate one of the fundamental problems with the ACCA, which is that Congress sought [...]

Sep

27

A Professorial President?

Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | September 27, 2008 | 1 Comment

Before last night’s presidential debate, the pundits were saying that Obama had to be less “professorial” and “nuanced” than in his prior debates.  And the post-mortems today seem to indicate that he was successful on this count.  Call it self-serving, but I dislike the implication that being professorial should be regarded as disabling for a [...]

Sep

26

Patent Settlements as Antitrust Violations

Posted by: Keith Sharfman | September 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Earlier this week, I had the chance to participate together with Scott Hemphill and Dan Crane on an interesting conference panel devoted to the antitrust implications of settling a patent suit between rival drug makers. Here is a short version of the issue we discussed.
Imagine someone suing you and then offering to pay [...]

Sep

26

Wow: Big Surprises From the Bailout Blow-Up

Posted by: Bruce E. Boyden | September 26, 2008 | 1 Comment

I don’t think I’ve heard of a cabinet member kneeling in the White House since Henry Kissinger did it in 1974. I’m only slightly less surprised by the fact that I’m on the same side of a contested issue as John Boehner and Newt Gingrich, of all people.

Sep

26

Judge White Visits Her Alma Mater

Posted by: Matthew J. Parlow | September 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Yesterday’s On the Issues with Mike Gousha featured a conversation with Marquette Law School graduate and Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Maxine Aldridge White. Judge White’s journey from growing up in the Mississippi Delta as the daughter of a sharecropper to her current position on the bench is a compelling and inspiring one. Judge White [...]

Sep

25

What We Need Is Red and Blue Face Paint

Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | September 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Andrea’s post on sports and Michael’s on the impact of the election on students’ preparation for class brought to mind this thread over at the Volokh Conspiracy. Ilya Somin links to articles in the Washington Post and Slate arguing that political partisans behave like sports fans They are less interested in a careful consideration of [...]

Sep

25

Is the Election Affecting Students’ Preparation for Class?

Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | September 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment

That’s the question that came to my mind after reading this article in the Boston Herald about the effects of a bitterly contested presidential election on employee productivity. My colleague Paul Secunda is quoted in the article, noting that emotions are at an especially high level in this election year. And if the [...]

Sep

25

What Happens When the Tattoo Generation Goes to Law School?

Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | September 25, 2008 | 4 Comments

Call me an old fuddy-duddy, but I’ll be the first to admit I do not “get” tattoos. If you really want to show off that rebellious streak (or solidarity with the underclass, or unrestrained individualism, or whatever), there are many other ways to do so that are much less painful and permanent. When [...]

Sep

25

Sports Identity (and Why I Have to Take Down My Steelers Banner)

Posted by: Andrea K. Schneider | September 25, 2008 | 5 Comments

Two interesting things happened this weekend that led me to think a bit about sports, the need for identity, and conflict. Part One: As we are on our way this weekend to a baseball game between the Nationals and Padres (neither of which is a particularly important team to my Brewers-Mets-Pirates [...]

Sep

25

British Reaction to Crash of 2008 and the Bonus Pool for Lehman Executives

Posted by: Paul M. Secunda | September 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment

The reaction is rightfully upset after reading news like this:
Up to 10,000 staff at the New York office of the bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers will share a bonus pool set aside for them that is worth $2.5bn (£1.4bn), Barclays Bank, which is buying the business, confirmed last night.
The revelation sparked fury among the [...]

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