Jan

31

Welcome, February Bloggers

Posted by: | January 31, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Our guest bloggers in the new month will be 2L David Behm and Joanne Lipo Zovic ’99. Many thanks to our January guests, 3L Gabriel Houghton and Emily Menn ’06.

Jan

30

Collecting Judges, Past and Present

Posted by: | January 30, 2012 | 1 Comment

Tom Shriner’s recent remembrance of Judge Dale Ihlenfeldt said to law students and new lawyers that “you can—must—learn the lessons of the law (and life) from everyone, not just your professors, but your colleagues, your adversaries, your clients, and even from judges.” This last (neatly phrased) is the case, in my estimation, both of judges [...]

Jan

30

Cockfighting, Congress, and Interstate Commerce

Posted by: | January 30, 2012 | 1 Comment

Some convicted defendants in South Carolina are crying foul at the application of the federal Animal Welfare Act to criminally punish the promotion of cockfighting. The statute is said to be based in the power of Congress, found in article I, section 8 of the Constitution, to “regulate commerce . . . among the several [...]

Jan

28

Prosecutorial Discretion in the John Doe Investigation

Posted by: | January 28, 2012 | 2 Comments

Over at the Shark and Shepherd Blog, Rick Esenberg has put up a post questioning whether the recently filed criminal complaint in the ongoing John Doe investigation of the County Executive’s Office during Scott Walker’s tenure justifies the time and expense spent thus far on the investigation. I posted several comments in response to Rick’s [...]

Jan

27

The Two Political Half-States of Wisconsin

Posted by: | January 27, 2012 | 3 Comments

Gov. Scott Walker’s job performance is drawing strong disapproval—in the city of Milwaukee. Gov. Scott Walker’s job performance is drawing strong approval—in the rest of the Milwaukee media market. A big thumbs up for Walker across most of the state of Wisconsin. A big thumbs down in Madison. The two half-states of Wisconsin—one with clear [...]

Jan

25

Marquette Law School Poll: The First Results Are Out

Posted by: | January 25, 2012 | 1 Comment

The first results from the Marquette Law School Poll, the largest political polling project in Wisconsin history, were released Wednesday morning, providing a fresh and provocative view of public opinion across the state. The full poll results can be found here. At noon today (Jan. 25), Charles Franklin, visiting professor of law and public policy and director of [...]

Jan

24

The Roots of Progressivism Lie in . . . the Republican Party?

Posted by: | January 24, 2012 | 10 Comments

Tonight, when President Barack Obama delivers his third State of the Union address, he is widely expected to channel the progressive rhetoric of Theodore Roosevelt. It was Roosevelt’s “New Nationalism” speech in 1910 (quoted in my previous post here) that called for the federal government to play an active role in regulating the economy. When he speaks [...]

Jan

20

Pop Culture and Ideology

Posted by: | January 20, 2012 | 1 Comment

It’s common to assume American popular culture leads only to mindless escape, but in a recent speech to Communist Party officials President Hu Juntao of China warned that American popular culture might have a much more dangerous effect. He noted that Transformers 3 was a top-grossing film in China and also that the songs of [...]

Jan

20

How Should the Supreme Court Handle Warrantless GPS Tracking?

Posted by: | January 20, 2012 | 2 Comments

One of the most anticipated decisions of the current U.S. Supreme Court term is United States v. Jones, which was argued last fall (transcript here).  The case concerns Fourth Amendment protections from GPS tracking of automobiles.   The lower court, the D.C. Circuit, held that the government was prohibited from placing a GPS tracking device on the [...]

Jan

20

A “Paper-Shuffling Bureaucrat” at Center Stage in Wisconsin Politics

Posted by: | January 20, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Kevin Kennedy refers to himself as “just a paper-shuffling bureaucrat. – I haven’t moved to rock star status.” But sometimes, timing is everything. So that’s why there were a gaggle of television cameras, a cluster of reporters, and about 200 others in the room when Kennedy joined Mike Gousha for an “On the Issues” session [...]

Jan

20

Cory Maples May Avoid Procedural Default, But Will Anyone Else Ride His Coattails?

Posted by: | January 20, 2012 | 1 Comment

The Supreme Court ruled earlier this week that habeas petitioner Cory Maples may not have to bear the consequences of a truly egregious dereliction of duty by his pro bono lawyers.  The lower federal courts had refused to consider Maples’ petition on the merits because he had missed a filing deadline in state court.  Normally, criminal [...]

Jan

19

Providing Straight Information on Public Opinion in a Historic Political Time

Posted by: | January 19, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Amid the amazing tumult on the Wisconsin political scene, with partisanship and passion running so high, how can you get straight information about what voters are thinking? One good answer: You can run a large-scale polling project, adhering to the highest standards of professionalism and non-partisanship. You can poll repeatedly throughout the year, so that [...]

keep looking »