Apr 7
Posted 410 days ago by Rachel Lauter
Wisconsin held an election yesterday for a state supreme court judgeship, which is has been viewed by pretty much everyone as a proxy battle between Republican Governor Scott Walker and the pro-labor community. As of the writing of this post, Democrat JoAnne Kloppenburg, the candidate of the pro-labor community, had a small lead– about 200 votes– over the sitting judge, David Prosser.
Mar 30
Posted 418 days ago by Rachel Lauter
While it was notable that Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi issued an injunction preventing recent anti-union legislation in Wisconsin a week and a half ago, it was even more notable that Governor Scott Walker ignored her order and began implementing it. . . .
Mar 23
Posted 425 days ago by Rachel Lauter
As Jason mentioned, Professor Stuntz typically began each 1L Crim Law class in the spring of 2009 with a few “side points.” These “side points” would cover material related to the cases we were reading, but also touched on broad themes of the course…
Mar 7
Posted 441 days ago by Rachel Lauter
Much has been written in the last several weeks about the “war on women” in Congress and state legislatures, and I hope we spend more time on this blog talking about it. But for now, a few weeks ago one of the most striking things happened in all the time I have been paying attention to women’s rights issues (which has been, like, forever)– Congresswoman Speier spoke of her own abortion on the floor of the House.
Posted 461 days ago by Rachel Lauter
I am a public corruption nerd. I spend a lot of time thinking about good government issues, accountability, transparency in government and governance and, generally, how one can craft a legal career linking those issues with greater citizen participation in government and politics. I worked exclusively public corruption cases during my 1L summer at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York, and I continue to contemplate a career prosecuting corrupt elected officials. My esteemed blogging colleague Zach Luck has been publishing a few posts in these pages on stupid decisions prosecutors make, which got me thinking about what types of “good government” checks we have on prosecutors. Of course, a lot of state prosecutors are elected, so there is structural electoral accountability. But with federal prosecutors, there are limited options. . . .
Posted 474 days ago by Rachel Lauter
A lot has been written about whether or not New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is preparing himself for a presidential run in 2012. His recent advocacy on gun control (including this pretty awesome and brazen undercover sting at an Arizona gun show), and his calls for federal immigration reform, are certainly plays to shape the policy agenda, and might be an effort to garner support from the left-leaning electorate. They are also likely an effort to reaffirm his reputation for competency in governance after a few missteps this fall and winter . . .
Posted 483 days ago by Rachel Lauter
Even with a lull in election-chatter post-midterms, the news that President Obama will open his 2012 campaign office in Chicago in the coming months, and that Senator Lieberman will not seek a fifth term, is a reminder that this country is basically in perpetual campaign mode. But the most important issue in upcoming Congressional races may not be who has the greatest online presence or the best field operation, but instead who controls redistricting. Read more
Jan 19
Posted 488 days ago by Rachel Lauter
Last week, Massachusetts’ highest court, the Supreme Judicial Court, handed down its ruling in the Ibanez case, affirming a lower court’s ruling which invalidated two foreclosures based on U.S Bancorp and Wells Fargo’s improper paperwork. The ruling affirms that banks must show that they were assignees of the mortgages at the time of the foreclosure. That is, if they were not the original lender, banks must show they were properly assigned the mortgage– the document that gives the lender the right to have the property sold to repay the loan if the borrower defaults. The decision has been interpreted as a major warning to banks throughout the country, and a general “win” for homeowners who are being foreclosed on….
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