Working on Black Friday
A shout out to workers on Black Friday!
Nov 25
Enough is enough: End the arrests of journalists documenting police activity in public places
I don’t envy Bloomberg—or any other mayor—who has the difficult job of protecting public parks and at the same time preserving the right peaceably to assemble. But this, arresting journalists, is part of a larger problem, a pattern of harassing people for documenting police activity in public view.
Attorney Compensation Under the Vaccine Act
Recently the Supreme Court reviewed the certiorari petition in Rodriguez v. Sebelius, a case involving the compensation of attorneys representing claimants under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. This Vaccine Act created a no-fault compensation program for persons injured by vaccines, motivated by the fear that traditional tort liability was causing vaccine manufacturers to stop developing and producing medicines vital for public health.
DC Circuit Handicaps Guantanamo Habeas Petitions
In the midst of Congress’ continuing debate over Guantanamo detainees, the DC Circuit issued a sharply divided ruling that denied one detainee a writ of Habeas Corpus. The majority overturned the district court’s decision, holding that it should have shown greater deference to the government’s evidence. The decision in Latif v. Obama has been criticized for going far beyond the normal standard of review by substituting the appellate court’s judgments on the weight and credibility of the evidence. The dissent said, “If we take seriously the notion that district courts are better at finding facts and determining credibility, then we should be all the more eager to defer to their expertise when the stakes are high and when the case . . . rests entirely on credibility and how one interprets the facts.”
Nov 21
Occupy, Qualified Immunity, and Cell Phone Cameras
Cell phone cameras will make it harder for civil rights defendants to use qualified immunity as a defense against allegations of excessive force.
Nov 18
Get Rid of Direct Elections for Prosecutors
The vast majority of prosecutors are elected by voters. Requiring prosecutors to campaign for votes creates incentives based on popular approval rather than the fair application of the law. A selection process based on merit-based appointment, evaluation, and retention voting would balance the public’s desire to have a say in its prosecutors, while disentangling the interests of justice from political self-interest.
Nov 18
10 Minutes To Midnight For Health Care Reform?
The Supreme Court will be considering the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Whether the Court overturns the Act or not, it could have positive benefits for the Obama Administration.
Good and Bad News for Advocates of Reproductive Justice
A brief comparison between the result in the Mississippi Personhood Amendment Ballot and the recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights in SH and Others v Austria.
Occupy Must Keep Inequality on Nation’s Conscience
Occupy protests in cities around the country have been broken up by police, and many are asking how the movement will persevere. Though there may be legitimate concerns about the group’s tactics, its overarching goal of drawing attention to economic inequality is too important to be abandoned. The movement’s ideals require it to let everyone have a say, but some of the protestors’ causes seem far removed from the initial goals. No one can really be sure what OWS stands for.
OWS must continue forcing the issue of economic inequality onto the national agenda. The protests are shining a light on an ugly, uncomfortable truth: the American middle class is disappearing. The rich saw their incomes skyrocket in recent decades, while everyone else’s incomes stayed flat. In the midst of economic despair, it seems that Congress’ only priority is cutting the budget deficit. Since the Supreme Court has opened the door to unlimited spending on elections, our elected leaders could become even more unresponsive to the needs of ordinary Americans.
