Irvine’s Little Police State
Kevin Drum links an LAT piece on the "charm" of Irvine, California, a "little planned community" that both conforms perfectly to Malvina Reynolds' "Little Boxes" stereotype - with houses made out of ticky tacky that all look the same -- and seems to make everyone who lives there feel safe and happy. And, mostly, it is indeed quite charming. But ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 7, 2009 09:53
Obama: Ricci “Moved the Ball” on Race
President Obama told the AP that the Ricci case "moved the ball" on race relations. President Barack Obama said Thursday the Supreme Court was "moving the ball" on affirmative action in this week's decision favoring white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., but he added that the court had not ruled out the use of racial preferences in the future. In a White ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 2, 2009 14:01
Al Franken Won: Minnesota Supreme Court - Coleman Concedes
In a 5-0 decision, the state's highest court ordered that Al Franken be declared the winner. The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled today that Democrat Al Franken won the U.S. Senate election and said he was entitled to an election certificate that would lead to him being seated in the Senate. "Affirmed," wrote the Supreme Court, unanimously rejecting Republican Norm Coleman's claims that ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 30, 2009 14:40
Madoff vs. Murderers
Dr. Helen Smith (aka Mrs. Glenn Reynolds and The InstaWife) asks, in re Bernie Madoff's 150 year sentence, "Why is it that someone who set up a Ponzi scheme gets more jail time than the majority of murderers?" Glenn Reynolds, Esq. (aka, the InstaPundit) answers, "I think it’s because he made powerful people look stupid." There's something to that. But "the majority ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 30, 2009 12:11
Ricci Opens Up Businesses To More Lawsuits?
Via Mark Thompson, Ilya Somin argues that today's decision in Ricci will potentially open employers up to even more lawsuits alleging race-based discrimination.Justice Kennedy's majority opinion holds that an employer may not use race-conscious measures to try to avoid "disparate impact" liability under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act unless it "can demonstrate a strong basis in evidence ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 29, 2009 15:36
Supreme Court Takes NFL Apparel Case
The Supreme Court today agreed to consider whether the NFL is violating federal antitrust law in its exclusive licensing deal with Reebok. The court said it will hear an appeal from American Needle Inc., of Buffalo Grove, Ill., that challenges an agreement the NFL struck with Reebok International Ltd. American Needle had been one of many firms that manufactured NFL headwear ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 29, 2009 13:39
Bernie Madoff Gets 150 Years
Bernie Madoff got the maximum 150 year sentence. Bernard Madoff has been sentenced to the maximum 150 years in prison for his multibillion-dollar fraud scheme. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin handed down the sentence in New York on Monday. Defense attorneys had sought 12 years, while prosecutors wanted the maximum. The federal probation department had recommended 50 years. Chin called the fraud ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 29, 2009 11:47
White Firefighters Win, Sotomayor Loses
By a slim 5-4 margin, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the white New Haven firefighters whose promotions were denied because not enough non-whites passed the promotion exam. Among those ruling the other way on the lower court was a certain wise Latina. The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 29, 2009 11:06
On the Honduran Coup
The events in Honduras today have been some of the more dramatic in recent Latin American (and especially Central American) politics. The events are certainly of relevance to the democratic evolution of Honduras. Dave Schuler asked that I post a few comments given my academic focus on Latin America. If anyone is interested in the topic, I have written ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 28, 2009 23:22
Advil Strip Search Illegal, Says Supreme Court
The Supreme Court sided with a 13-year-old honor student suspended after she was strip searched for Advil. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a school's strip search of an Arizona teenage girl accused of having prescription-strength ibuprofen was illegal. In an 8-1 ruling, the justices said school officials violated the law with their search of Savana Redding in the rural eastern Arizona ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 25, 2009 11:47
Sorry About Terrorizing You…
...how about some movie passes? From Radley Balko comes this story of a wrong door raid and the counties offer for compensation was some free movie passes. Yes, free movie passes. Kenyan immigrant Nancy Njoroge had been living in the United States for a year when a Montgomery County SWAT team burst into her Gaithersburg apartment at 4 a.m., ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 23, 2009 12:52
A Secret the NYT Kept vs. Those It Did Not
Scott Johnson contrasts the NYT's silence on the David Rohde kidnapping to protect the safety of their reporter with "the Times's illegal exposure of the NSA terrorist eavesdropping program in December 2005, as well as its exposure of the Treasury Department's terrorist-finance tracking program in June 2006. Whereas the reporting of Rohde's apprehension may have endangered his life, the disclosure ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 22, 2009 08:59
Public and Private
Jeff Jarvis notes that there has been some controversy over Google's Streetview, which allows people to see videos of what's going on in the streets, including residential neighborhoods, in an ever-expanding number of locations. In a few countries around the world, we’ve seen a backlash against Google’s Streetview as somehow an invasion of privacy, even though what Google captures is the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 22, 2009 07:21
Sotomayor Quits Women’s Club
Just when you think Washington couldn't get any sillier, Sonia Sotomayor has resigned from the Belizean Grove women's group after criticism that it was for women only. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor resigned Friday from an elite all-women's club after Republicans questioned her participation in it. Sotomayor said she resigned from the Belizean Grove to prevent the issue from becoming a ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 20, 2009 06:26
Illegal Music Downloads Bring $1.9 Million Fine
A Minnesota woman has been fined $1.9 million for downloading 24 songs from an Internet file sharing service, CNN reports. Jammie Thomas-Rasset's case was the first such copyright infringement case to go to trial in the United States, her attorney said. Attorney Joe Sibley said that his client was shocked at the fine, noting that the price tag on the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 19, 2009 12:58
