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President Obama’s Burgeoning Scandals Are All Smoke and No Fire
Former counsel to the president John Dean discusses each of the three scandals on which the media are currently focusing. Each scandal, Dean concludes, will not be found significant in the end.
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Abuse in the Sports World, and What Needs to Be Done About It
Cardozo law professor Marci Hamilton discusses abuse in the world of sports, including school, amateur and professional sports. While child sex abuse has been a problem in this world, physical, emotional, and verbal abuse are far too common, and need to stop as well, Hamilton urges.
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The U.S. Supreme Court Rules That Blood Tests for Drunk Driving Suspects Require a Search Warrant
Cornell law professor Sherry Colb considers the merits of the Supreme Court’s approach to cases where drunk driving is suspected, as set forth in Missouri v. McNeely.
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Are Universal Life Church Weddings Valid in New York?
Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman comments on the validity, in New York, of marriages performed by the Universal Life Church, which ordains its ministers via the click of an online button, and subsequent online approval. New York courts are split on the matter.
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Why Tennessee Might—and Should—Reject Its Proposed “Ag Gag” Bill
Attorney Julie Hilden comments on a Tennessee controversy over a proposed ag-gag law that would require anyone who intentionally records images of animal abuse to submit their unedited footage or photos to law enforcement within 48 hours.
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A KY Supreme Court Case Highlights Questions Left Open by Last Year’s Hosanna-Tabor Ruling
U.C., Davis law professor Vikram David Amar comments on a decision from the Kentucky Supreme Court concerning the ministerial exception to employment discrimination law, which leaves some inquiries to ecclesiastical, rather than secular resolutions.
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How Did Gay Bashing Become Part of the Debate Over Government Spending and Deficits?
George Washington law professor, and economist Neil Buchanan comments on the recent contention by Harvard history professor Niall Ferguson that famed economist John Maynard Keynes was gay and, for that reason, did not care about the well-being of future generations.
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Legal Limits on the Forced Feeding of Hunger-Striking Guantanamo Bay Detainees
Cornell law professor Michael Dorf comments on the law applicable to the forced feeding, via tubes, of those Guantanamo detainees who refuse to eat, as they are on a hunger strike, and are becoming dangerously weak.
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Multilevel Marketing: How to Avoid Building the Pyramid
Attorneys Jonathan E. Turco and David O. Klein comment on how companies can engage in perfectly legal multilevel marketing without running the risk of engaging in an illegal pyramid scheme.
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Conspiracy Theorists’ Bizarre & Unfortunate Explanations of The Boston Marathon Bombing
Former counsel to the president John Dean discusses the troubling conspiracy theories that have arisen in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing—including the “false flag attack” claim postulating that the Boston bombing was the work of the government, intended to result in taking weapons away from Americans.
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Who Is Afraid of Justice for Child Sex Abuse Victims, and Who Is Fighting for It?
Cardozo law professor Marci Hamilton comments on developments in States across the nation regarding abolishing the statute of limitations on child sex abuse.
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Rape by Deception, Rape by Impersonation, and a New California Bill
Cornell law professor Sherry Colb discusses two types of rape that may not at first come to mind when one thinks of the crime, but that are very traumatic for the victim: rape by impersonation, and rape by deception.
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Victor/Victoria: Michigan Court Says Marriage Still Valid Despite Husband’s Sexual Reassignment Surgery
Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman comments on how the legal status of the spouses in a marriage may change if one of them has sex-reassignment surgery—either before or after the marriage, or whether their legal sex must always be the one they had at birth. Grossman covers cases on this topic in Kansas, Texas, Florida and New Jersey, and their outcomes.
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A New Mexico School District Censors Students’ Attempts to Use Plastic Fetus Dolls to Talk About Abortion.
Attorney Julie Hilden comments on a New Mexico free speech case, in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled against students’ First Amendment claims, among other claims that their attorneys had brought.
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Disruption in the Legal Industry: A Librarian’s Perspective
Justia guest columnist, law librarian, and attorney Sarah Glassmeyer comments on the increasing privatization of legal research materials, leading many legal sources to be inaccessible to the poor and even the middle class. Glassmeyer argues that the current state of legal publishing needs to be disrupted, for it is badly broken. She urges that access to primary legal content, without additional original content attached, should be free to all—especially in an era where, she notes, 80 percent of people who want legal representation cannot afford it. Glassmeyer notes that instead of providing increased access, some companies try to privatize primary legal content using a variety of strategies.
