Copernicus Publications, “the innovative open access publisher,” recently announced it was terminating one of its journals, Pattern Recognition in Physics due to concerns about the journal’s editorial practices. PRP was not even one year old. It seems the problems began when the journal’s editors agreed to a special issue on “Pattern in solar variability, their planetary origin and […]
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
Upcoming Talks
I have a few upcoming talks that are open to the public and may be of interest to VC readers. On January 21, at noon, I will be speaking at the National Constitution Center’s “Affordable Care Act Town Hall” with Simon Lazarus of the Constitutional Accountability Center. Jeff Rosen will moderate our discussion of continuing […]
Could Cellphone Cases Help Justin Bieber?
Jess Bravin has a report that could be of great interest to the VC readership’s Belieber contingent: The justices Friday agreed to decide when searching a cellphone requires a warrant—the very kind of evidence that Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies believe could link the “Believe” singer to the egging of a neighbor’s house. Deputies searched Mr. […]
Did Judge Martin Retire Because He Was Under Investigation? – UPDATED
Last July, Judge Boyce Martin announced his retirement from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Tonight, TPM reports that Martin made his decision “under a cloud of accusations that he had racked up nearly $140,000 in ‘questionable travel expenses.’” The details came out in a decision filed by five members of a federal panel […]
Can the Government Exclude Lobbyists from Advisory Committees?
Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an interesting opinion in Autor v. Pritzker. Here’s how Judge Tatel summarized his opinion for the court: President Obama, seeking to reduce the “culture of special interest access,” directed executive agency heads to bar federally registered lobbyists from serving on advisory committees. Appellants, federally […]
D.C. Circuit Rejects “Net Neutrality” Rule
Today, in Verizon v. FCC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated key portions of the Federal Communications Commission’s “Open Internet Order” — aka the net neutrality” rule. The court held 2-1 that that FCC has the authority to regulate broadband providers, and that such regulation may govern broadband providers’ handling of internet […]
Insane Clown Posse v. FBI, Vol. 2
In September 2012, noted “horror core” hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse sued the FBI seeking to obtain documents explaining why the federal government labeled ICP fans (aka “Juggalos”) as a “loosely organized hybrid gang” under the National Gang Threat Assessment. Now, with the help of the ACLU, the ICP is suing the FBI again […]
SCOTUS Stays Same-Sex Marriage in Utah
This morning the Supreme Court granted Utah’s application for a stay of the district court’s injunction requiring state officials to recognize same-sex marriage within the state. The stay application was initially submitted to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who referred it to the entire court. As Lyle Denniston observes, there is no indication that any member of […]
Blogospheric Rubbernecking – 2014 Blackmail Edition
The Brian Leiter-Paul Campos feud continues into the New Year. The latest: Campos is threatening to disclose “potentially very embarrassing personal information” about Leiter should the latter disclose the personal identity of “Dybbuk,” the pseudonym of a lawyer/”scamblogger” accused of harassing another law professor in blog posts and comments. Could this constitute blackmail? I’ll leave […]
Abrams on McCullen v. Coakley
On January 15, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in McCullen v. Coakley, a challenge to Massachusetts’s abortion-clinic-entrance-access law. In this case, the Court will have the opportunity to limit, or overrule, Hill v. Colorado, “what may well be its most indefensible First Amendment ruling so far this century,” according to First Amendment lawyer extraordinaire Floyd Abrams. […]
Senator Johnson’s ObamaCare Lawsuit
In tomorrow’s WSJ, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) has an op-ed explaining a new lawsuit he is filing against the Obama Administration’s implementation of the PPACA. Specifically, this lawsuit targets a rule by the federal Office of Personnel Management that allows the federal government to subsidize health insurance for members of Congress and some legislative staff. According […]
Hardest Exam Question?
What’s the hardest exam question you ever faced in law school? Was there one so difficult it is seared into your memory? One fiendish question I recall was on the final exam given by Judge Jay Plager in his Legislation class. I don’t recall the precise substance, but it was immaterial. There was a reasonably […]
Which First Amendment Decision Would You Overturn?
In his Brown v. Allen concurrence, Justice Robert Jackson famously said of the Supreme Court “We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final.” The Supreme Court inevitably makes mistakes and reaches the wrong result in some non-trivial number of cases. Accordingly, for the past two years I have […]
Medicaid Expansion Increases Emergency Room Visits
One of the arguments made in favor of measures to expand health insurance coverage, including the Medicaid expansion, was that the lack of insurance coverage leads many individuals to seek medical treatment in emergency rooms, and that this results both in higher health care costs and in cost-shifting, as the uninsured may be unable to […]
Wonkblog’s “Policy Lie of the Year”
Wonkblog has published it’s third annual “Wonky” awards, which “outstanding achievements — and spectacular disasters — in policy wonkery.” Some of the awards may surprise, but the “Wonky” for “policy lie of the year” was somewhat predictable: “Obama’s “If you like your plan, you can keep it” line. Here’s the explanation: President Obama […]