Verdict

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb analyzes a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit holding that when a person with a cellphone inadvertently calls a third party, thereby exposing personal communications, the caller retains no reasonable expectation of privacy in the matters disclosed for purposes of the federal Wiretap Act.

George Washington law professor and economist Neil Buchanan discusses the ongoing human rights disaster in the Dominican Republic stemming from that country’s treatment of Haitians. Buchanan argues that the United States should withdraw financial support for the Dominican Republic’s security forces in order not to provide support for human rights violations.

Chapman University law professor Ronald Rotunda discusses instances of federal judges acting in manners inconsistent with their responsibilities.

Law professor and dean designate of the University of Illinois College of Law Vikram David Amar reflects on his tenure as a professor and administrator at the University of California. While Amar extols the University as being the greatest public university system in the world, he highlights a few challenges that it faces as it moves forward.

George Washington law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan discusses a topic that is gaining traction among Democrats in Congress and across the country—the suggestion that retirement benefits paid by Social Security be increased.

Cornell University law professor Michael Dorf discusses the implications of a recent decision by a federal district court invalidating an Idaho law that criminalizes entering a “agricultural production facility” under false pretenses and also criminalizes creating an audio or video recording of what takes place there without authorization from the owners—known as an Ag-Gag law.

George Washington law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan debunks some of the Social Security myths spread by many conservative politicians. Specifically, Buchanan makes the following arguments: (1) Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme, (2) Demographics will not overwhelm social security, (3) the Social Security trust fund is more than simply “worthless paper” and we are not better off investing it on our own, and (4) Social Security will not go broke in the coming decades.

Cornell University law professor Joseph Margulies continues his discussion of the conditions under which Tariq Ba Odah are being held at Guantanamo despite unanimous agreement by national security agencies that he is not a threat.

Author and former counsel to the president John W. Dean discusses the Fox News Presidential Debates of August 6, 2015—the first major political event of the 2016 presidential election cycle.

Cardozo law professor Marci Hamilton explains how politicians have intentionally conflated constitutional religious liberty—which comes from the First Amendment of the Constitution—and statutory religious liberty—which originated in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993—for political gain. Hamilton describes the many differences between these two types of religious liberty and calls upon politicians and journalists to disambiguate the term.

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb draws upon the outrage many people felt in response to a video allegedly showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal body parts and tissue from abortions (video that was subsequently revealed to be edited so as to be intentionally misleading) in order to discuss a different area in which tissue and parts are bought and sold without evoking such broad outrage.

Hofstra University law professor Joanna Grossman discusses a recent decision by a New York court that a couple’s failure to obtain a marriage license (and lack of evidence of any intent to marry) meant that they were not legally married.

Chapman University law professor Ronald Rotunda critiques the trend in institutions of higher education to instruct professors and students to avoid “microaggressions” and to give “trigger warnings.”

Law professor and dean designate of the University of Illinois College of Law Vikram David Amar provides an update on the so-called National Popular Vote (NPV) interstate compact plan in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Arizona Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.

In this second of a two-part series of columns, George Washington law professor and economist Neil Buchanan explains how the German-led policy regime is likely to hurt not just Greece’s people but also people elsewhere in the world. Buchanan also describes how the arguments from German policymakers amounts to blaming the victims of the very policies they imposed upon the Greeks.

Cornell University law professor Michael Dorf considers to what extent defamation law provides a remedy for people who appear in deliberately misleading audiovisual recordings, as in the recently released videos ostensibly showing senior officials of Planned Parenthood stating prices for selling fetal body parts.

In this first of a two-part series of columns, George Washington law professor and economist Neil Buchanan explains why the situation in Greece is economically simple but politically nasty.

Cornell University law professor Joseph Margulies laments the discourse currently surrounding the presidential candidates, particularly Donald Trump, and argues that we should be more focused on the candidates’ answers to important questions about inequality, the criminal justice system, climate change, and global insecurity.

Former counsel to the president John W. Dean discusses Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump and the authoritarian leader personality type. Dean argues that while Trump may be the early leader in the polls, he will ultimately not win presidency of the United States.

Cardozo law professor Marci Hamilton discusses the federal First Amendment Defense Act—a bill that she argues is actually itself unconstitutional.