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A service of Widener University School of Law: John Culhane, Robert Justin Lipkin, Christopher Robinette, Benjamin Barros, Thaddeus Pope, Tonya M. Evans, Dean Linda Ammons
John Culhane: WordInEdgewise.org
Bubbling Under - Fri, 03 Jul 2009
For reasons probably too psychoanalytically complex to unravel, I was once obsessed with the Billboard HOT 100 chart. And I was almost as obsessed with another chart, known only to savants, called “Bubbling Under,” which listed the next ten or sometimes twenty songs that didn’t quite make the grade. These songs were Kathy Griffin, D-List [...]
Acrobabble, Indeed - Fri, 03 Jul 2009
Too much time… no, wait: Way too much time on your hands? Try Acrobabble. You may find yourself creating sentences like “Origami puzzles everyone.” and then hoping, for no good reason, that others vote for it.
(h/t JH)
Bigger Questions about Marriage - Thu, 02 Jul 2009
In a just-published article in the inaugural volume of the Drexel Law Review, I argue that the battle over marriage equality has at times diverted us from hard questions about whether the state is justified in its relentless and almost exclusive promotion of marriage over other relational forms.
At times, the “marriage promotion” argument has been [...]
Supplement to Radio Gig on “DADT” - Thu, 02 Jul 2009
I had a great time on NPR affiliate WYPR’s Midday Show today, discussing the indefensible “don’t ask, don’t tell policy” with host Dan Rodricks and Alex Nicholson (whom I profiled here, and who was discharged under DADT).
You can listen to the broadcast here. I wanted to add a quick note to what was said on [...]
Can We Really Call it a “Trans”Pass? - Thu, 02 Jul 2009
An odd story has been developing here in Philadelphia over the past several months. It involves a collision between administration of a supposedly simple rule and the basic human rights and dignity that have been offended by that rule.
Riders of the public transportation system in the Philly Metro Area can buy a “TransPass”, which is [...]
Robert Justin Lipkin, Founder: Essentially Contested America
Shouldn’t Judges Use the Same Interpretive Methodology? - Fri, 03 Jul 2009
Isn’t there something peculiar about judges using different interpretive methodologies in constitutional adjudication? If constitutional judgments are objective, inter-subjective, or in some other way reliable across judges, shouldn’t the form of reasoning and interpretation generating the judgments be the same? This doesn’t mean that if judges used the same methodology they necessarily would agree on [...]
Out with a Whimper - Thu, 02 Jul 2009
The Supreme Court’s season is over, and it ended not with a bang, but a whimper. The Court did not strike down the Voting Rights Act after all (thank goodness). The Court ruled in favor of the white firefighters in Ricci, as expected, but avoided the Equal Protection issue. And, despite disparaging remarks and jokes [...]
Ricci and Employment Tests - Wed, 01 Jul 2009
The Supreme Court issued its opinion in Ricci v. DeStefano, the New Haven firefighters case, on Monday. It was a typical 5-4 decision in which the conservative wing of the Court declined to allow New Haven to attempt to guarantee racial equality in promotions. Leaving aside civil service rules, Title VII and employment law in [...]
A Congressional Override of Supreme Court Decisions - Tue, 30 Jun 2009
American constitutional culture, despite the protestations of many political scientists, is thoroughly judicial at least regarding the controversial conflicts that engage the imagination of the nation. The Court virtually has the final say concerning the results of constitutional conflicts and the authority to determine constitutional norms and the character and content of constitutional concepts. This [...]
How Should the Effects of American Racism Be Remedied? - Mon, 29 Jun 2009
Given the irrefutable fact that hundreds of years of oppressing a class of individuals through slavery and Jim Crow discrimination and segregation will determine to a large extent the skills and abilities those individuals will possess, how does a rational, just society remedy the deficiencies imposed on the class of individuals by the oppressors? The [...]
Dean Linda Ammons
Musicians in Volterra - Mon, 29 Jun 2009
Musicans playing alabaster instruments at the Widener Summer program in Volterra
Pictures From My Trip So Far - Wed, 24 Jun 2009
Bonjour again! After writing my last post I would like to share all the wonderful places I’ve visited and photographed to date.
Enjoy!
Greetings from Switzerland! (And Lausanne, and Pisa, and Volterra!) - Mon, 22 Jun 2009
Bonjour:
The last few days in Lausanne have been interesting. I arrived in Switzerland Wednesday morning after an all night flight from Philadelphia on USAir. After an hour’s train ride I reached my destination. Immediately after reaching my hotel, the Mirabeau, not far from the train station, I took a nice long nap .The weather here [...]
Robert Justin Lipkin, Contributor: Ratio Juris
Islam & Justice: An Introduction
Divine Law (Sharī‘ah) & Jurisprudence (fiqh) in Islam
Governor Mark Sanford faces the music
Islamic Studies: A Bibliography
Christopher Robinette: TortsProf Blog
Personal Injury Roundup No. 41 (7/03/09)
Happy Fourth of July! Reform, Legislation, Policy Point: Richard Epstein on Medical Malpractice Reform (Olson/Point of Law) Counterpoint: Eric Turkewitz Responds (New York Personal Injury Law Blog) Alberto Bernabe has more here. Trials, Settlement and Other Ends NE: Inmate Kills...
Ross & Prince on Post-Sale Duties
Kenneth Ross (Adjunct Minnesota & Products Liability Prof Blog) and J. David Prince (William Mitchell & Products Liability Prof Blog), in a recent article in the Brooklyn Law Review, provide an overview of post-sale duties in the Restatement (Third) of...
Lay Perceptions of Strict Liability Standards in Mundane Cases
Matthew Kugler (Princeton-Psychology), John Darley (Princeton), Joseph Sanders (Houston), & Lawrence Solan (Brooklyn) have posted to SSRN Riding a Bicycle is Not an Abnormally Dangerous Activity: Lay Perceptions and the Appearance of Strict Liability Standards in Mundane Cases. Here is...
FDA Advisory Panel Recommends Ban on Percocet and Vicodin
An FDA Advisory Panel has recommended a ban on drugs that combine narcotics with acetaminophin (i.e., Tylenol or Excedrin). As the New York Times reports: High doses of acetaminophen are a leading cause of liver damage, and the panel noted...
Scorned Husband Sues Wife's Alleged Lover
A new alienation-of-affection case from Jonathan Turley: Wealthy car dealer Bob Rohrman (known as “Bob Rohrrrrrrr-man” on his commercials) is suing a surgeon, Dr. Sami M. Bittar, who wooed his wife, Ronda. Of course, Rohrman must show that the couple...
Benjamin Barros, PropertyProf Blog
What’s At Stake in Stop the Beach Renourishment
As I noted a couple of weeks ago, the Supreme Court recently granted cert in Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The cert petition presented three questions, but the case will likely center on the first:...
Property in Rain
Yesterday's NY Times has a fun story about a change in Colorado law that now makes it permissible for owners to collect rain that falls on their property. A taste: For the first time since territorial days, rain will be...
The Market in Human Eggs
Over at The Faculty Lounge, Kim Krawiec has a great post on New York's recent decision to allow (and cap) payments for human eggs used in research. This should be of interest to those who follow property-in-the-body debates. Ben Barros...
Thaddeus Pope
Inappropriate Treatment - More Providers' Fault than Surrogates'
CMS Proposes to De-Incentivize Aggressive End-of-Life Interventions
Tonya M. Evans
Too Good to Be True ... but it is! 3 for $30
Google Settlement May 5th Opt-Out Deadline Extended
Widener Law News
Widener Law welcomes new staff and faculty - Wed, 01 Jul 2009
Widener Law welcomes new staff and faculty
Justice Randy Holland participates in 2009 Qatar Law Forum - Wed, 24 Jun 2009
Justice Randy Holland participates in 2009 Qatar Law Forum
JURIST Academy Encourages Minority Undergraduates to Pursue Law School - Mon, 22 Jun 2009
JURIST Academy Encourages Minority Undergraduates to Pursue Law School
Delaware State Bar Association Holds Annual Bench and Bar Conference - Wed, 17 Jun 2009
Delaware State Bar Association Holds Annual Bench and Bar Conference