An empty jury box.
A couple years ago, Blawgletter reported a Disturbing Trend in the number of jury trials that Lone Star State civil district courts conducted during 2006 versus a decade earlier. We said:
Skeptical of growing complaints about the vanishing jury trial, Blawgletter did a little research. It found that, in 1996, according
You seldom see a federal judge grant a motion for recusal. And an appellate court that reverses denial of such a motion shares much with a unicorn.
Today an Eighth Circuit panel split 2-1 in overturning a district judge's refusal to step aside. The judge's errors in imposing a death penalty sanction for discovery abuse, together with intemperate comments
Globalization exploits what economist call the "comparative advantage" of one country over another in the production of particular goods or services. We may suppose, for example, that the snooty French produce superior fashion designers and more pleasing perfumers and that the grim Germans engineer the finest sports cars. We may also posit that nations with an abundance
The hubbub over bonuses for masters of the financial universe (examples here and here) reminds Blawgletter of something a partner once said about "Money River". The partner alluded to the hazards of drinking from that stream. It sounded mysterious.
We've since learned that the partner had reference to a Kurt Vonnegut novel, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater — or Pearls
These are the times that will define us all.
Vikram Pandit, Citigroup CEO, March 9, 2009, in letter to employees.
Yesterday the U.S. Senate voted 61-31 to approve the nomination of Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan as Solicitor General.
Dahlia Lithwick at Slate opines on the confirmation process that SG Kagan survived.
HLS does a victory dance for the now-former Dean.
Blawgletter favored Kagan for Harvard University President and congratulates her on the
Blawgletter shares the Public Anger over the use of the Public Fisc to enable American International Group to pay questionable debts to (1) buyers of credit default swaps and (2) the AIG people who sold them.
Category (2) — involving several hundred millions — summons especial perplexity. The bonuses, we suspect, conjure images of fat cat brokers laughing at hapless
None of these guys had a BlackBerry.
The NYT has an article today about hooligan jurors. They take their job so seriously — and their oath so lightly — that they Google their way to enlightenment about the True Facts. Mistrials abound.
What to do?
Blawgletter has pondered the fraudulence of credit default swaps.
We've noted Congress's culpability in 2000, when it un-hinged the speculative CDS market from any prophylactic regulation, and in 2005, when it exempted CDS instruments from bankruptcy law protections.
Now we weigh in on Congressional outrage over American International Group's payment of around $450 million in bonuses
The NYT reported yesterday that the Obama administration will drop the "enemy combatants" moniker for people who joined or helped Taliban or al Qaeda. The administration also will detain only those non-members who "substantially" aided the terrorist organizations. The new standard accords with international standards for holding potentially bad guys. Or at least so the DOJ argues in its memorandum