Al Capone didn't confess to racketeering.
Today Blawgletter takes up the Bernard L. Madoff scandal. First we rhetorically bash the Securities and Exchange Commission; then we speculate on what made Mr. Madoff such a exquisitely good defrauder.
The SEC has an unerring sense for the capillary
We read yesterday, in the WSJ, that the
This image appears on the first page of Steven Pinker's Harvard bio.
Steven Pinker wrote last week about why two of the country's smartest lawyers stumbled over the 36-word presidential oath of office. Professor Pinker's explanation? "[B]lowback from Chief Justice Roberts’s habit of grammatical niggling."
The Harvard don sets the scene thus:
On
After a six-month hiatus, Blawgetter's award-winning sister publication, Barnett's Notes on Commercial Litigation, has a new issue. Behold its features:
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Have you ever wondered why a lawsuit that has turned uneconomic — i.e., the cumulative historical cost dwarfs any reasonable estimate of the possible gain — keeps motoring along? Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner offered an answer in an opinion yesterday. He said:
For 22 years these parties and their predecessors have been litigating, in numerous lawsuits in
Expect to see more CEOs (like Bill Gates here) having to answer monopolization charges.
Blawgletter has made no secret of our disappointment with antitrust law enforcement over the last eight years. (Lookie here and here, for example.) We've also guessed that an Obama administration would get tougher on monopolists and cartels.
Today, the rumor
Today a Superior Court in Rhode Island held the State of Rhode Island must reimburse almost $250,000 to the paint companies it sued for creating a public nuisance by selling lead paint years ago. State of Rhode Island v. Lead Industries Ass'n, No. PB/99-5226 (R.I. Super. Jan. 22, 2009).
News article here.
The expenses
President Barack Obama has said he wants judges who are sympathetic to the vulnerable and powerless.
When will change come?
If you wonder how quickly the new Obama administration can rebalance the philosophical bent of the lower federal courts, consider some statistics.
In his eight years in office, President George W. Bush filled 67 of the
President Barack Obama taking the oath of office. He and Chief Justice John Roberts repeat it — this time flawlessly — the next day.
Blawgletter's journal of the 56th Inaugural continues:
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-68).
I know you are asking today, "How long will it take?" Somebody’s asking, "How long will prejudice blind the visions of men, darken their understanding, and drive bright-eyed wisdom from her sacred throne?" Somebody’s asking, "When will wounded justice, lying prostrate on the streets of Selma and Birmingham and
Blawgletter sits nine blocks from the White House at this moment. We thought we'd share some reportage from our first-ever inauguration observation:
Day 1, 3:17 p.m.: Very cold,