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Daily Archives: May 27, 2015

The Weakness of the Case for Cameras in the United States Supreme Court

Bruno, Jonathan, The Weakness of the Case for Cameras in the United States Supreme Court (January 5, 2015). Creighton Law Review, Vol. 48, No. 2, 2015. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2610831

“Many people regard it as obvious that Supreme Court proceedings should be open to video cameras, and should be broadcast live on television and online. After all, the activities of Congress and the President are routinely publicized in this way, as are the proceedings of many state and lower federal courts. The benefits of such broadcasting seem manifest, and by stubbornly resisting this trend the Supreme Court apparently runs afoul of the basic demands of democratic transparency. In this Article, I show that these familiar positions are very difficult to sustain. On close inspection, all of the common arguments for cameras in the Supreme Court fail to persuade, either because they rest on speculative empirical premises, or else because they extrapolate unconvincingly from generic propositions about government openness. Not only is video not required by our commitment to transparency, I argue, but there are no reasonable grounds for confidence that it would promote any of the goods claimed in its name, including public understanding, accountability, and legitimacy. In fact, there are affirmative reasons to doubt that video, at least as ordinarily experienced in our present social context, would improve the public’s understanding of the Court and its process. In short, the case for cameras in the Supreme Court turns out to be surprisingly weak. My analysis suggests that, at least for now, Congress should defer to the Court’s prudential judgment on this issue, and that the Justices are right to regard video skeptically. Nevertheless, I conclude by explaining why the Court may eventually find itself with compelling reasons to reverse that judgment, and to embrace cameras.”

Clean Water Rule Protects Streams and Wetlands Critical to Public Health, Communities, and Economy

“In an historic step for the protection of clean water, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army finalized the Clean Water Rule today to clearly protect from pollution and degradation the streams and wetlands that form the foundation of the nation’s water resources. The rule ensures that waters protected under the Clean Water… Continue Reading

Federal Reserve Board issues Report on Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households

“The Federal Reserve Board’s latest survey of the financial and economic conditions of American households – Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2014 – released Wednesday finds that individuals’ overall perceptions of financial well-being improved modestly between 2013 and 2014 but their optimism about future financial prospects increased significantly. The 2014 Survey… Continue Reading

The biggest hurdle for lawyers with disabilities are preconceptions

Thank you to Terry Carter for another spot on article, this one focused on the many faceted, significant, and valuable expertise of the differently abled in the legal profession: “Many lawyers with disabilities still end up where they always were: channeled toward government work, advocacy organizations or solo and small-firm employment, often with disability-related practices.… Continue Reading

Nation Gains More than 4 Million Nonemployer Businesses Over Last Decade

“There were 23.0 million businesses without paid employees, or nonemployer businesses, in the United States in 2013, up 4.4 million from 2003 and 269,705, or 1.2 percent, from 2012, according to statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Most industry sectors with nonemployer businesses experienced growth in the number of nonemployer establishments and receipts since… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – International Space Station, Sequestration

International Space Station: Measurable Performance Targets and Documentation Needed to Better Assess Management of National Laboratory, GAO-15-397: Published: Apr 27, 2015. Publicly Released: May 27, 2015: “The U.S. has spent almost $43 billion to develop, assemble, and operate the ISS over the past two decades. The NASA Authorization Act of 2010 required NASA to enter… Continue Reading

FTC Report – Pet Medications Industry Finds Veterinarians Face Increasing Competition from Non-Veterinary Retail Outlets

“A Federal Trade Commission report on the pet medications industry noted fast growth and a changing landscape of suppliers – with veterinarians seeing increased competition from non-traditional sellers, and consumers finding more ways to buy medications for their pets. The report made recommendations for ways to make the pet medications market even more competitive. Based… Continue Reading

Federal Judge Blocks Release of CIA Torture Report to ACLU

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. AMERICAN  CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, et al. , Defendants. Civil Action No. 13 – 1870 (JEB) – May 20, 2015 MEMORANDUM OPINION [snipped]: “A lightning rod for controversy, the Central Intelligence Agency’s former detention and interrogation program has spawned a… Continue Reading

Building an Innovation-Driven Economy – The Case of BRIC and GCC Countries

Gackstatter, Steffen and Kotsemir, Maxim Nikolaevich and Meissner, Dirk, Building an Innovation-Driven Economy – The Case of BRIC and GCC Countries (July 25, 2014). Foresight, Vol. 16, Iss. 4, pp. 293-308 (2014). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2491488 “Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to undertake an analysis of the attempts of Gulf… Continue Reading

NY State joining 14 other states in adopting Uniform Bar Examination

The National Jurist – “New York State will begin using the Uniform Bar Examination in 2016, making it the fifteenth, and by far largest, state to do so.  The state’s chief judge, Jonathan Lippman, said he expected the move to result in a “domino effect” with other states jumping on the UBE bandwagaon. More than… Continue Reading