"Speak Up, Mr. Hart...

fill the room with your intelligence."

Wow! The best law school series ever broadcast--Paper Chase--is about to come out on DVD.

Put this one up on your Netflix queue!

If you can get past the 70s hippy look of the 1Ls, you will love this series. Prof. Kingsfield is tougher than even Braveheart.

Property Videos Available Online

From the Volokh blog:

Institute for Justice Videos:

The Institute for Justice -- one of the nation's top libertarian law firms -- has some short videos out on their favorite constitutional law cases. IJ has long been first-rate not just at litigating their cases, but at using them to promote libertarian legal ideas to the public, so these should be much worth watching (and forwarding). Here are IJ's quick summaries, with links:

1. The Little Pink House & Property Rights: ... Susette Kelo in her historic fight against eminent domain for private gain.

2. Economic Liberty & the 14th Amendment: Should it take seven years and a team of lawyers to open as small business? That is the reality, so long as courts ignore the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the 14th Amendment.

3. Footloose in Arizona -- A Funny Look at Petty Government Actions: Can you imagine a government threatening fines of $500,000 on a small business for allowing patrons to dance outdoors? Enjoy this fun animated take on the Saga of San Tan Flat.

4. School Choice: Should Only the Government Get to Pick Your Kids’ School? Andrea Weck from Arizona is like millions of parents nationwide; she wants to get her children the best education possible, but finds some people think that only the government —- and not parents -— should select the schools children attend.

5. Free Speech & Campaign Finance Restrictions: Does the First Amendment protect the right to free speech? Not always. Today, campaign finance laws are being used to stifle political speech and participation.

6. Eminent Domain for Private Gain in New Jersey: Does the 5th Amendment protect private property rights? Lori Vendetti [talks] ... about eminent domain in her ocean-front town of Long Branch, N.J.

For more information on any of the cases related to these videos, visit http://www.ij.org/cases.

NASA "Global Warming" Satellite Crashes

Link. Excerpt:

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – A rocket carrying a NASA global warming satellite has landed in the ocean near Antarctica after a failed launch.

The Taurus XL rocket carrying the Orbiting Carbon Observatory blasted off early Tuesday morning from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. But launch managers say that several minutes later, the payload fairing, which shelters the satellite, apparently failed to separate from the launch vehicle.

Hmmm. This could have been a finders case if it had fallen on land.

I await the NY Times article claiming that global warming caused the crash (as well as the collapse of the NY Yankees in the 21st Century)!

New Book on Kelo

Over at the Volokh blog, Ilya Somin has an interesting review of a new book on Kelo (excerpt):

Telling the Kelo Story - Jeff Benedict's Little Pink House:

People interested in property rights issues generally or Kelo v. City of New London specifically should definitely read Jeff Benedict's new book, Little Pink House. Kelo generated a broader political backlash than any other modern Supreme Court decision, and Benedict's book is by far the most thorough account of the development project and condemnations that led to case.

Benedict doesn't focus much on the legal issues involved, which have already been beaten to death by a small army of legal scholars (myself included). He does, however, provide an in-depth account of New London's decision to condemn the plaintiff's homes and other property in order to promote "economic development" and the course of the political and legal struggle between the two sides. Although Benedict's sympathies are clearly with the property owners, he also conducted numerous interviews with the lawyers and officials on the other side, so their perspective gets extensive coverage in the book. For example, he provides a fascinating portrait of Claire Gaudiani, president of Connecticut College and of the New London Development Corporation - the quasi-governmental entity that decided to go forward with the condemnations.

More Schedule Changes

There will be no class on the following dates:

1. Wednesday February 18. I am teaching an "honors" undergraduate class on the Establishment Clause, so we won't meet on this date. Let's celebrate the life of Braveheart himself, William Wallace, a son of Alba and a lover of liberty.

2. Friday March 13, the Friday before Spring Break. Let's celebrate the life and ideas of one of my all time favorite home schooled philosophers and lovers of liberty, John Stuart Mill.

Sex Offender Residency Laws

From the PropertyProf blog:


"The New York Times has a story that describes the consequences of Iowa's sex offender residency rules:

The men have flocked to . . . rural motels and trailer parks because no one else will, or can, have them. A new state law barring those convicted of sex crimes involving children from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day care center has brought unintended and disturbing consequences. It has rendered some offenders homeless and left others sleeping in cars or in the cabs of their trucks."

Should we care? If so, what should we think about this?

Here is an excerpt from the NYT piece:

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — One cornfield beyond the trim white farmhouse where the Boland family lives and a road sign warns, "Watch for children and dogs," is a faded motel.

For years a layover for budget-conscious motorists and construction crews, the motel has lately become a disquieting symbol of what has gone wrong with Iowa's crackdown on sexual offenders of children. With just 24 rooms, the motel, the Ced-Rel, was home to 26 registered sex offenders by the start of March.

"Nobody wants to have something associated with sex offenders right beside them," said Steve Boland, a farmer and father of two who learns about his newest neighbors every few weeks when sheriff's deputies stop by with photographs of them.

"Us showing the kids some mug shots sure wasn't going to help," Mr. Boland said. "How were they going to remember that many faces?"

The men have flocked to the Ced-Rel and other rural motels and trailer parks because no one else will, or can, have them. A new state law barring those convicted of sex crimes involving children from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day care center has brought unintended and disturbing consequences. It has rendered some offenders homeless and left others sleeping in cars or in the cabs of their trucks.

Happy Ronald Reagan Day!

Friday February 6 is Ronald Reagan's Birthday. The Gipper was a great President, the best of my lifetime!

Enjoy your day off!

"Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have." --President Ronald Reagan

"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"--President Ronald Reagan winning the Cold War