Opinions

/Opinions

Opinions from authors on legal topics

6 Jul, 2011

International Law, Texas Style

2019-03-18T18:47:56-05:00July 6th, 2011|

You are an American. You are today the most powerful national citizen who has ever existed. But you live in a world mostly populated by non-Americans, many of whom believe you enjoy privileges they do not, and many of those people would like to make some changes. Some of those non-American change-seekers would love to [...]

27 Jun, 2011

Best of the Weekend

2019-03-18T18:47:57-05:00June 27th, 2011|

I read several great pieces over the weekend. Here are the best of them. University of Chicago Professor Geoffrey R. Stone had this New York Times op-ed entitled "Our Untransparent President." Mr. Stone alleges that: "While Mr. Obama has taken certain steps, notably early in his administration, to scale back some of the Bush-era excesses, [...]

16 Jun, 2011

An Attempt to Ban “Groping” at Airports

2019-03-18T18:47:58-05:00June 16th, 2011|Tags: , , , , |

I just read a very interesting article from the NY Times on a bill that might be reintroduced in the Texas legislature. The bill would ban "intrusive" airport searches, such as pat-downs that touch "the anus, sexual organ, buttocks or breast of another person including through the clothing, or touches the other person in a manner [...]

18 May, 2011

We Will Have to Suffer Now ‘Cause You Had It All

2011-05-18T00:56:11-05:00May 18th, 2011|

So, when does a patient become involuntary? This isn’t an idle question; there’s an awful lot of government-run health care facilities, and the question of voluntary vs. involuntary patients is pretty important. I just finished a brief to the 8th Circuit on this question. First, in DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of [...]

11 Mar, 2011

The Charlie Sheen Legal Drama

2011-03-11T20:41:15-06:00March 11th, 2011|Tags: , , |

I usually try to not follow celebrity legal dramas. I really have no idea what Lindsey Lohan's latest case is about. But I will admit that the Charlie Sheen madness sucked me in. As most of you who have watched television in the last week know Charlie was fired from Two and a Half Men. Then [...]

7 Mar, 2011

Dancing, Quibbling, and Crocuses

2019-03-18T18:48:05-05:00March 7th, 2011|Tags: , , , , , , |

I shouldn’t quibble. When a law professor writes an academic article that is published in a law review, she is lucky to have it cited in other academic articles published in other law reviews. This is, after all, what we do. To have it not just cited but reviewed by someone who [...]

3 Feb, 2011

A Non-Political View of the Commerce Clause and Health Care

2019-03-18T18:48:06-05:00February 3rd, 2011|Tags: , , |

Ever since Federal Judge Vinson struck down the Affordable Care Act, the legal blogosphere has been saturated with various arguments as to what the Commerce Clause should mean. I do not pretend to know whether or not the Affordable Care Act is good for the country, or, even if it is good for my family—a family that earns a very middle of the road income, that has a wife that is next to uncoverable, and has one child and another on the