Dan Kahan offered these remarks at Yale Commencement on the general topic of a Yale Law School education. In the course of those remarks he discussed two YLS alums, John Yoo and Jack Goldsmith. Comparing Yoo and Goldsmith he states, "...
Which is more important to globalization, technology or trade? In a recent McKinsey survey of business executives, (registration required) one of the questions was "What single factor contributes most to the accelerating pace of change in the global business environment today?" Of these eight factors, guess which ranked from most important to least important: Awareness and activism of consumersEase of...
One of the top candidates for the U.N. Secretary-General slot opening up later this year is Ban Ki-Moon, Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He spoke at some length last week in New York at the Council on Foreign Relations about his candidacy and his vision for the future of the United Nations. The transcript is of...
Is the "tide of sex workers" arriving in Germany in anticipation of the World Cup the result of human trafficking and sexual slavery or of legalized prostitution and free enterprise? Or maybe both? The U.S. State Department is concerned but some in Germany maintain that the increase in sex workers may be just market forces at work in a...
The most compelling, cutting-edge, honest legal writing being produced in this country today is happening on the Internet, and the crop improves daily. From the fistful of judges (including Richard Posner) who maintain regular blogs, to the vast and growing number of law professors and law students who find the time to post daily, it's clear that the real bones...
Michael Van Alstine has just posted on SSRN his most recent article to be published in the UCLA Law Review entitled Executive Aggrandizement in Foreign Affairs Lawmaking. Here is the abstract:This article analyzes the power of the President to create federal law on the foundation of the executive’s status as the constitutional representative of the United States in foreign...
This case is the most bizarre domain name dispute I have ever heard of. The case involves a claim to the domain name "mymorganstanleyplatinum.com" brought by Morgan Stanley against respondent "Meow, Respondent Penelope Cat of Nash DCB, Ashbed Barn, Boraston Track, Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, WR15 8LQ, Great Britain." Here is the key section of the opinion holding that a cat...
One of the advantages of teaching at the University of Missouri is having access to one of the world's great journalism schools. Several of our law students earn joint degrees (JD/MA, LLM/PhD) in law and journalism, and I have had the opportunity to bring experienced international journalists into my classroom to talk about reporting on humanitarian crises. I...
My vote for the most interesting international law case for the month of May is United States v. Juvenile Male 1, 2006 WL 1427281 (D. Ariz. 2006). The case is an unusual choice as it involves federal district court criminal proceedings against a juvenile charged with sexual abuse of a minor on an Indian reservation in Arizona. Not the typical...
France, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom have jointly submitted a proposed delimitation of the continental shelf lying beyond the 200 mile limit of their coasts but abutting all four of these countries. This joint submission is made pursuant to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, and essentially is a proposed joint settlement. (In contrast to...
I'm currently making preliminary revisions to a forthcoming article in which I try to do new and exciting things with proportionality review under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. While attempting to strengthen my original arguments I've stumbled upon an issue which might be of interest to Opinio readers. Let me first set the stage. There are three basic...
I spent the day yesterday in Lausanne listening to a presentation on the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and visiting the remarkable Olympic Museum. I will spare you the details, as it really is not fair to our readers to describe in any detail the breathtaking beauty of this splendid place in this idyllic town along the placid waters...
