Lincoln revered the Declaration of Independence, and several of his most significant utterances were made on or about the Fourth of July.  Read the rest of this entry »

Delaware General Corporation Law Section 141 tells us that the "business and affairs of every corporation organized under this chapter shall be managed by or under the direction of a board of directors."  Given the complexity of managing or overseeing the business and affairs of modern corporations, an outsider may be forgiven for being surprised at finding out that (as I've noted before) directorships are often part-time positions filled by individuals who generally have other very pressing full-time demands.  Now we can add another curiosity to this area: the celebrity director.  Bloomberg reports that:

Rules being considered by the Securities and Exchange Commission would force Bank of America Corp. to explain how leading the 2003 invasion of Iraq prepared former U.S. General Tommy Franks to sit on its audit committee.  Franks and ex-Admiral Joseph Prueher, who both resigned as directors of the bank this month, are among military leaders and athletes paid as directors by U.S. companies.  They include seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, who quit Morgans Hotel Group Co. after missing 11 board meetings in 2007.

Read the rest of this entry »

     Michael O'Brien of The Hill reports that when President Obama signed the war funding bill last week the President issued a statement indicating that he would ignore certain provisions of the law that he considered unconstitutional.  Although I agree with the President that the sections of the statute he objects to are an invasion of the powers granted to the President under the Constitution, it would be an even graver violation of the Constitution for him to refuse to enforce a law that Congress has enacted and that he has signed. Read the rest of this entry »

     The Minnesota Supreme Court decided in favor of Al Franken yesterday, declaring him the winner of the 2008 election for U.S. Senator in the State of Minnesota.  One of Norm Coleman's arguments was that the counting of the absentee ballots violated his rights under the Equal Protection Clause under the case of Bush v. Gore (2000).   Here is a link to the Minnesota Supreme Court's decision, and a description of this aspect of the decision follows. Read the rest of this entry »

     On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.  Is history about to repeat itself?

Read the rest of this entry »

     In a previous post I described the New Haven firefighter case and Judge Sonia Sotomayor's participation in it as a member of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.  In this posting I will analyze yesterday's 5-4 decision of the Supreme Court reversing the Court of Appeals' decision in that case.  One aspect of this case particularly intrigued me.  As an educator I was very interested in the fact that the type of test that was administered – multiple choice versus oral exams – resulted in different people and different groups doing well, and I look forward to hearing your opinions about the best way to test for leadership positions in the firefighting profession. Read the rest of this entry »

     In yesterday's post I stated that there are three objections commonly raised against the enactment of the Hate Crimes Act currently pending in Congress.  Those objections are that (1) Congress lacks authority to enact the law; (2) the law infringes upon freedom of speech; and (3) the law confers "special treatment" on certain favored groups.  I addressed the first objection in yesterday's post.  Today I tackle the second and third arguments against the law. Read the rest of this entry »

     On April 29 the House of Representatives adopted a bill (H.R. 1913) entitled the "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009."  This legislation has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration.  The law would make it a federal offense to commit violence against someone because of the person's "race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability."  Is this law constitutional?  I will publish my opinion addressing that question in two parts, today and tomorrow. Read the rest of this entry »

What is community legal aid?

A non-profit law firm which:

• *Specializes in poverty law and is devoted to providing free, high-quality civil legal services to eligible clients.
• *Is dedicated to providing legal advice, information and representation as assistance for those seeking to achieve and maintain self-sufficiency.
• *Provides information about laws and the legal system to those who work with the poor and elderly so that they may better serve their clients.
• *Is a non-profit corporation governed by local lawyers, members of the client community and others concerned about equal access to justice.

Source:  http://www.communitylegalaid.org/services

  Read the rest of this entry »

     Your responses to the abortion question are amazing.  The question was, "What would happen if Roe v. Wade were overturned?"  There were several neat ideas presented in your comments.  I'll respond to these comments below the fold. Read the rest of this entry »