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Corpocracy: Unlimited Corporate Money in Politics

January 21st, 2010 by Bryan Lieb

The Supreme Court today issued its long awaited ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

In a 5-4 decision, the Court’s conservative Justices overturned prior precedent and struck down portions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act that severely limited corporate spending on political campaigns, instead cloaking that spending in First Amendment protection.

I previewed this case, and discussed the implications of unlimited corporate campaign spending, here. An interesting analysis of some questions left unanswered by the decision has been posted at SCOTUSblog.

Posted in Constitutional Law, Free Speech | No Comments »

Healthcare Reform Individual Mandate: Constitutional?

January 14th, 2010 by Bryan Lieb

In the context of our national Healthcare Reform debate, an “Individual Mandate” means that every individual will be required to buy health insurance (helped by a subsidy if necessary due to low income) or pay a tax penalty. The idea is that expanding the risk pool to include more healthy people will lower total costs, but many object to the insurance industry being handed a captive audience of new customers – to which proponents respond: eliminating preexisting condition exclusions isn’t economically feasible for the insurance industry without an individual mandate, because people will simply wait until they get sick to buy insurance. To which single-payer advocates respond: why do we need an for-profit insurance industry when it comes to health care!?

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Posted in Constitutional Law, Healthcare Reform | No Comments »

Oyster Power Online Off Scotland

November 30th, 2009 by Bryan Lieb

Occasionally I like to highlight – legal hook or no - an exciting development in alternative energy. Aquamarine Power is a Scottish company developing the Oyster, a gargantuan wave-powered pump. This article at alt-energy.info turned me on to the Oyster, and features a must-see pic illustrating the scale of the device…
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Posted in From the Consumer Desk, Sunken Treasure! | 2 Comments »

‘Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act’ Has Support

November 4th, 2009 by Bryan Lieb

A bill introduced in both the House and Senate has broad congressional backing and – for the first time – the crucial support of the politically powerful Cuban-American community.

TIME has the story.

I have always wanted to visit Cuba. I’ve thought for a long time now that our embargo and travel ban were counter-productive.

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Posted in Politics | No Comments »

Mortgage Electronic Registration System: Legal Meltdown

October 2nd, 2009 by Bryan Lieb

MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration System) is an innovation of the mortgage/banking industry which facilitated the prolific bundling, buying and selling of mortgages during the now-burst “real estate bubble.” The MERS (itself a corporation) tracking system allowed the changes of ownership in mortgages/deeds of trust to be registered in one place - the MERS database – rather than recorded (per state law!) in various county recorders’ offices across the United States….
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Posted in Financial Crisis, From the Consumer Desk | 1 Comment »

Citizens United v. FEC: Reargued

September 10th, 2009 by Bryan Lieb

Yesterday, I previewed the reargument of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, and now the arguments are in. The transcript is here. Or listen to the audio.
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Posted in Constitutional Law, Elections, Free Speech, Politics and the Law, Supreme Court | No Comments »

Unlimited Corporate Money in Politics?

September 9th, 2009 by Bryan Lieb

Citizens United v. The Federal Election Commission (a.k.a. “The Hillary Movie Case”) began as a challenge to the distribution of a conservative interest group’s documentary denouncing Hillary Clinton during her presidential election campaign. Because the documentary was funded with corporate money, the FEC claimed authority to prevent its distribution under the “McCain-Feingold” Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (which limits corporate expenditures nationwide on political campaign messaging transmitted via broadcast, satellite or cable TV). About half of the states also have laws limiting corporate political campaign spending.
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Posted in Constitutional Law, Elections, Free Speech, Politics and the Law, Supreme Court | 3 Comments »

Burka Controversy Coming to America

August 26th, 2009 by Bryan Lieb

CNN flags a First Amendment clash.

(Image source: wikimedia commons)

Can a Muslim woman wear a burka/niqab while testifying in court? Michigan small-claims court judge Paul Paruk said no, ordering Ginnah Muhammed to remove her religious head covering so that he could observe her temperament and demeanor during her testimony.
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Posted in Constitutional Law, Law and Society | 2 Comments »

GatesGate: Two Views

July 27th, 2009 by Bryan Lieb

Harvard professor Henry Gates was arrested at his home last week by Cambridge policeman James Crowley, sparking a national uproar.

Two views worth reading:

NYPD Police Captain Brandon del Pozo

Response by progressive blogger Digby

Where on the spectrum do you fall?

Posted in Police Conduct | No Comments »

Caperton v. Massey: Preserving Faith in Fairness

June 26th, 2009 by Bryan Lieb

To allow, or to forbid, a judge’s judging a case when one litigant has pumped millions of dollars into the judge’s election campaign. How best to preserve Americans’ faith in the integrity and fairness of our judicial system? The U.S. Supreme Court faced just this question in Caperton v. Massey, a suit between rival West Virginia coal companies. The closely divided Court issued its decision earlier this month. The three opinions totaling just 40 pages are a breeze to read compared to the Supremes’ more lengthy screeds – if you’ve never read a Supreme Court opinion, try this one.
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Posted in Constitutional Law, Judicial Ethics, Law and Society, Supreme Court | No Comments »