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Tag Archives: Law
The limits of law: an update on San Francisco’s tour bus ban
A flat-out legal prohibition (e.g. “thou shalt not …”) represents a coercive, non-market approach to a given social problem. So, why aren’t legal bans always effective? Consider, for example, the tour bus ban approved last November by San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency, which … Continue reading
Is the USA less free than Putin’s Russia or Communist China?
Read the full report by Ernest Drucker here (pp. 61-69).
Is Google (potentially) more evil than the NSA?
Whoever wrote this blog entry seems to think so. But don’t Internet users knowingly and voluntarily consent to Google’s privacy policy when we sign up for Gmail? Or do Google’s terms of service constitute a tortious “invasion of privacy” under the common law? (hat tip: digg) … Continue reading
Torts II checklist
This semester we taught Torts II and studied various theories of legal liability, such as vicarious liability, strict liability, products liability, rescue (the general no-duty rule and exceptions to the rule), the Federal Tort Claims Act (federal government liability), defamation, … Continue reading
If Steve Jobs were alive today, would he be in jail?
That is the provocative question raised in this report by James B. Stewart in today’s New York Times. The Times’ report notes that Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, was the “driving force” in a conspiracy to prevent competitors from poaching Apple employees, a … Continue reading
Statutory interpretation: is a fish a “tangible object”?
It’s a federal crime to “knowingly alter, destroy, mutilate, conceal, cover up, falsify, or make a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object” with the intent of impeding or obstructing a federal investigation (italics added). But does this … Continue reading
Crowdsourcing the supreme court?
Note: the post was revised and expanded on 16 April 2014. As things currently stand, nine members of a quasi-legislative committee meet in secret to decide some of the most important cases and controversies in the U.S. (These politicians in robes are … Continue reading
Your tax dollar at work …
Check out this tax-time data visualization from our friends at fastcompany.com: We want our money back!
In defense of Aldon Smith
TMZ Sports was the first to report that police officers in Los Angeles had arrested NFL linebacker and defensive end Aldon Smith at LAX last Sunday afternoon (13 April 2014) for becoming belligerent and making a false bomb threat before boarding his flight. But before we rush … Continue reading
prior probability 