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What I Did on My Blog Vacation

TOTM So I’ve been a little absent from the blog lately. Sorry about that. I have a decent excuse. As our law prof readers know, but . . .

So I’ve been a little absent from the blog lately. Sorry about that. I have a decent excuse.

As our law prof readers know, but others might not, this is prime article submission season. The conventional wisdom is that it’s best your get your article into the hands of newly minted law review editors right after they take over, which usually happens around the first of March. Hence, there’s a mad dash to submit journal articles around this time of year.

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Financial Regulation & Corporate Governance

The Wisdom of Selling Off Isolated Public Forest Land

TOTM An article in the current issue of the Economist contends that “American environmentalists could be forgiven for throwing up their hands and heading north” (to . . .

An article in the current issue of the Economist contends that “American environmentalists could be forgiven for throwing up their hands and heading north” (to Canada). Why? Because “the Bush administration wants to sell some 300,000 acres of national forest land in 35 states, mostly out west.”

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ABA: You MUST follow the law. (Unless we don’t like it.)

TOTM At its mid-year meeting this week, the ABA did two notable things. First, the House of Delegates “voted overwhelmingly” to approve a resolution calling on . . .

At its mid-year meeting this week, the ABA did two notable things. First, the House of Delegates “voted overwhelmingly” to approve a resolution calling on the President to follow the law with respect to domestic spying. Among other things, the six-clause resolution “call[ed] upon the President to abide by the limitations which the Constitution imposes on a president…” (Paragraph 1), and “urge[d] the President, if he believes [the law] is inadequate…to seek appropriate amendments or new legislation rather than acting without explicit statutory authorization” (Paragraph 2). In other words, Mr. President, you must abide by the Constitution, and if you don’t like a statute, you can’t just violate it; you should go to the legislature and get it amended.

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The ABA, the AALS, and the Rule of Law

TOTM In an op-ed published in Saturday’s W$J (slightly updated version available here for free), Prof. David Bernstein drew attention to the American Bar Association’s proposed . . .

In an op-ed published in Saturday’s W$J (slightly updated version available here for free), Prof. David Bernstein drew attention to the American Bar Association’s proposed revision to its law school accreditation standards concerning student and faculty racial diversity. Bernstein criticized the ABA proposal for, in essence, calling on law schools to ignore constitutional and statutory provisions governing the use of racial preferences in admissions and hiring. Indeed, the revision’s interpretive guidelines (which apparently carry the same weight as the standards themselves) state that…

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Antitrust & Consumer Protection

Accurately Disclosing Oil Reserves

TOTM Yesterday’s W$J reported on an effort by oil companies to change the way reserves are reported in securities filings. SEC rules, it seems, mandate that . . .

Yesterday’s W$J reported on an effort by oil companies to change the way reserves are reported in securities filings. SEC rules, it seems, mandate that reserves be measured in a manner that understates the actual amount of available oil. For example, the rules (available here) require that only proven reserves (those for which there is a “reasonable certainty” of actual recovery) be reported. On first glance, this doesn’t sound unreasonable, but the manner in which “reasonable certainty” is determined essentially translates the criterion into one of “virtual certainty.”

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Financial Regulation & Corporate Governance

What’s "Courageous" When It Comes to Taxing Investment Income?

TOTM Today’s New York Times accuses President Bush of getting things “exactly backwards” by exhorting Congress to demonstrate political courage by resisting the urge to raise . . .

Today’s New York Times accuses President Bush of getting things “exactly backwards” by exhorting Congress to demonstrate political courage by resisting the urge to raise taxes. The politically courageous move, the Times says, would be to raise taxes (i.e., to refuse to extend the 2003 cuts beyond their expiration date). In particular, the Times calls for brave lawmakers to eliminate the “special low tax rates for investment income,” which “overwhelmingly enrich the rich and will be even harder to justify in the years to come, when, by all reasonable estimates, the country’s financial outlook will have deteriorated further.” It was, the Times says, “Orwellian” for President Bush to suggest that courage would be required to extend the tax cuts on investment income.

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Nacchio’s Puzzling (Innovative?) Defense

TOTM An article in today’s W$J reports on former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio’s planned defense in a criminal insider trading action brought by the SEC. The . . .

An article in today’s W$J reports on former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio’s planned defense in a criminal insider trading action brought by the SEC. The defense is perplexing.

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Financial Regulation & Corporate Governance

Correcting "The Ethicist" on Insider Trading

TOTM In yesterday’s New York Times Magazine, an anonymous reader posed the following question to The Ethicist… Read the full piece here.

In yesterday’s New York Times Magazine, an anonymous reader posed the following question to The Ethicist…

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Financial Regulation & Corporate Governance

Coase and Smoking: Who’s the Victim Here?

TOTM Today’s New York Times reports on a new cigarette bar in Chicago, where the city council has just imposed a sweeping smoking ban. (I recently . . .

Today’s New York Times reports on a new cigarette bar in Chicago, where the city council has just imposed a sweeping smoking ban. (I recently criticized the ban at Ideoblog.) The proprietors of the Marshall McGearty Tobacco Lounge insist that the lounge is permitted because of a loophole allowing smoking in retail tobacco shops. Not surprisingly, Chicago’s anti-smoking zealots are seeking to shut down the business, which they say violates the intent of the anti-smoking ordinance.

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Antitrust & Consumer Protection