Monthly Archives: July 2010

Happy Birthday EFF

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Michael Froomkin

EFF celebrates its 20th anniversary with a new animation by Nina Paley. “This short cartoon,” EFF writes, “highlights some of the reasons why EFF is here.” And it's fun too.

I have the privilege to be on EFF's Advisory Board.

Posted in Law: Internet Law | 2 Comments

PR

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Michael Froomkin

The law school has done an effusive writeup announcing my (temporary) chair: UM Law Awards Silvers-Rubenstein Endowed Distinguished Professorship to A. Michael Froomkin.

Posted in U.Miami | 3 Comments

It’s Sticky ‘Round Here

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Michael Froomkin

Traffic may be down by a third (that's all?) but Discourse.net still places in the top five for amount of time that readers spend on the site, aka “stickiness,” at least according to Paul Caron writing at TaxProf Blog.

I guess I'm flattered that this is worth two minutes and thirty-eight seconds of your time.

Posted in Discourse.net | 4 Comments

Signs You are a Law Geek

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Michael Froomkin

For the first couple of days, every time I saw a blog headline about “Lebron” I though it was about the First Amendment case. But I don't suppose the New York Times could have live-blogged the Supreme Court back in 1995.

Anyway, it's Miami, if you care.

[Update] PS. There's a tax angle here. See Paul Caron's roundup at The Impact of Taxes on Lebron James' Decision.

Posted in Kultcha | Comments Off on Signs You are a Law Geek

Balkin Predicts DOMA Survives Tauro

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Michael Froomkin

Prof. Jack Balkin of Yale thinks Judge Truro's opinion's striking down DOMA will not survive appeal:

Judge Tauro is way ahead of the national consensus on the the equal protection issue. Perhaps more importantly, his Tenth Amendment arguments prove entirely too much. As much as liberals might applaud the result, they should be aware that the logic of his arguments, taken seriously, would undermine the constitutionality of wide swaths of federal regulatory programs and seriously constrict federal regulatory power.

…

There is much to admire in Judge Touro's bravery in writing these opinions, and in his forthright declaration that the federal government's policy is unjust and unreasonable. His two opinions are wild, audacious, and fearless in their logic. But for the same reason, they will and should be quickly overturned. I believe that the civil rights of gays and lesbians will someday be vindicated by legislatures and courts. But not in this way.

Jack is not a natural pessimist, so I'm inclined to take his views on this very seriously.

Posted in Law: Con Law: Marriage | Comments Off on Balkin Predicts DOMA Survives Tauro

DOMA Section 3 Held Unconstitutional

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Michael Froomkin

Major pair of decisions in Massachusetts by Judge Joseph L. Tauro (appointed by Nixon, no less): Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional because it denies gay couples equal protection of the laws without a rational basis.

Full text of the decisions: Gill, Commonwealth.

See Adam B's post at Daily Kos for the cliff notes.

Posted in Law: Con Law: Marriage | 1 Comment