In Depth
Brown professor Anne Fausto-Sterling, recent Massachusetts-made spouse of Brown professor Paula Vogel, skirts the heart of the same-sex marriage debate (coming to a small coastal state near you) in a Providence Journal column today. Interspersed with a description of exactly the sort of ceremony that one would expect from New England radicals, Fausto-Sterling offers points…
There is a legal maxim that says “hard cases make bad law”. This has taken on a new urgency with respect to the Jim Taricani case. As a result of Judge Torres’ Thursday ruling, Senator Christopher Dodd from Connecticut has proposed a federal shield law for journalists. Let me make an important point I haven’t…
Andrew, yes that notion that the judge can usurp executive powers when some among the executive branch might have a conflict of interest is the lynchpin. After I read, last night, Torres’s decision demanding that Taricani name his source (PDF), questions about the procedures and powers involved with forming grand juries and appointing special prosecutors…
I’ve always wanted to blog extensively on the various reasons as to why Europeans, and a lot of the rest of the world, seem to “hate” the United States. However, since so much has already been written, and much of it better than anything I could offer, I decided that it would be most beneficial…
From today’s Projo story on the Taricani case: Yesterday, as Taricani’s legal team has argued in the past, Murphy challenged DeSisto’s authority to prosecute the contempt case against Taricani. He asserted that only the U.S. Attorney’s office has jurisdiction to prosecute such cases.Here’s part of Judge Torres’ response, where he explains why it is necessary…
Not being adequately informed about the case and the relevant laws, I’ve been waiting to hear Andrew’s argument in full with respect to Jim Taricani and Judge Torres before taking a position. However, Dan Yorke believes Judge Torres is in the right, and he just said something on his radio show that gives reason, at…
National Review Online’s Cathy Sieppe has noted that One of the election lessons for Democrats is that while the Left doesn’t understand the Right, the Right can’t help but understand the Left, because the Left is in charge of pop culture. Urban blue staters can go their entire lives happily innocent of the world of…
The Providence Journal provides a link to Judge Torres’ order (pdf format) compelling Jim Taricani’s testimony about his source. Two things leap out at me. 1. It is clear from the memo that the leaking of the tape is not a violation of the law. It is a violation of a “protective order” issued by…
I also was intrigued by Cox’s article on urban-versus-rural-versus-Democrat-versus-Republican. For Marc’s thoughts, click here. For Justin’s thoughts, click here. Here’s my plausible-but-not-proven stab at explaining the trend: Urban areas are the most dependent on other areas to survive. Imagine the following: One Sunday night, impenetrable force-fields appear along the borders of every town in Rhode…
I’ve admitted before that I find healthcare to be an eye-glazing issue — especially in Rhode Island. Sometimes it seems reasonable to wonder whether that’s an effect that the industry actively encourages. As William Gamble’s analysis suggests (to my mind, anyway), Blue Cross of Rhode Island could hardly have been better designed for corruption if…