Think Tank Town

Small favors dept.: managers of House health bill agree to amendment reducing incentive for states to repeal existing fee/award limits, but states without such limits would still be accorded new incentives not to adopt them [Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Pero]... […]

The lack of medical liability reform in the House health care bill and the political power of trial lawyers were two points argued late Saturday when Republicans moved to recommit the health care bill, H.R. 3962, to committee. A motion... […]

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday voted 230-193 to pass H.R. 2868, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act. (Roll call vote.) All but 21 Democrats voted in favor; Republicans all opposed. With the announcement yesterday of October's 10.2 percent unemployment,... […]

The New York Post has now picked up a slightly shortened version of my City Journal piece on the housing lawsuit that contributed to a voter revolt in Westchester. P.S. The Weekly Standard "Scrapbook" feature discusses the piece, as do... […]

The Washington Times assails as "dishonest" and a "poison pill" the House health bill's provisions bribing states not to enact limits on malpractice awards and attorneys' fees.... […]

The Court didn’t grant cert in any cases today. It did, however, call for the views of the Solicitor General in Staub v. Proctor Hospital, 09–400, a case presenting the question of the proper standard to employ in determining whether an employer can be held liable based on the unlawful intent of officials who [...] […]

No Supreme Court opinions in argued cases yet, but we got a second per curiam in a non-argued case. The Court summarily reversed the Sixth Circuit (Merritt, Martin, Moore) in the case of David Bobby (I guess that’s Ricky’s brother), Warden v. Robert J. Van Hook, 09–144, a capital case presenting the question of [...] […]

From United States v. Shelnutt (M.D. Ga. Nov. 2): A reporter for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer newspaper has requested that he be allowed to use his handheld electronic device (e.g., a BlackBerry or cellular telephone) during the trial of the above-captioned criminal case to send electronic messages describing the court proceedings directly from the courtroom […]

On January 12th, the Supreme Court will hear argument on a case that promises to find a limit to the power of Congress “To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, [...] […]

I’m pleased to be the first to report that the newly founded Voltaire Press at Duke University has just published Muhammad: The “Banned” Images. The book includes all the images that were omitted by the Yale University Press from Jytte Klausen’s The Cartoons That Shook the World — including the 12 Mohammed cartoons — [...] […]