Archives for February 2011

Jessica Jackson

Last month’s California Supreme Court decision in People v. Diaz represents an unprecedented expansion of the government’s ability to search without a warrant. The defendant, Diaz, was arrested for possession of narcotics after an informant bought six pills of ecstasy from him. Ninety minutes after Diaz had been cuffed, the arresting officer confiscated and searched Diaz’s cell phone, finding a text that was allegedly related to the drug sale.

The court upheld the officer’s actions under the exception to the warrant requirement that allows “search incident to arrest.” The rationale for the exception focuses on the protection of officers and the preservation of evidence. The court’s logic is problematic because it fails to show how a cell phone search falls into either of those categories.

[Read more…] about You have the right to remain silent, now hand over your iPhone

Zach Luck

In the Invention of Money, a Planet Money feature on This American Life last month, the reporters peel back the layers on the terrifyingly crazy fiction called money.  But, in doing so, they are surprisingly quick to uncritically repeat another fiction: the idea that some government agencies somehow aren’t really part of the government.  During his intro to this fascinating piece on the Federal Reserve’s response to the financial crisis, Ira Glass explains that “though the Federal Reserve’s name includes the word ‘Federal’ it is not actually part of the Federal government.  It is an independent institution.”

I’m not the only one who picked up on this theme.  Over at a Ron Paul fan site, a blogger took away that the show “explains what the Fed is, not related to the Federal Gov, etc.”  A commenter on this post concluded “3) the Fed is not part of the government.”  This is, of course, not really true.

[Read more…] about The Administrative State is Still The State

Michael Stephan 

The Lewis & Clark Law Review recently published an essay by Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the Ninth Circuit.  The essay discusses the reversal rate of Ninth Circuit cases at the Supreme Court over the past decade.  Judge O’Scannlain, who is considered strongly conservative by some, concludes that “the Ninth Circuit’s record in the Supreme Court has been strikingly poor.”

Judge O’Scannlain points out that, in the last ten years, the Ninth Circuit was reversed or vacated in 81% of its cases that the Supreme Court heard.   The other twelve circuits had a combined reversal rate of only 71%.  These figures, Judge O’Scannlain explains, suggest that the Ninth Circuit’s reversal rate is especially high.

[Read more…] about Ninth Circuit Suffers “Decade of Reversal,” Judge Says

Rachel Lauter

A lot has been written about whether or not New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is preparing himself for a presidential run in 2012. His recent advocacy on gun control (including this pretty awesome and brazen undercover sting at an Arizona gun show), and his calls for federal immigration reform, are certainly plays to shape the policy agenda, and might be an effort to garner support from the left-leaning electorate. They are also likely an effort to reaffirm his reputation for competency in governance after a few missteps this fall and winter, including a politically contentious appointment for school chancellor and the failure to properly prepare for and respond to a snowpocalypse.

[Read more…] about Bloomberg, Progressives, and 2012

Yevgeny Shrago 

An interesting paper (gated) by Matthew Kahn and Jonathan Zasloff focuses on the effects that California’s Coastal Boundary Zone regulations  had on housing prices in the area. The authors find (unsurprisingly) that a house located within the Boundary Zone sells for a substantial price premium over a similar house located just over the boundary. This is a fantastic support for the seemingly intuitive but hotly contested thesis that land use regulations are a determinant of high house prices.

This paper’s conclusions highlight an important contradiction between two major planks of progressive policy: environmental protection and affordable housing. The Coastal Boundary Zone and the commission that administers it were created in the 1970′s to protect California’s natural coast. The Coastal Commission takes this job seriously and has done it admirably, fighting interests like the Hearst Estate and David Geffento protect against major development. Unfortunately, as the paper finds, the result of this smashing success are persistently high house prices across the region.

[Read more…] about A Progressive Paradox: Environmental Regulations and Affordable Housing

Smita Ghosh

Lawmakers in several states have followed the Oklahoma’s lead in seeking to ban the enforcement of international law in state and federal courts.

Say what you will about Oklahomans, they certainly know how to pass a ballot initiative.  Last Fall, Oklahomans voted to make English the “common and unifying language” of the state, allow individuals to opt-out of the individual healthcare mandate and—not surprisingly—to make it easier for advocates to pass more ballot initiatives in the future.   (Election results here).  Another Oklahoma proposition, SQ 755, has been gaining some traction among both commentators and legislators in other states.

[Read more…] about Oklahoma’s Wind Blows