Archives for March 2011

Smita Ghosh  One can imagine, in Florida, applying for admission to UF or to get into some of the State’s other hot spots. But “applying” for one’s civil rights is harder to envision.  Indeed, it’s hard to imagine the anxiety arising from an application process in which much more is at stake than your ability to “go gator.” Pam Bondi, Florida’s newly elected Attorney General, announced in late February a plan that would require felons who have finished their sentences to “apply” for …

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Michael Stephan A recent Ninth Circuit ruling is good news for free speech advocates and jail inmates who want to read a publication called Crime, Justice & America (CJA).  The publication explores criminal justice issues relevant to inmates, such as ”the steps between a felony arrest and conviction.” In Hrdlicka v. Reniff, released in late January, the Ninth Circuit reversed a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of two California county jails who had refused to distribute …

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Yevgeny Shrago Residents of DC’s posh Georgetown neighborhood have succeeded in keeping most urban disturbances out of their little bubble: the Metro conveniently misses the neighborhood and they have successfully fought to close down any restaurants that made noise. But they still have one enemy ruining their idyll: the students of Georgetown University. As they can’t eliminate the university entirely, the residents have come up with a new plan over the last 20 years.   The residents keep out …

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Marshall Thompson Last week the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously “in swift and decisive action” to refer Muammar Qadhafi’s violent suppression of Libyan protests to the International Criminal Court. As the French delegate put it, the Council’s action will ensure that crimes against humanity won’t go unpunished. It’s a hopeful day for the future of international human rights, and a hopeful day for the people of Libya. There’s just one problem: Libya has never signed on to the …

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Jay Willis Harvard and Princeton made news this week when each school’s administrations announced a reinstating of an accelerated application process for incoming freshmen. Accelerated application programs can include binding early decision (ED) programs, like Columbia and Penn’s, which allow applicants to apply earlier in the application cycle on the conditions that they do not apply ED to any other school and that they attend the school if admitted.  Other schools, such as Stanford and Yale, …

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