Professional Commentary

Peter Henning, Wayne State University Law School:"Discussed in the Wed. Jan.26th post is the prosecution opening in the case of Tyco executives Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz. Yesterday, the defense responded and it sounds like mens rea, and whether the...

Douglas Berman :"With the exception of a powerful opinion column in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (discussed here), I have not seen much examination of racial disparities in all the debate over possible responses to Blakely...

Ellen S. Podgor, Georgia State University College of Law:"According to the Wall Street Journal, the first two witnesses testified in the trial of Bernie Ebbers, former CEO of WorldCom Inc. These two witnesses provided background information, something that is necessary...

Peter Henning, Wayne State University Law School:"With the opening statements in the trials of Bernie Ebbers and Richard Scrushy out of the way -- on the same day no less -- the question arises whether either one will testify in...

Michael Froomkin, University of Miami School of Law:"I am very reluctantly coming to believe that there's about a 50% chance that a senior administration official will face a war crime trial either for ordering or condoning torture, or for the...

Anthony D'Amato, Northwestern University School of Law:"Although I have been very critical of the President, I write to report how thrilled I was to hear his second-term acceptance speech. He may not have written it, but he ratified it and...

Jack Balkin, Yale Law School:"I liked Bush's second inaugural address, which argued for the cause of freedom around the world, very much. I also liked his first inaugural address, which sounded very moderate, spoke of justice, tolerance, and aid to...

Richard Posner, University of Chicago Law School:"There is a movement afoot, assisted by the strengthening of Republican control over Congress, to impose federal limits on tort litigation, particularly medical malpractice; premiums for malpractice insurance have soared in the last two...

Daniel Tokaji, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University:"While some advocates are looking to Congress to fix some of the problems that emerged in the 2004 election, this report from electionline.org suggests that they may have better luck in the...

Douglas Berman :"I am trying to come up with a simple take on Booker, and here it is: five Justices (the Apprendi/Blakely five) say the federal sentencing guidelines can no longer operate as mandatory...