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Author: William A. Jacobson

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William A. Jacobson

William A. Jacobson is a Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Securities Law Clinic at Cornell Law School.

He is a 1981 graduate of Hamilton College and a 1984 graduate of Harvard Law School. At Harvard he was Senior Editor of the Harvard International Law Journal and Director of Litigation for the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project.

Prior to joining the Cornell law faculty in 2007, Professor Jacobson had a highly successful civil litigation and arbitration practice in Providence, Rhode Island, concentrating in investment, employment, and business disputes in the securities industry, including many high profile cases reported in leading newspapers and magazines.

Professor Jacobson has argued cases in numerous federal and state courts, including the Courts of Appeal for the First, Fifth and Sixth Circuits, and the Rhode Island Supreme Court.

Professor Jacobson has a national reputation as a leading practitioner in securities arbitration. He was Treasurer, and is a former member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, a professional organization of attorneys dedicated to protecting public investors. He frequently is quoted in national media on issues related to investment fraud and investor protection, and in the past has served as one of a small number of private practice attorneys who trained new arbitrators for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Professor Jacobson is co-author of the Securities Arbitration Desk Reference (Thomson-Reuters), updated annually.

Professor Jacobson is frequently quoted in the media on political and legal topics, has authored many Op-Eds in major publications, and appears on television and radio to discuss politics and the law.

A more complete listing of Professor Jacobson's professional background is available at the Cornell Law School website. The views expressed here are his own and not those of any employer or organization,

The best way to reach Prof. Jacobson is by e-mail here.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 20, 2014 5 Comments
We have seen how on Twitter, and on the streets of Europe and elsewhere, the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement tells us how they really feel. And how they really feel is that Israel must be destroyed. That's not, of course, what they and their compatriots as groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, tell gullible students on campuses. On campuses, they talk about ending the "occupation," but what they don't say is that they consider all of Israel (not just the "West Bank") to be occupied territory. In Oakland, BDS protesters tried to stop a ZIM line ship from unloading. ZIM is associated in the public mind with Israel, but it's only one-third owned by Israelis. J.E. Dyer at Liberty Unyielding has excellent background, Anti-Israel BDS nuttery at the port of Oakland on the people involved and the futility of the protests. And yes, there is a heavy socialist-communist element: Oakland Block the Boat socialist banner In this case, after a delay, the ship was unloaded anyway. But not before dockworkers let it be known how they felt about these protesters interfering:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 20, 2014 4 Comments
LIVE feeds added at bottom of post Mohammed Deif is the head of Hamas' military wing. Israel has made several attempt to assassinate him over the years, injuring but not killing him. The latest was last night, but Deif's fate is unknown:
Hundreds of Palestinians turned out on Wednesday for the funeral of the wife and son of the Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, who were killed overnight in an Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City. Hamas had urged Gazans to turn out in force for the funeral in Jabaliya refugee camp, after an attack which left at least one other Palestinian dead and injured a further 15 people. There were fears that there could be more bodies under the rubble. The fate of Deif, one of Hamas's most senior figures who has survived Israeli attempts on his life in the past, is still unknown.
Hamas asserts Deif is alive, but that lack confirmation. Hamas is trying to say it fired rockets in response to the attempt, but in reality the attempt on Deif came after Hamas broke the truce:
Israel attempted to assassinate Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas' military wing, in Gaza City on Tuesday, Hamas officials said. Israel has not officially commented on the report. Deif's wife and young child were killed in an Israeli air strike, the Hamas officials said. Hamas has not issued a statement on whether Deif was killed, and Israeli sources speculated Wednesday that he likely survived. Hamas officials said the assassination attempt represented an Israeli violation of the cease-fire, but Israel says its air strikes came in response to rockets fired from Gaza while the truce was still in effect on Tuesday.
Background on Deif, from Amos Harel at Haaretz, Who is Mohammed Deif?:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 19, 2014 4 Comments
Update: Looks like the fighting is on again after Hamas and/or other Gaza groups started firing rockets into Israel even before the prior truce was over. The question is, how much will it escalate? More updates and coverage in live video and Twitter feeds at bottom of post:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 18, 2014 143 Comments
Things have moved so fast in the shooting of Michael Brown and the subsequent riots, that it's hard to keep pace. Andrew likely will have a post later with some legal analysis, but for now I'm just going to post some links, and readers can update in the comments. Does this make it more likely Brown was charging at or engaging the police officer at the time of the shooting? Autopsy Shows Michael Brown Was Struck at Least 6 Times:
Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager who was killed by a police officer, sparking protests around the nation, was shot at least six times, including twice in the head, a preliminary private autopsy performed on Sunday found. One of the bullets entered the top of Mr. Brown’s skull, suggesting his head was bent forward when it struck him and caused a fatal injury, according to Dr. Michael M. Baden, the former chief medical examiner for the City of New York, who flew to Missouri on Sunday at the family’s request to conduct the separate autopsy. It was likely the last of bullets to hit him, he said. Mr. Brown, 18, was also shot four times in the right arm, he said, adding that all the bullets were fired into his front.
Chaos, violence in Ferguson; National Guard called in:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 17, 2014 34 Comments
The prosecutors in Austin, Texas thought they had one over on Texas Governor Rick Perry when they convinced a grand jury to issue an indictment accusing Perry of abusing his veto power.  A copy of the indictment is here. That alleged criminal abuse of power related to Perry's threat to issue a budget veto regarding a unit of the prosecutor's office if Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg did not resign after a DWI conviction. Not just any conviction, Lehmberg was videotaped attempting to pull rank over the booking officers by mentioning they needed to make sure the Sheriff was aware of her predicament. It's not hard to see what she was doing -- hoping the Sheriff would intervene on her behalf. Her field sobriety test is here, and she again kept mentioning her political career.  She was abusive and violent in the police station:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 17, 2014 17 Comments

Our Yorkie is not really interested in coexistence....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 16, 2014 3 Comments
Several days ago we wrote about the “Yarmulke March” planned for Copenhagen to protest anti-Semitic violence, after numerous anti-Semitic incidents and attacks, including a confrontation with a Jewish man initiated by this precious lady: Copenhagen Woman Heil Hitler w caption The march, organized by conservative politician Rasmus Jarlov, was held today. There were about 500 participants, according to BT.  A different news report said 1000. TV2 had a live blog of the event, and posted this entry on Facebook showing organizer Jarlov: https://www.facebook.com/tv2nyhederne/posts/999349763413997 Here's a video of the march -- note the guy shouting "down, down Israel" at 2:15. This wasn't a pro-Israel march, it was a march against anti-Semitism, a distinction lost on that guy:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 15, 2014 3 Comments
I posted the other day how top-tier Democratic challenger Martha Robertson was using old photos of incumbent Republican Tom Reed, showing him to be very overweight, even though he now is thin after gastric bypass surgery in early 2013. The image of the overweight Reed was featured prominently in Robertson's first television ad, which she just rolled out. Martha Robertson Ad Himself Fat Tom Reed Was Robertson playing the "fat card" on Reed, as I suspected? I tweeted to the Robertson Twitter account twice for a response, but nothing. Even though I knew it was futile since they haven't returned my emails in several months, I also emailed the campaign:
Can you explain why the campaign is using a 2011 photo of Tom Reed, showing him to be very overweight, in its TV Ad and on Twitter?
But no response. It wasn't just the current TV ad where Robertson uses images of the overweight Reed. She has tweeted out the image: Martha Robertson Twitter Tom Feed Fat Photo August 5 And featured similar images on her campaign website homepage:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 15, 2014 4 Comments
It has been a long time since we wrote about Mia B. Love, running for Congress in Utah-04. We first covered Mia -- and were the first to cover her campaign -- in early January 2012, when no one gave her a chance of getting the Republican nomination, Mia B. Love – A conservative political star rises in … Utah:
If you haven’t heard of Ludmya “Mia” B. Love before, you will be hearing a lot more about her.  Mia has the potential to be the next big thing in conservative politics. And you heard about her here first!
I remember calling her when her campaign was in its infancy, and she actually picked up her cell phone and gave me an interview as she was in the car driving to an event.  She seemed so happy that someone, anyone, was calling with interest in her candidacy. Back then, when I Googled her name for background, there were so few mentions of her that most of the search results went to -- well, you can imagine with a name like "Mia B. Love" that some of the search hits were not about her and NSFW. Mia came on strong as the conservative blogosphere rallied around her and brought attention to her campaign. She won the Republican nomination at the convention, but lost the general election by a few hundred votes to Jim Matheson, a long-serving Democratic incumbent who repeatedly defied the odds in a Republican district. Now Mia's running again, and the polls show her far in the lead, as reported by the Salt Lake Tribune:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 15, 2014 28 Comments
NBC News reports:
U.S. Army Major General Harold Greene was buried today at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors, including a caisson, two escort platoons, casket team, firing party, colors team, and a caparisoned horse. The U.S. Army band, "Pershing's Own," played softly as the funeral procession made its way down the long hill past the rows of simple white gravestones to bring General Greene to his final resting place. The graveside service began with a few words, followed by a 13-gun salute. The major general's widow, Dr. Susan Myers, was seated in the front row. To her right was their son 1st Lt. Matthew Greene, his daughter Amelia Greene, followed by Major General Greene's father, also Harold Greene. After three rifle volleys and the playing of "Taps," the American flag, once placed on the major general's casket, was carefully folded as the band played "America the Beautiful." U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno presented the flag to his widow, and additional flags to his children and father. General Greene, 55, became the highest-ranking fatality in the war in Afghanistan after an Afghan military police officer opened fire on Aug. 5th, 2014.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 14, 2014 44 Comments
Judicial Watch has sued over missing IRS emails in the federal district court in D.C., pursuant to its FOIA request for such documents. The IRS was ordered to provide explanations as to missing emails, particularly Lois Lerner. The IRS provided explanations, but those were not good enough for the Judge, who launched his own inquiry into the matter, as Judicial Watch explained in a statement posted on its website:
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement in response to today’s order from Judge Emmet G. Sullivan regarding the recently “lost” emails of Lois Lerner and other IRS officials, which were the subject of longstanding Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. IRS (No. 1:13-cv-1559)):
In an extraordinary step, U. S. District Court Judge Emmett Sullivan has launched an independent inquiry into the issue of the missing emails associated with former IRS official Lois Lerner. Previously, Judge Sullivan ordered the IRS to produce sworn declarations about the IRS email issue by August 11. Today’s order confirms Judicial Watch’s read of this week’s IRS’ filings that treated as a joke Judge Sullivan’s order.
Judge Sullivan, in his earlier ruling, appointed Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola to manage and assist in discussions between Judicial Watch and the IRS about how to obtain any missing records from other sources. Magistrate Facciola is an expert in e-discovery, and authorized Judicial Watch to submit a request for limited discovery into the missing IRS records after September 10.
Here is the Judge's Order (emphasis added, hard paragraph breaks inserted for ease of reading):

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 14, 2014 13 Comments
In recent weeks, we have covered dozens of instances of violence and harassment reflecting a simmering convergence of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism worldwide, but particularly in Europe. In Paris, the situation is particularly dire: Cnaan Lipshiz writing in The Times of Israel, adds context that in Paris, the violence simply has become routine, a part of the background, Coming face to face with anti-Semites in Paris:
My friend Alain Azria gave me a puzzled look when I told him, with some indignation and disbelief in my voice, that I had just heard talk of killing Jews at an unauthorized anti-Israel demonstration last month in Paris A young black man with a Parisian accent told a dozen friends loudly, but without shouting, “OK, guys. Let’s go hunt some Jews.”

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 14, 2014 27 Comments
There are more apparent rifts between Israel and the U.S. administration, this time over an interruption of Hellfire missiles at the request of the White House and State Department. Normal channels apparently were followed, but the administration reportedly has its nose out of joint because the U.S. has been sidelined as Israel and Egypt work together, and Israeli press leaks painted the Obama administration as hopelessly naive and incompetent. The alleged confrontation has become a hot political issue in Israel, where tension with the U.S. always works against a politician. The Wall Street Journal reports:
White House and State Department officials who were leading U.S. efforts to rein in Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip were caught off guard last month when they learned that the Israeli military had been quietly securing supplies of ammunition from the Pentagon without their approval. Since then the Obama administration has tightened its control on arms transfers to Israel. But Israeli and U.S. officials say that the adroit bureaucratic maneuvering made it plain how little influence the White House and State Department have with the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu —and that both sides know it.... Then the officials learned that, in addition to asking for tank shells and other munitions, Israel had submitted a request through military-to-military channels for a large number of Hellfire missiles, according to Israeli and American officials.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 13, 2014 19 Comments
We have been covering extensively the issue of denial of due process to male students on campus accused of sex-related infractions and/or crimes. One of the cases we reported on regarded campus "conviction" of a male athlete at Columbia, where the female accuser took several months to complaint, and there were contemporaneous electronic communications reflecting that the conduct may have been consensual. See, Suspended Columbia athlete files federal lawsuit over campus sexual assault conviction. The same attorneys alerted me to a new lawsuit filed on behalf of a student at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. The Complaint reads like so many of the others -- allegations of consensual sex for which there were later regrets coupled with a university witch hunt to convict the male student almost in disregard of the evidence and without proper procedural protections. The Boston Globe summarizes the Complaint:
The recent lawsuit against UMass Amherst contends that the male student, a Connecticut native and a sophomore at the time, met the female student, identified in the suit as Jane Doe, at a party in a friend’s dorm room. During a night of drinking, playing card games, and dancing with friends, the two students became friendly and flirted, and she later invited him to her room to have sex, the lawsuit said. They had consensual sex, and the female student at no point showed signs of intoxication, according to the suit. The next day, the female student could not remember what had happened, according to the lawsuit. At her roommate’s urging, the female student went to the campus health center for an evaluation. The following day, she filed a complaint with the dean of students’ office.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 13, 2014 4 Comments
The current 72-hour Gaza truce expires at 5 p.m. Eastern today. There are completely mixed signals being reported as to whether there is progress on a longer-term ceasefire, and if not, whether Hamas will attack again when the current truce expires. We will update as events clarify, and you can follow at the live video and Twitter feeds at the bottom of the post.
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