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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 October 27, 2013 6 Comments

From Henry, taken in Ojai, CA: I hope this one is a bit more clear. Upper left sticker says, "Vote Obama" Sticker below plate says, "The Bush Legacy: No Child Left A Dime." I should have jumped out and offered to scrape off the Bush sticker for $20.  LOL  ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 26, 2013 27 Comments
Dick Durbin's Facebook comment that a senior House Republican told Obama "I cannot even stand to look at you" was exposed as a lie. The lie did not originate with Durbin, he merely passed on what Harry Reid told the Senate Democratic caucus based on information provided to Reid by The White House. That White House lie, now admitted but chalked up to a "miscommunication," inspired Chris Matthews and guests David Corn and Cynthia Tucker, to lash out at Republicans for demonizing the President:

Hardball - A Pattern Of Disrespect Screen Shot

A main focus was the disrespect shown by Republicans by repeatedly calling Obama a liar, which the panel agreed was because of hatred of Obama for the "other" and not one of us, and in the case of Tucker, coming right out and calling it racist:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 26, 2013 25 Comments
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, brother of Rahm Emanuel, was on Kelly File last night. (Video embed at bottom of post.) You may not remember Ezekiel. He was the Dr. Death Panel referred to by Sarah Palin in early August 2009 (emphasis added):
The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil. Health care by definition involves life and death decisions. Human rights and human dignity must be at the center of any health care discussion. Rep. Michele Bachmann highlighted the Orwellian thinking of the president’s health care advisor, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the brother of the White House chief of staff, in a floor speech to the House of Representatives. I commend her for being a voice for the most precious members of our society, our children and our seniors.
In response to Palin's us of the term "death panel," we explored Ezekiel's writing to which Palin was referring, Principles for Allocation of Scarce Medical Interventions (full embed at bottom of post). On August 8, 2009, we wrote An Inconvenient Truth About The “Death Panel”:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 26, 2013 23 Comments
Republican split! Rift! Schism! The media is already salivating, Immigration Poses Threat of Another Republican Rift:
A push to bring immigration legislation to the House floor, led by an unusual coalition of business executives, prominent conservatives and evangelical leaders, threatens to create another schism in the Republican Party and could have a noticeable effect on campaign contributions before the midterm elections. Several Republican executives and donors who are part of a lobbying blitz coming to Capitol Hill next week said they were considering withholding, or had already decided to withhold, future financial support to Republican lawmakers they believe are obstructing progress on immigration. “I respect people’s views and concerns about the fact that we have a situation in the United States where we have millions of undocumented immigrants,” said Justin Sayfie, a lawyer from Florida who said he helped Mitt Romney raise more than $100,000 for his presidential campaign last year, in addition to helping other Republican candidates. “But we have what we have. This is October 2013. And the country will be better off if we fix it.”
In reality, the split, rift and schism is mostly over one issue: Amnesty. Democrats repeatedly have said no amnesty, no immigration "reform." It's their hill to die on, much as no meaningful changes to Obamacare was their hill to die on when it came to the "shutdown" and debt ceiling. Republican business interests and money men are willing to give amnesty in order to obtain other non-controversial immigration reforms. And in so doing, the Republican business interests and money men make it less likely they will get anything.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 26, 2013 5 Comments

He did not act stupidly, this time: Black Harvard Prof Says it’s Time to End Race-Based Affirmative Action Post Title of the Week Award goes to Aleister: OOPS! College TA Emails T and A Pics to Class Brought to you by the good folks at healthcare.gov: Brown’s $400,000 NIH Study:...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 26, 2013 3 Comments

From Bill in Walnut Creek, CA: Wonderful Bumper Sticker Juxtaposit​ion NRA on a Prius in Walnut Creek, CA!! I'm definitely starting to think Priuses are getting a bum rap. We're seeing a lot of good bumper stickers on them....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 25, 2013 18 Comments
Ever since Legal Insurrection broke the story that NY-23 Democratic challenger Martha Robertson sent a fundraising email claiming that “GOP Ops” had been “caught” trying to take down her website, Robertson has been on the defensive. The Robertson campaign has not provided any proof that GOP operatives attempted to hack her website and has backed off that claim.  The website never was down, and the “hacking” claim may have been nothing more than routine server problems.  A local Republican leader asked for an investigation by the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office as to whether the Robertson campaign violated any laws. Now even Roll Call is raising the issue, Democrat Will Hire Cybersecurity Firm for Alleged Website Hack:
Tompkins County Council Chairwoman Martha Robertson, a Democrat challenging GOP Rep. Tom Reed in New York’s 23rd District, called the recent brouhaha over an alleged hacking of her campaign website “a distraction” from the race in an interview with CQ Roll Call earlier this month. Republicans have been pressuring Robertson to provide proof that GOP operatives attempted to hack her campaign website. Robertson made that claim in a Sept. 30 fundraising email. “We’re working to hire a cyber-security firm to take a serious look at that and investigate everything that happened. Beyond that it’s really better to leave it up to them,” Robertson said. “At the end of the day I think … it’s beyond a distraction. [Voters] are concerned about their pocketbook issues — whether or not their Social Security and Medicare payments are going to be there as they depend on them.” New York’s 23rd District is rated a Lean Republican contest by Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call.
Robertson's statement that the campaign is hiring a cybersecurity firm to investigate is an implicit admission that she still does not have any proof to back up her fundraising claim that GOP operatives were caught trying to take down her website.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 25, 2013 12 Comments
CBS News reports, Did White House Obamacare guidance stop ahead of 2012 election?: CBS News has been digging into the cause of the delays in preparing the website for the government's health insurance market and has learned was a major interruption in the months before President Obama's re-election. At the height of the 2012 presidential election campaign, it was crunch time for the Obama administration to release key instructions so contractors could work toward the October 2013 deadline. But a Health and Human Services official who was closely involved tells CBS News that in late summer, the administration stopped issuing proposed rules for the Affordable Health Care Act until after the election. The result was what many viewed as a serious delay as contractors, states and insurance companies awaited crucial guidance to move forward. CBS further reports on the cancellation of health care plans people liked:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 25, 2013 82 Comments
Republicans repeatedly have made proposals to protect the public from the Obamacare disaster. Not just the substance of the law, but also the timing of the individual mandate. Way back when (i.e, about two weeks ago), Democrats called such proposals extortion, terrorism, suicide-bombing and legislative arson. Now an increasing number of Democrats, particularly those up for re-election in 2014, are calling for similar delays. https://twitter.com/allahpundit/status/393742009246035970 Perhaps Republicans should take a "what goes around, comes around" attitude, and do nothing to help Democrats out of the bind they are now in. Democrats own Obamacare's failure completely. That's the primary outcome of the government scale-back, which now is over. Democrats were willing to shut a portion of the government to prevent any meaningful changes, and were willing to (erroneously) threaten a debt default rather than agree to the types of changes many Democrats now are proposing. So we should now help Democrats out of the healthcare.gov debacle? We should now, having been demonized, help the Democrats who demonized us? Erick Erickson says screw them (my characterization), Follow the Law:
No conservative wants things to get worse. We just know things will get worse. Obamacare will be deeply destructive. People are already seeing it. The only way Obamacare would ever work is if people behaved irrationally. It is a system that requires the young to go out and by their own insurance, but allows them to stay on their parents’ insurance until they are well into their twenties. The law operates only if people do not behave like people.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 25, 2013 8 Comments

From Thomas in Portland, Oregon: I saw this combination of bumper stickers and just thought it was terribly ironic. Obama 2012 and "Don't believe everything you think." How does this statement apply to the Obamacare website roll-out, to being able to keep your current plan, or to bringing...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 24, 2013 37 Comments
Mandy noted the other day, WH spox denies Sen. Durbin claim House GOPer told Obama “I cannot even stand to look at you”. It gets more interesting. It turns out that Dick Durbin wasn't "lying" if by lying you mean saying something he knew to be untrue.  It was curious why Durbin would not name names.  Now we know.  He would have had to name Harry Reid as his source. The White House gave the line to Harry Reid, who read it to the Democratic Senate caucus, one of whose members -- Durbin -- went public with it.  The story still was false, and the White House is claiming a "miscommunication." I'm not buying that.  The supposed statement took place on October 10, as Democrats were standing united against cutting a meaningful deal with Republicans. I'm leaning toward the "miscommunication" not being so, but part of a White House strategy to hold the party together at a critical time. Huffington Post reported (h/t Hot Air), Harry Reid Told Caucus That Pete Sessions Was Behind Obama Insult, Senators Say:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told his Democratic caucus last week in a private meeting that a top House Republican said to President Barack Obama, "I cannot even stand to look at you," according to two Democratic senators who were present. The account was confirmed by two Senate Democratic aides who said they independently learned of the exchange from other senators. A White House official said Thursday that the administration did relay such a message to Reid, but that it was the result of a miscommunication. “While the quote attributed to a Republican lawmaker in the House GOP meeting with the President is not accurate, there was a miscommunication when the White House read out that meeting to Senate Democrats, and we regret the misunderstanding," the official said in a statement.
Politico further reports:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 24, 2013 59 Comments
We have highlighted here many times the almost insane "zero tolerance" policies at school wherein students are disciplined, suspended and expelled for biting a Pop Tart into the shape of a gun, bringing Quarter coin-sized gun keychain charms to school, and even pointing a pencil and saying "bang." And then there is this, a full-sized "toy" AK-47 which got a 13-year old shot by police, Authorities investigate fatal deputy-involving shooting of 13-year-old Santa Rosa boy:
Sonoma County sheriff's deputies shot and killed a 13-year-old boy Tuesday afternoon during an encounter in a southwest Santa Rosa neighborhood. The boy's father, Rodrigo Lopez, identified the teen as Andy Lopez and said he had been carrying a toy gun that belonged to a friend. Santa Rosa and Petaluma police detectives are investigating the shooting. Interviews were conducted throughout Tuesday night, Santa Rosa Lt. Paul Henry said Wednesday morning.... It was unclear Tuesday whether the rifle, which sheriff's officials characterized as a replica, was capable of firing BBs or other projectiles.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 24, 2013 13 Comments
We've written before about the travails of the Canadian Blazing Cat Fur blog against laware utilizing Canadian "hate" laws. Now Ezra Levant, another Canadian blogger and outspoken critic of radical Islamic tactics in Canada, is fighting in court over a lawsuit filed several years ago, as reported in the Globe and Mail:
Controversial television journalist Ezra Levant will find himself in court Oct. 15 to answer for a series of blog posts in which he repeatedly called a Canadian Islamic Rights activist a liar. Mr. Levant, who hosts a daily show on Sun News Network, wrote the posts while covering unsuccessful human rights complaints against Maclean’s magazine for its coverage of the Islamic community over a two-year span. Mr. Levant’s posts were critical of Khurrum Awan, a member of the Canadian Islamic Congress who spoke at the Canadian Human Rights Commission hearings and served as its youth president. In his statement of claim filed to Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Mr. Awan said Mr. Levant suggested he was “a liar, a perjurer, an anti-Semite, a con artist, unfit to be a lawyer and has acted in a conflict of interest.” “The plaintiff has suffered mental distress, humiliation and loss of reputation,” reads the statement of claim filed by lawyer Brian Shiller of Ruby Shiller Chan Hasan Barristers. “The plaintiff has been shunned by former friends, ridiculed in various publications and is the subject of odium and contempt.” In his statement of defence, Mr. Levant suggests any damage to Mr. Awan’s reputation was self-inflicted.
In an October 15, 2013, column at Sun News, Price of freedom is high, Levant explained the history of lawfare against him:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 24, 2013 5 Comments

From Buckeyeminuteman, with the Subject line: How About Spending Control? Here is an SUV I saw in Montgomery, AL. The driver makes a good point about our politician's priorities. Also, I wanted to take this time to tell you thank you for the great work you...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 23, 2013 30 Comments
Legal Insurrection, with the help of Judicial Watch, still is fighting the FOIA litigation to get a full document production from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and D.C. Office of Attorney General Irvin Nathan as to the investigation and non-prosecution of David Gregory and others at NBC News for the clear on-camera violation of the D.C. gun laws. NBC procured, and Gregory flaunted, an illegal 30-round ammunition magazine even though NBC was explicitly warned by the MPD not to do so:

Gregory OAG Email Dec 21 2012 NBC to MPD3

Gregory got special treatment. Not so many other more ordinary citizens. The latest outrageous case of D.C. overreach and bullying of citizens who are not David Gregory is documented by Emily Miller at The Washington Times (via The Patriot Perspective), D.C. businessman faces two years in jail for unregistered ammunition, brass casing:
Mark Witaschek, a successful financial adviser with no criminal record, is facing two years in prison for possession of unregistered ammunition after D.C. police raided his house looking for guns. Mr. Witaschek has never had a firearm in the city, but he is being prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The trial starts on Nov. 4. The police banged on the front door of Mr. Witaschek’s Georgetown home at 8:20 p.m. on July 7, 2012, to execute a search warrant for “firearms and ammunition … gun cleaning equipment, holsters, bullet holders and ammunition receipts.” Mr. Witaschek’s 14-year-old daughter let inside some 30 armed officers in full tactical gear.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 23, 2013 36 Comments
Joan Walsh of Salon.com threw a classic Salon.com race-card fit the other day because Ted Cruz referred to healthcare.gov as being run by Nigerial scam artists:
Hey, did you hear the one about the disappearing “Nigerian email scammers”? They’ve “become a lot less active lately” because they’ve “all been hired to run the Obamacare website.” That’s Sen. Ted Cruz, folks, on his Reactionary Real America Victory Tour Monday night, and he’ll be here all week, maybe all decade. Tip your waiter! Declaring that our first black president’s signature policy achievement is being run by “Nigerian email scammers” is GOP dog-whistle politics at its finest. Of course, Cruz wasn’t just going for cheap laughs at the expense of the Affordable Care Act. He knows it’s a short hop from Nigeria to Kenya for his Obama-hating Houston audience.

Twitter - @Salon - Nigerian scammer dog whistle

It's actually not a short hop from Nigeria to Kenya, over 2000 miles, but whatever. I think the Nigerian scam artist analogy fits, although there is no single perfect analogy for the redistribution of wealth scheme that is Obamacare. The American people were promised one thing, and are receiving another.  The thing they were promised -- you can keep your doctor and your insurance, and pay less through easy to use exchanges -- never existed, any more than "Mohammed Abacha,the son of the late Nigerian Head of State." But since we have to be absurdly sensitive to "short hops" from Nigeria to Kenya so as to stay off of Salon.com's radar, perhaps we can refer to healthcare.gov, and Obamacare more generally, as BernieMadoff.healthcare.gov.  Again, not a perfect analogy, but it demonstrates a point.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 23, 2013 36 Comments
Kathleen Sebelius is insistent that no one told Obama prior to October 1 that testing and evaluation had indicated healthcare.gov likely would fail. Not even as a government "shutdown" was looming over the issue of delaying the individual mandate for a year?  Even though an inoperable healthcare.gov website would justify the Republican position?  Even though a failure of the website would be a major embarrassment? HHS chief: President didn't know of Obamacare website woes beforehand
President Barack Obama didn't know of problems with the Affordable Care Act's website -- despite insurance companies' complaints and the site's crashing during a test run -- until after its now well-documented abysmal launch, the nation's health chief told CNN on Tuesday. In an exclusive interview with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta asked when the President first learned about the considerable issues with the Obamacare website. Sebelius responded that it was in "the first couple of days" after the site went live October 1. "But not before that?" Gupta followed up. To which Sebelius replied, "No, sir."
This all sounds eerily familiar:

WaPo IRS Scandal No One Told Obama

Senior White House officials, including Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, learned last month about a review by the Treasury Department’s inspector general into whether the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, but they did not inform President Obama, the White House said Monday.
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