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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 December 15, 2013 15 Comments
The U.N. General Assembly in 1975 passed the odious Zionism is Racism resolution, which has since been rescinded. Voting closes today at the American Studies Association on an equally odious resolution singling out Israel, and Israel alone, for academic boycott. It is, as former Harvard President Lawrence Summers notes, "anti-Semitic" in its effect "if not in intent." The resolution has been harshly criticized by the American Association of University Professors and eight Past Presidents of the ASA as an abominable attack on academic freedom, among many other denunciations:
In no other context does the ASA discriminate on the basis of national origin—and for good reason. This is discrimination pure and simple. Worse, it is also discrimination that inevitably diminishes the pursuit of knowledge, by discarding knowledge simply because it is produced by a certain group of people.
Nonetheless, the anti-Israel venom is so strong among the leadership and membership of the ASA, that there is a strong possibility the resolution will pass. Reading the comments and arguments of those favoring the anti-Israel academic boycott, there is little doubt that they view Zionism as Racism and would equally support the now discredited 1975 U.N. Resolution if put to a vote at the ASA. (full speech embedded at bottom of post)

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 14, 2013 29 Comments
No, not of me. Of Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt yucking it up at Nelson Mandela's memorial service. The allegation was that the reaction was racist. From the ever-reliable Salon.com, The media’s Michelle Obama problem: What a selfie says about our biases
More than anything, the response to these latest images of Michelle Obama speaks volumes about the expectations placed on black women in the public eye and how a black women’s default emotional state is perceived as angry. The black woman is ever at the ready to aggressively defend her territory. She is making her disapproval known. She never gets to simply be. Maybe the first lady is irritated with her husband or someone else, maybe she’s indifferent, maybe she’s thinking about the long plane ride home, maybe, just maybe, she’s recalling Nelson Mandela’s life and legacy. We will never know. Meanwhile, the Internet is speculating about Michelle Obama’s mind-set, her motivations and the state of her marriage because if a married black man, always on the prowl even if he is the commander in chief, is seen smiling next to an attractive white woman, well, that’s curtains for the marriage. The white she-devil strikes again! The first lady can’t win. Last month, Michelle Obama was a “feminist nightmare.” Today she is angry and on the verge of losing her marriage.
From Oliver Willis of Media Matters (tweeting his own opinion, of course):

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 14, 2013 5 Comments

This is how a People self-destructs: Swarthmore Hillel Opens Door to Anti-Zionist Speakers With a little help from their "friends": Anti-Israel Activists at U. Michigan Serve Dorm Eviction Notices First they came for the couch burners: Michigan State. U. Police to Throw Book at Student Couch Burners Then the snow hooligans: U....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 14, 2013 3 Comments

Merry Christmas [transliteration: shèng dàn kuài lè] from Nanning, Guangxi Province, China. From Helen: This is in Nanning, Guangxi Province, Wm. Yes, I took it yesterday evening (my time) as I was coming from the local Walmart which is chockfull of Christmas cheer. Everywhere you go, Wm., you...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 13, 2013 55 Comments

The years' long Media Matters War on Fox News was intended to destroy Fox News, as expressed by David Brock in 2011: The liberal group Media Matters has quietly transformed itself in preparation for what its founder, David Brock, described in an interview as an all-out...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 13, 2013 19 Comments

The big are getting bigger, and better. Michelle Malkin's Twitchy was sold to Salem Communications, which owns Hot Air and Townhall.  Congratulations Michelle for a briliant idea, brilliantly executed. Now, according to Buzzfeed, Salem also will be acquiring Eagle Publishing, which owns Red State and Human Events: Salem Communications, the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 13, 2013 10 Comments
We previously have written about the copyright suit by North Jersey Media Group, Inc. (NJMG) against Sarah Palin and SarahPAC based on a Facebook note by Palin commemorating the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001: The Facebook note used an iconic image of three firefighters raising the flag at Ground Zero. Sarah Palin Facebook Page Three Firefighters Image Although the Complaint and Amended Complaint alleged that the photo was used for fundraising, neither of those court filings demonstrated specific fundraising use. Instead, the claim appears to be that anything Palin did for SarahPAC implicitly was fundraising. I expected the case to settle, not because of any inside knowledge, but because the use was not for commercial advantage, and was taken down immediately. There was question as to whether Palin and SarahPAC even received actual notice of a take-down demand. Suit in federal Court was filed just two days after the Facebook entry. Apparently the suit has not settled, because Palin's attorneys filed a Motion to Dismiss in court yesterday. (Full motion and supporting Memorandum embedded at bottom of this post.) In the Motion to Dismiss, Palin and SarahPAC argue:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 13, 2013 13 Comments
The murder trial of two Islamic radicals who hacked British soldier Lee Rigby to death on the street continues. We noted how the murderer pictured in so many of the newpaper covers holding a bloody machete argued in his defense that he was a "soldier of Allah" and that he was in a war, Killer of British soldier Lee Rigby: “I am a soldier and this is war” The second murderer decided to offer no defense evidence, as reported by the Daily Mirror, which has a live blog of the proceedings:
The second man accused of hacking Fusilier Lee Rigby to death has refused to give evidence. Michael Adebowale, 22, was due to take the stand to explain the attack on the 25 year-old soldier near Woolwich Barracks in south London. His co-defendant Michael Adebolajo, 28, has already told the court that he tried to decapitate Lee Rigby to protest against British foreign policy. Abbas Lakha, representing Adebowale, told the court: "I call no evidence on behalf of Mr Adebowale." ... The judge sent the jury of eight women and four men away for the weekend and told them the court will contact them by mobile phone when they should return to court. He said there was more legal argument to sort out before closing speeches start but said the case was still due to conclude by Christmas.
Here's video of his capture immediately after the attack:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 13, 2013 15 Comments
Lawrence Summers, former President of Harvard University, has commented on the proposed resolution by the American Studies Association to boycott Israeli academic organizations.  The membership voting on the anti-Israel boycott resolution concludes on December 15. For background on the proposed academic boycott and those anti-Israeli "academics" who worked for years on the resolution and then ambushed pro-Israel and/or pro-Academic Freedom members, see my prior posts: Here is the Summers interview with Charlie Rose specifically on the ASA boycott resolution (full interview here, segment starts at 35:00)):
This particular academic boycott is much worse, it is much worse because the idea that of all the countries in the world that might be thought to have human rights abuses, that might be thought to have inappropriate foreign policies, that might be thought to be doing things wrong, the idea that there's only one that is worthy of boycott, and that is Israel, one of the very few countries whose neighbors regularly vow its annihilation, that that would be the one chosen, is I think beyond outrageous as a suggestion.... Charlie, I said some time ago with respect to a similar set of efforts, that I regarded them as being anti-Semitic in their effect if not necessarily in their intent. And I think that's the right thing to say about singling out Israel. If there was an academic boycott against a whole set of countries that stunted their populations in some way, I would oppose that because I think academic boycotts are abhorrent, but the choice of only Israel at a moment when Israel faces this kind of existential threat I think takes how wrong this is to a different level.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 12, 2013 59 Comments
We reported on the 6-year old boy who was suspended for "sexual harassment" for kissing a girl in class on the hand and cheek. The school has since downgraded the charge, and dropped the "sexual harassment" claim. That always was a ludicrous charge given the age of the students involved, and likely the result of federal guidelines putting funding at risk for districts that do not address sexual harassment. James Taranto has an extensive column about that:
Clearly buffoons are in charge of the school and the district, but what does that have to do with Obama? The answer is that these buffoons are following orders from Washington. In April 2011 Russlynn Ali, then assistant education secretary for civil rights, issued a directive in which she threatened to withhold federal money from any educational institution that failed to take a hard enough line against sexual misconduct to ensure "that all students feel safe in their school." The directive's preamble declared: "The sexual harassment of students, including sexual violence, interferes with students' right to receive an education free from discrimination and, in the case of sexual violence, is a crime." ... "If a school knows or reasonably should know about student-on-student harassment that creates a hostile environment, Title IX [of a 1972 civil rights law] requires the school to take immediate action to eliminate the harassment, prevent its recurrence, and address its effects," Ali wrote. The music teacher and other school officials were faithfully if ridiculously executing that command when they investigated the tip from the kids who tattled.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 12, 2013 3 Comments

We have written extensively about the so-called Prawer-Begin Plan to redevelop Bedouin communities in the Negev desert. (added) The Plan never was official Israeli policy. It simply was a bill advancing through the Knesset but never fully approved and never law. The Plan would have included relocating...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 12, 2013 33 Comments
I should have been more all over the budget deal reached between Paul Ryan and What's-Her-Name-From-Way-Over-There. I've been trying to understand both the details and the big picture. One thing I have noticed is that the mainstream media is loving it, REPUBLICAN SCHOOLYARD FIGHT! (Today's ALL CAPS courtesy of Jim Geraghty.) From Rick Klein at ABC News, Boehner’s Big Blast (ALL CAPS added):
It will be remembered for a message: This was the time that REPUBLICAN LEADERS SAID TO THEIR FRIENDS, CUT IT OUT. “This is ridiculous,” House Speaker John Boehner declared of the opposition brought forward by an array of his erstwhile allies – Club for Growth, Heritage Action, the Koch brothers, and -by implication- senators including Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Tom Coburn, and even Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn. The agreement set to pass the House today is significant but ultimately minuscule. It buys two years’ of budget peace, but in a familiar fashion: BY AVOIDING THE TOUGH STUFF (taxes, entitlements…).

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 11, 2013 37 Comments

I had a conversation on Twitter today with Professor Claire Potter, the subject of the post Tenured radicals cannot be trusted with our academic freedom. Potter first forcefully and repeatedly opposed the academic boycott of Israeli educational institutions proposed by the American Studies Association because it...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 11, 2013 29 Comments
Just days ago we reported that George Zimmerman’s girlfriend wanted to drop charges and filed a court affidavit denying that any crime was committed. Prosecutors just announced that the State will drop charges.  Zimmerman's ankle monitor was removed and he is a completely free man now. Via AP:
Prosecutors say they will not file domestic violence charges against George Zimmerman after his girlfriend said in a sworn statement she did not want to pursue the case. State Attorney Phil Archer in Seminole County said in a statement Wednesday that Samantha Scheibe's decision not to cooperate and the lack of other corroborating evidence made a successful prosecution unlikely. Zimmerman had faced charges of aggravated assault, battery and criminal mischief following a Nov. 18 incident at the central Florida house he shared with Scheibe. She initially told police Zimmerman pointed a shotgun at her face, then recanted in an affidavit filed this week. Zimmerman was acquitted last summer in the shooting death of unarmed, black teenager Trayvon Martin. The case sparked a nationwide debate about race and self-defense laws.
https://twitter.com/JeffWeinerOS/status/410888409184358400

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 11, 2013 25 Comments
Mary Landreiu is inextricably tied to the passage of Obamacare. The most recent Louisiana Purchase was not about land, it was about securing Landreiu's vote. She also voted against fixes proposed by Republicans to prevent people from losing their plans. The problem for Landrieu and all other Democrats up for reelection in 2014 is that the Obamacare rollout has been a disaster, and not just as to the website. Landrieu is getting hammered by ads throwing her own words back at her: Landreiu's apparent strategy is to try to thread a needle. Landrieu's first ad of the political season is damage control, an attempt to isolate the loss of plans and shift the blame to someone else, namely Obama (via Politico, h/t Townhall):
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