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Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 29, 2015 11 Comments
Steven Salaita, the controversial former professor who was denied a tenured job at the University of Illinios at Urbana-Champaign, has filed a lawsuit against the university trustees and unnamed ("John Doe") donors who allegedly pressured the university. The one trustee who voted in favor of hiring, James Montgomery, was not named as a defendant. Chancellor Phyllis Wise also was named as a defendant. The lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of Illinois, rather than the Central District where the campus is located, based on the Trustees having voted not to hire Salaita at a meeting in Chicago. Strategically, Salaita presumably prefers a Chicago jury, if it gets to that. More details and an embed of the Complaint to follow (now full embed at bottom of post). Steven Salaita v Christopher Kennedy et al - Complaint Cover Page

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Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 29, 2015 34 Comments
Claims by anonymous sources that the Obama administration is deeply offended by a "breach of protocol" in the planned appearance by Benjamin Netanyahu at a joint meeting of Congress are increasing. The New York Times quotes an unnamed official as saying the anger goes beyond John Boehner and Netanyahu, to the Israeli Ambassador:
The Obama administration, after days of mounting tension, signaled on Wednesday how angry it is with Israel that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted Republican leaders’ invitation to address Congress on Iran without consulting the White House. The outrage the episode has incited within President Obama’s inner circle became clear in unusually sharp criticism by a senior administration official who said that the Israeli ambassador, Ron Dermer, who helped orchestrate the invitation, had repeatedly placed Mr. Netanyahu’s political fortunes above the relationship between Israel and the United States.
William Kristol argues that Obama views Netanyahu as an impediment to appeasement of Iran, much as Churchill was viewed with regard to the rise of fascism in Germany:
It is Obama's failures that explain his anger—his failures, and his hopes that a breakthrough with Iran could erase the memories of failure and appear to vindicate his foreign policy. Israel stands in the way, he thinks, of this breakthrough. Prime Minister Netanyahu stands in the way. And so Obama lashes out.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 29, 2015 15 Comments
Remember when Harry Reid and other Democrats thought they could retain control of the Senate by demonizing the Koch brothers? In November of 2014 that strategy proved to be a loser---but Democrats learned nothing. Sean Sullivan and Anne Gearan of the Washington Post reported yesterday:
Democrats see new chance to attack Kochs after $1 billion spending announcement Forget Jeb, Rand and Ted. For Democrats, it’s all about Charles and David. The announcement this week that the vast political network backed by the wealthy industrialist Koch brothers aims to spend nearly $1 billion on the 2016 elections has reignited Democratic hopes of casting the brothers as electoral villains and linking them closely to Republican candidates. It’s a campaign strategy that yielded little success for the party in 2014, a banner year for the GOP. But Democratic officials and operatives say they are hopeful that their anti-Koch message will have more potency in a presidential election year.
Sally Kohn, who somehow has a job writing for CNN, jumped right on the bandwagon:
A better way for the Kochs to spend their millions Here comes spendageddon! To influence the 2016 elections, oil barons Charles and David Koch have pledged that their political network will spend $889 million, media reports say. Basically -- wrap your head around this if you can -- the ultra-conservative Koch brothers want to keep their business and personal taxes as low as possible and keep regulations on the energy industry as low as possible. And if they get their way, that $889 million in money donated by the Kochs and others to the groups they founded, will turn out to be just a drop in the bucket, a small investment for which they stand to gain much more in tax breaks and free pollution.
I fail to see how the libertarian Kochs, who favor gay marriage and the legalization of marijuana, qualify as "ultra-conservative"; but I'm clearly not as smart as Ms. Kohn.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 29, 2015 17 Comments
In an ill-omened trip, Secretary of State John Kerry headed to India to pave the way for a climate change deal, missing the important Paris march against terror. I was skeptical that the Indians would warm to any carbon emissions agreement, given the level of poverty in that country and need to rapidly modernize its industry. He should have listened to me, because he just emitted a whole lot of greenhouse gas for no reason. The Indians rejected the deal.
President Barack Obama has left India for Saudi Arabia without inking a climate deal that formed much of the basis for his second trip to the subcontinent. The Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday that India has refused to embrace the idea of a 'peaking year' for greenhouse gas emissions – a designated year after which emissions levels would have to start decreasing. China agreed to that sort of framework last year, but Indian officials now see being lumped in with Beijing as a negative thing. India is the world's fourth-biggest carbon emitter. China is number one. 'Having a peaking year was not acceptable to us,' an Indian environment ministry official told the Times. Obama visited India on Air Force One, a plane that burns five gallons of jet fuel for every mile it flies. His round-trip, including a stop in Saudi Arabia, will emit 809 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
The President did offer the Indians $1 billion to develop green technology to sweeten the deal...which is fascinating, because American green technology ventures sponsored by this administration have been man-made disasters.

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Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 28, 2015 8 Comments
On Tuesday night, January 27, 2015, I spoke at the Rochester (NY) Jewish Community Center on the topic of Boycotting Israel - The insidious threat of the BDS movement I was invited to speak by Rochesterians for Israel (Roc4Israel), a very active multi-faith group. The official attendance count was 354 people, quite a crowd. Before my speech, the organizers played the video of the Cornell student harassed and attacked by anti-Israel activists on campus, as well as a video of aggressive anti-Israel campus activities: (Language Warning) (BTW, that "Gandhi Quote" is fake.) In my speech I put the aggressiveness of anti-Israel student groups in context. I focused on the academic boycott movement pushed by faculty professional organizations, which deprives faculty, students and the greater academic community of academic freedom.

Posted by Amy Miller on January 28, 2015 28 Comments
Rick Perry may have had a successful political weekend in Iowa, but when it comes to legal issues, the former Texas Governor's troubles are just as real as ever. Last year, a grand jury indicted Governor Perry on two felony counts over abuse of power allegations; since then, Perry and his legal team have made several futile attempts to convince a judge to dismiss the indictment---and they just lost another round, meaning that for the time being, the indictment stands, and the criminal case will be allowed to drag on. From the Austin-American Statesman:
The ruling by Judge Bert Richardson, a San Antonio Republican, comes five months after Perry’s attorneys filed the writ of habeas corpus, a sign of the slow speed at which the case is churning through the criminal justice system. Immediately after the ruling, Perry’s attorneys filed formal documents appealing the ruling to the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals, a process that could take several months and stall possible resolution of the case. ... Attorneys for Perry, who as of last month had spent $1 million in campaign money for his defense, had said in the request that Richardson should dismiss the charge and largely cited “Constitutional grounds.” The petition contended the “Texas Constitution imposes no limits on the governor’s right and duty to veto; he exercises unbounded discretion in exercising his veto power, subject only to the Legislature’s right to override that veto,” among many other claims. They also said the prosecution threatens to violate Constitutional separation of powers and said that Perry, in vetoing the money, was acting in his legislative capacity. “Nothing in the Texas Constitution or law permits the judicial department to scrutinize Gov. Perry’s legal decision,” the September filing said. Special prosecutor Michael McCrum replied in a written response that a jury should weigh evidence against Perry. “The defendant argues he did not break the law. The state alleges he did. This is precisely why the justice system exists: to resolve these types of disputes,” McCrum told Richardson in a November filing.
Same story, different ruling.

Posted by Amy Miller on January 28, 2015 4 Comments
The situation for two hostages held by ISIS is rapidly spiraling. Officials in Jordan have agreed to the Islamic State's demands for a hostage swap, but added their own conditions to the mix, which could complicate things for hostages Muath al-Kaseasbeh and Kenji Goto. Via Fox News:
In the case of the ISIS prisoner, Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said in a statement the nation was prepared to free Sajida al-Rishawi, who was convicted of taking part in a 2005 deadly hotel bombing that killed 60 people, if the Jordanian pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, is released unharmed. His comments were carried by Jordan's official Petra news agency. Although he made no mention of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, a hostage audio message released by Islamic State a day earlier tied Goto's fate to that of Al-Rishawi, as well. Jordan is reportedly in indirect talks with the militants through religious and tribal leaders in Iraq to secure the hostages' release. The chairman of the foreign affairs committee of Jordan's parliament, Bassam Al-Manasseer, has been quoted as saying that Jordan and Japan would not negotiate directly with the Islamic State group and would not free al-Rishawi for the Japanese hostage only.
According to officials in Jordan, the negotiators have requested but not yet received proof that Muath is alive. Goto's status is also unknown.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 28, 2015 24 Comments
Blogger Burnout. A frequent topic here, first visited on January 15, 2009, Add “Blogger Burnout” To The List Of Blogger Ailments. For those of you keeping track, that would be about 3 months after I started Legal Insurrection. Three months! Even then I realized that being a blogger could be about the most burning-out of things. After a while, I got Sick and Tired of Blogger Burnout Stories:
Okay, blogging is tough. We get it. Great Grandma and Grandpa had it easy, with rotary phones and all (“You mean your Great Grandparents had a phone?”). If I hear another blogger complain about blogger burnout, I’m going to scream.... Let me guess, you worked the fields all day, so you don’t have the strength to push down on the keyboard with your bloodied, swollen fingers? ... Haven’t you figured it out, there is only one original blog post which, like the source yeast at the Guinness brewery, has been kept alive for generations so that others may cut from and paste to it. It’s not rocket science.
Yet I endured. Somehow. Somewhere. There was a place for us. Somewhere, a place for us in this internet.

Posted by Andrew Branca on January 28, 2015 22 Comments
We noted here back in November that 34-year-old Marissa Alexander--facing up to 60 years in prison for firing a bullet past her husband's head and her two step-children--had once again been offered, and this time accepted, a 3-year plea agreement:  UPDATED: “Warning shot” defendant accepts 3-year plea deal. The renewed 3-year plea counted much of Alexander's time already served, resulting in her release from jail yesterday:  Judge: Marissa Alexander released to house arrest. video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player Alexander's failure to accept a similar agreement in the immediate aftermath of the 2010 shooting led to her conviction and three concurrent 20-year mandatory minimum sentences under Florida's "10-20-Life" law (§775.082 Penalties; applicability of sentencing structures; mandatory minimum sentences for certain reoffenders previously released from prison).  She earned a re-trial after the appellate court correctly found that there was a substantive defect in the trial court's self-defense jury instructions.  In the meantime, the Florida law on "10-20-Life"  had changed to require that sentences be served consecutively, so that Alexander now faced a mandatory minimum of 60 years.

Posted by Amy Miller on January 28, 2015 58 Comments
Michelle Obama made waves this week with her decision to not wear headscarf during her visit to Saudi Arabia. Although reactions to her decision were mixed, the reaction on social media gave birth to a hashtag accusing the first lady of immodesty---a heady violation in one of the few remaining countries requiring women to cover their heads in public. Via Politico:
On Twitter, Saudis used a hashtag that translates to “#Michelle_Obama_Immodest” or “#Michelle_Obama_NotVeiled” to chastise the first lady for being disrespectful to Saudi traditions. ... Some on Twitter noted that Obama had covered her hair during a visit to a mosque in Indonesia and wondered why she hadn’t done the same, Egypt’s Ahram Online noted, while one woman urged fellow Saudis not to “make Obama angry at us.” The first lady’s office had no comment on her attire.
Twitter is still chirping about it:

Posted by Amy Miller on January 28, 2015 3 Comments
Modern-day slavery. When I lived in Texas, I learned more about the horror and despair of human trafficking than I ever thought there was to know. It's the fastest growing business of organized crime, and especially in places along the border, it shows. It took me a long time to truly understand that, in (then) 2012, there were still people in this country whose trade involved the exchange of money for human flesh. The U.S. House of Representatives is taking advantage of this week's Super Bowl hype to tackle the problem head-on. Right now, human traffickers are shipping in their young victims to take advantage of the influx of tourists into Phoenix, Arizona---and while the police can help combat the rampant exploitation, they don't have the manpower or resources to reverse the tide. The House has launched a sweeping initiative to fight the horrors of human trafficking, and they're starting with a dozen bills and a big messaging push aimed at helping people understand how dangerous the situation has become for 20 million people worldwide: From the House Republican Caucus:

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 28, 2015 26 Comments
Charles Krauthammer was on the O'Reilly Factor last night to discuss the Republican contenders for 2016. Wisconsin governor Scott Walker got some kind words from Dr. K, who said that his speech in Iowa last weekend changed things. Watch: You'll notice in the video that O'Reilly and Krauthammer both reference compliments Scott Walker recently received from Rush Limbaugh. Here's a sample from Limbaugh's site:
Scott Walker Wows 'Em in Iowa Scott Walker wowed them in Iowa at whatever this thing was, this Republican, slash, conservative, just wowed them. And you know me, folks, if you have spent any time listening to this program in the last two years, you know that I believe Scott Walker is the blueprint for the Republican Party if they are serious about beating the left. Scott Walker has shown how to do it. And apparently he showed up and he made a speech on Saturday that had people telling them it reminded them of the speech I gave at CPAC... Scott Walker has shown the Republican Party how to beat the left. Scott Walker has the blueprint for winning and winning consistently and winning big in a blue state with conservative principles that are offered with absolutely no excuses. The left, the Democrat Party, threw everything at Scott Walker trying to destroy him. They did everything they could. He not only withstood it all, he survived and triumphed over all of it. They broke rules. They got close to breaking laws. They were threatening his family personally, and he remained undeterred.
Some bloggers are pretty excited about Walker. @rdbrewer from Ace of Spades HQ is already making campaign posters:

Posted by Amy Miller on January 27, 2015 19 Comments
He announced. America retaliated. He ran screaming from his toxic tax proposal. Today, the White House threw its own plan under the bus by announcing that it would no longer pursue its proposed tax hike on "529" college savings account. From the Wall Street Journal:
The move followed a public call by House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) on Tuesday for the White House to withdraw its plan. Calls also were coming privately from leaders of the president’s own party. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) pressed the case for dropping the plan in conversations with senior administration officials aboard Air Force One, as she flew with the president from India to Saudi Arabia, according to a person familiar with the matter. A White House official said late Tuesday: “Given it has become such a distraction, we’re not going to ask Congress to pass the 529 provision.”
A "distraction?" I think the word you're looking for is "complete PR cluster." It could also translate to, "the Party's most effective bundlers called and threatened to sit 2016 out if we asked Congress to pass this thing, so we chickened out." Whatever it takes to get you through the press cycle.

Posted by New Neo on January 27, 2015 48 Comments
It is ironic that the success of modern vaccination programs against ancient scourges such as measles has been part of the reason parents today are so ignorant about what these diseases can do. A recent outbreak in California has demonstrated the effects of this lack of knowledge:
Researchers have found that past outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases are more likely in places where there are clusters of parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated... In California, vaccine exemptions have increased from 1.5 percent in 2007 to 3.1 percent in 2013, according to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times.
That's a surprisingly large number---but hey, this is California:
Researchers have found that those who refuse vaccines tend to share similarities. "In general, they’re upper-middle to upper class, well-educated — often graduate school-educated — and in jobs in which they exercise some level of control," Offit said. "They believe that they can google the word vaccine and know as much, if not more, as anyone who’s giving them advice."
An enormous amount of damage was also done by fraudulent science in the guise of an influential 1998 article in Lancet claiming a link between vaccines and autism, that has since been proven to be a fraud and retracted. But the study's author, Andrew Wakefield, couldn't have done it alone:

Posted by Amy Miller on January 27, 2015 7 Comments
A video discovered by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) contains a direct threat against the life of President Barack Obama, as well as promises to kill more hostages if Jordan does not release extremist and prisoner Sajida al-Rishawi. Fox News has the details:
In a new online video discovered by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) on Tuesday, three Islamic State fighters stand behind a kneeling Kurdish fighter as one of the extremists launches into a diatribe against the U.S. and other Western nations. “Know, oh Obama, that will reach America,” says one of the fighters, clad in black and wearing a balaclava, in a translation from Arabic provided by MEMRI. “Know also that we will cut off your head in the White House, and transform America into a Muslim Province.” The extremist also issued warnings to European nations. “And this is my message to France and to its sister, Belgium,” he said. “We advise you that we will come to you with car bombs and explosive charges, and will cut off your heads.” The video fades to black as one Islamic State fighter brings a knife up to the unidentified Kurdish fighter’s throat.
Like another message released this weekend, this video did not bear the Islamic State's media logo; but officials have not released any statements offering a credible denial of the video's authenticity. The White House has not commented on the threats to President Obama's life.
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