Weekend Update

News headlines from SF Chronicle that have caught my eye.

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The SCOTUS may honor this blog during the October 04 term by taking on Nuts-and-Bolts Cases.

There are no cases on abortion, gay rights or affirmative action on the U.S. Supreme Court's docket for the term that starts Monday. There are none on school vouchers or the Pledge of Allegiance, and none on the clash between civil liberties and the government's authority to search, monitor or imprison suspected terrorists.

Rather than the spectacular cases that have marked the court's last few terms, and those that may lie a year or two ahead, the 2004-05 term seems likely to be devoted to nuts-and-bolts issues of government and society with which the court is most familiar: crime and punishment; federal versus state authority, in the context of California's medical marijuana law; economic regulation; and juveniles on death row.

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Boalt is looking to replace the aging nuts and bolts by bolting ahead in its capital drive unveiled on Saturday. Dean Chris Edley's comments can be found here.

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Indian tribes operating casinos in CA may be circumventing their 1999 gaming compacts through a clever loophole. This is an area that I've taken some interest in given two propositions on the ballot for the upcoming election. I plan to write more on the subject in short order.

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Speaking of elections sparking Armageddon, Daniel Handler writes this excellent (with respect to quality of writing as well as content) review of Phillip Roth's The Plot Against America. I believe it was on Wednesday that Tom mentioned this book when I remarked something to the effect of how nice things would have been if the South actually had seceded rather than inhibiting progress (obviously tongue in cheek...I don't want to hear shit from you abolitionists). In the book, Charles Lindbergh is elected president as an isolationist instead of FDR. Should be an interesting read...