Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

PolitiFact Florida Calls Again

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Michael Froomkin

This time the question was: Sen. Alan Hays says ‘Legislature’ didn’t file lawsuit to fight redistricting amendment.

And PolitiFact (based in part on an email interview in which I explained some basic Civ Pro II) rates it, rightly, as “barely true” since it is true only in the most technical sense — the House is a plaintiff-intervenor, not the originator of the lawsuit.

Amendments 5 & 6 are two of the few decent things to come out of recent Florida politics, and the attempts by entrenched politicians — Republican gerrymanders and their ethnic-enclave Democrats co-dependents — is the sort of behavior whose failure to shock is the surest proof of the overwhelming outrage fatigue gripping so much of the state population.

Not surprisingly, according to a related PolitiFact inquiry, Sen. Hayes flat-out lied about who was paying for the House’s part of the lawsuit.

Posted in Florida | Comments Off on PolitiFact Florida Calls Again

I Shouldn’t Have, But It Felt Good

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Michael Froomkin

A very nice lady called up raising money for the Obama re-election campaign.

I told her that I was not planning on giving to any Republicans this year.

Posted in 2012 Election | 6 Comments

Peter Shane Explains What Happens If the Money Runs Out

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Michael Froomkin

An obvious question, should Congress not manage to fend off default within the next two weeks, is: What does the President do then? If the President cannot pay off America’s creditors and keep all government programs running, what legal authority does he have to deal with the crisis?

Answers at What May a President Do if He Cannot Pay Our Bills Without Borrowing and Borrowing More Money is Unlawful?.

The bottom line is that the President has a pretty free hand to “defer” any spending he wants — an ironic given decades of Congressional attempts to stamp out claimed executive “impoundment” authority and force Presidents to spend as directed by Congress.

The only thing I’d add to Peter’s story, which is worth a look, is an historical note: the 19th Century budget process also relied on something called the Anti-Deficiency Act (which still exists in somewhat amended form. The basic idea behind the early versions, was that if anyone in Treasury paid any expenditure not authorized by law (which then meant an appropriation), the official risked being personally liable for any overpayment.

Posted in Econ & Money, Law: Constitutional Law | Comments Off on Peter Shane Explains What Happens If the Money Runs Out

Transformers

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Michael Froomkin

Our Dean, Patricia White, is on Brian Leiter’s list of Nine Transformative Deans in the Last Decade — a list with the intriguing URL of “ten-transformative-deans-in-the-last-decade”. Gotta wonder who the tenth was and what happened to him/her.

Fortunately for us here at U. Miami, in addition to being lauded for her transformation of ASU, Dean White also appears on Leiter’s list of six “Deans to watch in the coming years”.

Posted in Law School, U.Miami | 1 Comment

Ideas on the Radio: Transparent Government

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Michael Froomkin

I’m scheduled to be on a call-in to the NPR Cleveland affiliate around 9:30 am tomorrow morning as part of their morning 9-10am talk show, “The Sound of Ideas.” Here’s the promo for tomorrow’s program:

If government — from your local school board to the U.S. Capitol — operated in secret, how much would you trust it? On the next Sound of Ideas, we’ll talk to open government advocates about the public’s right to know. We’ll offer expert advice on how to access public records and keep tabs on your government. Plus, we’ll explore how technology is helping to make government more transparent.

There will be a live feed of the show The Sound of Ideas: Transparent Government / ideastream – Northeast Ohio Public Radio, and a podacast afterwards.

Posted in Law: Privacy, The Media | Comments Off on Ideas on the Radio: Transparent Government

Minding the Mindfulness

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Michael Froomkin

UM’s Jha lab (in the Psychology Department) has secured a $920K grant to “track the structural and functional brain changes that may accompany participation in short-form mindfulness training courses”.

Scott Rogers, Director of the Mindfulness in Law Program at the University of Miami Law School will be collaborating in the research.

I wonder if law students will be getting their brains scanned?
Image Copyright © XKCD, licensed via Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License

Posted in Science/Medicine, U.Miami | Comments Off on Minding the Mindfulness