Legal Theory Blog

Trolley Problem Humor

Check this out! (Hat tip to Jacob Levy!)

Blagojevich Complaint & Press Release

Here is the substance of Blagojevich complaint:

Count One
From in or about 2002 to the present, in Cook County, in the Northern District of Illinois, defendants did, conspire with each other and with others to devise and participate in a scheme to defraud the State of Illinois and the people of the State of Illinois of the honest services of ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH and JOHN HARRIS, in furtherance of which the mails and interstate wire communications would be used, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341,1343, and 1346; all in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 1349.

Count Two
Beginning no later than November 2008 to the present, in Cook County, in the Northern District of Illinois, defendants ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH and JOHN HARRIS, being agents of the State of Illinois, a State government which during a one-year period, beginning January 1, 2008 and continuing to the present, received federal benefits in excess of $10,000, corruptly solicited and demanded a thing of value, namely, the firing of certain Chicago Tribune editorial members responsible for widely-circulated editorials critical of ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with business and transactions of the State of Illinois involving a thing of value of $5,000 or more, namely, the provision of millions of dollars in financial assistance by the State of Illinois, including through the Illinois Finance Authority, an agency of the State of Illinois, to the Tribune Company involving the Wrigley Field baseball stadium; in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 666(a)(1)(B) and 2.

And from the Press Release:

  A 76-page FBI affidavit alleges that Blagojevich was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps during the last month conspiring to sell or trade Illinois’ U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife.  At various times, in exchange for the Senate appointment, Blagojevich discussed obtaining:

• a substantial salary for himself at a either a non-profit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions;
• placing his wife on paid corporate boards where he speculated she might garner as much as $150,000 a year;
• promises of campaign funds – including cash up front; and < a cabinet post or ambassadorship  for himself.

Just last week, on December 4, Blagojevich allegedly told an advisor that he might “get some (money) up front, maybe” from Senate Candidate 5, if he named Senate Candidate 5 to the Senate seat, to insure that Senate Candidate 5 kept a promise about raising money for Blagojevich if he ran for re-election. In a recorded conversation on October 31, Blagojevich claimed he was approached by an associate of Senate Candidate 5 as follows: “We were approached ‘pay to play.’ That, you know, he’d raise 500 grand. An emissary came.  Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a Senator.”

Seto on the Financial Crisis

Ted Seto has the most cogent short explanation of the current financial crisis of which I am aware on his blog, Understanding Tax.  Typical Seto--brilliant and illuminating.

Belle on the Things Academics Want

Not the same things as everydoby else!

Read Belle first & if you are grading, you can waste even more time by reading the continuation to this post.

Best Wishes

Dear Readers,

Best wishes for the holidays and the New Year!

Lawrence Solum

Not Legal Theory Department: Photography

I hope the readers of LTB will forgive me for mentioning that my tiny little PBase photography site just went over 100,000 page views.

Lawrence Solum PBase Website

Lipshaw on AI, Analogies, and the Turing Test

Jeff Lipshaw has a post entitled Algorithms and Analogies meditating on Artificial Intelligence, the Turing Test, and much else.  Check it out!

Jeff's post started me thinking about a paper I will be writing this Fall for the January 2008 AALS meeting in New York City.  Organized by Kim Ferzan, the panel is on the borderlines of personhood & I will be discussing personhood and artificial intelligence--a topic that I took in Legal Personhood for Artificial Intelligences--OMG, 15 years ago!!!

Well, take a look at Jeff's nice post.

Greetings!

Dear Readers,

My best wishes for the holidays.  I hope that all the readers of LTB flourish and grow in the new year.

Larry

Not Legal Theory: Koh Heads Unite

If you are one of the many Koh heads, who follow Dean Koh from alumni event to alumni event--listening intently for the subtle variations that make "the speech" an improvisational masterpiece, you will definitely want the Koh Bobble Head, available here.

And as a special added, bonus, all proceeds benefit the Yale Chapter of the ACS.  OK, Yale Federalists, whose head will you bobble?

Not Legal Theory

. . . but close.