Federal court temporarily pauses youth climate lawsuit

Erwin Chemerinsky quoted by ThinkProgress, July 26, 2017

At the time the Trump administration filed the petition, Erwin Chemerinsky, constitutional law expert and dean of Berkeley Law, told ThinkProgress via email that the petition was “truly extraordinary,” adding that such reviews are “rarely granted.”

Jahi McMath’s family wins backing for argument that she’s alive

Marjorie Shultz quoted by San Francisco Chronicle, July 24, 2017

“What it means to determine death is a scary thought for most people,” Shultz said. “We are going to have to move in that direction and revisit it, legally and collectively. We will continue to learn more about what is going on in the brain of people who are minimally conscious, or something in the twilight zone between unquestionably dead and unquestionably alive.”

Senate’s Israel Anti-Boycott Act has good intentions, but bad results

David Schraub quoted by Ricochet.com, July 22, 2017

Schraub points out that contrary to some of the early reports, neither old nor new versions ban (nor could they, given the First Amendment) “support” for a boycott in the everyday sense of sympathizing with it or speaking out in its favor. Instead, both ban a list of actions taken to advance a boycott.

Electronic monitoring isn’t kid-friendly

Catherine Crump, Kate Weisburd and Christina Koningisor write for The Sacramento Bee, July 20, 2017

Electronic monitoring may worsen the very problems that juvenile courts try to remedy. Rather than further rehabilitation, it often leads to jail for technical rule violations and traps young people in the system longer.

The deadly perils of traffic stops

Christopher Kutz quoted by Chicago Tribune, July 19, 2017

The rare instances when police find evidence of a crime, Kutz told me, “don’t justify the enormous social costs of widespread police interventions.” This is an extremely inefficient way of detecting drug and gun crimes.

Meeting with a Russian is not a crime

John Yoo co-writes for Chicago Tribune, July 17, 2017

For now, two words describe the Trump Tower meeting: brain-dead. But dumb does not equal criminal. Criminalizing all dumb moves in political campaigns would effectively eviscerate the First Amendment.