Study backs Barron’s critique of Flash Boys

Robert Bartlett and Justin McCrary study cited by Barron’s, Sept. 3, 2016

The study, by Robert Bartlett and Justin McCrary, scoured 385 million stock trades and 6.2 billion price quotes for signs that high-tech scalawags routinely front-run the rest of us by exploiting faster access to stock quotes. Contrary to Lewis’ scare story, the pair found that slow or fast quotes made no difference in pricing 97% of the trades. And on the remaining trades, the pricing differences actually favored the slow trader.

Lawyers burnish Tesla’s deal for SolarCity

Steven Davidoff Solomon writes for The New York Times, Sept. 2, 2016

The lawyers have grabbed control of the merger between Tesla Motors and SolarCity. They are blanketing the deal with legal process to try to smooth over the conflict of interest stemming from Elon Musk’s ownership interest in both companies. But will it be enough?

What you need to know about legalizing marijuana

Ethan Elkind hosts KALW-FM, August 29, 2016

“This November, Californians will decide whether to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults over the age of 21. Polls show support for the measure hovering around 55%. If Prop 64 passes, how will it impact us in California? … Will more people start using? Will we have more impaired drivers on the road? Will passage of Prop 64 put the illegal pot trade out of business in California, or will it expand alongside the new marketplace?”

Institute of Governmental Studies releases poll data on death penalty, bilingual education

Franklin Zimring quoted by The Daily Californian, August 29, 2016

“Executions are the third leading cause of death on death row (in California),” Zimring said, the first two being natural causes and suicide. But Zimring says that if Proposition 66 were to pass, it would mean such a large change in the death penalty procedures that the state would be tied up in litigation for years, leading to even more delays in executions.

Spyware firm tied to iPhone hack has U.S. ties

Chris Hoofnagle quoted by USA Today, August 26, 2016

“We are at this place because of law enforcement frustration with access to data in investigations. And so we are going to continue to see law enforcement agencies, even from legitimate democratic states, buying ‘hacking tools’ so that crimes that occur within their own borders can be investigated,” said Chris Hoofnagle.

Mitsuye Endo deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Amanda Tyler writes for The Sacramento Bee, August 25, 2016

In a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, Endo challenged the internment policy as unconstitutional, correctly arguing that the government had no general authority to detain citizens without criminal charges. Notably, her case posed the first and only direct challenge to the internment camps to reach the Supreme Court.