Happy Data Privacy Day!

Yes, someone decided it is data privacy day today, just in time for us to start working on privacy in class. Anyway, follow the link for links to major corporations' data privacy policies - Intel, Google, etc are all there.

What's with Alito?

I'm not sure what was going on here, but it was kind of strange to see a sitting Supreme Court justice have a Joe Wilson moment during the SOTU. Keep an eye on Alito in the upper left part of the frame, what's he saying when Obama criticizes the decision in Citizens United? Notice the stone faced calm of all the other justices which is what one normally sees at these speeches.



I don't think we can draw any particular conclusions from this, but it is interesting.

How easy is it for websites to identify me?

Really, really, easy, in a sense. Every website collects a lot of information about your computer, its configuration, and your browser. This constitutes a kind of fingerprint that could be used to identify you. Want to learn more? Visit the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Panopticlick site and test the machine that you are on. My office machine was "unique" in over 85,000 machines tested so far, and I generally set my browser for as much privacy as I can (consistent with still being able to use the browser in a convenient way).

EFF is a good resource in general for all things related to internet privacy and security. They have legal guides for bloggers, tips, and commentary. They also work as an advocacy group for internet freedom and security with political and legal mobilization strategies.

The latest styles in body armor

What is the relationship between the politics of fear and fashionable bulletproof vests? Is the individual choice to sport the Jack Bauer look a political choice or does it have political effects and consequences?

“When people are feeling less secure, there is more demand for armor,” said Nick Taylor, who is the manager of BulletProofME.com, a Web site selling tactical gear to police officers, security guards and journalists in war zones. Sales of antiballistic jackets, vests and even backpacks have risen by some 20 percent this year, Mr. Taylor said. Recently he has found himself fielding requests from real estate agents involved in foreclosure eviction proceedings, repo men, convenience store clerks and “regular folks from all walks of life who’ve kind of had a brush with crime.”

And fashion folks, of course — many of them self-styled S.W.A.T. commandos who scour spy shops, army surplus outfitters and online retailers for vests and coats that combine serviceability with a significant measure of style. Bulletproof vests have yet to claim the modish status of a biker jacket, but to those in the vanguard, they offer a comparably hard-edged chic.

No cameras in Prop 8 trial

The US Supreme Court has blocked cameras for the Proposition 8 trial in California, overturning the decision by the Chief Judge of the 9th Circuit to allow those cameras.

Linda Greenhouse has an interesting column about the cameras issue both in the Prop 8 case and more generally, then turns to several other first amendment cases related to the politics of same-sex marriage. She concludes:

The issue of cameras in the courtroom, presented by the California case the court ruled on this week, is itself of long standing. But it has typically been seen as posing a free-press-versus-fair-trial question — in terms of First Amendment doctrine, a claim by those behind rather than in front of the camera. This week’s development suggests that a merger of two separate lines of First Amendment precedent, one on freedom from compelled disclosure and the other on access to government proceedings, may not be far off. In fact, in this media-saturated age, it may be overdue. Whether this deeply divided court can navigate the contested terrain of same-sex marriage to arrive at a useful synthesis is another question.

The column also has some gossip-y info about intrajudicial squabbling, check it out.

Watch list problems

Compiling watch lists sometimes leads to fairly ridiculous outcomes like this:

“Meet Mikey Hicks,” said Najlah Feanny Hicks, introducing her 8-year-old son, a New Jersey Cub Scout and frequent traveler who has seldom boarded a plane without a hassle because he shares the name of a suspicious person. “It’s not a myth.”

Lists can lead to a lot of false positives possibly undermining the goals of making the list in the first place. Lists can also be fairly easy to evade, if one is determined enough.

Mario Labbé, a frequent-flying Canadian record-company executive, started having problems at airports shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, with lengthy delays at checkpoints and mysterious questions about Japan. By 2005, he stopped flying to the United States from Canada, instead meeting American clients in France. Then a forced rerouting to Miami in 2008 led to six hours of questions.

“What’s the name of your mother? Your father? When were you last in Japan?” Mr. Labbé recalled being asked. “Always the same questions in different order. And sometimes, it’s quite aggressive, not funny at all.”

Fed up, in the summer of 2008, he changed his name to François Mario Labbé. The problem vanished.

What other sorts of effects might these lists have, intentional or not?

California Same-sex marriage trial begins

An important trial began yesterday in California challenging California's Proposition 8 that bans same-sex marriage in the state. I think this case will probably lead all the way to the Supreme Court and it will certainly be closely watched. One sign of its significance, the lawyers for the plaintiffs challenging the marriage ban are Ted Olson and David Boies, teamed up here but who famously opposed each other in Bush v Gore (Olson for Bush, Boies for Gore). This one is worth watching closely because most of the arguments we will discuss later in the semester when we read about marriage equality are likely to be made in the course of this trial and in later appellate cases.

Food for thought - career information

These are just two bits of a complex puzzle when trying to decide whether or not you want to go to law school, but they are worth considering since they run against the conventional wisdom. The upshot here is that lawyers face difficult labor markets and many don't make enough money to pay off big loans and live well at the same time. For more detailed discussion of the bi-modal distribution of income in the legal profession, see the empirical legal studies blog which is worth reading in general.

Tangled first amendment case

Just to get us started this semester, here is Dahlia Lithwick on the oral arguments in US v Stevens a case involving a conviction for distribution of dog fighting videos.