Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Monthly Archives: May 2022

We Clerked for Justices Scalia and Stevens. America Is Getting Heller Wrong.

The New York Times: “…Justices Scalia and Stevens clashed over the meaning of the Second Amendment. Justice Scalia’s majority opinion held that the amendment protected an individual right to keep a usable handgun at home, which meant the District of Columbia law prohibiting such possession was unconstitutional. Justice Stevens argued that those protections extended only to firearm ownership in conjunction with service in a “well-regulated militia,” in the words of the Second Amendment. We each assisted a boss we revered in drafting his opinion, and we’re able to acknowledge that work without breaching any confidences. Justice Scalia had a practice of signing one opinion for a clerk each term, which permitted the clerk to disclose having worked on that case, and for John, that was Heller; Justice Stevens noted in his 2019 autobiography, “The Making of a Justice,” that Kate was the Heller clerk in his chambers…But despite our fundamental disagreements, we are both concerned that Heller has been misused in important policy debates about our nation’s gun laws. In the 14 years since the Heller decision, Congress has not enacted significant new laws regulating firearms, despite progressives’ calls for such measures in the wake of mass shootings. Many politicians cite Heller as the reason. But they are wrong….The closest we’ve come to major new federal gun regulation in recent years came in the post-Sandy Hook effort to create expanded background checks. The most common reason offered by opponents of that legislation? That it would violate the Second Amendment. But that’s just not supported by the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the amendment in Heller. If opponents of background checks for firearm sales believe that such requirements are unlikely to reduce violence while imposing unwarranted burdens on lawful gun owners, they should make that case openly, not rest on a mistaken view of Heller…”

I tried to read all my app privacy policies. It was 1 million words.

Washington Post – “Let’s abolish reading privacy policies. Here’s how we can use the law and technology to give us real privacy choices. Twitter simplified its privacy policy earlier this month, encouraging us to read it by turning parts into a video game. Yes, a game — it’s called the Twitter Data Dash. In it,… Continue Reading

2022 Environmental Performance Index

Wolf, M. J., Emerson, J. W., Esty, D. C., de Sherbinin, A., Wendling, Z. A., et al. (2022). 2022 Environmental Performance Index. New Haven, CT: Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy. epi.yale.edu “The 2022 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) provides a data-driven summary of the state of sustainability around the world. Using 40 performance indicators… Continue Reading

Blockchain for Access Control Systems: NIST IR 8403

May 26, 2022 – “NIST has published NIST Internal Report (NIST IR) 8403, Blockchain for Access Control Systems. “The rapid development and wide application of distributed network systems have made network security – especially access control and data privacy – ever more important. Blockchain technology offers features such as decentralization, high confidence, and tamper-resistance, which… Continue Reading

The State Laws That Are Most Effective at Stopping Mass Shootings

Bloomberg – With casualties mounting after the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, a health scholar’s research has found that enacting a few state policies can reduce gun violence by a third. “To be very honest, we have enough information right now to pass meaningful policy,” says Michael Siegel, a professor at the Tufts University School of… Continue Reading

The NRA’s ‘Shadow Convention’ Reveals the Group’s True Purpose

Rolling Stone: “Far from the crowded showroom floor, the NRA’s “Ring of Freedom” members get down to the gun lobby’s real business…But at its annual meeting in Houston, the NRA hosted a high-end shadow convention for its own elite members and backers — many of them executives of gun manufacturers and sellers. These “Ring of… Continue Reading

The Science Is Clear: Gun Control Saves Lives

Scientific American – “By enacting simple laws that make guns safer and harder to get, we can prevent killings like the ones in Uvalde and Buffalo…The science is abundantly clear: More guns do not stop crime. Guns kill more children each year than auto accidents. More children die by gunfire in a year than on-duty… Continue Reading

A Face Search Engine Anyone Can Use Is Alarmingly Accurate

The New York Times – “For $29.99 a month, a website called PimEyes offers a potentially dangerous superpower from the world of science fiction: the ability to search for a face, finding obscure photos that would otherwise have been as safe as the proverbial needle in the vast digital haystack of the internet. A search… Continue Reading