Leib on Kagan and Statutory Interpretation

Ethan Leib and Michael Serota have published an op-ed in the June 30, USA Today titled, "Don't Focus Solely on the Constitution." They argue that as much or more of would-be Justice Kagan's time would be spent on interpreting statutes as on constitutional questions. The link is here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-07-01-leib30_ST_N.htm

Marcus on American Exceptionalism in Procedure

Rick Marcus has published an article titled, "Exceptionalism and Convergence: Form versus Content and Categorical Views of Procedure," 49 Sup. Ct. L. Rev. (2d series) 521 (2010). Rick does not see much evidence to support the growing belief that American and European systems of procedure are converging:

"Although there has surely been convergence in some matters of form -- a good example of which would probably be judicial management of litigation -- it is much less clear that the content of this convergence is really significant. What is clear is that the seeming convergence that has resulted from changes to some non-American legal systems -- such as the introduction of something like discovery in Japan or Germany -- depends on provisions that are so different in content from the American version that they are insignificant as evidence of meaningful convergence. Perhaps the American embrace of private enforcement of law, which began in the mid-20th century, will fade in the 21st. For the present, however, although American procedure may be closer to that of the rest of the world than it was a generation ago, it is not much closer."

Dodge and Keitner on The Aftermath of Samantar

Bill Dodge and Chimene Keitner have both taken to the blogosphere to discuss the aftermath of Tuesday's decision in Samantar v. Yousuf, in which the Supreme Court held that claims of official immunity are not governed by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). Both Bill and Chimene had advocated that position in separate amicus briefs.

Their blog posts are here:

http://opiniojuris.org/2010/06/02/samantar-insta-symposium-recognizing-personal-responsibility/

http://opiniojuris.org/2010/06/02/samantar-insta-symposium-what-samantar-doesn%e2%80%99t-decide/