Showing archive for: “Supreme Court”
Brantley and its Implications for the Proposed Consumer Choice Antitrust Standard
Thom‘s excellent post highlights the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Brantley and describes its implications both in terms of rejecting Professor Elhauge’s claim that metering ties and mere surplus extraction amount to competitive harm for the purposes of antitrust and also for the future of the quasi-per se rule of tying. Thom, in my view ... Brantley and its Implications for the Proposed Consumer Choice Antitrust Standard
Ninth Circuit Moves Tying Doctrine in the Right Direction. Will SCOTUS Follow?
The Ninth Circuit recently issued a decision that pushes the doctrine governing tying in the right direction. If appealed, the decision could provide the Roberts Court with an opportunity to do for tying what its Leegin decision did for resale price maintenance: reduce error costs by bringing an overly prohibitory liability rule in line with economic learning. First, some ... Ninth Circuit Moves Tying Doctrine in the Right Direction. Will SCOTUS Follow?
The death of campaign finance regulation
In Arizona Free Enterprise Club, et al., v. Bennett, et al. and McComish, et al., v. Bennett, et al. the Court is deciding what seems to be a couple of relatively narrow issues: (1) Whether the First Amendment forbids states from providing additional government subsidies to publicly financed candidates that are triggered by independent expenditure ... The death of campaign finance regulation
Revisiting the Supreme Court’s “Pro-Business” Bias
Ed Whelan chimes in on the perennial debate with the most recent data: Those sneaky “corporatist” justices are at it again, cleverly disguising their biases by ruling in favor of employees and/or against corporations in two Supreme Court decisions issued today: 1. In Staub v. Proctor Hospital, the Court, reversing the Seventh Circuit, ruled unanimously ... Revisiting the Supreme Court’s “Pro-Business” Bias
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The Supreme Court denied cert in both S&M Brands v. Caldwell and Wine Country Gift Baskets v. Steen. I had participated in drafting amicus briefs, along with my colleague Todd Zywicki, supporting certiorari in each. The briefs are available here and here. Maybe I’ll have better luck next year.
SCOTUS Denies Cert in Leegin II
From the WSJ: The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to take another look at its controversial 2007 antitrust ruling that allowed manufacturers to set retail prices for their products. The court, without comment, rejected an appeal by the Texas boutique retailer that was on the losing end of the court’s 5-4 decision nearly four ... SCOTUS Denies Cert in Leegin II
The non-constitutional problem with a health care mandate
There’s been much teeth-gnashing following yesterday’s ruling by a Virginia judge that the “individual mandate” portion of Obamacare is unconstitutional. Among many other places, see the ongoing discussion at The Volokh Conspiracy. I have a quick, non-constitutional response. It seems to me that there is a basic, deep problem with prohibiting citizens from opting out ... The non-constitutional problem with a health care mandate
Will Leegin Return to the SCOTUS?
See Update Below. The Supreme Court’s ruling in PSKS v. Leegin Creative Leather Products, which reversed Dr. Miles and ended the per se rule for minimum resale price maintenance, remanded the case to the district court to consider claims under the new rule of reason analysis. On remand, PSKS filed a second amended complaint alleging ... Will Leegin Return to the SCOTUS?
Some Links
SCOTUS judge and law clerk selection as principal-agent / incomplete contracting problem (Orin Kerr) How to read an academic article (Peter Klein), though what seems missing are decision-rules for when articles should be “rejected” for a full-read after skimming The Washington Post reports that antitrust at the Varney DOJ isn’t much different than antitrust under ... Some Links
Business and the Supreme Court
David Zaring has noted that courts have formed an unimportant part of the financial crisis interventions by the government, and that the end of the Supreme Court’s most recent term suggests that it gets to matters years, if not decades, after they have become settled law one way or the other. Steve Bainbridge responds: The ... Business and the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court partially decriminalizes agency costs
In the Skilling-Black case, the Court struck down “honest services” wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. 1346 in the absence of bribery/kickback allegations and remanded for determinations whether the errors in applying the statute justify reversals. But the Court also held that adverse pretrial publicity and community prejudice did not prevent Skilling from obtaining a fair ... The Supreme Court partially decriminalizes agency costs
Jones v. Harris and Some Ramblings on Burdens of Proof, Empirical Evidence, and Behavioral Law and Economics
Much has been made about the importance of Jones v. Harris as a battle in the ongoing war between behavioral economics and rational choice/neoclassical framework (see, e.g. the NYT). If the case if to be about the appropriate economic methodology or model for assessing legal questions, it is definitely an interesting turn to have Judge ... Jones v. Harris and Some Ramblings on Burdens of Proof, Empirical Evidence, and Behavioral Law and Economics
