Professional Commentary

Jack Balkin, Yale Law School: "There are two reasons why Bush might have nominated Gonzales to be Attorney General. The first is that he is grooming him for a further appointment to the Supreme Court. The second is that he...

Erwin Chemerinsky, Duke Law School:"It is hard to imagine a more conservative or more repressive attorney general than John Ashcroft. The Ashcroft Justice Department took the unprecedented position that the government could hold human beings, including American citizens, forever as...

Stephen Bainbridge, UCLA School of Law:"Cruising around the blogosphere, one notes proposals that John Ashcroft be replaced by as Attorney General such legitimate luminaries as Randy Barnett or Fred Thompson. Sorry, guys. Blogospheric prognostication has proved fallible. Bush just went...

Michael Froomkin, University of Miami School of Law:"he White House may be thinking of White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales as the next Attorney General.That would be the same Gonzales who is up to his eye teeth in not just...

Peter Henning, Wayne State University Law School:"On Tuesday, November 9, the jury in the Enron/Merrill Lynch trial concluded that the loss caused by the defendants' fraudulent misconduct was $13.7 million. A story in the Houston Chronicle (Nov. 10, 2004) reviews...

Larry Ribstein, University of Illinois College of Law:"The SEC announced yesterday rulemaking initiatives aimed at so-called "self-regulatory organizations" such as stock exchanges. These include specific proposals to change the rules on ownership, governance, reporting and transparency by these organizations. The...

Jeff Cooper, Indiana University School of Law, Indianapolis:"According to John Ashcroft, "he objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved,". Well, I feel better.Actually, I do feel better knowing that Ashcroft will shortly be...

Douglas Berman, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University:"I suspect we will see stories in the days ahead about Ashcroft's legacy, and I suspect most of those stories will focus on the "war on terror."  However, from my sentencing-centric perspective,...

William G. Ross, Cumberland School of Law, Samford University: "Chief Justice Rehnquist's hospitalization for thyroid cancer treatment has provided a sudden and poignant reminder to many voters that the winning candidate in next Tuesday's election is likely to make US...