FINDLAW COLUMNISTS

• Barack Obama's Smart Speech "A More Perfect Union": Did It Reveal Him To Be Too Intellectual To Be President?

• The Long Shadow of Bush v. Gore: Are Its Lessons Relevant to the Decision Whether to Seat Florida and Michigan Democratic Delegates?

• Eliot Spitzer's Fall from Grace: Reflections from a Feminist Perspective

• Is the Wikileaks Case Really Like the Pentagon Papers Case? Part Two of a Two-Part Series on a Lawsuit Against a Controversial Site that Hosts Confidential Government and Corporate Documents

• A Recent Conflict Over Affirmative Action Underscores The Problem with State Initiatives and Other Forms of Direct Democracy

FINDLAW COLUMNISTS:

BARACK OBAMA'S SMART SPEECH "A MORE PERFECT UNION": DID IT REVEAL HIM TO BE TOO INTELLECTUAL TO BE PRESIDENT?
(John Dean) - A discussion of presidential candidate Barack Obama's recent speech about race in America. Dean praises the speech as unusually intelligent and erudite, but raises the question of whether it will be a negative with voters if Obama is perceived as an intellectual. Employing a well-known test that matches written texts with particular grade levels, based on their difficulty and sophistication, Dean notes that Obama's speech scores a 10.5 -- ranking significantly higher than the inaugural addresses of many recent presidents. Dean also contrasts Obama's approach with what he argues has been the anti-intellectualism of many recent Republican candidates and presidents. Read more...

THE LONG SHADOW OF BUSH V. GORE: ARE ITS LESSONS RELEVANT TO THE DECISION WHETHER TO SEAT FLORIDA AND MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC DELEGATES?
(Edward Lazarus) - A discussion of the lessons we should take from the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court decision, and which way these lessons should cut in the controversy about whether Michigan and Florida delegates will vote at the Democratic Convention. Although the Clinton campaign has argued that Bush v. Gore counsels in favor of counting the delegates' votes, Lazarus argues that the decision's true message concerns integrity, consistency, and setting clear, fair rules ahead of time that are later neutrally and fairly enforced. Read more...

ELIOT SPITZER'S FALL FROM GRACE: REFLECTIONS FROM A FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE
(Joanna Grossman and Linda McClain) - A consideration of what significance the Eliot Spitzer scandal should have for feminists. Grossman and McClain begin by discussing the details and philosophy of the anti-prostitution law Spitzer signed while in office, noting that he even insisted a particular provision be added to toughen the law. They then consider how Spitzer's hypocrisy might fit into the contrasting perspectives of second-wave and third-wave feminists, respectively. Read more...

IS THE WIKILEAKS CASE REALLY LIKE THE PENTAGON PAPERS CASE? PART TWO OF A TWO-PART SERIES ON A LAWSUIT AGAINST A CONTROVERSIAL SITE THAT HOSTS CONFIDENTIAL GOVERNMENT AND CORPORATE DOCUMENTS
(Julie Hilden) - Part two of a two-part series of columns analyzing the pending federal district court case involving the website Wikileaks. Wikileaks aims to become "an uncensorable Wikipedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis." However, a bank is now challenging the site's right to host an employee's posting of confidential internal bank documents. Hilden evaluates the analogy between the First Amendment issues in this case, and those the Supreme Court faced when it allowed the New York Times to publish the "Pentagon Papers," a confidential government history of the Vietnam War. Read more...

A RECENT CONFLICT OVER AFFIRMATIVE ACTION UNDERSCORES THE PROBLEM WITH STATE INITIATIVES AND OTHER FORMS OF DIRECT DEMOCRACY
(Marci Hamilton) - A piece citing a protest at a recent Federalist Society syposium as providing a strong illustration of how direct democracy can sometimes fail. Protesters expressed their opposition to the views of Ward Connerly, who has prominently supported initiatives at the state level to ban affirmative action. One of their key points was that the Michigan's initiative's wording was misleading, and thus easily misunderstood by voters. Hamilton argues that, due in part to this potential for misunderstanding, direct democracy is very often a poor substitute for representative democracy. Read more...