SEC's fraud case against Wyly brothers may be strong, experts say
By ERIC TORBENSON
The Dallas Morning News
August 8, 2010

EXCERPT:

The Wylys likely violated the federal laws governing stockholder disclosures, said Ronald Colombo, a law professor at Hofstra University School of Law who recently published research on the disclosure law and its history. What that means in terms of penalty isn't clear; typically violators are required to simply disclose their positions accurately and possibly pay a fine, Colombo said.

"It's pretty rare that the SEC goes after anybody just for failing to correctly disclose their positions," he said. "They usually bring it with other allegations," because the consequences usually aren't that dire for failing to disclose ownership of shares.

Read the full article at dallasnews.com.

Conservative Jurist, With Independent Streak
By JOHN SCHWARTZ
New York Times
August 5, 2010

EXCERPT:

Monroe H. Freedman, an expert in legal ethics at Hofstra Law School, said that while bias could lead to recusal in rare cases, “you could say, ‘If a gay judge is disqualified, how about a straight judge?’ There isn’t anybody about whom somebody might say, ‘You’re not truly impartial in this case.’ ”

Mr. Freedman cited a 1975 opinion by Judge Constance Baker Motley of Federal District Court, an African-American jurist who was asked to disqualify herself from a lawsuit alleging unlawful discrimination. “If background or sex or race of each judge were, by definition, sufficient grounds for removal, no judge on this court could hear this case, or many others,” she wrote.

Read the full article at nytimes.com.

The Conversation: Drawdown of U.S. Military Forces in Iraq
Long Island Press
August 5, 2010

EXCERPT:

I think what is most interesting about the current Iraq withdrawal plan is the strong political consensus in favor of it from both Republicans and Democrats. The withdrawal plan is largely the product of the Bush Administration, and the Obama Administration is sticking to it (and even claiming credit for it). As a result, Iraq is simply no longer the political issue it used to be, for either side. In this way, the change of administrations has been a very good thing for American Iraq policy, because it has forced both pro- and anti-war politicians to reach a political consensus on what I think is a sensible policy result. We aren’t staying forever, but we aren’t going to abandon the Iraqis like we abandoned the South Vietnamese.

Read the full conversation at longislandpress.com.

Professor Ron Colombo’s article, “Effectuating Disclosure Under the Williams Act”, made SSRN’s top-ten list for articles on U.S. Securities Law.

Death Penalty Is Challenged Before a Trial in 3 Killings
By WILLIAM GLABERSON
New York Times
July 27, 2010

EXCERPT:

“They are planting a seed for the future,” said Eric M. Freedman, a law professor at Hofstra University who was a defense lawyer in another Connecticut death penalty case.

Professor Freedman said the new challenge to the Connecticut capital punishment law was textbook defense strategy in death penalty cases.

Lawyers familiar with capital punishment say that there are often few real mysteries about the crime in death penalty trials. Instead, defense lawyers work to humanize people charged with heinous acts. And if that fails, they plan appeals stretching out over years trying to undermine capital punishment itself.

Read the full article at nytimes.com.