Law

Jeffrey Kahn talks ‘Mrs. Shipley’s Ghost’ on NPR’s Think

by Phillip Witteveen June 13, 2013

Jeffrey Kahn joined Krys Boyd on NPR-affiliate KERA’s Think to discuss the subject of his latest book, Mrs. Shipley’s Ghost: The Right to Travel and Terrorist Watchlists. Kahn is an associate professor of law at the SMU Dedman School of Law, where he teaches American constitution law, Russian law, human rights, and counterterrorism. In Mrs. Shipley’s Ghost, he “brilliantly polishes an undervalued gem of the Constitution—the Citizenship Clause,” according to critic Susan Ginsburg. Kahn traces legal inhibitions on travel back to the wartime restrictions of citizens’ rights at the turn of the last century, and the introduction of the passport. “You [...]

Mrs. Shipley’s Ghost Reviewed in “The Chronicle”

by Phillip Witteveen May 24, 2013

“She looks harmless enough.” So begins the Chronicle of Higher Education’s review of Jeffrey Kahn’s Mrs. Shipley’s Ghost: The Right to Travel and Terrorist Watchlists. But Ruth Bielaski Shipley was in fact one of the most influential civil servants of the early 20th century, a woman whom Franklin D. Roosevelt described as ”a wonderful ogre” for her role as head of the State Department’s Passport’s Office from 1928 to 1955,. In this capacity, she “single-handedly delayed, thwarted, or otherwise constrained the travel plans of thousands of Americans,” writes the Chronicle’s Nina C. Ayoub in her review of Kahn’s book. The Chronicle recounts the [...]

Tamara Piety launches Oversold law blog

by Shaun Manning April 22, 2013

Tamara Piety, author of Brandishing the First Amendment: Commercial Expression in America, has launched a new blog devoted to issues of law, commerce, and the First Amendment–themes which should be familiar to readers of her book. Titled Oversold, Piety has focused especially on the deeper truths behind commercial expression in her early posts–notably, examining the popular and controversial Dove marketing campaign “Real Beauty Sketches” from several angles. Follow Oversold for continuing insight from Tamara Piety, and be sure to pick up Brandishing the First Amendment for an analysis of the court decisions and practices that continue to shape American media and public [...]

New York Times speaks with Donald Braman on the Sociological Effects of Long-Term Incarceration

by Phillip Witteveen March 5, 2013

Donald Braman, author of Doing Time on the Outside:Incarceration and Family Life in Urban America, was quoted in the recent New York Times article ”Time and Punishment: Prison and the Poverty Trap,” which investigated the effects of long term prison sentences have on the families and communities of the incarcerated. “For black men in their 20s and early 30s without a high school diploma, the incarceration rate is so high — nearly 40 percent nationwide — that they’re more likely to be behind bars than to have a job.” Carl Harris, one of the primary subjects of the Times piece, was sentenced for 20 [...]

Tamara Piety Discusses Campaign Funding

by Phillip Witteveen October 10, 2012

Tamara Piety, author of Brandishing the First Amendment, appeared on a recent broadcast of the Oklahoma News Report (a contributing station of PBS), commenting on the Citizens United ruling on changes in campaign spending in the time leading up to the election. Piety spoke about commercial interests extending First Amendment rights, such as those afforded to a private citizen (the topic of her book), and the lack of transparency to both the general public and to stockholders of the company. The current state of election laws, she said, “allow for these non-profit organizations to actually serve as sort of laundering devices, through which corporations [...]

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