The Standing Conundrum

Gillian Lyons

One of today’s hottest debates in the field of animal law is the status of animals as property. (For more on one aspect of this property debate- take a look at Gary Francione’s Animals as Property.)  To my mind, one of the most important aspects of this debate is how this current property status [...]

Sunstein Confirmed!

57-40.   Sweet!

Sunstein Filibuster Broken

The Senate voted 65-35 today for cloture on the Sunstein appointment.  That means an up or down vote on his appointment will likely happen later this week.  A little more here.  The wingnut jamboree continues, however, as Glenn Beck has thrown his formidable lack of sense or decorum into the fray.  More on this as [...]

Sunstein Update — No Recess for the Nutjobs

The congressional recess hasn’t stopped the wingnutathon against Cass Sunstein’s nomination to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.  This opinion piece looks to rally all right-thinking Americans against radical ideas like: “[T]he law should impose further regulation on hunting, scientific experiments, entertainment, and (above all)  farming to ensure against unnecessary animal suffering.”  Apparently, [...]

Sunstein… More on the Inertia Sweepstakes

Yes, there are other things to blog about but the Cass Sunstein nomination saga is both perversely fascinating and important.  Sunstein’s views on animal issues are at best tangential to the position of Head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.  Yet, they are raising Republican dander like nobody’s business.  Today, Senator John Cornyn [...]

Sunstein, Chambliss and the Pound of Flesh

In case you were wondering what (among other concessions) Cass Sunstein had to do to move his nomination forward, here’s a little tidbit.  Sunstein wrote Saxby Chambliss a letter, which Chambliss then read into the Congressional Record, in which Sunstein promises to  “respect” gun rights and “not take any steps to promote litigation on behalf [...]

Sunstein Nomination: The Hold is Lifted

Saxby Chambliss has stepped out of the way.  Confirmation is apparently within reach.
–David Cassuto

Sunstein Nomination Inches to a Standstill

It would seem that Senator Chambliss remains worried about his peeps’ potential exposure to lawsuits by animals should Cass Sunstein be confirmed.  He also doesn’t like the fact that Professor Sunstein does not view the 2nd Amendment as a a blanket license to own weapons.
Further updates as events warrant.
–David Cassuto

Sunstein Nomination Inches Forward

Cass Sunstein will meet with Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) today in an effort to convince him (Chambliss) that Sunstein’s thoughtful and comparatively moderate positions on animal rights and welfare won’t result in him (Chambliss) and his constituents facing lawsuits from pigs and other confined animals.  Chambliss had earlier placed a hold on Sunstein’s nomination to [...]

Sunstein Redux

Will Harvard’s Cass Sunstein become an animal advocate in the White House? If confirmed by the Senate as the Head of the Office of Management and Budget’s Office ofInformation & Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Sunstein would be responsible for the office which reviews all regulatory proposals from the Administration.  Yesterday, June 30, [...]

Animal Issues Front & Center at Sunstein Confirmation Hearing

Cass Sunstein, President Obama’s choice for administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (a sort of Administrative Law Czar), is a law academic (U of Chicago and now Harvard) and an advocate and scholar of animal law.  He supports (among other things) the creation of a private right of action for animal protection [...]