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Tenth Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 20, 2025)

Posted in Law, Noble Prize in Jurisprudence on October 20, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “A prize dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating the work of someone who or some organization that really knows something about jurisprudence and the impact of courts, judges, lawyers and police on the lives and livelihood of ordinary citizens.  Someone who lives the conviction that men and women should establish and respect some norms and standards that are promulgated clearly to all and enforced equally in favor of and against all.”

J          “Someone who advances the Rule of Law and stuff like that.”

. . .

J          “This is my year.  This is the year.  The recipients of the tenth annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence . . . are those members of the judiciary who are confronting and challenging the illegal and unconstitutional machinations of the current President and King.  Some the actions and decisions are admittedly petty and personal, yet there is a tide of illegality that must be resisted.  The courts may be the last bulwark.”

K          “My reservation is that the same judges engaged in Lawfare and ideological attacks.  They first turned the courts into an ideological war zone and now must confront some of their targets who are now in power and have made them their targets.  However, I will accede to a general nod to the judges that is also a nod to the elusive rule of law.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at Ninth Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 21, 2024), Eighth Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 23, 2023), Seventh Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 17, 2022), Sixth Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 18, 2021), Fifth Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 19, 2020), Fourth Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 21, 2019), Third Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 15, 2018), Second Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 16, 2017), First Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 17, 2016) and Award Deadlines (Livelines?) (July 25, 2016).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Give civil rights and civil liberties a chance

Make Civil Liberties Great Again

Rediscover the Constitution

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First Monday In October (October 6, 2025)

Posted in First Monday In October, Law, Supreme Court on October 6, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “This term, the Supremes must squire the disputes between Trump and the lower courts and reign in the King.  The Court may not be capable of providing a review of all the policy decisions designed to swarm and overwhelm the system.”

K          “The power of the Presidency has expanded in starts and fits since the Lincoln Administration.  While in power, neither party has done much voluntarily to restrain the Executive.  Now the guard rails of self-restraint are gone.”

J          “On its best day, the Supreme Court’s power is incomplete if not inadequate.”

. . .

K          “This is also our opportunity to render a verdict on the legal system.  The whole system could be indicted and convicted of incompetence on a good day and willful venality on a typical day.  Someone is profoundly disappointed.”

. . . 

J          “Here be dragons.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at First Monday In October:  Dos-à-dos (October 7, 2024), First Monday (October 4, 2021) and First Monday And “Patient One” (October 5, 2020) and other years.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

“But liberty, as we all know, cannot flourish in a country that is permanently on a war footing, or even a near-war footing.  Permanent crisis justifies permanent control of everybody and everything by the agencies of central government.”  Aldous Huxley

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The New G (Wo)Men In Town.  Oh, And Happy Third [Eleventh] Anniversary! (February 24, 2025)

Posted in FBI, Justice, Law, World War E, World War III on February 24, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “There is a new sheriff in town.  And now a new deputy.”

J          “Two political hacks.”

. . .

K          “The dynamic duo of Pam Bondi and Kash Patel will provide a much needed overhaul and transformation of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

J          “I hate the sheriff, and I do despise the deputy.”

. . .

K          “Chris Wray said the FBI spent about twenty-five percent of its resources on the J6 prosecution.  His last speech in office warned that China presents a tremendous threat.  What was he doing for four years about the tremendous threat?”

J          “Protecting the country.  They should have committed even more funds to the investigation and prosecution.”

. . .

J          “And we mark the third anniversary of Putin’s War.”

K          “Biden’s War.  Will Trump embrace it or will he end it?  He has three months to resolve it before it becomes Trump’s war.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at World War E / World War III Is 1 [9?] Year[s] Old This Week.  Oh, And Happy Presidents’ Day! (February 20, 2023); The “New York Department Of Defense Times” Proclaims:  “War On!”  Oh, And Happy Second [Tenth] Anniversary! (February 26, 2024); Supreme Court:  K:  “Right!”  J:  “Wrong!” (March 4, 2024), Let Lawfare Continue!  And Let War With Russian Escalate! (June 3, 2024), First Monday In October:  Dos-à-dos (October 7, 2024), November 23, 1963; Three Score Years Later (November 27, 2023) and The FBI File:  The American Imprimatur Of Success (January 18, 2016).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

There is a new sheriff in town.  And now a new deputy.

I hate the sheriff, and I do despise the deputy.

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Let Lawfare Continue!  And Let War With Russian Escalate! (June 3, 2024)

Posted in Law, War on June 3, 2024 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Too few are thinking clearly.  The long term consequences for the country are catastrophic.  Just wait until a seventy-nine felony count indictment is brought against O’Bama in the Southern Northern District of Idaho.  It is getting out of control.”

J          “The rich never go to jail.”

. . .

K          “And Biden formally declared war on Russia.”

J          “That will have long term consequences.”

. . .

[See “The Ghost of John Adams:  How the Trump Trial Harkens Back to a Dark Period of American Law” by Jonathan Turley in “jonathanturley.com” dated June 1, 2024 and “The Reckless Brinkmanship With Russia Just Keeps On Escalating” by Caitlin Johnstone, the recipient of the Fourth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2019 (April 15, 2019), in “caitlinjohnstone.com.au” dated June 4, 2024.]

[See the e-commentary at Supreme Court:  K:  “Right!”  J:  “Wrong!” (March 4, 2024) and The Cuban Missile Crisis And The Monroe Doctrine Today (February 28, 2022).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Better living through war

We live in a country with many, many, many rules and many, many, many laws, but we do not live in a country that believes in or adheres to the rule of law.

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Supreme Court:  K:  “Right!”  J:  “Wrong!” (March 4, 2024)

Posted in Constitution, Law, Supreme Court, Trump on March 4, 2024 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “Wrong.  Period.”

K          “Right.  Full Stop.”

. . .

K          “The Constitution says ‘We the People of the United States’ not ‘I a sniveling petty night traffic court judge in a backwater jurisdiction of the United States who despises Trumpi and will do anything and everything to defeat him’.  Every person is entitled to due process and a fair and objective hearing in the proper jurisdiction applying applicable law.”

J          “We live in a federalist system that allows and requires the states to act at the right time and in the right circumstance.  The state of Colorado acting through its judicial branch acted properly and commendably.” 

. . .

K          “If there were three more of what I refer to as ‘individualist’ judges – although that term is now incomplete and inadequate – the decision likely would have been 12 – 0.”

J          “Time to appoint non-lawyers to the Court.”

. . .

K          “Was it really a 5 – 4 decision?  When I awake at 0400 hours, I will parse the decision a few more times.  Did Roberts, Thomas, Gorsuch, Alito and Kavanaugh affirmatively rule that Congress has the sole power to enforce the ‘Insurrection’ provision?”

J          “Another thing to worry about at four a.m.  That may be the ‘take home message’ and consequence.”

. . .

K          “The country is coming apart.  The world is ready to explode.  We may not see opening day of grayling season.  The decision has the added virtue of being profoundly restrained and responsible.”

J          “The person dividing the country is now free to continue dividing the country.  He is unrestrained and irresponsible.”   

. . .

K          “I will never again be able to condemn the Supreme Court unconditionally.”   

J          “I dissent.  I am currently and will remain disgusted by their abdication.”

. . .

J          “You’re not getting weak on me?”

K          “Still despise him.  When he emerged, Trumpi was really the ‘symptom’ not the ‘Big Problem’ in the country.  However, now he has metastasized into another ‘Problem’ that plagues the country.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at Weaponizing The Judiciary: Democratic Prosecutors + Democratic Judges; Republican Prosecutors + Republican Judges:  Bad Math, Very Bad Math (December 4, 2023).  See the two discussions on J6 at January 6:  The Country Needs An Impartial And Objective Inquiry (January 8, 2024) and three years earlier at  On Riots And Rampages (January 11, 2021).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“Law” and “War” are almost anagrams and read together (Lawwar) are almost palindromes.  

Lawfare = Law + (war)fare.  Very bad idea

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Weaponizing The Judiciary: Democratic Prosecutors + Democratic Judges; Republican Prosecutors + Republican Judges:  Bad Math, Very Bad Math (December 4, 2023)

Posted in Judges, Judicial Arrogance, Judiciary, Law on December 4, 2023 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “If there are any competent ones in the future to chronicle our present, historians may consider it a bad idea.”

J          “This may be the Age of Bad Ideas.”

. . .

K          “The Democratic prosecutors have done a far more effective job teaming up with Democratic judges to prosecute Republicans.  The Republicans are vicious and ruthless enough to follow suit, yet they are clearly behind the eight ball.”

J          “Give them a chance.  They are just slow.   You know Republicans.”

K          “The courts really are political war zones.”

. . .

K          “In my more than fifty years observing the judiciary, both state and federal courts, I have watched the system degenerate into a filthy cess pool of corruption and cronyism.”

J          “Don’t lose faith.  It can get worse.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

We live in a country with many, many, many rules and many, many, many laws, but we do not live in a country that believes in or adheres to the rule of law.

You cannot get out of bed in the morning without violating some section of title 18 of the United States Code, the federal criminal code.  In fact, and as a matter of law, you cannot stay in bed in the morning without violating some section of title 18 of the United States Code, the federal criminal code.  In practice, the United States is a system of men not laws because men and women opt from the panoply of laws that punish all behavior and decide who is and who is not imprisoned.

There is no law.  There is only ideology.

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All The People In Power.  At Every Opportunity.  All The Time (August 14, 2023)

Posted in Hypocrisy, Justice, Law on August 14, 2023 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “Absolutely.  Without exception.  Your ‘favorite’ politicians.  My ‘favorite’ politicians.  The big people who are supposed to protect the little people.”

K          “The big people who are supposed to protect the little people.  My ‘favorite’ politicians.  Your ‘favorite’ politicians.  Without exception.  Absolutely.”

. . .

K          “The Special Counsel regulations state in pertinent part:  ‘The Special Counsel shall be selected from outside the United States Government.”

J          “The way I see it, the regulation uses the mandatory verb ‘shall’ not the discretionary verb ‘may’ so the duty is clear and absolute and simple to implement.  Even the non-lawyer can interpret the language.  Maybe we need more non-lawyers to interpret the language.”

. . .

K          “David Weiss is not outside the government.”

J          “Nope.”

. . .

J          “John Durham was not outside the government.”

K          “Nope.”

. . .

K          “Robert Mueller was outside the government?”

. . .

K          “My ‘favorite’ politicians.  Your ‘favorite’ politicians.  Without exception.  Absolutely.”

J          “Absolutely.  Without exception.  Your ‘favorite’ politicians.  My ‘favorite’ politicians.”

. . .

J          “It is always an inside job.”

K          “Last time I looked, I was on the outside.”

. . .

K          “All the people in power breaking the law all of the time.”

J          “At every possible opportunity.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

28 Code of Federal Regulations § 600.3 Qualifications of the Special Counsel  “The Special Counsel shall be selected from outside the United States Government.”  (Emphasis added.)

Near the end of the movie “Rancho Deluxe”, Slim Pickens said to Henry Dean Stanton:  “Son, all large-scale crime is always an inside job.”

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Lawyers And E-con-omists v. Physicists And . . . Physicists (December 19, 2022)

Posted in E-con-omists, Economics, Energy, Law, Lawyers on December 19, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “de Tocqueville noted the outsized influence of lawyers in the young country.  At the time, e-con-omists were just transmogrifying on the world stage.” 

J          “Today, lawyers and e-con-omists are the high priests ranging the American political and economic landscape . . . and wrecking our land and lives.  We as a society need to disregard the lawyers and the e-con-omists and regard the physicists and the physicists.”

K          “How do we do it today?  I ‘upvote’ you.”

J          “You are agreeing with me again.  That is positive.”

. . .

K         “I shared a story that I reflect on frequently.  An old experienced law professor who taught comparative law in American and European law schools for over two score years shared his settled observations about the fundamental difference in training and perspective between American-trained lawyers and European-trained lawyers.  With some exceptions, an American-trained lawyer first asks:  ‘Can we get away with it?’  With some exceptions, an European-trained lawyer first asks:  ‘Is it lawful?’.”

J          “Lawyers never fail to please.  I read that about $1,400,000,000.00 in now forgiven Paycheck Protection Program loans were distributed to some of the largest law and accounting firms in the country.  About 126 law firms in the Top 300 took $809,000,000.00 in forgiven PPP loans.  About 236 accounting firms in the Top 300 took $635,000,000.00 in forgiven PPP loans.  Greed never rests; greed never sleeps.”

. . .

K          “Me neither.”

. . .

J          “Most successful e-con-omists are celebrity con artists assisting those in power to get away with unlawful activities.  By contrast, physics is reality.  Physics is truth. However, even the most recent announcements about fusion fail to reveal the true Energy Returned On Energy Invested (EROEI) and the limits of current technology. The physical world is stern and unbending and does not yield to our hopes and dreams.”

K          “Physics may be the true dismal science.”

J          “True enough. I refer to ‘physicists and physicists’ to get one thinking.  Maybe.  Is anyone thinking?  How about the biologists?  Physicists . . . and biologists . . . need to be the new high priests.”

. . .  

[See “The economy is moving from a tailwind pushing it along to a headwind holding it back” by Gail Tverberg at Our Finite World dated December 16, 2022; a discussion of the limits of renewable energy at “‘The New Energy Economy’: An Exercise In Magical Thinking” by Mark P. Mills at the Manhattan Institute dated March 26, 2019 and some perspective on the recent fusion breakthrough at “Scientists Have Made a Breakthrough in Fusion — but Don’t Get Carried Away” by Mark P. Mills at the Manhattan Institute dated dated December 13, 2022.] 

Bumper stickers of the week:

Many live humans; Few dead dinosaurs.

Disregard the e-con-omists; Regard the physicists.

Change your attitude; Change your latitude.

Pay your bills; Develop your skills.

So many challenges; So little time.

Disregard the lawyers and the e-con-omists; regard the physicists and the biologists. 

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(Refined) Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure (R FRCP) (August 8, 2022)

Posted in Courts, Law, Rule of Law on August 8, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “One federal judge held up a pen and stated that he affixes his signature to more motions and stipulations for extensions of time than to any other pleading.  Every deadline is absurdly short in practice.  The legal beagles in power should double all deadlines in the rules with one pen stroke.  Even the time to notice an appeal should be doubled.  A party oftentimes needs a longer period of time to accept intellectually and emotionally the consequences of a decision and the challenges of taking an appeal.  60 days instead of 30 to take an appeal.”

J          “That is the problem.  The deadlines are short to benefit the judges not the public.  Judges and lawyers do not take reasonable action without tremendous public pressure.”

. . .        

J          “A judge who orders that you give up a long planned vacation on short notice to generate a draft order and do his work and then dawdles for six months before guessing which way to go is not a sage jurist or a good person.”

K          “Standard operating procedure (sop) in the court system.  Judges view themselves as gods rather than public servants.  Something must change.  Rule changes will not solve everything without a change in behavior.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

If you cannot fully explain why you believe what you believe, you might be brainwashed.

Society has become so fraudulent that the truth actually bothers people.

“In the Fall an old man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of reforming the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.”  With a nod to Al

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Sixth Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 18, 2021) 

Posted in Law, Noble Prize in Jurisprudence on October 18, 2021 by e-commentary.org

K          “A prize dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating the work of someone who or some organization that really knows something about jurisprudence and the impact of courts, judges, lawyers and police on the lives and livelihood of ordinary citizens.  Someone who lives the conviction that men and women should establish and respect some norms and standards that are promulgated clearly to all and enforced equally in favor of and against all.”

J          “Someone who advances the Rule of Law and stuff like that.  I like it.”

K          “The recipient of the sixth annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence . . . is the unsung and uncelebrated solo practitioner laboring often at little to no compensation for ordinary Americans who do not appreciate or acknowledge the sacrifice and contribution in a legal system that vacillates between corruption and ineptitude.”

J          “Will they split the award in thirds?”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Fifth Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 19, 2020)”, “Fourth Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 21, 2019)”, “Third Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 15, 2018)”, “Second Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 16, 2017)”, “First Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 17, 2016)“ and “Award Deadlines (Livelines?) (July 25, 2016)”.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Give civil rights and civil liberties a chance

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