Gene Therapy: A potentially landmark legal assault on the patenting of human genes was launched this week, according to this account in sibling publication IP Law & Business. The goal is to "take down" the patents, which have been granted by the Patent Office since the Supreme Court's 1980 Chakrabarty decision.
Questioning Rove: Today is the day for former Bush White House aide Karl Rove to be questioned in the ongoing criminal investigation into the political firing of U.S. attorneys in 2006, the Wasington Post reports here.
Ranking the Short-Listers: Trying to add empirical data to the debate, University of Chicago law prof Eric Posner looked at how often the opinions of possible Supreme Court nominees are cited in other cases, and other measurable factors. The 7th Circuit's Diane Wood ranks high, but not Sonia Sotomayor of the 2nd Circuit, according to this report from National Law Journal colleague Lynne Marek.
Evaluating Empathy: Finding a Supreme Court nominee with empathy is not a bad thing, says Bloomberg columnist Ann Woolner, as long as it does not mean bias or sympathy. "A judge's capacity to understand real life doesn't blind him to the Constitution, the law or legal precedent," she says.
Military Commissions Live On: The Obama Administration announces today that it will retain -- but improve -- its predecessor's system of military commissions for trying suspected terrorists. Meantime the House of Representatives voted against funding the closure of the detainee prison at Guantanamo Bay. More in this story in the New York Times.
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