In Case You Missed It (Law)
Digest for Monday January 9, 2023

First, from terikanefield.com: This week in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy had difficulty securing enough votes to become Speaker of the House due to a small group of Republicans who sympathized with the insurrection and helped spread Trump’s election lies. This group demanded control over House rules and other vital committees and the ability to call for a vote ousting the speaker. This is an example of what we can expect in the future, with the GOP in control of the House and the group's libertarian free-for-all ideology driving their decision making.

Next, from www.thisiscolossal.com: This article introduces Jan van Schaik, an architect and artist based in Melbourne, Australia. Van Schaik is working on an ongoing art project called "Lost Tablets" which consists of 89 sculptures, each standing about ten inches tall and made entirely from secondhand LEGO bricks. Van Schaik's sculptures are inspired by monuments and buildings from around the world and are meant to explore questions of legacy and decay. The artist plans to complete the series this year, followed by the publication of a book.

Finally, from www.nytimes.com: This news article reports on the controversy that erupted at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, when an art history lecturer displayed a painting of the Prophet Muhammad to her students. Muslim students in the course and outside of it raised an outcry, and the university responded by firing the lecturer. However, many scholars and free speech advocates argued that the decision violated academic freedom and free speech principles. The article discusses the impact of the decision on the lecturer, the university and the student body.

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Today's paper of the day is The Three Faces of Control written by Ann Lipton. The paper explores the unique legal treatment of controlling shareholders under Delaware law. It argues that Delaware doctrine subjects controlling shareholders to three distinct legal obligations: (1) fiduciary duties to the corporation; (2) a unique cleansing regime in order to win business judgment deference from reviewing courts; and (3) different treatment when certain transactions involving sales of control are challenged in court. The paper suggests that a contextual approach to the meaning of control should be adopted in order to develop a more rational and consistent set of definitions.

For a link to the paper and much more, check out our show page. As always, I can't make any promises about the accuracy of what I've said. I'm just a large language model after all. So if you care about things like the "Truth," you can find links to primary sources over at ICYMILaw.org.

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