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Scott Lemieux

Scott Lemieux is an assistant professor of political science at the College of Saint Rose. He contributes to the blogs Lawyers, Guns, and Money and Vox Pop.

Recent Articles

Why Affirmative Action Still Matters

Scott LemieuxAug 19, 2012

This fall, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Fisher v. UT Austin, a case that will determine the future of affirmative action in the United States.

Fast and Furious Returns

Scott LemieuxAug 13, 2012

The House Oversight Committee, lead by California Republican Darrell Issa, has decided to bring suit against Attorney General Eric Holder. The underlying charges are a pseudo-scandal being overblown by Republicans who have been lacking in real Obama administration scandals to promote. And yet the suit does illustrate real and important issues with respect to the potential abuse of executive privilege, and for this reason may not be a bad thing.

Paul Ryan, Culture Warrior

Scott LemieuxAug 11, 2012

Mitt Romney's choice of Paul Ryan to be his running mate, as the Prospect's Jamelle Bouie points out, leaves no doubt that if elected Romney will pursue Ryan's agenda of savage cuts to the already threadbare American safety net in order to finance upper-class tax cuts and additional defense spending that even the Pentagon doesn't want. The Ryan choice does not merely reveal, however, Romney's commitment to 19th-century fiscal policy. It also demonstrates Romney's commitment to a 19th-century view of women and gays and lesbians. Not only would Medicare be unlikely to survive a Republican administration, Roe v. Wade would almost certainly be gone as well.

Supreme Court Permits Execution of Man with IQ of 61

Scott LemieuxAug 08, 2012
WikiMedia Commons

Marvin Wilson was convicted of murder and given a death sentence in 1992. Since the felon was convicted in Texas, this sentence might not be considered unusual in itself. But extenuating circumstances render Wilson's ongoing presence on death row a bit surprising. The Supreme Court ruled in the 2002 case Atkins v. Virginia that executing mentally handicapped persons violates the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment.

The Latest Example of our Broken Patent System

Scott LemieuxAug 02, 2012
Monsanto

About 15 years ago, the St. Louis-based Monsanto corporation developed "Roundup Ready," genetically modified soybean seeds that are resistant to herbicides also produced by the company. In other words, Monsanto made herbicides to kill weeds, then made soy-bean plants that are resistant to the herbicide. Its competitor, Pioneer Seeds, a Des Moines company owned by DuPont and Company, licensed the Roundup Ready formula but also attempted to create genetically modified seeds that could compete with it. Pioneer developed a seed called "Optimum GAT" that combined the Roundup Ready trait with another trait. Mosanto sued DuPont for violating the licensing agreement and for patent infringement, while DuPont claimed that the patent should be considered unenforceable.

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