Occasionally I invite our readers to post a few words about themselves. This time, I thought I’d break this into two posts, one right below this one for lawyers, law students, and the like, and this one for people in other fields. No need to identify yourself by name, if you’d rather not. [Post bumped up to the top of the page.]
John D says:
I’m John D. Real first name and last initial.
I’m a middle-aged gay man who has become more active in gay rights after Prop 8. My husband and I live in Orange County, California. Neither of us are lawyers, but we have many lawyers among our friends.
We’re fairly passionate about the legal issues surrounding gay rights. We’ve read briefs. We follow the cases. We know the arguments.
December 15, 2009, 12:51 amshortcoat says:
Medical student. Just here to scout out the guys who are going to be suing me in a few years.
December 15, 2009, 12:53 amLoosehead says:
Environmental Engineer P.E./Manager
I work for a state air permitting agency. It’s always interesting working with the lawyers.
December 15, 2009, 1:04 amMark N. says:
I’m a computer-science Ph.D. student (6th—and, one hopes, final—year) who works in artificial intelligence. I’m here mainly because constitutional law and the nexus of law/economics/politics (and individual freedom) is an interest of mine. Here secondarily because legal issues turn out to be pretty relevant to my field: patent and copyright law, privacy and liability issues with new technologies and data, legal considerations of autonomous agents/robots, online free speech, etc. So, I’ve made considerable effort to stay as up on the law as is possible for a non-lawyer, and I find blogs like this to be a useful part of that (thanks!).
December 15, 2009, 1:06 amSonicfrog says:
Business owner (sole proprietor – Frog’s Pool and Spa Repair) Musician (bass, some guitar and VOX), Teacher in waiting (two credentials… no job yet. California – nuff said) Geology School Drop-out (calc killed me) Mechanic (Subarus are my fave), general skeptic of everything, and owner of rambunctious dog who won’t stop pestering me…
Have to go now.
PS. I love law and would be a lawyer… but hate the paperwork! :-)
December 15, 2009, 1:07 amAndrew J. Lazarus says:
mathematician/programmer
December 15, 2009, 1:11 amPlay A Lawyer On TV says:
I thought I wanted to go to law school (I was really into debate in high school), until I took a turn to B-school and investing. I still find the law fascinating, and I have quite a few lawyers in the family: my father is a lawyer, brother is a lawyer and an aspiring law professor, sister-in-law is a lawyer, sister-in-law’s sister is a lawyer, sister-in-law’s sister’s husband is a lawyer, etc. I also had a very long commute for a number of years, and I found I enjoyed listening to Supreme Court oral arguments from Oyez, even though I only understood some of what was going on. I hope that doesn’t make me a typical VC reader.
December 15, 2009, 1:12 amRandom_Physicist says:
I’m a first year PhD student in applied physics. I actually started reading this site because I was looking for something lighter than journal articles to read while sitting in the lab waiting between data captures.
Lawyers seem to view the world through a different lens than most of the people I usually hang around with (mostly engineers and physicists), so it’s nice to catch a different perspective on things.
December 15, 2009, 1:13 amA scientist says:
I’m a scientist, here to observe how right-of-center legal minds see the role of the government.
I am currently curious whether Jim Lindgren’s own academic integrity will urge him to revisit his embrace of a “smoking gun” in
http://volokh.com/2009/12/08/the-homogenized-data-is-false/
in view of its thorough destruction in
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2009/12/trust_scientists
Unfortunately, Jim doesn’t allow comments on his rants, including his latest, rather obnoxious “Mann is guilty no matter what the jury might say”:
http://volokh.com/2009/12/15/michael-mann-should-not-be-investigated-by-penn-state/
December 15, 2009, 1:17 amW. J. J. Hoge says:
Electrical Engineer.
December 15, 2009, 1:17 amLTEC says:
I am a mathematician and computer scientist, and so I naturally have an interest in many of the things discussed here. I’m especially interested in the legal/computer issues discussed by Orin Kerr.
I’m disappointed in the fact that “outsider” views are sometimes considered irrelevant here. For example, Orin once asked for comments on a draft of a paper he had written. I read the paper carefully, and gave some serious, polite, but perhaps “outsider” comments on the first half (intending to give the rest of my comments later). For example, I thought it odd that although a very good and clear overview (even to this outsider) of 4th Amendment legal decisions was given, the text of the amendment itself was missing, as was a statement of exactly what document the amendment was amending. Why not add a few words and make the paper complete and readable even to someone who knows a bit less than I do, or to an educated Frenchman? I had a number of other, much less trivial comments as well. Orin (who I respect a great deal) then responded as if my views were not those of a computer scientist responding to his appeal, but rather those of someone who just wanted to cause trouble.
There are many things I find puzzling sometimes about the style of papers I see linked to at this site. I would think the authors would encourage outsiders to share such views.
[OK chimes in: LTEC, I'm sorry if I didn't respond to you in a way that was appropriate. I do remember your complaint that I didn't include the full text of the Fourth Amendment in a footnote of the draft I had posted. If my memory serves me correctly, I did add it to the draft -- or if not that one, I did add it to a draft of another article with your comment in mind. More broadly, I hope you recognize that the nature of writing to a specific audience is that the format or citation practices may seem odd. It's not a personal reflection on you, or of my view of "outsiders": It's just the competing demands of different approaches to that particular style of scholarship.]
December 15, 2009, 1:17 amKen Mitchell says:
My real name, and anybody who wants to know more can check my amateur radio call sign, WD0ELQ. I have a degree in physics, and I work as a software engineer for a
December 15, 2009, 1:18 amcopier company“document management company”. I’m probably one of the few men here who is both a Life Member of the NRA and a Life Member of Hadassah Associates. I’m a big-L Libertarian, a Jew, and a retired Naval officer.Kirk Parker says:
I’m a software developer.
December 15, 2009, 1:25 amAaron Denney says:
Physics PhD student with a good deal of work experience writing software as well as undergraduate CS training.
December 15, 2009, 1:36 amRobert B says:
I’m a statistician and analyst for a very large private school. Most of the time I’m also a lurker here, as many discussions are either outside my area of expertise (math, statistics, analysis, airline security), or the point has already been made. I read primarily as a source of legal news, as the law is the basic foundation of mans contract with fellow men. Politically I’m strongly libertarian, from the guns and drugs camp, as there should be no crime unless there is a victim. Interestingly, I’m open to socializing healthcare (though I think it’s unconstitutional for the Fed to do it), in much the same way that fire and police services have been socialized. Unfortunately, our current congress seems to be trying to sneak things in (as usual), as opposed to making the policy argument itself.
December 15, 2009, 1:39 amKanchou says:
I am a county law librarian in California. (Not saying much, there are 58 of us.)
My main patron base is solo/small firm lawyers and self-representing litigants. In the trench, so to speak.
I do get some useful tips on legal research here once in a while. Also here is a better place to observe how legal academic libraries (the next generation of my patron base) are evolving.
December 15, 2009, 1:41 amJack D. says:
I’m a career salesman. No legal background, just find the postings at VC interesting and insightful.
December 15, 2009, 1:47 amBT says:
I do field services and property preservation work for mortgage companies and banks or to put it another way, I throw people out of their houses for a living when they don’t pay the mortgage. I am self employed, 52, male, straight and never married. Politically I am a conservative/libertarian which is a rarity on the north side of Chicago. I play guitar and sing and sit in with a couple of country bands here in town. I share the same home town as Randy Barnett, the beautiful and exotic, Calumet City, IL, although I have never met him.
December 15, 2009, 1:52 amMJ Sparro says:
I’m a computer scientist, biologist and chemist wrapped up into one. Family members include an Iraq vet that will soon become a lawyer, another lawyer, a doctor and a businessman.
I tend to stick with blogs and books as that’s where the subject matter experts (S.M.E.) tend to really shine. SME’s don’t hold back w/ the nitty gritty details and history that you need to truly evaluate a situation. I don’t like journalists much. In my experience journalists generally don’t have the background to understand what they are writing about or they have such a strong political slant that it becomes difficult to distinguish news from editorials. Volokh is one of 20 or so blogs I read.
P.S. I bought the books recommended by Ilya Somin. Every author on this site should list their top 3. And more importantly, they should list why those are their top 3.
December 15, 2009, 1:52 amTushar S says:
A software engineer in central NJ. Big interest in econ. Born in India, grew up in Saudi Arabia,
December 15, 2009, 1:55 ammoved to the US for college, and still here.
A middle-of-the-road libertarian I think. Volokh is great for all those interested in the law without reading the “People-before-profits” lefty profs, or the torture-mongers like John Yoo. Discovered it thru the other libertarian blogs in early 2007. :)
fidelity says:
Anarchist. OEF Veteran. Reads too much Jefferson and Chomsky.
December 15, 2009, 2:02 amRoss says:
ESL teacher in Korea. Grades K-6.
December 15, 2009, 2:03 amshortgee says:
I am retired. I discovered you by accident and have been hooked ever since. In my mispent youth I wanted to be a lawyer, but marriage, kids, and a well paying job got in the way.
December 15, 2009, 2:07 ambrent says:
Ed: BS/MS Comp Sci
Job: Slacker
Hobbies: soccer hooliganism, taking actuarial exams, Photoshop
Party: non-capitalized ‘l’
Apart from finding the Conspirators in general a nice philosophical match, I keep up on VC because only most of the comment threads are tedious garbage. For a legal/political blog on the Internet, that’s putting up Albert Pujols-like averages.
December 15, 2009, 2:10 amneurodoc says:
I don’t think you’re going to see too many of those types posting to this blogsite. Torts generally, and med mal in particular, aren’t discussed here a fraction as often as other topical matters, or at least that’s my impression. Medically-related subjects come up occasionally, but not much in the context of torts. (Randy Barnett, one of the VC, argued medical marijuana before the Supreme Court with a client, Angel Raitch, who I think did not have the medical problems it was claimed she had. David Bernstein, another of the VC, has an interest in the testimony of scientific expert witnesses, which has relevance to med mal cases.) Con Law is big here (EV on First; Koppel on Second; OK on Fourth, etc.) and whatever goes up to the Circuits, which torts don’t do so much.
December 15, 2009, 2:28 ams says:
Economics graduate student, some midwestern university. Right now I’m ABD, should be done in a year or two. Politically pretty conservative I suppose, if someone put a gun to my head.
I’ve been reading the VC since 2002 or a little bit before, the days of Juan Non-Volokh and the like. I did once meet and have an epically awkward interaction with Jacob Levy during the time he used to post here.
Why I read the VC? Sort of a habit now I suppose. It’s difficult to find any piece of internet writing that’s not riddled with annoying ad hominem attacks and political propaganda, but I think there’s at least a few bloggers here who do a fantastic job at calm, rational thought.
December 15, 2009, 2:31 amzuch says:
Jack of all trades. Peripatetic (or was that “very pathetic”? … something like that)
Cheers,
December 15, 2009, 2:46 amMike Fitzmorris says:
UCLA BSEE, rowed on crew team for two years.
Analog integrated circuit designer for thirty years.
Like to sail and also race motorcycles, pretty much the slowest and fastest earthbound sports.
The VC is my reference for the underpinnings and mechanics of our society, I find the discussions here get at the heart of our political realities. It is very enjoyable to read such well thought out articles on legal matters, and yet distressing to realize the ultimately nebulous status of our western world.
Always hopeful……
December 15, 2009, 3:05 amStas Peterson says:
BSME/MSCS/MBA/Futurist Author
Real name Stan P.
Always want to seek the thoughts and opinions and current thinking of the most influential but sometimes under-educated, and often overly preening peacocks and certianly over-hubrised group of people on the Planet.
I admit it is eye-opening, at times, the nature of the debates that you conduct. Theologians could not be more pedantic, arguing over their pseudo-certainties like the number of Angels dancing on a head of a pin, when compared to some of your distinctions without merit, or practicality of adoption, that you posit.
I do wish that you followed, at least a little bit, the Aristotelian mandate to understand the World about you, before you consider yourself ‘educated’. Mankind’s cumulative knowledge and wisdom often seems almost wholly absent from your debates, as if many of you never even knew, or worse never tried to know, it existed.
For example in the discussions on the Climate gate revelations with respect to the finding by the EPA that CO2 is a pollutant.
Increasingly the recent, scientific evidence of the 21st century is that the whole CO2/GHG sky-is-falling hypotheses, is wrong.
That is why Climategate happened.
They would not have had to resort to all the nefarious lying, cheating, stealing, data destruction, character assassination and suppression of the evidence, if the scientific results were truly as bad as they say. It was because it increasingly appeared that there was no problem, and that the AGW hypotheses were disproven, that they had to do so.
Ask yourself the simple question. Why else LIE?
I thought all lawyers have heard of the dictum
If you have the Facts argue the facts. If you have the Law, argue the Law. If you have neither, pound the table.
These AGW warmists were simply not very good or very ethical at ‘pounding the table’.
It maybe true that the current practicing neo-Druid at EPA, may have the legal right and weight of court deference and precedent on her side; but in the long run the case won’t stand.
December 15, 2009, 3:07 amCatherine Jefferson says:
I’m a technical writer and human rights activist, interested in good legal analysis of political issues in the United States, especially issues that impact civil or human rights. You’ve got some very good stuff here. :-)
December 15, 2009, 3:12 amHavoc Jack says:
Bachelor of Physics, currently unemployed. I read the conspiracy because it tends to provide a lawyer’s eye view of the world, which I don’t have myself.
December 15, 2009, 3:16 amWilliamP says:
I’m primarily a lurker. Psychoanalyst by trade with research interests in professional ethics (primarily client autonomy) and the intersection between psychoanalysis, classical liberalism, and postmodern ethics. I’m a political cynic and generally believe that anyone who would run or seek nomination for office is probably enough of a narcissist that they ought to be disqualified for the job, Libertarians included. I come to VC for part of my classical liberal fix and stay to watch the discussions argued from an objective point of view thats utterly alien to me.
December 15, 2009, 3:17 amAmiable Chap says:
I’m a MD pushing 60. Considered law school a few decades ago and even took a few law school courses at a high-powered law school (one that has produced more than one supreme court justice). At the risk of sounding snooty, I found the average law school student to be somewhat intellectually wanting (compared to the average med student) which influenced my ultimate decision not to pursue a JD. As an MD, I have testified in court scores of times on issues criminal and civil. Enjoy the philosophy underlying the law but have always been amazed how different legal practice is from the lofty words and ideas that form the basis of the system. And I have always wondered why lawyers are not held to the high standards they demand of all other professions.
December 15, 2009, 3:33 amHouse says:
I’m a videogame designer who started reading this blog about seven years ago.
December 15, 2009, 3:38 amJL says:
Australian economist/public servant, department of justice. I find it interesting how lawyers think and argue. Often good logic on the VC. Constantly amazed/confused by the American obsession with owning guns: gun control being one of the most obviously positive public policies for a developed country. American exceptionalism and all that I guess.
December 15, 2009, 3:42 amstnylan says:
From the UK, studied history and university and still consider myself a historian even though today I actually work in the IT industry. I am an avid reader and book owner. I loathe soccer, follow college football and baseball. I am a Catholic (though not a very good one), happily celibate (and no, not gay), 30, am owned by two adorable cats, and like visiting various parts of the good old USA. My favourite state thus far is Alabama, my favourite actual US city is a tie between Mobile and Boston, and my least favourite definitely has to be the Big Apple.
I’ve been reading the VC for many years as a source of US legal news generally, with usually fairly good explanations even an outsider can follow. Also though the VC covers larger issues, both in domestic US politics and in international politics that I find interesting. Or I suppose I could say US and international history, since what is politics today but the history of tomorrow? Not to mention the historical perspectives of some of the legal cases discussed. A corollary to that I find EV’s frequent posts of religion and US law to be very interesting indeed (though sometimes disagreeable).
I don’t generally post in comments, mostly because of when I tend to read the VC (in my morning/early afternoon) any comment threads are usually tens and tens of posts long and any comment I would have made has already been made. Also the narrow-mindedness of some of the posters reflecting a sadly stereotypical provincial attitude of Americans (which I know all too well is generally false), coupled with the arrogance of some legally expert commentators towards the non-legal, means I find posting comments a waste of time.
December 15, 2009, 3:47 amrxc says:
I am a retired former government employee. I had a long career in the nuclear power field, starting in the nuclear navy, and then at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, where I was a project manager for several power plants, and then a manager in charge of approval of reactor fuel designs and thermal-hydraulic methodologies.
I was interested in going to law school until I worked on one power plant (Shoreham) where the cost of the legal fight alone exceeded the original expected cost of the plant by an order of magnitude (probably $500 million for lawyers). I also read “Overlawyered”.
But since my former profession involvesn a LOT of legal issues, I am still interested in the law and how lawyers think. This blog is generally very reasonable and rational, compared to the left-wing blogs, and reading all this stuff, combined with my experience dealing with politicians, gives me a good feel for why our society works the way it does.
Right now I live near Bordeaux, France, enjoying life among the vines.
December 15, 2009, 3:48 amAvatar says:
31, technician at a data discovery firm. Been reading VC since my days as a subtitler of Japanese animation. It’s nice to be reminded that not all lawyers are like our clients. (Sometimes I just want to say “jeez, you got a JD and you don’t even know how to run a Boolean search?”)
Interested in the law, but I don’t have the scratch to join the guild (or at least I’m old enough that the idea of descending into penury to do so doesn’t appeal).
December 15, 2009, 4:03 amih8tofly says:
Air Traffic Controller. Medically retired from the US Army many years ago. Live in IE area of SoCal.
December 15, 2009, 4:05 amNeal Steiner says:
Sr Network Engineer. Generally curious to understand various perspectives of the issue of the day. This blog has good, readable articles on legal issues.
December 15, 2009, 4:22 amearth/environmental scientist says:
As with science or any other technical field, non-specialists’ impressions of the law in general and of specific legal issues is often vague, anecdotal, and probably incorrect. I read your blog to try to learn more about first and second amendment law, and to enjoy the occasional niche specialists who guest blog (e.g. insider-perspective on Wikipedia.) My preference for topics is in that same order. I like the even tenor of lawyer blog posts. That’s probably a communication habit most academics would benefit from adopting.
“A scientist” (comment #9): many of the general defenses to raw data adjustment that the Economist makes in their “trust_scientists” article are claimed not to be germane to the specific case of the Darwin record. (Willis Eschenbach’s response to the Economist at http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/12/12/sticky-for-smoking-gun-at-darwin-zero/)
In any case, the motivation for every adjustment to the raw data time series for a temperature station is surely recorded somewhere. The set of ~5-10 adjustments per century easily could be released publicly as a ~20KB text file for each station. The seeming reluctance of data-holding organizations to release these specific-station raw data adjustment justifications is mystifying, speaking charitably. And considered critically it is deeply concerning. Heck, without the opportunity for independent auditing, it might be as possible that reported 20th century warming has been *underestimated* by insufficient data corrections as it is possible that the bias is toward higher temperatures via over-correction.
From a politician’s perspective, it may be that advantage can be gained on one side or the other by restricting access to data-processing records. From a scientist’s or lay citizen’s point of view, full description of data treatment is *only* beneficial, in the long-run.
December 15, 2009, 4:25 amDJT says:
Undergraduate Political Science Student at Yeshiva University. I read this blog mainly for news/opinion on the latest Supreme Court cases. Born/Raised in the San Fernando Valley area of Socal, now reside in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan.
December 15, 2009, 4:40 amMichelle Dulak Thomson says:
UC/Berkeley grad (in mechanical engineering ’88, then in music history & literature ’91, advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. thesis I never finished, ’94.) I make what passes for a living playing violin and viola, and writing music criticism of various kinds. Not entirely sure when and how I first found this site, except that I rather think that it was via a link from Glenn Reynolds, whose own site I knew about only because Andrew Sullivan seemed to link it constantly. (Which in itself will give you some idea of the date; I think it was 2002.)
Came here and stayed here, because though I’ve no legal training I’m fascinated by law, especially constitutional law. I once bought (and read!) a book of Laurence Tribe purely for fun, which I gather marks me out as one seriously twisted individual.
December 15, 2009, 5:19 amkdackson says:
MS Chemical Engineering (RPI, ’83 – Acid Rain);PhD in Chemical Engineering (RPI, ’86 – Computational Fluid Mechanics); Licensed PE. Twenty + years experience in pharmaceutical, polymers, specialty chemicals, biofuels. Lived in China for one year, spanning 2005-2006.
December 15, 2009, 5:50 amTweets that mention The Volokh Conspiracy » Blog Archive » Who Are You (Non-Lawyers)? -- Topsy.com says:
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Eugene Volokh, Eugene Volokh. Eugene Volokh said: Who Are You (Non-Lawyers)?: Occasionally I invite our readers to post a few words about themselves. This time, .. http://bit.ly/5QO8F2 [...]
December 15, 2009, 5:55 amL says:
Mathematician.
December 15, 2009, 6:03 amJ. Otto Pohl says:
I have a Ph.D. in history from SOAS and currently teach International and Comparative Politics at AUCA in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
December 15, 2009, 6:06 ambornyesterday says:
Apparently, my physics degree is a dime a dozen here, amongst the non-lawyers. I currently work as a web-designer for a non-profit group that has been mentioned on VC on occasion. Been reading here since 2001 or 2002, and was trying to say hello to Eugene and Randy after their talk at Heritage last week but they got rushed away before I got a chance.
December 15, 2009, 6:14 amPaul says:
salesman in high-tech
December 15, 2009, 6:20 amBill S says:
Ph.D. in political science, senior staff on Hill.
December 15, 2009, 6:21 amTim says:
I’m Tim Nuccio. I’m 26 years old, a senior in Economics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a U.S. Army veteran. This past summer, I was an intern at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. I have been reading this blog ever since I discovered Professor Volokh’s research. I’m going to law school next year, but I’m not sure where (but I’ve got 7 places to choose from right now and several more pending).
I enjoy this blog because the spectrum is quite broad, the posters are informative and intelligent, and the commenters are always a riot, although I wish more would use their real names instead of hiding.
December 15, 2009, 6:23 amDaniel J. Wojcik says:
Computer weenie for the Government (was DA, now VA).
Sometime musician, sometime filmmaker.
Sleepy when I read the VC, since with an almost 2 year old in the house, o-dark-thirty is the only me-time I have.
Hi.
December 15, 2009, 6:34 amArt says:
Network Analyst/Communications Engineer for a LE agency. Away from work it’s woodworking, photography, aquariums (aquaria?), and firearms. Having once been married into a whole family of lawyers/judges, for some reason I’m still interested in the workings of the legal profession.
December 15, 2009, 6:36 amChiara Brown says:
I’m a graduate student working on my Master of International Studies, and I am obsessed with just about everything having to do with politics in both Europe and the United States. I just found this blog recently, and have very much enjoyed its intelligent and fair libertarian perspective. I also find the commenters to be among the most valuable and least pathetic I’ve ever seen online.
December 15, 2009, 6:41 amReader says:
Unemployed Harvard PhD on the brink of homelessness.
December 15, 2009, 6:42 amCraig says:
I earned my JD after retiring as a Marine Intelligence Officer. I have been working as an executive performance coach the past few years and this is very rewarding. Your blog keeps me in touch with the legal issues of the day and helps me to retain the vernacular since I don’t work as a lawyer. However, in the executive arena, having a sound legal base of knowledge is critical to long term success. Thanks for your insight and thought provoking work.
December 15, 2009, 6:43 amGeorge says:
I’m a physicist working mainly in atomic and astrophysics. I’ve been reading this blog for a few years. It’s one of the most interesting I’ve come across. It’s also one of the very few where it’s actually worthwhile to look at the comments. I rarely comment myself, partially because I usually manage to find someone in the comments who has already said what I would say, but better.
December 15, 2009, 6:45 amMike C. says:
59 year old consulting petroleum geophysicist, primarily on international projects (Brazil at the moment.) Actually got accepted to law school once, but life intervened and I never got to go. I read here because I feel law is one of those subjects everbody needs to know something about. And I run across the damndest things here, like that series on ‘patent thickets’, which I found fascinating from both a legal and historical perpective.
December 15, 2009, 6:48 amDaniel Charlies says:
Lawyer since ’05. UW grad. Specialize in Soc Sec disability hearings. Started off w/ non-profit, not impressed with the inside liberal leadership feeding off state dollars and the individuals they chose to represent. Prefer to represent, and reject upon initial evaluate, clients directly. Amazing how many disabled laborers in 50s, physically beat w/no other job training, are initially refused disability due to lack of medical treatment (evidence), while hand-selected (by non profits) “mentally disabled” (due to emotional not cognitive reasons) are able to access the system in their 30s, with children and routines at home, with a stack of mental health records and prescriptions from seeing the “right” doctors. In the right (wrong?) hands, it’s a system ripe for manipulation.
I oppose health care reform because I reject the huge transfer of power that will put more power into the hands of non-elected, mid-level bureaucrats who have no “check” power on them until cases appear before an ALJ years later.
Also, the uninsured, older but pre-62, now non-working disabled often qualify under state and local programs for medical services, and examinations. People often don’t know this, and on a county level, we (county social workers, local attorneys, voc rehab counselors) can educate them what they are eligible for (ie/charity care grants at hospitals, mental heath evaluation w/county psych worker, free dental clinic). We can work with these individuals, through SS or local resources, to get them evaluated with medical records, and recognized for their limitations past those who treat often, and with the doctors who routinely complete disability forms — more savvy to the system in urban areas downstate.
Minimal treaters with no insurance often qualify for SS disability, if they can file their claim in enough time after their work years end to access the money they paid into the system. Many just live off savings though, and when they apply, their covered period has elapsed. What I mean is, physically they are disabled but are not properly diagnosed or healing because they don’t visit doctors.
The career bureaucrats will be the “gatekeepers” for government healthcare insurance, and trust me people, I suspect the quality will be much like you see in public education where the decision-making power has been removed from local hands and is consolidated in the hands of bureaucrats, making decisions on behalf of us all. Plus, at the non-profit I worked for, the stories of their liberal excesses would make your head spin…
Leave the system alone, and if needed, pump more money into the states to distribute to their uninsureds under programs as the states see fit.
December 15, 2009, 6:52 amFrancois Gregoire says:
Residential real estate appraiser with a practice on the west coast of Florida. As the Chairman of the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board I presided over meetings where everyone was represented by counsel; including my board. All had a different point of view and were always “right”. VC reminds me a bit of those meetings.
December 15, 2009, 6:52 amsteve_g says:
I’m a chemical engineer who morphed into an IT guy a few years ago. I work in the waste management industry. I read VC daily for both the posts and the comments. It’s got an extremely good signal-to-noise ratio.
December 15, 2009, 7:04 amHey Skipper says:
My real name is Jeff Guinn.
BA in International Relations, MS in Comp Sci
Retired Air Force pilot (mostly F-111s). Flew for a major passenger airline, then 9/11 got in the way. Spent my time on furlough as a software engineer for an auto company.
I now live in Anchorage, Alaska, and fly MD11s for a major freight company.
I have been reading Volokh since when it was the Conspiracy, because of the very high level of posts and discussions.
Mostly I lurk, because my interest is generally not matched by any competence.
December 15, 2009, 7:06 amSteve2 says:
Civil EIT, transportation. Homeowner. Single heterosexual male. 25. Social Darwinist.
December 15, 2009, 7:08 amJohn H. says:
I’m a research assistant for a third party contracting firm in the power industry. I live just outside Tampa,FL. I did six years in the navy and was a nuclear electronics technician while in (operated a nuclear reactor on the USS Theodore Roosevelt)and am about 17 credits shy of finishing my bachelors in nuclear engineering technology and applied science.
I read the VC because I have a general interest in the law and how it is applied and a specific interest in Supreme Court cases. I also usually end up passing along to and discussing with a bunch of my ex-navy friends, any post that I find of particular interest.
December 15, 2009, 7:20 amAbhishek S says:
I am a pure mathematician. I am currently working as a post doctoral researcher in an European university. Politically I am a libertarian, and I enjoy this blog for its posts and discussions on law, philosophy and liberty.
December 15, 2009, 7:21 amLarry Boeskool says:
Partner in importing firm, nearing retirement. News junkie.
December 15, 2009, 7:21 ampmorem says:
Software engineer (embedded systems, critical), single, 40, neurotic, Aspie.
I’m fairly libertarian, heavily based on personal (I’m not equipped to follow your rules anyway) and external utilitarian considerations.
I’m a religious fanatic Discordian, largely based on my nature. I tend to confuse people anyway, might as well make it official.
I’ve been reading and commenting here since 2001.
December 15, 2009, 7:25 amTomM says:
Astronomer working for NASA. Like bornyesterday I am intrigued by the fraction of ‘hard’ scientists on the board. I was lured in by the constitutional articles on the 1st and 2nd amendment but I find the relatively civil discussions on all topics to be the most interesting aspect.
December 15, 2009, 7:28 amTodd says:
I’m a VP of Engineering at a defense/aerospace company. MS in Aero Engineering, but spent about 10 years away from the field and have become a jack of all trades, at least within the engineering field. Politically, I used to be a registered Republican, but I am now registered as an independent and would describe myself as a “small L” libertarian. Fiscally conservative; socially not so much.
December 15, 2009, 7:35 amAnne says:
I’m an editor for an HR trade magazine. Interested in employment law issues for work reasons and a lot of the other commentary for personal reasons.
December 15, 2009, 7:45 amDerek Lowe says:
Medicinal chemistry researcher, politically rightish and libertarianish. This blog is one of my connections to legal issues and thinking, the way that Marginal Revolution (e.g.) is one to economics. (From the e-mails I get, I gather that my own site is a connection for others to chemistry and drug research).
December 15, 2009, 7:47 amGaltish bus driver says:
I am currently a bus driver with Galtish tendencies. Formerly earned six figures in various technology related fields. An introversive political economist, graduate degree in Economics, undergrad degree in Engineering. (introversive in the sense Mises uses the term; not introverted) Helping the government get to the fiscal crises that may be the only hope for the republic.
December 15, 2009, 7:49 amKharn says:
Chemical engineer that does R&D and writes/manages contracts for our group
December 15, 2009, 7:51 amI’ve been reading VC for a number of years, mainly for SC commentary or interesting legal happenings. I’m just not motivated enough to go to law school, even though my employer would pay for it.
Helen says:
I’m a chemical engineer in the pharmaceutical industry. (As an age 60+ female in the field, I’m something of a rarity.) Found the site via David Bernstein’s work on liability in the pharmaceutical industry and became interested in constitutional law as I continued to read.
I, too, am surprised to see that so many of the non-lawyers are engineers and scientists.
December 15, 2009, 7:53 amGone to Texas says:
I have a Ph.d. in Politics, and teach American Government at a community college. My wife was friends with Eugene while she was a law student at UCLA. One of my favorite themes in class is looking at the way in which the Supreme Court has usurped the power of state legislatures by changing the meaning of the word “liberty” in the due process clause of the 14th Amendment from “personal liberty” (freedom from physical restraint) to “personal liberties” (personal choice).
December 15, 2009, 7:57 amGreen Bear says:
Retired Statistician
December 15, 2009, 7:59 amWorked on sample survey issues for Treasury, meaning taxation studies (see the Statistics of Income publications). I did design, estimator and error profile work. Lots of the family are lawyers, so this site helps me get a feel for what they are arguing.
jrp2 says:
46, Computer geek, telecom engineer, inventor.
Gay. Gun owner and avid shooter. Chicago resident, so definitely interested in the McDonald case, and the rich (and sordid) history behind why we have to fight this case to begin with. I find the potential implications of overturning Slaughter-House fascinating, especially as a gay man, not just the gun law aspect.
I got interested in the area of constitutional law 30+ years ago when the ACLU decided to back the Nazis in National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie (I grew up in and near Skokie). The whole idea of a majority jewish organization backing their enemy, knowing that if they did not it would come back to bite them, was mind-blowing to me. Ever since then I have been a strong backer of a literal reading of the constitution, whether I like the outcome on a specific issue or not.
December 15, 2009, 8:07 amDaveK says:
(Very) Small Business Owner
Electrical Engineer
I work mostly in the field of factory automation in the midwest
No full time employees but some part time employees
I have been following Cato Institute for a while and got to your website because of the association with Randy Barnett. After hearing his Constitution Day Lecture a couple of years ago I have tried to find more of his content and linked through his site. I find the articles interesting and informative even though I am not a lawyer.
December 15, 2009, 8:09 amanon prof says:
I have a PhD in astrophysics and am currently toiling away on the tenure track. Politically, I am a libertarian leaning conservative. My religious convictions are protestant reformed with a bit of an evangelical streak. I find the posts and ensuing discussions uniformly interesting. I particularly enjoy the puzzles and philosophical discussions.
December 15, 2009, 8:11 amStephen Goldstein says:
Conservative, Jewish, political junkie. Trained as a physicist but have made my living in IT for 40 years.
December 15, 2009, 8:17 amtmac says:
USAF Chief Master Sergeant retired for 25 years. Policeman by trade, still interested in law and the Constitution.
December 15, 2009, 8:21 amMFS says:
Freelance computer consultant focused on adult learning and corporate communications telecommuting from the beautiful Maine midcoast.
My first post-graduate job was setting up servers for a small legal firm in New York State. There all my tv-legal illusions were shattered for good or ill. This site continues in that grand iconoclastic tradition.
Keep up the great work!
Best wishes,
December 15, 2009, 8:26 amDavid Kane says:
David Kane, Ph.D., occasional academic, hedgefund manager, blogger and skeptic. Not a regular reader on law related issues. Often come by via Instapundit. Big fan of Jim Lindgren. (Wish I could get him interested in the controversy over Lancet Iraq war mortality estimates: http://lancetiraq.blogspot.com/.)
December 15, 2009, 8:27 amFr. Philip Neri Powell, OP, PhD says:
I’m an American Catholic priest and Dominican friar (Order of Preachers) living in Rome. My PhD is in modern poetry and literary theory, and I am currently working on another doctorate in philosophy of science and philosophical theology (esp., epistemology).
To use a term from my students…I am a huge “fanboy” of this site. My politics are decidedly conservative-leaning-libertarian, but more than that I love reading court opinions. I know, it’s crazy but nonetheless true.*
Keep it up! Fr. Philip, OP
*I think this fascination with court opinions is attributable to the fact that philosophical questions are never answered with any kind of finality. There is no Supreme Court of Philosophy…I admire the sense of conclusion that SC decisions bring.
December 15, 2009, 8:29 amcorneille1640 says:
I’m a (nearly perpetual, by this time) grad student in American history. One of the reasons I like dabbling in the law as a non-lawyer is that I can opine about all sorts of issues and not bear the responsibility for being wrong, which I sure I am more often than not.
Religiously, I describe myself as an agnostic who leans toward theism.
December 15, 2009, 8:30 amJerry Jenkins says:
Long-time computer programmer — eventually, 1974, I started programming on the HP-3000 and have not stopped yet. I use your software (MPEX) at least several times a week.
December 15, 2009, 8:31 amflyovertard says:
Geophysicist
30 years of numerical modeling of fluid flow and contaminant transport in groundwater, surface water and air.
I usually only post late at night after too many martini’s – mostly regarding climate/science/environment topics.
I have always struggled as a writer (it doesn’t come easy) and I find legal blogs, especially VC, have some very gifted writers. I also find fascinating the intellect, reasoning, and insight brought by many commenters.
December 15, 2009, 8:35 amPete says:
Medical student.
I never comment but I read daily. I need a break from being immersed in the world of medicine, and Volokh provides just that.
December 15, 2009, 8:36 amAssistant Village Idiot says:
Whoa, it is hard-science heavy here. Great.
Psychiatric social worker in acute emergencies for 30+ years. Father of five sons, including 3 adopted, two from Romania. Ex-socialist Arts & Humanities Tribe (though I started undergrad in math – go figure) who reads a lot of history, prehistory, and linguistics these days.
December 15, 2009, 8:37 amA reader says:
I’m 29, 9/10ths of the way done with a Masters in Comp Sci from a university that would impress many comp sci people but not many people not in a tech field. I actually enjoy documenting software, I’ve worked for NASA, and I’ve been attacked by three robots. I am now employed at one of the largest IP law firms, but IANAL.
I”m a “small l libertarian’, a new father, a native ohio-vallyian, a comic book dork, and gigantic (6’4″, 370 lbs)
I started reading VC about five years ago, because I found the authors interesting, the legal way of thinking completely alien, and the commenters to be engaging and intelligent. The first two are still true, but as this site has become more mainstream, I think the fragmentation of political beliefs has led to more boring comments.
December 15, 2009, 8:38 amJoe says:
Retired (disabled) construction worker.
December 15, 2009, 8:40 amJack of all trades; Master electrician (computerized industrial process control) Licensed Contractor “qualified person”.
Unreconstructed Rebal, Unreformed Hippie, Profound Misanthrope. NRA lifer 1966.
“Scofflaw” 1975: Hired a lawyer over a $1.00 parking ticket.
Three courts ruled in my favor on three different points of constituional law. The Circuit Court refused to hear it. “It does not represent a significant challange”.
Groklaw member number 310, and that is how I came to be here.
DaveW says:
Network designer. Houston, Texas, near JSC.
I’ve read Volokh for a long time but rarely comment. I seem to gravitate to lawblogs, I think the quality of the writing may be a factor. I enjoy the analysis of court decisions and the comment threads here can be very good.
December 15, 2009, 8:41 amDon Miller says:
Employee/Owner in a modest CNC Machine Shop where I am the Network Administrator. I’ve always been fascinated by the law, but found you through some of Orin’s posts on Internet and Computer Law. Kind of a jack of all trades. 6 years in the Navy as a Nuclear Machinist Mate, 6 years in the Army, Infantry and Combat Engineer, Amateur Radio Technician (KD7FDS), Volunteer Fire Figher (Lieutenant), EMT with our Ambulance District too.
December 15, 2009, 8:41 amHoward Gilbert says:
I am an IT planner for a large university. I became interested in certain legal question during the Microsoft II antitrust case. It was obvious that none of the lawyers on either side really understood even the legal questions or precedents because they did not understand the issues in the case from even a competent technical background. They would cite Jefferson Parish Hospital v Hyde as if they never bothered to read the case but only read summaries, though maybe the problem was that they didn’t understand enough to properly transition between a conclusion about paying an anesthesiologist at a hospital to designing a computer operating system.
Then the Judge issued his “findings of fact” and it was clear that not only did he understand nothing about the case but, more importantly, he did not understand the depth of his technical ignorance. Then he issued a decision that wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars of market value and threatened an entire industry, only to have nearly the entire decision overturned on appeal later on after a lot of damage has been done.
As you move up in the system, judges get smarter. The Circuit Courts usually get it right, the Supreme Court always gets it right. It is not that the Circuit Court understood the problem better, but rather that they understood that neither they nor the District Court had really confronted the questions and, therefore, there should be no decision until the issues were properly considered.
While it is not reasonable for a non-lawyer to understand the law as a whole, the application of a small bit of law to a large question of current events is easy to research. It is vastly easier for the layman to read and understand all the Supreme Court decisions on a single topic than it is for a judge to understand Software Engineering. In part this is because every decision begins with an excellent, readable summary of the facts in the case, the legal issues, and prior cases, while unfortunately people in technology seem unwilling or unable to really explain anything.
On the other hand, legal argument is often more about word association rather than real understanding. A lawyer has to argue case after case about different subjects. Unable to become an expert (or even achieve reasonable competence in every other area of thought) he believes that if a few of the same words or at least similar words appear in a prior case then that establishes a precedent to cite. Of course, the lawyer finds that every prior case supports his position, meaning that both sides can cite the same case but declare that it has two completely contradictory meanings. If you want to resolve the issue, ask a layman. He can often point out that neither side got it right and the prior case means something entirely different.
A lawyer starts with a client, which means he starts with the result he wants. Then he works back from the conclusion to gather enough support to prove the position. It is a process that never gets back to the fundamental starting ideas if one can find enough superficial arguments to fill out the brief. Engineering starts at the beginning and works up. You check and recheck each step along the way to make sure you haven’t missed anything. Eventually you come to the end of the process, which in the few legal issues I follow is generally something that neither side of the debate is arguing.
However, these courts have tremendous power to do really evil things out of sheer incompetence and arrogance. It is important for everyone to keep an eye on them and not to simply accept the (almost always incorrect) two sentence summary of what is going on offered by the news media. The legal process is fully transparent, and in the cases that really matter (that never turn on a nuance of law) a member of the genera public can understand the case as well or better than the lawyers arguing it.
December 15, 2009, 8:42 amWilliam says:
45 year old Apparel Designer and news junkie.
VC has been one of my daily stops for years.
December 15, 2009, 8:44 amLucy K says:
Corporate paralegal – I draft and negotiate contracts.
My husband is very interested in 2nd amendment issues, and to learn more about it I found this blog. Love it! Insightful, interesting, pertinent. I am a fan!
December 15, 2009, 8:49 amLaura(southernxyl) says:
B.S., started out with chemistry and added enough math to declare a double major.
I come here because I’m interested in AKS.
My background is all analytical chemistry – mostly environmental, some pharmaceutical and agricultural. Currently I manage the lab and quality program for a chemical plant in the Tampa Bay area.
I’d post my whole name, but I talk about my husband and daughter on my blog and they appreciate anonymity. But I’m fine with people emailing me, southernxyl at hotmail dot com, and wouldn’t mind a little Floridian get-together if anyone else in the area is interested.
December 15, 2009, 8:49 amMike says:
Professor of Animal Sciences at a land grant university.
December 15, 2009, 8:53 amPeteP says:
Software developer, split between conservative ( small c ) and libertarian ( small l ), and frequently amazed by the unreality of the Land call The Law, where the normal real-world concepts of justice, right and wrong, fairness, common sense, etc, do not seem to apply.
It’s interesting to see the viewpoints of the bloggers here, in general impressively smart, well-educated, with decades of study and practice behind them, etc, and how they can justify those viewpoints under ‘The Law’, where at the same time, I’m sure that each and every one of them, if asked ‘Do you totally know and understand all of The Law ?’, would readily admit ‘No, and I never will, no matter how long I study it’.
And yet, mere common folk are supposed to obey it and live by it….
December 15, 2009, 8:55 amresh says:
Backwoods country boy who works in Philly as a sales rep. I fish, read and look at the moon when I’m not hustling old ladies or playing three-card monty with the proles.
Your blog I read for the ambient angst and musings and because it’s as close to a recreation of the Constitutional Convention as we can expect. There’s a little Madison, Hamilton and Franklin in most of your crowd.
December 15, 2009, 8:57 amtom swift says:
MIT ’77, Physics
December 15, 2009, 9:01 amMIT ’77, Mech. E.
And the usual stuff in later years.
Jim F. says:
I am not a lawyer, but I have a long career in engineering, publishing, software, and writing. While in engineering/marketing I worked on a lot of Joint Marketing Agreements and Non-disclosure Agreements. From publishing I learned much about intellectual property rights, plagiarism, right of first refusal, and copyrights. Working for a manufacturing firm, I am still working with intellectual property rights (as a CAD jockey and maintainer of the corporate geometry/part database), copyright law for the instructional manuals, and of course the items associated with making an actual product.
December 15, 2009, 9:04 amMojo Bison says:
WM, 41, masters in history (emphasis American) from Indiana University. Currently teaching community college in Texas. Just about given up on going back for a PhD, as I despair of finding a program that will tolerate an older student who enjoys sites like this one (IF you know what I mean…). Flirted in grad school with jumping into law but decided that I really hated the idea of writing papers in the law school fashion.
I enjoy reading VC for the historical context of the con law cases. VC is also a constant reminder that conservative does not equal libertarian, and vice-versa –some of my colleagues are very hard-put to know the difference, and I try to enlighten them as gently as I may.
December 15, 2009, 9:04 amanacolutha says:
I’m a court reporting student.
December 15, 2009, 9:07 amGreg Conen says:
Graduate student in engineering at University of Massachusetts.
Considered (patent) law for a while, but decided against it.
December 15, 2009, 9:09 amKen R says:
40ish, Australian, tradesman, gun owner and former gun lobbiest, with an interest in libertarian philosophy, human rights and gun rights.
December 15, 2009, 9:10 amKevin R says:
Bachelor’s in Computer Science (seems to be a popular field here) from WPI, work in defense contracting doing software development. Going for a master’s in CS at night. I’m basically a libertarian, if not fanatical about it. So that’s one reason I read the Conspiracy. Also my wife is an attorney (she also went to WPI before going to law school — as far as I can tell she is one of the 5 lawyers in the country who can do math), so many of the law issues are interesting from that perspective as well.
December 15, 2009, 9:12 amBrian says:
Not an astrophysicist, mathematician, or a chemical engineer or anything sexy like that. I’m an Army SGT working in computer network defense (formerly intelligence, so somewhere in the nexus between the two).
Though currently deployed to Afghanistan, Texas is my home for now.
I found this site several years ago, probably through one of the George Mason econ blogs, not sure anymore. It’s been on my RSS feed for years now. I was attracted by the discussions of Supreme Court cases and constitutional law in an academic manner rather than the overwrought, often inaccurate manner in news or political reporting.
December 15, 2009, 9:12 amJoe says:
I am an academic librarian who finds this blog highly valuable for the free exchange of ideas. The comments section is particularly valuable to see the many sides of the most pressing issues of our time. If I were more Alpha, I might have considered law school.
December 15, 2009, 9:12 amgreg says:
So, with all the hard sciences here, someone is doing statistical analysis of the various educational backgrounds and jobs of VC readers, right?
December 15, 2009, 9:13 amSk says:
Environmental Engineer with an M.A. in political philosophy. Thus, I enjoy the moral/theoretical underpinnings of the law, but don’t have the technical background to understand the vocabulary/process.
Also, Lieutenant Colonel in the military.
This is a great site with a great tone: I find myself more curmudgeony/cutting on the internet than in person, and embarrass myself from time to time. But I try to keep focused on the argument, and apologize for the times which I fail to do so.
Sk
December 15, 2009, 9:13 amcirby says:
Video engineer, technician, computer guy. Game designer from time to time.
December 15, 2009, 9:16 aminahandbasket says:
Fifty-ish liberal lesbian in midwest suburbia with a wife, two kids (one in college and one is a junior in high school) and a Labrador Retriever.
B.A. in music history, M.M. in violin performance, have registered with the Suzuki Association of the Americas teacher training for all ten books of the Suzuki violin repertoire (there is NO SUCH THING as being a ‘certified’ Suzuki instructor). I have an A.S. from Indiana University at Bloomington in major restoration and repair of string instruments.
I am a Suzuki violin instructor and orchestra conductor in a pre-college program connected with a private midwestern university.
I am both an NPR and political junkie. I’ve taken a few poli-sci and pre-law course over the past few years as my time is becoming more my own – the kids are launching into their own cool lives.
I read the Volokh Conspiracy and a few other blogs (left, right and center) every day for intellectual stimulation and because it’s not music. :)
I love reading the discussions re: con law.
December 15, 2009, 9:20 amPaul B says:
41 yr old IT professional. Liberal/Libertarian who likes to keep up with politics and news
December 15, 2009, 9:23 amBryan Schott says:
I’m the Managing Editor of a politics/public policy website in Salt Lake City, UT.
December 15, 2009, 9:30 amJosh says:
I work at a large bank trading rates. 37 married 3 kids. Great blog, always very interesting and thought provoking.
December 15, 2009, 9:30 amSeaDrive says:
Formerly in operations research and management science, now in IT for a small, insurance industry business. I registered as a Republican back when the party stood for balanced budgets, and don’t hold with the current “all tax cuts, all the time” policies.
As interesting as the number of scientists and engineers is the absence of creative artists, writers, ad agency executives, and the like.
December 15, 2009, 9:30 amtherut says:
Female Physician in small town Arkansas. Got to this site through Kopel and 2nd amendment research. Got on the internet in 1994 and was amazed when I heard politicians ie. Gore and Clinton pontificate on the non-right to firearms. I said HUH! not what I remember from my CIVICS class in the 9th grade. So I was off to see what others had to say and found out I was not wrong or alone in my views. Now the USSC has agreed. Amazing. When you get the bug for the Constitution you become more Libertarian and very much less liberal and leftist. Might add THANK GOD Obamacare seems to be watered down to a pile of very little change. YES!! More Medicare patients would force me to close my clinic.
December 15, 2009, 9:31 amYA says:
Graduate student in economics, ABD, hoping to finish everything next year. Thought about going to law school, but decided I liked economics better. Read the blog everyday, but I don’t comment.
Used to be liberal, but now more libertarian, and in some cases conservative.
December 15, 2009, 9:31 ampete says:
I am a different pete than the other two who have posted to this thread. I am pretty sure I was the first pete to post on this blog since i have been reading it regularly since long before they had comments.
I am a 32 year old librarian, who now works full time buying materials for a large urban library system. I was a philosophy and religion double major in college and also have my MS in information science. I used to work as a financial advisor and also spent a year working as an Americorps Vista in a welfare to work project. I am not a libertarian, but have a lot of sympathy for libertarian ideas. I am still in favor of drastically reducing the size of the federal government, but am mostly ok with the size my local and state government. I seriously considered law school, but did not think I would enjoy actually being a lawyer.
December 15, 2009, 9:40 amJohn Burgess says:
During a required course in US Constitutional Law as part of my BSFS (Foreign Service) work, I found that constitutional law appealed very greatly, particularly for issues dealing with Amendments 1, 2, and 4. Like Fr. Powell, I’m a court decision junkie as a result.
A bit of a polymath, I found that a Foreign Service career pushed all my buttons in the right way. I dealt with everything from international law to NASA astronauts, higher math to down and dirty scumbags in the fields of ‘international intelligence’.
Politically, I’m no more than a small-l libertarian, fiscally conservative and socially liberal on most issues. I find transitional states–political or any other kind–to be of great interest, fascinating, actually. I now write about Saudi Arabia, a country fascinating in its own right, as it works to make the transition from 7th C. social and religious attitudes toward something near the 21st C.
December 15, 2009, 9:41 amlgm says:
I’m a “senior” (i.e. tenured for decades) math professor at a research university. My politics are liberal, which makes me a “troll” here. I came here a refugee from other conservative sites (Malkin, NextRight, RedState, …), which are certifiable.
Biggest request: make Jim Lindgren accept comments. That might make his posts more responsible.
December 15, 2009, 9:41 amGo Vols says:
Left of center Ph.D. in political science from UW. I teach politics and law at a public university in the south (though not, as the name suggests, in Knoxville).
VC provides some of the best commentary (or links to commentary) on recent Supreme Court decisions, which is good for both scholarship and teaching. I particularly come for the First and Fourth Amendment commentary. I also enjoy an intelligent and rancorous (if occasionally insane) comments section, and the interesting series of guest bloggers.
December 15, 2009, 9:42 ambyomtov says:
Early sixties. Largely retired businessman/entrepreneur with experience in various small tech-oriented companies. Some hits, some misses. MBA. Graduate work in Finance late in life, ended ABD. Love photography. Former very serious bridge player. Newbie piano player, and it sounds newbie, too.
Read lots of blogs.
I echo sk:
I find myself more curmudgeony/cutting on the internet than in person, and embarrass myself from time to time. But I try to keep focused on the argument, and apologize for the times which I fail to do so.
December 15, 2009, 9:44 amdew says:
Father of two. Computer engineer who retreated from hardware to software (database) engineering about 15 years ago. I am/have been on several government boards/committees (mostly finance). Also a long interest in history, lately pre-1800 American colonial.
I am involved in politics as a (not always very good) democrat. Soft spot for libertarian ideas.
I found Volokh Conspiracy right when it started allowing comments. Stumbled across an interesting post by Eugene Volokh while researching some subject or another and have been reading since.
December 15, 2009, 9:51 amDavid says:
I’m Canadian, working in ESL in Seoul. Most of my students are university students or working in business, law, and related fields. My undergraduate degree is in philosophy.
I’m interested in the law and politics. I read this blog for the legal analysis, particularly from Eugene and Orin. Politically, you guys are about as extreme right wing (fairly right wing for Canada) as I’m willing to read outside of the newspaper op-ed section.
December 15, 2009, 9:55 amMartybegan says:
Chemical Engineer by degree, Environmental Engineer by experience (water/wastewater)
December 15, 2009, 10:04 amMoshe says:
Professor of education and Orthodox Jew. Father of 4.
December 15, 2009, 10:11 amA reader says:
Book editor, primarily interested in 1st and 2nd Amendment issues.
December 15, 2009, 10:12 amAnon says:
I’m a Ph.D. molecular biologist (I specialize in bacterial genetics). I visit this site because I’m curious about law in general and how it interacts and collides with science in particular.
December 15, 2009, 10:14 amAnon says:
I’m a Ph.D. molecular biologist (I specialize in bacterial genetics). I visit this site because I’m curious about law in general and how it interacts and collides with science in particular.
December 15, 2009, 10:14 amerp says:
Retired to Florida, toiler in academe (among other things), life-long conservative and long-time admirer of our host.
I read VC because it’s comforting to know that there is some political diversity in the legal community, especially in our law schools.
December 15, 2009, 10:14 amAndyM says:
And there I thought I was the only one in the videogame industry here. I do programming for MMOs (one credited title, one un-credited title, one failed startup, and working on another…) Started reading because I’m interested in a lot of cyber-law — how copyright and patents affect software; how we define ownership of virtual goods and related laws (can you “steal” the magical sword someone “owns” in our game? It’s just a bunch of bits on a server somewhere. In exactly the same way the bank account you “own” is just a bunch of bits on a server somewhere…)
I’d describe myself as “centrist-libertarian”. I think the country should move in a libertarian direction… just not as far in that direction as a lot of serious libertarians seem to want (for example, I think we should supply school vouchers to subsidise those who choose a non-government school, for the same amount we’d be paying the government school… but I also think we do need the government schools as a fallback for places where private industry can’t or won’t educate kids, because an educated citizenry is a public good). So I frequently vote libertarian to send the message “listen to these guys, they have good ideas”, but if it ever looked like they’d win, I might not vote for them.
December 15, 2009, 10:18 amCDU says:
I’m an assistant professor in a geography department.
December 15, 2009, 10:19 amAnon says:
I’m a private equity investor. JD background, so could have listed under lawyer types, but I don’t practice. I do keep up with policy and intellectual issues involving the law.
December 15, 2009, 10:20 amScott says:
I’m a Chemical Engineer by education and work in a paper mill.
December 15, 2009, 10:20 amPorJ says:
I am a 41-year-old assistant professor in Communication with a PhD in American history (I study and publish on the history of telecom regulation). Former broadcast journalist. Always been fascinated by law, come from a family of lawyers, but I have to agree with E. H. Armstrong that “lawyers substitute words for reality, and then talk about the words.”
December 15, 2009, 10:21 amA. Criminal says:
I became a criminal because I felt guilty about paying federal income taxes.
Before that I was a math/physics computer nerd.
I’m not sure why I read this blog; I think that “the law” is a boring mutual admiration society, that most lawyers are just glorified secretaries, and that judges are either passively sleazy or are actually idiots in the full sense of the word.
December 15, 2009, 10:21 amTill says:
Hip Hop Producer
December 15, 2009, 10:23 amShawn-non-Anonymous says:
Shawn Hicks
BSMIS/MBA
Database Analyst/Software Developer
Homosexual
I read VC to gain insight into legal issues, mostly related to GLBT issues but also for others. I find the discussions help me understand both sides of the issues a bit more. It probably doesn’t hurt that I tend towards libertarianism either.
December 15, 2009, 10:25 amQuantum Mechanic says:
Physics major and grad-school dropout from MIT. Been a software engineer for 20 years. Been reading VC since around 9/11. Always been a bit of a conlaw geek. Definitely enjoy the wide-ranging discussions. Fave conspirators are EV and OK.
December 15, 2009, 10:25 amAnonymous says:
A conservative pastor in Wyoming. I enjoy the distinctions in interpreting the law, and enjoy reading the debates. It’s a lot like reading the bible.
December 15, 2009, 10:28 amJ_A says:
47 yo, engineer, with an MSc in electrical power, but work in management. Spanish citizen but long time resident of Houston. My work takes me traveling through most of Lat. Am. and several countries in Europe and Asia. Fluent in four languages, passionate of history, art and trivia. Work a lot with legal issues (mostly corporate law, M&As, financing, and more insurance law than I would ever want to know about). And, should it matter, am gay.
December 15, 2009, 10:29 amuh_clem says:
I come to this blog to read the views of smart articulate people who have a different perspective than mine. But looking at the responses above, I’m starting to question that premise:
My brief bio:
Trained mathemetician/physicist with libertarian leanings currently working as a software developer. Male.
Just like almost everybody else in this thread. Wow. Are we the geek squad or what? (c:
December 15, 2009, 10:33 ammattc says:
a call bs on most these comments
December 15, 2009, 10:35 amChristie says:
I started reading your blog shortly after receiving my acceptance letter into law school, and quit law school after a month when my son became ill. I still haven’t decided whether or not I’ll return. Oh, and I’m currently a stay-at-home mom who bakes pies.
December 15, 2009, 10:37 amMadHatChemist says:
I am a Nuclear Chemist with a Ph.D. I’ve nonetheless been involved in politics in the past and like to keep updated on what’s going on and how it could affect me.
December 15, 2009, 10:38 amLargo says:
B|r|y|a|n H|a|n|n, 44, Newfoundlander living in Hong Kong with Chinese wife and son. Lapsed Christian. B.Sc in Math/CompSci. ADHD. Teacher and Programmer, now stay at home dad. Reading Wittgenstein and Dooweweerd. Reformed philosophy. Interests in ontology. Teaching son programming. Working through issues of foundations of mathematics with application to pedagogy.
I love Frank Zappa, the King’s Gambit, and trying to play the Waldstein. Hope to learn go. Wish I knew aikido. Theoretical interest in recreational and cosmetic psycho-pharmacology. Gave up its practice twenty years ago. Waiting for the laws to change, or for a vacation to Amsterdam.
Enjoyed VC for many years. One of the sites with the best comment threads. Not like two years ago, but still exceptional.
December 15, 2009, 10:38 amDavid Chesler says:
Someone ought to be graphing out this data.
Late 40s, from the Bronx, living north of Boston for a quarter century. Software engineer, preferring math-heavy applications. (I’m currently in my 3rd year of a 3-month contract to a place that makes a sniffer to detect bioagents that the bad guys might release.)
December 15, 2009, 10:39 amStrict libertarian minarchist (though I don’t advocate unilaterally opening the borders.)
Single father of three, widowed and engaged.
I’ve been a law fan for a long time, but it was a lot easier to make an applied math degree from two years of pre-med and then it was time to go to work.
S says:
USMC Regimental XO.
December 15, 2009, 10:40 amJason says:
Web Developer/Designer with interests in libertarian ideas, natural rights and the U.S. Constitution.
December 15, 2009, 10:41 amBrett L says:
Bachelor’s in Comp Sci/MBA
Work in Higher Education. Gun owner, libertarian/conservative.
December 15, 2009, 10:41 amAllen E. says:
I’m a PC programmer, 64-years old, single, male, retiring next year. Small “l” libertarian since my teens. Working in financial data processing services. AGW “denier”, but not GW. Space enthusiast, S/F/F reader, plus history, science.
I’ve had the Volokh Conspirancy bookmarked since shortly after 9/11, probably referred by Instapundit. I find legal thought to be, in some ways, an even more complex area than really BAD programming, but I enjoy any and all attempts to cut thru the Gordian complexities. My brother is a lawyer, and a Democrat, and I “try” not to hold either against him.
December 15, 2009, 10:43 amMQPeterson says:
I am a Forensic Anthropologist with a Ph.D. in Human Biology.
December 15, 2009, 10:44 amAs a consultant, I work with lawyers and their cases on a daily basis.
Some the work includes firearms related issues.
I find VC comments valuable.
Bill Mill says:
Just another comp sci programmer nerd. I find that this blog is often right on the edge of my legal understanding, and I find that blogs at the edge of my understanding are the ones that teach me the most.
Question for anybody: do you think the preponderance of comp sci/physics/engineering among people in these comments who are not lawyers reflects the overall composition of the internet, or that there is some reason we’re attracted to this particular fairly law-wonk-ish blog? (It’s valid to question if there is, in fact, a “we”. ISTM that there is)
December 15, 2009, 10:44 amCb says:
Grad student Computer Science
December 15, 2009, 10:46 ammikeyes says:
Michael Keyes (hence the contraction.)
I am a physician who has a life long interest in the Constitution, especially the First and Second Amendments. VC is the first blog I read every day because it is different from the others in that it has reasonable (if wild at times) discussions on Con law and other topics. I am educated after I read it.
If I disagree with an issue I don’t feel as if I had murdered babies to reach my decision. Rather, I find that most opinions rendered on the Conspiracy are accepted as a talking point if not agreed with. This is a refreshing approach.
I am a Catholic Libertarian, if that makes any sense. I left the Army Reserve as a COL after two wars, am a life member of the NRA, was nominated to the top ten list for the American Handgunner Award in 1984, and think that the ACLU serves a purpose in our society.
The Conspiracy thinks things through which is the reason I keep coming back to it. I don’t always agree with the conclusions, but I respect the authors and know that they are sincere and intelligent. Two qualities not often found in political blogs.
December 15, 2009, 10:48 amStruthius says:
Retired (early) IT professional/exec. Moved to Central TX from LA. Went back to school for the fun of it. Got MA in history. Department head asked me to stay and teach American History survey course. Love it. Also grow hay, which isn’t very exciting. Kinda like watching grass grow, but taller.
December 15, 2009, 10:50 amCDR D says:
Retired Coast Guard Officer.
December 15, 2009, 10:50 ambearing says:
Homeschooling mother of 4. I have a PhD in chemical engineering, but it turned out I didn’t want to be a professor after all.
December 15, 2009, 10:51 amAndrew M says:
Catholic aerospace engineer, Missouri ex-pat stuck in the CA high desert. I just find the legal discussions quite interesting, especially in evolving law. Not something I think I could make a career in, but still very interesting reads, and the comments are far and away better than those on most blogs. Tend to lean conservative/libertarian, depending on the issue.
December 15, 2009, 10:55 amJohn Armstrong says:
Former research/academic mathematician (Yale Ph.D. ’06) in a less-than-popular field, now unable to find employment outside the academy either.
December 15, 2009, 10:58 amstevep says:
Software developer. Many years experience in a LAMP stack, recently switched to ASP.NET.
December 15, 2009, 11:05 amSeaDrive says:
Once upon a time, long, long ago, I was sent to a business seminar where there was a little exercise about how people reacted to the (fake) announcement of a product. The class divided roughly into two groups: those who took the claims at face value, and those who said “interesting. Now show me the data, convince me it will work.” The latter group comprised the programmers, engineers, scientists, etc. (Not sure if lawyers were represented.) So, I think the VC audience is composed of people who like to open the black box and peek inside.
December 15, 2009, 11:07 amJon C says:
Jon C — I’m a software engineer currently taking a year off to study journalism at Columbia.
December 15, 2009, 11:08 amCisco Costa says:
26, translator, Brazilian. With just an undergraduate degree, I think that makes me the reader with the least formal education. Libertarian.
December 15, 2009, 11:09 amjheath says:
I can post on both pages. I am a former law student, and published an LR article as an undergrad history student. I consider getting back to law school, but it is probably not financially possible. I am currently in Montreal as a rigging project manager for an entertainment company, and was probably the only circus rigger to see my original work briefed in _Heller_ by party and amici without citation.
December 15, 2009, 11:09 amJason Woertink says:
Medicinal Chemist.
December 15, 2009, 11:10 amLaura(southernxyl) says:
My guess is that there are two sides to lawyering: there’s the schmoozing, personal charisma, influence-the-jury part, and then there’s the analytical part that mines the written word to see what it really says and what can be made of it. The analytical part is much more in evidence on this blog, and it appeals to us technical minded folk who are not lawyers.
December 15, 2009, 11:12 amGulf Coast Bandit says:
Junior at Washington and Lee University, major in history (emphasis non-Western) and music minor
December 15, 2009, 11:15 amMike Marino says:
Mike Marino, 48 year old married father of two, IT Procurement Director for a global drinks company. As kid Growing up I wanted to be a lawyer and ultimately sit on the Supreme Court, but as another poster said, a misspent youth, family and well paying job got in the way. I’ve been a lurker for years and enjoy the variety of topics covered by the Conspirators as well as the discussion in the comments.
December 15, 2009, 11:16 amAnonymous says:
I thought I wanted to go to law school (I was really into debate in high school), until I took a turn to B-school and investing.
You made the right choice. Never look back. I’m a lawyer who practiced for five years, and I’m about to go off to B-school myself.
December 15, 2009, 11:17 amM. Gross says:
Oil and gas consultant, mainly in the North Sea and Africa. BS and MS in Petroleum Engineering.
December 15, 2009, 11:18 amHigh School says:
High School senior. Libertarian (big L), Jewish
December 15, 2009, 11:18 amI’m really into economics and law. Started reading VC when a friend’s blog linked over here. I’ve been reading VC religiously since then. I’m really impressed with the quality and level of thought of each of the posts.
TennLion says:
Retired soldier (Infantry and Chemical Corps). Just interested in the Constitution and how it is applied in legal affairs and public policy.
December 15, 2009, 11:18 amOrange County Enrolled Agent says:
I’m an Enrolled Agent in Orange County, California and have been reading Volokh for about three years. I found it when you covered a tax issue. I continue to read Volokh because of the issues discussed and the quality of the discussion.
December 15, 2009, 11:19 amArchitect says:
I am an… Architect, living in NJ. Originally stumbled across the site whilst looking for some sane discussion on 2A during Heller.
I don’t post much, but like what I read.
December 15, 2009, 11:19 amRick A. says:
Political science prof. Gamer. Nerd. Good cook.
December 15, 2009, 11:22 amMako Shark says:
40, PhD in economics, research assistant professor at a land grant university. Gun owner, conservative/libertarian. Interested in issues related to personal and economic liberty. Great site!
December 15, 2009, 11:23 amCam Edwards says:
I’m a talk show host dealing primarily with 2nd Amendment issues (obligatory plug: the show airs weeknights 9-midnight Eastern on Sirius Patriot 144 and online at http://www.nranews.com).
I read much more than I comment, but I’ve found the VC to be one of the best places to find legal blogging about 2nd Amendment issues. I’ve also been very pleased to have several writers from the VC on the show over the years to talk about various issues raised on the blog.
December 15, 2009, 11:23 amJaimeInTexas (Jam) says:
BS Computer Science
December 15, 2009, 11:25 amRelational Database designer
Sofware designer and developer
rarango says:
Whoa–to quote George Costanza: we are talking shrinkage here! (personal reference of course)
PhD is public policy and administration, and currently involed in public health emergency preparedness. Army vet,ranger qualified. Fantastic blog filled with all kind of interesting commentary from the posters above who have identified themselves. Thank you all for making the VC a great blog to discuss interesting issues.
This blog does a wonderful service, imho, of taking legal issues and explaining them to lay persons like me.
December 15, 2009, 11:28 amThis is the sine qua non of blogs (how often can I use that expression)–Thanks Professor Vololkh
rarango says:
Whoa–to quote George Costanza: we are talking shrinkage here! (personal reference of course)
PhD is public policy and administration, and currently involed in public health emergency preparedness. Army vet,ranger qualified. Fantastic blog filled with all kind of interesting commentary from the posters above who have identified themselves. Thank you all for making the VC a great blog to discuss interesting issues.
This blog does a wonderful service, imho, of taking legal issues and explaining them to lay persons like me.
December 15, 2009, 11:29 amThis is the sine qua non of blogs (how often can I use that expression)–Thanks Professor Volokh
LarryA says:
Larry Arnold
December 15, 2009, 11:33 amBA in English w/ minor in history, BS in sociology, Masters of Architecture in construction management, all from Texas A&M.
Right now unemployed and looking, without much success since I can’t afford to move out of central Texas.
Lifelong shooter and for the past 25 years a civilian instructor, including basic pistol and rifle, Texas concealed carry, and Texas hunter education (where I have to know enough about a narrow slice of Texas law including weapons, justification of the use of force, and hunting to teach it) Lifer NRA, TSRA, TCHA (director), and our local gun club. Contrary to spousal opinion, however, I don’t own “one of everything.”
Jack-of-all-trades civilian resume, from hospital renovation to social work to technical writing to managing a gun store to desktop publishing to…
Reserve retired infantry officer, Vietnam era.
Published author, including a novel in paperback, numerous novels and short stories e-published, coauthor of the first Texas rape medical examination protocol, and an editor with several novels under my belt. President of Kerrville Writer’s Alliance.
And I maintain two websites, mine at http://www.talonsite com and the Texas Concealed Handgun Association at http://www.txchia.org (where I’ve been tracking gun bills in the Texas Legislature for a decade or so)
My hobby is music, including 50 years in school, civic, and church (United Methodist mostly) choirs and little theater musicals.
Married 40 years and counting, two grown daughters and a son-in-law, living in an “empty” nest crowded with a disabled cousin, two dogs, and a cat (where I have to lay down the law: One Pet Per Person!)
I’m here mainly for the all-sides perspective on gun rights, which I’ve supported since the Gun Control Act of 1968 (my politics are RA Heinlein libertarian) but I regularly get sucked into other issues.
Noesis Noeseos says:
Retired, I am a libertarian on some issues, conservative on others, who wants to stay informed on the issues confronting what was designed to be a constitutional republic but what is fast becoming a socialistic bureaucracy–not that there seems much I can do about the decline, but I take comfort in knowing that some of you younger fellows are still fighting the trend.
December 15, 2009, 11:35 amEricPWJohnson says:
Is my name
Primarily I am a high and low level consultant for business acquisitions. I have been involved in oil exploration, steel mills, heavy manufacturing, real estate, commercial development been in management of Orleans Parish DA’s office, been the CFO of boutique and politically connecte law firms in New Orleans – currently live overseas in Doha Qatar and in Tennessee
December 15, 2009, 11:36 amkarrde says:
Ed: BS in Electrical/Computer Engineering, MS. in Math. Sci.
Personal tastes: Sci-fi, Open Source computer software, music, and hunting, and lurking on VC.
(Not posting under my real name, just an internet-handle I picked up years ago and decided to stick with.)
I began reading Volokh while doing the MS work in Math, and was intrigued at another field in which intricate logical structures are the playthings of academics and the bane of undergrads…
I’ve moved away from Math. Sci. and gone back towards Engineering in my professional career, and still read VC for the incisive commentary and legal understanding.
As an aside, I’ve had a (just-passed-the-Bar) lawyer/friend tell me that I can think/argue like a lawyer. I credit the fine folks at VC for most of it.
December 15, 2009, 11:46 amh2u says:
27 year old Director of Technology
December 15, 2009, 11:47 amGraduate of UC Santa Cruz’s Baskin School of Engineering
Stubborn conservative living in Santa Monica, CA
Dating a beautiful liberal lawyer
OldSarg says:
Prior Military, Business Owner and, since 911, working for DoD again. I enjoy discussions of legal issues, environmental activism, Big Brother and those who have decided settled science. Oh, I am hiding out in South Dakota, tend to be Independent and like summer/Global Warming, being that it is presently -7 F and the lakes froze two weeks before Thanksgiving this year.
December 15, 2009, 11:48 amsgerber says:
Composer – stevengerber.com/
December 15, 2009, 11:51 amjim says:
I am 58 year old married man with 3 grown children. I am Ph.D. chemist working for energy company developing processes to convert biomass to transportation fuels. Libertarian with reduced expectations for improving our political environment.
December 15, 2009, 11:54 amChris Travers says:
I am a self-taught software engineer and member of the IEEE, as well as a hobbyist student of linguistics and history. Most of my work is in the open source areas and now we do mostly accounting software where I learned the discipline.
I work with small to midsize businesses to assess software needs, manage software development, and even do a lot of the development myself.
I think there is a connection between open source vs closed source software development and politics. Despite the image out there, the studies in Europe have suggested that open source developers tend to be politically to the right of closed source developers. This matches generally my experience as well here in the US at least in some areas of politics. Of course there are very visible exceptions.
Closed source software comes out of a culture of innovation, and complex systems are frequently built quickly with a lot of (IMO too much) money thrown at problems. Despite the fact that most software sucks on a technical level, it encourages folks to think that we can innovate our way out of any problem. Closed source software also tends to be both nationalist and protectionist in the sense that a lot of rhetoric is paid to jobs creation and economic development in one country.
Open source developers on the other hand usually involves heavy re-use of other open source components and careful peer review of changes. Development involves less money and hence is fundamentally more conservative in approach. A lot more attention is paid to stability of the complex software system and change is generally pushed through in smaller chunks. The result is that the software tends to be of higher quality, more stable (both in the sense of not-crashing and not-changing), and change is managed very carefully. Open source work teaches people very quickly the problems that occur when one tries to change a system too fast and so pushes for constraint in how one approaches change.
This doesn’t mean that the software doesn’t change or innovate– it does. But both the change and innovation are evolutionary rather than revolutionary. This is the way we should approach social change. We can disagree about the direction of change but if we adopt the same conservative approach to change itself and agree that the past has much to teach us, then at least we can have intelligent discussions.
In my spare time I do a lot of reading. Most recently this has included prehistoric studies of Northern Europe, early Mediterranean history, the development of the witchcraft prosecutions in Europe in the Middle Ages, and the odd bit of Kabbalistic work as well (just finished reading a translation of the Sepher Raziel). I do read judicial opinions for fun though not for profit as I am not a lawyer :-).
I used to post here as “Einhverfr” but decided to use my real name instead.
December 15, 2009, 11:58 amPooblicus says:
I am 61 years old, professional training as economist, self-employed. Amateur law geek.
December 15, 2009, 11:58 amanother anonymous commenter says:
Academic theoretical computer scientist/mathematician/cryptographer. Paranoid enough to not use my real name (paranoia being an occupational hazard of cryptographers).
I read the blog frequently (and have for years) but don’t post very much. Mainly interested in privacy issues, property rights, and religious freedom, but I enjoy reading a lot of the legal analyses even when the actual subject matter isn’t something I’m a priori interested in, just to see the technical issues of law involved.
December 15, 2009, 11:58 amGranite26 says:
Programmer/Crazy Libertarian
December 15, 2009, 11:59 amEMB says:
I’m a socialist math professor.
December 15, 2009, 12:03 pmmidwatchcowboy says:
Retired submarine officer. Currently Senior Reactor Operator (in training) at civilian nuke plant.
December 15, 2009, 12:04 pmHercules says:
Ron. CRNA at a major medical center in the Raleigh/Durham area. Stumbled across volokh.com a while back and am a frequent visitor to the site. Both sons want to be attorneys and they took the LSATs this month. All three of us are pro-2nd Amendment and we are closely following MacDonald vs. Chicago.
Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah to all.
December 15, 2009, 12:06 pmpharmprof says:
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at a US public university. Born and educated in a formerly communist Central European country. VC reader for 2 years.
December 15, 2009, 12:06 pmdac says:
Community and Economic Development (planning and financing projects for munis), regional A/E firm. Worked for Law Firm out of Grad School, Land Use related activities
December 15, 2009, 12:08 pmJim Owen says:
Ex-Marine (pre-Vietnam), retired “rocket scientist” (42 years of spacecraft and control center design, construction and operation), global warming skeptic (the hockey stick was an obvious lie from day 1), grandfather (4 times so far), long-time NRA member and long-distance hiker (Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Great Divide Trail and still going). Interests in GW/CC discussions, history, politics, nature, pre-Columbian Indian culture and specific legal topics – several of which are occassionally discussed here. Discovered VC several years ago and visit whenever I have computer access (meaning whenever I’m not spending 6 months in the mountains). Website is spiriteaglehome.com — totally non-political, entirely hiking/travel/Indian rock art and culture related. Website is presently being reworked.
December 15, 2009, 12:09 pmHarry Schell says:
Pushing 60, accountant by trade, running my own small manufacturing firm. Libertarian to conservative views, personal experience with the limits of police protection and reading of history leads to great interest in 2A matters and legal remedies to overreaching egos of regulators/politicians. Track days, shooting and distance running for fun. Divorced. Nice kids, all productive, employed, independent and saner than me. Political junkie from before college.
December 15, 2009, 12:10 pmandrew graham says:
I’m a writer, media strategist, and occasional journalist. I’ve written copy for hedge funds, financial services firms, multinational corporations, and a few law firms near the top of AmLaw. My specialties are financial technology, global affairs, and environmentalism.
I live in Manhattan and work from my living room or the nearest coffee shop. Politically, I support market socialism, but I like policy far more than I like politics.
December 15, 2009, 12:14 pmfirst history says:
I went to UCLA (BA, political science) to get an education and USC (Master’s, public administration) to get a job. ;-) I work for a local government agency as a budget analyst.
Interested in politics and the law. Have downloaded many of the law review articles referenced in VC for my reading “enjoyment.”
December 15, 2009, 12:20 pmGenelle says:
45, female, Ph.D. in mass comm, associate prof in communications at large public university, co-author of a media law textbook. Discovered EV in grad school while writing diss. Use VC for news and research for book and articles. Don’t always agree but it’s good reading.
December 15, 2009, 12:22 pmJerrod Ankenman says:
I’m a poker player and researcher, co-author of “The Mathematics of Poker.” MS in Applied Math from Columbia in about a week. Headed to some PhD program in the fall.
Libertarianish, have always enjoyed law, esp. constitutional law.
December 15, 2009, 12:22 pmfishbane says:
I’m a code monkey by trade. Founder, president, chief janitor, whatever of a small consulting firm that specializes in trying to make sense of large amounts of data.
I work on art installations, performances, and complex practical jokes, mainly large-scale, interactive things, on the side to keep sane. Sometimes these are very visible, like last weekend’s Santacon in NYC, sometimes they’re indistinguishable from legitimate business ventures.
December 15, 2009, 12:23 pmJoe Tetreault says:
34 year old communications professional and amateur blogger. I make trouble.
December 15, 2009, 12:25 pmJoe Kristan says:
I’m a CPA practicing tax in Des Moines, proprietor of the Tax Update newsletter/blog since 2001. I enjoy the smart posts and different personalities of the Conspirators.
December 15, 2009, 12:25 pmMarcelo Pecanha says:
36 year-old Brazilian Mechanical Engineer doing oil and gas offshore design for a French company. Been a reader since 2003, interested in economics and constitutional law. Atheist and mucho libertarian, married, one kid.
December 15, 2009, 12:26 pmGordon Langston says:
Worked in retail grocery, no college but I have a Superior Court judge for a relative along with a female criminal lawyer, an estate lawyer, a close friend who is our family lawyer and an active interest in 2nd amendment law. The blog is very stimulating and I spread it around.
Desert motorcycle riding and surfing are hobbies.
December 15, 2009, 12:27 pmcharley says:
software tester, semi-libertarian, survivalist
December 15, 2009, 12:28 pmActual says:
62 year old retired engineer. I spent most of my life working in the Middle East and Africa. When I was younger, I wanted to be a lawyer until I found out that lawyers don’t get to wear pocket protectors or carry slide rules.
December 15, 2009, 12:28 pmCato The Elder says:
B.S. in Mathematics, M.S. in Applied Math, 2nd year Ph. D student studying Evolutionary Biology. 28 years old. Started out as a liberal in an ignorant youth, become extremely libertarian in a leftist college environment, and then became your classic “libertarian-conservative” after discovering the radical Misesians, Ayn Rand acolytes, and then excellent conservative blogs like this one.
I read the VC mainly because it has the best comment section I’ve found yet; here you’re expected to source your assertions, be civil and polite when addressing your opponents, and knowledgeable and measured when speaking as an authority. These qualities are almost wholly lacking on the Net, and in political blogs in particular, even those whose ideology I’m sypmathetic to. Here also, because of the law’s “generalist” quality that results from its applicability to many different domains, very diverse types of people can contribute interesting and specialized knowledge when the topic requires it. Some of the best philosophical & history threads we’ve had are a veritable buffet for the mind.
December 15, 2009, 12:28 pmBiker says:
Ph D Mechanical Engineer with math minor. 30++ years experience in multi-phase thermal sciences, models and methods and software development.
Libertarianish with anarchistish tendencies.
December 15, 2009, 12:30 pmJohn Coffey says:
Welder/Fabricator. I build race cars.
December 15, 2009, 12:31 pmCato The Elder says:
I have your book! Cool to see you read. I can’t say I apply it very often when playing, but I did get to understand one fairly valuable principle from it — committing your opponent to the pot when you have lots of post-flop equity, especially when he can easily decide if he’s beat later.
December 15, 2009, 12:34 pmSomething Wicked says:
I’m an aerospace engineer with 14 years experience in large commercial aircraft design and testing; married to a former Deputy District Attorney. I read volokh for an intelligent conservative perspective with less yelling. I’ve always had an interested in Con Law issues.
December 15, 2009, 12:44 pmPK Scott says:
I’m a mathematician/statistician who has worked in environmental consulting for the last 20 years and has been doing primarily litigation work for the last 8 years. I don’t often comment but do get lost in the comments on this blog on a regular basis.
December 15, 2009, 12:47 pmgasman says:
Academic pediatric anesthesiologist in the midwest.
December 15, 2009, 12:49 pmLove the breadth of ideas, intelligent discourse, and generally hanging around people smarter than I am.
Joachim Kuebler says:
Joachim from Germany, 44 years old, human rights activist, fighting capital punishment, interested in philosophy, caffeine addict.
December 15, 2009, 12:51 pmKarl Lembke says:
Not quite the name I was born with, but the name I’m known by on the internet and in SF fandom. Member of Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, and serve on its Board of Directors.
Scientist by training, with a B.S. in radiological and health physics, and a lot of reading in other fields.
Started reading Eugene’s “Center Right” series, and when that ended, found this blog.
December 15, 2009, 12:57 pmJonathan Gardner says:
Jonathan Gardner, BS Physics turned computer programmer. Very religious (LDS) father of 5 in the Seattle area. Want to see the end of abortion and the elevation of marriage as the highest ideal.
December 15, 2009, 12:59 pmChris Barna says:
Undergraduate political science student.
December 15, 2009, 1:00 pmjay-w says:
64 y.o. anglo-saxon male agnostic … gun-nut & hunter … PhD in Physics … work for an R&D company that survives (I’m sorry to say) on Government pork. … in my spare time, I’m trying to find a publisher for a Libertarian-themed novel that I finished last year, and working on a second Lib-themed novel (I get a lot of ideas from this website; if I ever manage to get something published, I’ll have to give y’all credit somehow.)
December 15, 2009, 1:01 pmJimF says:
PCB Designer/Engineering Technician
December 15, 2009, 1:02 pmSteve M says:
I’m a 33 year old Hispanic man that, last year, was convicted of Racketeering and four counts of Exploiting Prostitution. I’ve been a Libertarian for most of my adult life and because of my legal troubles, took an intense interest in the law.
December 15, 2009, 1:13 pmFriedrich says:
Medical physics postdoc/resident at a large cancer center in NYC. Switched fields right after finishing a PhD in astrophysics because I wanted to do something a little more applied. I have libertarian leanings but cannot abide the republican party due to its religious motivations and social conservatism (I am a committed atheist, and have strong feelings pro-gay marriage, anti-death penalty, and pro-choice).
I’ve been reading this site for around 6 years, but rarely comment. I enjoy the perspective provided by the lawyers who blog and comment here, and the somewhat more measured, friendly, and objective tone of the writing.
December 15, 2009, 1:15 pmAllan Walstad says:
Old astronomy Phd, college physics teacher, Austrian econ fan, into philosophy of science, got here through 2A interest. Formerly posted as Doc W. Google my name and be confronted with 10 pages of boring info about me.
December 15, 2009, 1:19 pmCarl Donath says:
Software engineer by trade, RKBA law hobbyist (particular interest in NY & GA arms laws, SCOTUS rulings, and overturning 922(o) already).
December 15, 2009, 1:23 pmmemomachine says:
Hmmmm.
Veteran programmer, 25+ years experience, independent developer, despises lawyers and thinks all judges should be hanged but most especially the SCOTUS. Also thinks a new monument should be built on the Washington Mall where all currently serving members of Congress should be walled up a la Cask of Amontadillo as an object lesson to all future members of Congress.
December 15, 2009, 1:29 pmRic Bergstrom says:
Ric Bergstrom,
State Farm Insurance Agent in Richmond VA. http://www.bergstrom-insurance.com
You could say I am constitutional law hobbyist…but really I am simply fascinated with the process and the history.
It originally started with following Heller V DC and now I find myself reading about almost any case.
We have an amazing country and an amazing process for sorting it all out. This site provides food for thought as well as clarity.
Thanks!!
Ric
December 15, 2009, 1:32 pmAndrew Hofer says:
I’m a 46 year-old man, married with three boys. I have been in finance for 21 years, and I’m currently head of fixed income research at a money management firm in NYC.
“Libertarian” is the most likely philosophy to explain my positions on things. I find all you lawyers fascinating, but I’m glad I didn’t go to law school like so many of my buddies from Yale (Including two of your UCLA classmates).
December 15, 2009, 1:37 pmRobert Ayers says:
I am a retired computer programmer. Majored in math and astronomy. Am moderately libertarian.
++
An earlier commenter remarked
December 15, 2009, 1:38 pmI am currently curious whether Jim Lindgren’s own academic integrity will urge him to revisit his embrace of a smoking gun in
http://volokh.com/2009/12/08/the-homogenized-data-is-false/
in view of its thorough destruction in
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2009/12/trust_scientists
If you visit http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/12/12/sticky-for-smoking-gun-at-darwin-zero/
you can find a “thorough destruction” of the Economist blog-article.
R. Sherwood says:
Master of Applied and Natural Resource Economics.
Live “off grid,” not for ideological reasons, but simply because setting up a windmill and generator system was comparably priced to the local utility set up fee, but now my electric costs are lower than the $.48/KW-hr I used to pay after taxes and user fees. Also building my own home, slowly.
Small business owner (so far just an aside), actor, singer, math tutor (enjoy it so much I may retire to become a teacher), commercial driver.
Am interested in language usage and law, particularly as it relates to economics, natural resources, supreme court cases and personal freedom.
December 15, 2009, 1:44 pmJeff Lebowski says:
Mid-30s, married, Catholic, father of two boys. Born, raised, and still live & work in Indiana. Right of center, mostly. Work as a retirement plans compliance specialist. I’m not a lawyer, but I do work with several in my department. Hobbies include shooting, bowling, golf, softball, ice hockey (yes, there’s at least one person in Indiana who can skate), and, of course, raising our family. I lurk a lot more than I comment, but I do thrown in the occasional unreasoned, poorly thought out, ridiculous statement once in awhile.
I’ve always had an interest in Con law. I had a really good history and government teacher in high school (different classes, same teacher). Spent my entire junior year buried in the Constitution and amendments, especially Bill of Rights. There was a program at the time in celebration of the 200th anniverary of the adoption of the Constitution where we debated those, and our government class won a trip to DC. Got to meet one of our Senators, too.
Also a Supreme Court junkie. That’s SCOTUS and Supreme Court of Indiana.
December 15, 2009, 1:44 pmMichael says:
Harvard freshman, soon-to-be classicist, possessor of a long-standing interest in ConLaw.
December 15, 2009, 1:45 pmSonicfrog says:
Jefferson and Chomsky? Eeek!!! A deadly philosophical combo there! :-)
December 15, 2009, 1:47 pmHare-Bringer says:
I own a computer consulting company. I enjoy legal and political topics.
December 15, 2009, 1:47 pmJPB says:
part-time blogger, full-time researcher at a libertarian 501(c)(3). I work for lawyers. 32 y.o.
December 15, 2009, 1:49 pmAndrew Myers says:
Generally libertarian computer science professor. Law seems to me a lot like software. Both are not very constrained by the physical world; perhaps more constrained by precedent. I am often fascinated by the reasoning and arguments presented here.
December 15, 2009, 1:50 pmScott Grannis says:
Retired economist who is impressed with the quality and breadth of the analysis here, and the fact that it is free. Libertarian, supporter of CATO, and a supply-sider. Very involved with my own blog dealing with economics, finance and politics, which is also free. Believe that legal issues, like politics, can be very important to markets and the economy.
December 15, 2009, 2:00 pmKelly Martin says:
I’m unsure whether to comment on this thread or the other one, as I’m a law school dropout; I ran out of money, and to some degree interest, after completing 1L, moving back to my first true love, computers. I’m a systems and networks administrator, currently unemployed due to the recession (my last employer, a capital leasing firm, imploded with the rest of that industry). This blog was brought to my attention by a friend who is a lawyer; I read it occasionally because political and legal topics interest me.
December 15, 2009, 2:01 pmKirk Parker says:
Hey, say Hi to the folks at XCor and Scaled Composites!
December 15, 2009, 2:02 pmBill Harshaw says:
Retired USDA bureaucrat. “Spent” billions of taxpayer dollars while working. A contrarian liberal who’s often amazed at the changes in the academic and legal world since I was in college (not to mention the rise of China and the fall of the USSR).
December 15, 2009, 2:08 pmlatinist says:
Wow, I had no idea I was so unusual as a humanities type around here. Until I saw Michael’s comment, I thought I’d be the only one.
I’m a grad student (ABD) in Classics, writing on Ovid. Pretty liberal now, but at the time I started reading VC I probably would have described myself as libertarian (or even slightly conservative), so who knows what I’ll think in the future?
I read a lot of the posts, but save my commenting mostly to start fights on the “these liberal humanities academics are ruining everything” type of comment thread. Ideally, one of those threads comes up when I really ought to be writing a chapter or something, for optimal procrastination opportunities.
Oh, and I’m a secular Jew from New York. And a juggler.
December 15, 2009, 2:08 pmDennis N says:
I’m a Civil Engineer (wishing we were paid more than the rude ones), former US Army Infantry officer, former Scoutmaster. I fall somewhere between Libertarian and Conservative on the political spectrum.
December 15, 2009, 2:09 pmTom Cram says:
42 y.o., married, father of a 2 y.o. boy. I’m an audio engineer and musician. I’ve worked for a large international pro-audio manufacturing corporation for 15 years. I philosophically lean towards Anarcho-Individualism, but I’m a Jeffersonian Constitutionalist in practice. IOW I have no political representation whatsoever…:)
I’m also a firearms enthusiast.
December 15, 2009, 2:09 pmFederal Farmer says:
I’m a 40-something software architect and consultant in Chicago. Also a gun-rights activist, firearms collector, and shooting enthusiast.
Former Liberal turned small “l” libertarian by the accrued wisdom that age and experience bring.
I’ve been following Volokh.com since Parker v. DC brought me around here.
December 15, 2009, 2:10 pmBarbara Skolaut says:
I’m a paralegal with a large international law firm. Original degree (many moons ago) is in Geology/Geography. Libertarian-leaning, but don’t like the Libertarian Party (they’ve got some nuts, but my main disagreement is with their foreign policy – or lack of it) – more conservative than not, want the government to stay out of my life and my wallet.
I enjoy the analysis and back-and-forth here; Eugene and the rest of the Conspirators provide a valuable service/platform. (Though I’ll admit to skipping most of the esoteric legal analysis – I can get that at work. ;-p )
December 15, 2009, 2:14 pmdocduke says:
Retired PhD physicist, numerical modeler. I believe law to be one of the major impediments to social flexibility and adaptation of our society, and a convenient way to protect corrupt practices. (I live in New Mexico.) I visit your blog usually from a link in Powerline or Instapundit, and stay a while to find out what strange happenings have ocurred in the legal realm.
I consider much legal reasoning to be analogous to studying how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
December 15, 2009, 2:14 pmJohn A says:
Chronologically 64. Otherwise, all ages.
Chronically curious. And usually surprised. Oh, and easily amused – many years ago I noticed that the dictionary at school defined a dabchick as a grebe, a grebe as a loon, and a loon as – a dabchick. Never mentioning, in any of the three, birds or water… I found it hilarious.
Legal mattters sometimes are amusing, if simultaneously terrifying. I am sure that a significant portion of the Congresscritters who pass bills without reading them would agree “ignorance of the law is no excuse,” as an example. Not that I actually expect everyone to read everything, and certainly not to understand it or its implications. Heck, even the huge IRS has admitted it cannot understand the entirety of the tax codes/laws/regulatons, a [relatively] small part of what Congress is supposed to deal with.
December 15, 2009, 2:15 pmADD says:
I’m a physics professor at a small liberal-arts college.
December 15, 2009, 2:16 pmCarLitGuy says:
“Jack of many trades” – we meet by accident.
Have worked many jobs, in disparate areas of the economy, and have as varied interests in my reading and my scholastic studies. Physics, Engineering, Website Design, MMO programming, History (primarily medieval), Religion, English Lit, etc.
Master of none.
December 15, 2009, 2:19 pmcmh says:
I’m a software systems safety researcher.
December 15, 2009, 2:28 pmBrendan says:
Library of Congress employee. No, I’m not one of those Feds pulling down $170K per year.
December 15, 2009, 2:29 pmKevin says:
Kevin H.; Jack of many trades, but mostly Design.
Libertarian with many interests; oh yes, and Canadian, if we’re keeping track of that sort of thing. Followed a link from Instapundit many years ago, and have been checking regularily since then.
December 15, 2009, 2:36 pmComputer SmartyPants says:
I am the (only) IT guy for a floor full of 75ish attorneys who make up 12 or so small litigation firms. I know as little about the law as they do about computers. That works well for us.
I have no pure interest in the law, just how it intersect with the world of tech.
December 15, 2009, 2:44 pmandinista says:
Aerospace engineer: satellites. Not my normal name, I use my normal name for most posts. Strong defender of the Blessings of Liberty, strong voluntary communitarian. Let people be free, they will band together to make their world a better place. Do not fear the future or try to control it, let it be emergent from our best efforts.
December 15, 2009, 2:51 pmwolfefan says:
It’s wonderful reading all these little intros/bios. Nice to meet you all.
I’m a 911 call-taker and trainer in the DC metro. Previously a pastor and a radio disc jockey/news director.
December 15, 2009, 2:53 pms says:
LMS (Learning Management System) administrator at a college. Former user of VESOFT 3000. First heard Eugene speak at a convention in the 1980s in Washington DC – think the subject was HP3000 System Tables :)
December 15, 2009, 3:00 pmpireader says:
Partner at a management consulting firm. Grew up in the Midwest, now live in California.
One of the few blogs I visit daily. Enjoy the high-quality of the legal analyses and the political/social commentary, even — or especially — when I disagree.
Also,the VC bloggers have strong-held ideologies. But you guys periodically step outside them in ways I find admirable.
December 15, 2009, 3:01 pmMatthew X. Economou says:
I am a computer scientist working mostly in the field of information security, although my duties have expanded into general I.T. operations management over the past several years. I’m personally interested in civil rights law, especially as it applies to modern communications infrastructure and mass media (e.g., the Internet, digital rights management systems, reverse engineering, computer hacking). Through work I have become involved in various information security and medical privacy regulations and compliance initiatives (e.g., HIPAA, Directive 95/46/EC). Because I support I.T. operations in different countries, I have also become interested in foreign and international law.
December 15, 2009, 3:07 pmDT says:
Semi-retired engineer/consultant, former Democrat who has become somewhat more conservative/libertarian over the years, strongly believe the Democratic party has left me rather than vice versa.
December 15, 2009, 3:20 pmJ Kuebler says:
I am a retired IRS agent. I seem to enjoy a few legal blog sites, usually of the libertarian/conservative flavor. I think the law has begun to come unglued with all the needless litigation in the US.
December 15, 2009, 3:20 pmbasher20 says:
Systems administrator for a variety of companies. BS in Industrial Engineering, with a life-long interest in complex systems analysis and design. Rejected law school in early 1990s when I couldn’t square it with my belief that there were already too many lawyers.
politically conservative with a strong libertarian streak. General Madisonian outlook on role of gevernment. White, male, suburban dwelling, SUV driving midwesterner.
To me the law is fascinating as a complex system applying Aristotilian logic to a bunch of monkeys in faded blue jeans.
December 15, 2009, 3:22 pmmedstudent says:
I’m the only medical student in a family of lawyers, with lots of friends in law school. I like to know what’s going on in their world. Plus its a good break from medicine.
December 15, 2009, 3:25 pmanon says:
Software engineer. Father. Proud liberal and democrat trying to figure out who all these liars and idiots are that call themselves liberals, democrats, and progressives.
I read Volokh because sometimes you hit the nail on the head, raising issues WE should’ve raised (and I am embarrassed we haven’t), because it’s good to get a well thought out and opposing view on other issues, and because sometimes you guys are a train wreck in action.
Regarding the issues I feel the liberals/dems should’ve raised but haven’t, it pains me no end that not only don’t we raise them, we can no longer even dare agree they are issues, or that the libertarians/conservatives may have a valid point. As usual, I think most conservatives and libertarians have their heads mostly wedged, I am just offended by how wedged our own heads have now become.
December 15, 2009, 3:26 pmChrisTS says:
Late 50′s, mother of two, herder of many cats. Philosophy professor/Chair of my department. I ‘specialize’ in legal philosophy.
Come from a long line of lawyers and judges (one SCt.). Did some training in architecture and double majored in phil and classics in college.
I think I found VC through Balkanization and/or Religion Clause. Probably just another evil liberal. :-)
December 15, 2009, 3:26 pmJohn Moore says:
I’m an electrical engineer/programmer and serious storm chaser/self-taught meteorologist. Conservative, blogger, ham-radio operator, grandfather. USNR aviator and Vietnam veteran . In 2004, very active in the Vietnam vets against Kerry movement (VVT webmaster).
December 15, 2009, 3:29 pmNot My Real Name says:
50ish working as systems software developer for nearly 30 years. All new jobs I’ve started in the past 25+ years have been with startup companies.
Generally libertarian (although my Libertarian acquaintances think I’m a socialist or fascist). I’m especially libertarian at the Federal level, much less so at the village council level (move if you don’t like it – let’s run 10,000 experiments and let the market decide).
I’ve always been interested in the law and considered switching to law mid career. Unfortunately, I concluded that it was difficult to make as much money in law as in software development unless one went the big firm, corporate, or successful ambulance chaser routes (none of which interested me – I’m much more intrigued by helping right the wrongs of those who are truly wronged – and mostly there’s no money there). Less critical, I took sample LSAT tests and decided they were absurdly easy and that made me wonder what skills I must be missing that were important for law school success (probably concise writing was among those missing skills!)
I started following VC when I noticed a Second Amendment comment or article by EV some years ago and it particularly caught my attention because I recalled him interviewing with our company for a SW developer position long, long ago.
December 15, 2009, 3:30 pmSam Schulman says:
I’m a 60ish media and marketing guy, formerly business side, in the last 10 years more editing and writing (in the Journal, Commentary, Weekly Standard), much more formerly an academic – asst prof of English at BU and MIT. I took the GRE and the LSAT in 1971, vowed to let ETS determine my fate, scored 10 points higher on the GRE – and the rest is obscurity.
December 15, 2009, 3:45 pmWaiting for News says:
Recent college grad and waiting to hear back from law schools for 2010 (I applied in October). I’m a political junkie with strong libertarian feelings and a great interest in economics as well. Love VC’s hard news and ideas compared to the populist piffle that dominates the news industry.
December 15, 2009, 3:46 pmForestGirl says:
Self-employed environmental consultant, feeling like a libertarian fish out of water in San Francisco.
December 15, 2009, 3:49 pmStillman Brown says:
A middle-aged professional winemaker, self-employed, living on California’s central coast; UC Berkeley poli sci major. Moderate-right libertarian. I repost VC items to my Facebook profile every day. I’d bring you guys a few bottles of my wine as thanks, but parking at UCLA is a nightmare . . .
December 15, 2009, 3:50 pmJeff Walden says:
Sheesh, this is a lot of posts! Didn’t realize so many (other) non-lawyers read stuff here.
I’m Jeff Walden, software engineer for Mozilla, working on the JavaScript engine in the Firefox browser. (JS is the programming language used to make most websites with interactive functionality.) I went to MIT for college, graduated June 2008, then promptly went and hiked the Appalachian Trail (the picture that volokh.com’s current design shows as my current icon is from the end of that hike) — great time, highly recommended as something to do if you like to backpack and are just going from one phase of life to another and can afford it or can borrow the money to do it regardless.
I got interested in law while taking a class taught by Hal Abelson discussing law, ethics, and their intersection with Internet and the electronic age. Discussion was good, the ideas were well worth studying, and I enjoyed the class except to the extent that it involved paper writing (a skill I’ve never really picked up and been able to intentionally perform with consistently high quality). I also had some previous exposure via the free software/open source software communities, where copyright and law play an extremely important part in preserving the viability of the method they use to produce software. Probably the biggest part of that was reading Luis Villa’s occasional law-related posts on Planet GNOME. From there I got directed to SCOTUSblog, and it sort of snowballed from there.
As for how I found The Volokh Conspiracy, I don’t quite remember at this point. I definitely saw links to it through RedState.com, and I think I eventually decided, after realizing my interest in law had grown large enough to warrant it, that I should follow the posts here via my feed reader. It’s also possible I saw links to it from other sources, SCOTUSblog perhaps, and that helped some, but RedState.com was probably the biggest part of the connection. So, in response to all those derisive remarks about RedState here, just think what you’d miss here if it didn’t exist! (Tongue entirely in cheek, perhaps those people would prefer this site without me, of course. ;-) That said, while things there do sometimes get more heated than I’d like, and while I don’t agree with some of the views normally espoused there, at a broad level it’s good stuff, and I haven’t seen anything that would be an adequate substitute for it with fewer of the parts that I like less.)
As for knowledge-based interests beyond law…economics, politics, and computing (Mozilla most particularly, GNOME and Linux and others to a bit lesser degree) probably sum up most of the rest of it. In my spare time I also play recreational ultimate frisbee, run a sound board on occasion at my church, and play competitive Scrabble. Outside of knowledge pursuits, I bike everywhere (don’t own a car) and backpack on occasion (less than I’d like these days, being carless makes it a bit of a hassle). Future plans along those lines are to bike across the country, thru-hike the John Muir Trail, and thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail (and odds are by that point a Continental Divide Trail thru-hike will be in the offing).
December 15, 2009, 3:54 pmAmy B says:
I’m a systems analyst, working in healthcare. I actually got my start as an HP3000 systems manager and used VeSoft in multiple environments, so Eugene Volokh’s name was familiar. I probably have a copy of the manual somewhere. At first, I was just curious, but couldn’t stop.
December 15, 2009, 3:59 pmTwirip says:
Degree in computer science. (Which a lot of people here seem to have, I notice.)
I don’t think that the law is the personal property of lawyers, judges, and law professors, an attitude which tends to crop up among such people from time to time.
December 15, 2009, 3:59 pmSealionii says:
I’m a neuroscience Ph.D. student, soon to be a neuroscience postdoc. I frequent the Volokh Conspiracy partly because my father, brother-in-law and best friend are all lawyers, partly because the law affects everybody and it’s good to think about this stuff, partly because it’s congenial politically, and, perhaps most important, because the incidental posts (trivia questions, word quizzes, etc.) are a lot of fun.
December 15, 2009, 4:00 pmHarryEagar says:
Last New Dealer. Newspaper reporter, writing mostly about business and sea turtles.
Evidently, the least educated person who visits VC.
December 15, 2009, 4:01 pmDeezRightWingNutz says:
Early 30s family man. Accountant in private industry, and it looks like I’m the first (except for one comment from someone who is no longer in the field).
I noticed that, based on a very small sample size, among blogs run by people with day jobs, professors tend to post during the day, and business people at night and on the weekends.
December 15, 2009, 4:02 pmPaddy says:
Ia graduated from the U of WA in 1958. Throughout my career I primarily represented forest land owners and forest product manufacturers. A substantial part of my practice was litigation before federal and state courts and several administrative regulatory agencies. I was an active member of the ABA law section of natural resources, energy and environmental laws.
I played a role in the spotted owl wars and other listed species per ESA. I also participated in various public policy initiatives pursuant to both state and federal laws.
I retired in 2002. In retirement I have embraced climate science as an avocation. In my opinion the global warming from anthropogenic CO2 emissions hypothesis has not been proved. Also, those who advance this hypothesis have failed to disprove that natural causes are responsible for global warming or that the variations are other than natural.
I read your blog nearly every day. Thank you for your excellent work as an alternative media source.
December 15, 2009, 4:06 pmBob in SeaTac says:
BA Physics ’59 UC Berkeley. BSEE ’65, MSEE ’70 U of Washington. Live in the Seattle suburb of SeaTac.
Age 72 retired Aerospace Engineer from Boeing.
Conservative/Libertarian interested in 1st and 2nd Amendment issues.
No longer hunt, but still avid shooter. No longer rock climb, nor do long distance running (mitral valve repair 7 years ago stopped that). Still active T&F official. Officiated throwing events in 1996 Olympics.
Reading VC keeps me mentally alert :-)
December 15, 2009, 4:06 pmBrad says:
Doctor. I like the intellectual discussions on this site.
December 15, 2009, 4:09 pmpiscivorous says:
Early 60s handyman/carpenter ex computer programmer. Just perusing some knowledge and opinions from the legal point of view on current events.
December 15, 2009, 4:10 pmBCKane says:
Got hooked on Volokh, Above the Law, etc. while auditing 3 years of classes at UVAL (Law School for the Mrs). After UVAL, I desperately deeded the basic knowledge to interact at my wife’s Law Firm parties in NYC (I still can’t believe how different big law firms are than the general population).
Degrees in Transportation and Marine Engineering. Worked for a NAFI providing marine and logistics security training and consulting for the Federal Government (mostly DoD, DoS, Intel Groups, Local & Federal LE and other Foreign Governments). 10 years in the reserves playing weekend warrior. Moved to paradise to start a family and have “normal” working hours. Now i work for a General Contractor that does mostly vertical construction for the Government (DoD, DoS, GSA, etc).
December 15, 2009, 4:12 pmRex Watkins says:
Biochemistry graduate student in the midwest. I’m considering law school (interest in IP) and love the blog.
December 15, 2009, 4:12 pmDan Weber says:
software engineer, security geek, seriously considered getting into law 3-4 years ago.
December 15, 2009, 4:12 pmpassionate about life says:
Engineer by training, strategy and operations technology professional. In business school in the evenings. Wife is a Lawyer and had a course with Volokh. Started following this blog at that time and have stayed on ever since.
I just like reading stuff that other people are passionate about.
December 15, 2009, 4:16 pmMTinMN says:
CPA by training, CFO of a private 16-20 million sales entity. Born, raised and educated in Montana. Living in Minnesota for oh, too many, years now. Married for 22 years, one 20 year old son.
December 15, 2009, 4:25 pmjac says:
Married, 64, computer security analyst, libertarian who migrated away from modern liberalism. BA in English Lit; MS in Environmental Science. Have always been interested in the law, but could not make myself go to law school. Still working but would like to retire soon. Lots of traveling yet to do.
I read a lot of blogs on many subjects and this is one of my favorites; I’ve been reading here for several years. Lots of good commentary from many points of view and often things to think about in a new light.
December 15, 2009, 4:28 pmJoe Photon says:
Computer scientist with a law degree. Thirty-plus years in the software industry and several years as a technical consultant and expert witness in lawsuits related to computer software. Distant acquaintance of some of the bloggers here.
JP
December 15, 2009, 4:31 pmHal Dall, MD says:
Rural family doc gathering intelligence about the enemy.
December 15, 2009, 4:52 pmBob says:
I’m a computer programmer with a manufacturing company. I have a Ph.D. in chemistry from UCLA, but have rarely used it to make a living. I browse the site during my lunch break because of its high density of interesting articles. If Prof. Volokh sees this–do you know whether Marina Oswald has ever commented on what she thought might happen to her in the time immediately after the Kennedy assassination? Also, when referring to cases by name, it would be nice to have a short hint concerning the subject. I suspect that most lawyers have a fine memory for this, but Kelo, Heller, Marbury (w/ sidekick Madison) and Dred Scott are practically the entire extent of my nominal legal literacy.
December 15, 2009, 4:53 pmThe Drill SGT says:
BA Econ, UCD
MBA UCI/UCLA
Former Army enlisted VN Vet (hence the handle)
Former Army Officer, ORSA
Current VP, small Mgt Consulting firm
Married to a Fed Contracts Lawyer, who in her spare time is a JAG (NG) Colonel
Defense Hawk
December 15, 2009, 4:53 pmBudget Hawk
Social Moderate
Alan says:
I’m a graduate student studying philosophy of physics at Oxford.
December 15, 2009, 4:58 pmFoobarista says:
I’ve been around computers for far too long, and have always thought they are actually remarkably similar to law: both involve having to navigate one’s way through complex rule-based systems. I’m a database engine guy, having worked on several large – but mostly non-commercial – DBMSs that you’ve probably used at least once today, although you probably don’t know it (they run many websites). I’m married, lived in China for awhile, and am generally a right-leaning “go away and leave me alone” libertarian with little patience for bureaucrats or those who see salvation in bureaucratism.
December 15, 2009, 5:02 pmFlashman says:
Retired US Army LTC (intelligence officer). Taught strategy at US Army Command & Staff College. Mistakenly transitioned to community college administration upon retirement. Left that fiasco and am now a patrol officer (law enforcement) in a small rural community.
December 15, 2009, 5:03 pmadam says:
Academic ophthalmologist, PhD in computer science, 3 kids, Jewish.
My family fled the russian revolution in 1917.
December 15, 2009, 5:05 pmVader says:
I’m a government drone who designs weapons of mass destruction.
I’m also dependent on the continuing use of modern technology to stay alive.
I am not making up either of these statements. Exaggerating slightly, at worst.
December 15, 2009, 5:06 pmChrisGreen says:
Professional statistician. It’s not quite as boring as it sounds.
December 15, 2009, 5:09 pmVader says:
“A scientist”, 1:15 pm:
Yeesssss. I can feel the hatred swelling in you.
December 15, 2009, 5:09 pmT. Rod says:
Economics PhD student. Mormon father of two, husband of one. Former engineer and mathematician.
December 15, 2009, 5:14 pmjab says:
Assistant Prof of Physics & Astronomy in the Cal State system.
December 15, 2009, 5:16 pmSteve H says:
I’m an engineer. Many years in telecom showed me how law can drive technology. Sometime off a cliff. The more libertarian of you should ponder the implications of the Digital Telephony bill.
My current employer specializes in fighting the theft of commercial broadcast services but I’m fortunate to not work on the legal side. You lawyers must have higher tolerance for boredom then me.
Steve
December 15, 2009, 5:19 pmMalvolio says:
Computer programmer, with an interest in law.
December 15, 2009, 5:24 pmJoe Kowalski says:
Print Ad Salesman by day, father and software geek by night. I think I started following this site around the time of the Roberts nomination & confirmation hearings. If I have to be pinned down I’d say I’m marginally left of center in the current political climate but I have positions that are all over the spectrum.
December 15, 2009, 5:50 pmphilip snyder says:
Retired manufacturer and sales executive with a love for the Law, especially Constitutional Law
December 15, 2009, 5:57 pmCarl from Chicago says:
I am a university professor, an academic evolutionary biologist holding Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. I consider myself socially liberal and fiscally conservative. I became interested in constitutional law largely from following the Parker/Heller case (DC handgun ban), and am now following McDonald with interest.
December 15, 2009, 5:59 pmphilip snyder says:
Retired manufacturer and sales executive with a love and interest in The Law especially Constitutional Law
December 15, 2009, 5:59 pmKelly K. says:
Biomechanical engineer with a personal interest in constitutional law.
December 15, 2009, 6:00 pmbill glass says:
veterinarian – admirerer of a certain famous pro golfer, family guy, conservative.
December 15, 2009, 6:03 pmMark Field says:
I’m not quite sure what to make of the fact that you felt it necessary to specify.
December 15, 2009, 6:04 pmChristopher Koski says:
I’m a third-year undergraduate at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. (I’m a US citizen though, I grew up in Minnesota. University is just much, much less expensive here.) I like to read about law, a lot. I really like your analysis.
December 15, 2009, 6:09 pmjccamp says:
College major was aerospace engineering (retitled from aeronautical engineering my second year. Now I’m dating myself). Decided to take a break before law school or business school, and joined urban police department (in a high crime environment) for a lark – I thought I’d do a year or so for the adventure and the legal experience. Never looked back and retired 32 years later as investigations management.
December 15, 2009, 6:12 pmJack says:
I’m a graduate student in Religious Studies (NOT theology!). Finishing my MA and then applying to law school. I’m aiming for some work in politics – I’m a libertarian-leaning Republican.
I’m interested in Constitutional law and efforts to halt the expansion of government powers. My real interest in law was sparked from church/state issues, partly because religion is my field, and partly because I’m neopagan, and have to deal with the reality of belonging to a minority religious movement. The government which governs best governs least, and I’d love to help lessen that governance.
I was attracted to this blog because political issues are much different when viewed legally, and you cover that difference very well. I think I followed a link from Prawfsblog, but I can’t remember now. Hopefully next time you post a thread like this I’ll be in the other column.
December 15, 2009, 6:17 pmElfwreck says:
I’m a regular reader who’s never commented on anything. I work in litigation support (scan/print/copy/ediscovery), and between that & various activisms, wound up with a fascination with legal discussion. I’m a copyfight activist with a PDF conversion hobby. I collect scanned documents, mostly court rulings, and convert them to searchable files for fun.
December 15, 2009, 6:18 pmkimsch says:
Kim Schratwieser, extremely small business owner (offering remote office and administration services and consulting). I have a BS in Business (eBusiness) and I’m trying to start up my MBA again after an illness made me take a break.
I find VC quite enlightening on many different areas of the law.
I am a small government conservative.
December 15, 2009, 6:28 pmNorthern Dave says:
Academic background is an MSc in Quantum Theory (and a degree in Ed. somewhere in there).
Philosophically a Christian Purist with a belief that the individual is the key to the collective not the other way round…….
Reason for following VC is simply that I have found it the best way to follow what’s happening down there in the US. VC is a step ahead of most news and has better depth and discussion as well. I like to assess world news from the area if possible (for a German point of view I like http://www.spiegel.de/international for example).
Thanks to EV for letting everyone post as it sharpens the mind (at least my grey-bearded old head)!
December 15, 2009, 6:30 pmJames B says:
I’m an academic physician (anesthesiologist) and small business owner with an interest in Constitutional law ignited during both the recent 2d Amendment and lethal injection cases…
December 15, 2009, 6:31 pmPeter E says:
I am a happily retired investment banker. Undergrad and graduate degrees in engineering disciplines. Libertarian since my 20′s with interest in all things scientific and some constitutional law. I have very much enjoyed this site since its inception.
December 15, 2009, 6:35 pmMark Noble says:
I’m an Electrical & Computer Engineer – worked in the field of web software development for a decade and a half. I’ve run for Lt. Governor of Ohio once as an Independent, and once for Congress (OH-15) as a Libertarian (after suing two Ohio AG’s to allow the party name on the ballot). Doing what I can with what I’ve got to grow the party, and hoping the work will pay off to make 2010 a big year for the growth of libertarian ideas in my state.
Started following the blog for it’s Second Amendment coverage, and stayed for the rest. :)
December 15, 2009, 6:37 pmDonP. says:
Senior Partner in an advertising and marketing firm in the Midwest that specializes in the food and foodservice industry.
A Father, Grandfather, Husband and 1st Cav. Vietnam Veteran who spent the better part of a year as a door gunner and squad leader.
My primary interest these days is tracking legislation re: the 2nd amendment, but 1st amendment cases always attract me as well.
I appreciate the chance for “us civilians” to post a POV and ask questions of some knowledgeable (and … some not so much) folks. Since I also run a blog I envy the patience EV shows monitoring some of the posts.
Thanks Eugene. You can come shooting with us anytime you’re in the greater Chicago area. I won’t tell Daley.
December 15, 2009, 6:38 pmFran A says:
Retired analyst. Have used math and stats in aerospace and consumer marketing. I came over here to read something referenced from Instapundit and found many interesting articles. Am moderate conservative ususally voting Repub.
December 15, 2009, 6:39 pmfwb says:
PhD Environmental Chemical Thermodynamics – teaching chemistry and directing a large testing lab.
Have intensely studied Constitutional law, etc for the past 16 years. Have read approx 150,000 pages of information (books, law articles, blogs, legal decisions, etc) from now back to the founding and then some.
Radical. Always taking the opposing side. Been teaching about the lies of AGW, Ozone hole, government authority, SC interpretation, etc for the past decade and a half (outside class). Find that 99% of the folks can’t get out of their box.
Am thoroughly disgusted at those who lack a basic ability to comprehend what they read and those who believe old truths just because their favorite professor/teacher/buddy/etc told them it was so.
December 15, 2009, 6:42 pmSenatorX says:
Tim C. Double majored in Botany and Plant Pathology but went back to school for a Computer Science degree. 39 and father of two boys. Army veteran. I love reading Science Fiction, Philosophy and Economics (probably in that order). I do software upgrades for cancer centers around the world all remotely from home (used to travel though). Read VC every day along with a slew of other blogs (mostly economic ones). Self defined libertarian and atheist. Almost everything I know about the Law I learned reading this blog.
Love reading through these for info about some of the regulars that I didnt know!
December 15, 2009, 6:44 pmGlenn Bowen says:
Grip.
December 15, 2009, 6:47 pmCDR D says:
>>>This is the sine qua non of blogs<<<
I would call it the ne plus ultra.
December 15, 2009, 6:53 pmSpocougar says:
I’m an anesthesiologist in the Navy, husband, father of three little kids.
December 15, 2009, 6:57 pmJohn says:
Professor of political science at a New England liberal arts college. I teach undergraduate constitutional law, civil liberties and criminal justice, and drop by daily to see what the conservatives are up to.
December 15, 2009, 6:59 pmA. Dawson says:
I am a married 34 year old civil engineer living in Seattle. I went through my college days blissfully ignorant of the reality of politics, the law, and my profession.
After college, much to the chagrin of my wife, I became an avid gun enthusiast in California. Needless to say I started following 2nd Amendment issues. As I learned the history of the amendment, I started looking at into other aspects of the constitution and I follow this website to gain a broader constitutional knowledge as a whole.
Ever since I’ve gone into the work force, became a homeowner, and started studying the history of our constitutional law, I’ve developed VERY strong libertarian leanings. Simply put, I’m sick and tired of all the crap the governments come up with. Why can’t they just stay on the golf course, drinking long island ice teas, and screwing their mistresses. We’d be much better off.
In order to preserve my sanity, I’ve adopted photography as my principle hobby. Ironically shooting guns got too expensive. (Price of ammunition has quadrupled in the last three years.)
December 15, 2009, 7:08 pmmariner says:
I’m a …
merchant seaman.
I’m especially interested in free speech and the Second Amendment.
December 15, 2009, 7:14 pmBonze Saunders says:
I was a Libertarian activist from 1972-1979 (Arkansas YAF: non-schismed!, UT Austin Young Libertarian Alliance, Chairman 1976-1977).
I received a BA in Economics/Philosophy from UT in 1977 (Phi Beta Kappa 1978).
I was the lead guitarist and co-founder of the Angry Samoans in 1978 (Inside My Brain, Live at Rhino Records).
A three-month stint in the Economics PhD program at Cornell in Fall 1979 persuaded me that what Nassim Taleb calls “epistemic arrogance” is an evil contagion, and I rid myself as much as possible of ideological attachments: henceforth I was a small-l libertarian. “Ideolatry is the bane of perception”: me.
After some years of independent study of CS texts I became a developer of Macintosh communications software (e.g., Cornell tn3270/COMET/dataComet).
I appreciate VC because of the many thought-provoking posts and the high quality and (generally) polite tone of the comments, a real rarity on the web these days. Much praise is due to the Conspirators for weeding out ill-mannered comments!
“I’m not super-nice… but I want to be!“
December 15, 2009, 7:17 pmLabRat says:
Chemist for “Big Oil”. Involved with Campaign for Liberty. Big fan of VC.
December 15, 2009, 7:24 pmScott says:
Middle aged physician, reflexively leftish. I come here for ideas I disagree with, but cannot easily dismiss, and find them, amongst the dross, often enough.
December 15, 2009, 7:31 pmAndrew Hamilton says:
Sequentially from end of full-time education: college English instructor, journalist, staff member NSC, consultant,Senate Budget Committee staff, CBO staff, consultant, President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Mgt. staff; senior fellow, National Defense University; consultant, World Bank; editorial writer.
December 15, 2009, 7:31 pmRegan E. says:
Male, aerospace engineer. Been at if for 38 years. Now working on a NASA mission to Mars.
December 15, 2009, 7:41 pmMogden says:
40-ish software developer & libertarian.
December 15, 2009, 7:42 pmGlenn Bowen says:
Handload, baby… or better yet, bulk.
December 15, 2009, 7:45 pmGrant says:
I’m a 26-year-old Ph.D. student in chemical engineering. My research is in polymer membrane technology. I thought about going to law school (potentially for patent law) but decided that what I’m doing now would probably be more interesting. I’ve been reading VC since at least 2003 and never post. I’m glad to see there’s considerable talent in the readership.
December 15, 2009, 7:56 pmbyomtov says:
This is fascinating.
Good idea, Eugene.
December 15, 2009, 7:58 pmme_confused says:
High school drop out. Now a consultant in the information security/information operations area for the last 20+ years. Represented myself if federal court (I know.. I know..) and was ‘successful’. You’ve read my blogs in the past and commented on them. ;)
December 15, 2009, 8:04 pmJoe says:
I am a retired economist. Our legal system of “Jackpot Justice” has a negative effect on the economy. I am concerned about legal actions taken against business owners and health providers. Thanks for keeping me up-to-date.
December 15, 2009, 8:05 pmDouglas E. Appelt says:
I am an established researcher in the field of computational linguistics. I enjoy this blog because am interested in libertarian-oriented, intellectually rigorous commentary on various issues, and this blog excels at that.
December 15, 2009, 8:06 pmuberVU - social comments says:
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by VolokhConspirac: Who Are You (Non-Lawyers)?: Occasionally I invite our readers to post a few words about themselves. This time, .. http://bit.ly/5QO8F2...
December 15, 2009, 8:12 pmmuriel schwenck says:
I work in accounting. I read voraciously. I did not go to college.
December 15, 2009, 8:16 pmHarryEagar says:
This is definitely not a place to meet girls, is it?
December 15, 2009, 8:25 pmNorma says:
Retired veterinary medicine librarian who began my career in Slavic Studies. I like to write–have 12 blogs–paint, travel and read other blogs. Former humanist, Democrat. Now a Christian and luke warm Republican. But was always pro-life and a creationist.
December 15, 2009, 8:26 pmDon’t read VC as often as I used to.
Fiftycal says:
I’m an inspector for local government environmental dept. I’ve been active in lobbying for gun rights since the mid 80′s and have been a concealed handgun license instructor in Texas.
December 15, 2009, 8:28 pmRusty Bill says:
Ex-Air Force Survival Systems Technician, retrained as Communications Systems Operations & Maintenance Supervisor. Separated in ’91 & got a degree in Computer Programming and a job in geophysics. Fell victim to budget cuts in the mid-90s. Now working as a warehouse supervisor at a retail store – it pays the bills…
December 15, 2009, 8:29 pmKirk Parker says:
latinist,
Perhaps I should have added that my BA is in Classics. I also did graduate-level work in linguistics and anthropology but never completed my MA.
And to all you other musicians: I’m Yet Another Musician With A Day Job™. :-)
And a shooter, lots of company here in that arena too…
December 15, 2009, 8:30 pmAvid reader, reluctant poster says:
I’ve read this blog for several years and have benefitted enormously. I am an associate professor in a small liberal arts college (Ph. D. in political science, specialty in political philosophy.) Somehow I ended up teaching Constitutional Law, and had a big learning curve ahead of me. I’ve learned a lot from this blog, and I thank you. I’ve also discovered an unexpected fondness for Constitutional Law – to the point where my colleagues avoid me, or cut the conversation short. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing . . . . Thanks again.
December 15, 2009, 8:32 pmMatthew Carberry says:
Former Marine, former mortgage banker, former a lot of things.
Taking the opportunity to finish my BA in Justice this Spring and go to law school (c’mon George Mason). Back on plan after only 15 years.
Small-l lib by inclination, frustrated by the end-running around Constitutional process that seems endemic in Washington. It’s got an amendment process for a reason, try using the damn thing if you feel a change is necessary. At the least try to pay lip service to the principles therein while ignoring them in practice.
December 15, 2009, 8:33 pmDan L says:
Graduate student in history with a strong interest in legal issues. I read three blogs pretty consistently–this one, Ann Althouse, and Instapundit. It just occurred to me that they’re all by law professors. That’s kind of weird.
December 15, 2009, 8:54 pmDDI says:
Air Force Reservist, intel analyst, libertarian, baseball fan
December 15, 2009, 9:01 pmChrisIowa says:
BS Civil Engineering, MS Sanitary Engineering, MBA. 58
Work as an engineering consultant for cities. Had a well bore hole collapse today, have a hearing on a street assessment project tomorrow.
Shoot rifles schuetzen style (off-hand to shooters, standing to the rest of you). Recent interest in the history of the schuetzen vereins (German and Swiss gun clubs) of Iowa and the Midwest in the late 1800′s and early 1900′s. That researve involves reading old newspapers and frequent detours into related subjects such as the civil war and prohibition.
December 15, 2009, 9:03 pmFormer distance runner, former rock climber.
GeoffB says:
I have an MA in French literature and work as an admin assistant in a Silicon Valley language school. My mom worked for a small-town lawyer, so I grew up sitting around a law office waiting for her and, when I was older, browsing the North Western Reporter to kill time (it was current; the magazines in the lobby were three years old).
December 15, 2009, 9:04 pmRHC says:
I am MD/PhD pathology/organic chemistry. Retired, I simply enjoy reading it each morning.
December 15, 2009, 9:16 pmbillo says:
Forensic pathologist and computer scientist. Professor at a medical school. For a longer description see here.
December 15, 2009, 9:44 pmcneumi says:
Casey N, 25 years old. Currently employed as a computer technician in North Dakota. (Yes, we have computers.)
December 15, 2009, 9:51 pmGrant McKenna says:
I am a 45 year old ex-South African, now living in New Zealand; I have been a soldier, a conscientious objector, a soldier again, a library worker, a museum worker, a shop-steward in a municipal workers’ union, and am now a caregiver for autistic adults and trying to work on a Masters looking at autonomous weapons.
December 15, 2009, 10:15 pmI’m married with kids, consider myself to be a Christian, although I’ve been told several times that Anglicans don’t count:-)
John A. Fleming says:
Woohoo! Last I looked, the techies are ahead of the legalistas 361-261. That must give all the Conspirators a little cognitive dissonance, knowing that their primary blog customers are educated technical professionals, but not steeped in the legal arts. And that’s good, right? A necessary condition for a healthy country is an informed citizenry.
December 15, 2009, 10:17 pmMichael Kochin says:
Teach political science at Tel Aviv University. Read Volokh because I no longer have the attention span for television.
December 15, 2009, 10:20 pmPatrick S says:
I’m a libertarian amateur economist who visits this site to stay informed on legal issues arising from the dimming of our constitution. I trade options on the 3 month LIBOR future at the CME and am dumbfounded at what Congress calls financial regulation reform. Happy Holidays!
December 15, 2009, 10:31 pmtrotsky says:
Opinions editor at a small newspaper in NorCal.
December 15, 2009, 10:31 pmGamaliel says:
Retired Navy nuc. Current industrial maintenance manager. Married with ten children. Orthodox christian. Politically a Burkean conservative.
This is part of keeping the grey matter active.
December 15, 2009, 10:50 pmAeon J. Skoble says:
Philosophy professor — and been reading VC since Day 1!
December 15, 2009, 10:58 pmVolokh Groupie says:
a mix of comp sci/physics/statistics/astrophysics degrees through the PhD level
December 15, 2009, 11:03 pmI used to have much more time for hobbies like law and baseball back in the days when balkinization was fun
eric says:
I am an enterprise software consultant (independent). My brother and his wife are both attorneys – patent and litigation, respectively. I enjoy the analysis of current legal issues and the libertarian-leaning commentary. FWIW, I have kicked around the idea of taking the LSAT and enrolling in law school in order to study international law, but have yet to do so for reasons of finance and circumstance. Perhaps some day.
Politically, I lean in varying degrees towards the conservative / libertarian viewpoint, although on certain social issues I would tend more to the “religious right” than the classically libertarian viewpoint.
-Eric
nb: it is still NEVER acceptable to use “they” in the singular.
December 15, 2009, 11:24 pmJim Anderson says:
High school English teacher, speech and debate coach, and Lincoln Douglas debate-blogger. A shout out to all high school debaters, past, present, and future!
December 15, 2009, 11:28 pmGene Hoffman says:
Is it wrong that most of my friends are over in the other comment thread?
I’m a serial entrepreneur and my companies have: Blocked the first internet ad, blocked the first internet cookie, decriminalized the export of strong cryptography, ushered in the MP3 revolution by blocking a lot of bad copyright litigation and proposed legislation and now provide the infrastructure for the shift to Content/Gaming/Software as a service.
As a hobby I fight unconstitutional laws. I should take the bar but then I would be far more restricted in providing legal guidance…
Now my question is, where is J.Aldridge?
-Gene
December 15, 2009, 11:29 pmPaul Lorek says:
Age 47 and a mechanical engineer by education and profession. I have enjoyed my career for over 25 years. I enjoy watching liberal lawyers get defeated “on the facts”. Liberals are quickly becoming intellectually bankrupt!
December 15, 2009, 11:35 pmJeff Wilson says:
I am currently a software engineer/consultant in the SF bay area. I have been in the IT world since 1996. Prior to that I took a Ph.D. in theoretical Chemistry from Cornell in 1994.
I forget how I first heard of this blog, but read it frequently now. My main interest is in the theoretical aspects of law and the question of “what it should be.” The big picture stories are my favorites, especially the major Constitutional questions.
I love the notion of, and the debate surrounding, Prof. Barnett’s proposed Bill of Federalism.
December 16, 2009, 12:05 amJon says:
I’m a soldier…an executive officer for an artillery battalion. Currently stationed in Kirkuk, Iraq.
December 16, 2009, 12:05 amAnonymous says:
Professor of operations research
December 16, 2009, 12:07 amKirk Parker says:
Out having coffee with his best friend–that Bingham fellow.
December 16, 2009, 12:11 amexcosray says:
Veterinarian/mathematician
December 16, 2009, 12:15 amCome for 1. reasoned libertarian viewpoint without craziness, 2. analyses of legislation and court cases without talking points, 3. EV’s math problems, 4. OK’s dissection of 4th amendment issues, 5. respite from blogs where partisanship outshouts reason. (But not perfect: I rarely see one of your posters admit, “After due consideration, I’ve been convinced I was wrong.”)
Gatito says:
Retired software developer, and prior to that, seminary teacher in church history. Love the blog, especially the threads on the First Amendment. I love it both for the substance and the sharp thinking (in many cases).
December 16, 2009, 12:19 amMike McDougal says:
I think it’s a joke.
December 16, 2009, 12:19 amMike McDougal says:
Policy = #1
December 16, 2009, 12:21 amShelbyC says:
Another software developer, San Diego area. BA in English/French. DEUG in Lettres Modernes. MBA. Long scraggley hair and beard. I like jeeps and spend as much time in the desert as my wife will allow (which isn’t enough.)
December 16, 2009, 12:41 amThe Student says:
Hosptial lobbyist and MBA student. Former congressional legislative assistant. Admitted to law school, but never attended.
Conservative with strong libertarian bent.
Interests: healthcare policy, economics, statistics, law/legal theory (constitutional law, Commerce Clause, libertarianism.
33 year old married father of two.
Love VC because I can quickly find a great deal of in depth information about a variety of topics. I trust the VC because of its intellectual rigor. Also, while ideological, it is principled not partisan. Occassionally, VC delves into too much legal practice details, but most of the post are of interst to the general public.
Thank you, VC.
December 16, 2009, 12:58 amNorCal Dave says:
Yet another PhD physicist here. (Weird huh?) I teach at a junior college. I have no particular interest in law. I never comment. But I get something I need from this blog … not sure what. Perhaps clarity.
December 16, 2009, 1:13 amRod says:
I am an active duty Military Policeman, currently serving in Baghdad. I started following Volokh via the RSS feed after several lengthy discussions with lawyers that I work with. So far, I have found this to be an interesting look at the politics and “science” behind the laws that govern us.
December 16, 2009, 1:36 amNeo says:
Electrical Engineer, Computer Scientist, holder of 2 US patents
December 16, 2009, 1:36 amSpent some time on IP side of the law
Fred C says:
Undergraduate: Math & physics
December 16, 2009, 1:53 amGraduate: Math (Topology)
Professional: Software development (design & programming)
Other: Small business owner, book publisher, web designer, NRA member
Joseph says:
Male
No formal education
Insurance professional
NorCal Dave summed it up more eloquently than I can: “I have no particular interest in law. I never comment. But I get something I need from this blog … not sure what.”
December 16, 2009, 2:51 amChris says:
I’m a political science graduate student. I mostly come here to read posts about politics and public opinion, not law.
December 16, 2009, 3:12 amsputnik says:
biochemist, PhD
December 16, 2009, 6:46 amTracy W says:
I work in the electricity sector as a consultant. I’m generally curious and I like good writing.
December 16, 2009, 6:55 amMr. Bingley says:
Coffee trader.
December 16, 2009, 7:45 amRex B says:
Auto Parts marketing guy, straight, Republication/Libertarian.
December 16, 2009, 7:48 amStrong interest in 2nd Amendment issues, property rights, and constitutional law.
zuch says:
I’m surprised at all the librarians here. [...] <*sotto voce*> Oh. Ummmm … <*Litellaesque*> nevermind….
Cheers,
December 16, 2009, 8:15 amzuch says:
It intrigues me that there’s so many computer programmers/scientists with an interest in law here.
My personal experience was that, coming from such a scientific/engineering background, studying law was endlessly frustrating. In law, truth is what someone says it is … and that someone usually is not you.
Cheers,
December 16, 2009, 8:21 amRalph Hitchens says:
Retired intelligence analyst, now a “beltway bandit” in the declassification business. Also a retired USAF officer, with varied interestes in national security, information technology issues, & progressive politics.
December 16, 2009, 8:31 amObeliskToucher says:
Middle-aged Australopithecus afarensis.
Touch black rock, make food with stick.
B.S. Chem, M.S. Chem Engr, ended up as a software developer,
December 16, 2009, 8:35 ambut essentially a mobile curiosity support system.
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December 16, 2009, 8:36 amKristian H says:
Software programmer for a large company.
December 16, 2009, 8:48 amBA in Math, MS in C.S.
Husband and father, 1 wife, 2 sons.
Evangelical Christian.
Politically libertarian though personally very conservative (i.e., because I think it is immoral doesn’t mean the government should be empowered to prohibit it).
MPS says:
I am a postdoc in physics (cosmology).
I tend to be liberal but I like to scan over your blog so that I have an idea about what the more sensible people on the other side are thinking.
December 16, 2009, 8:50 amMike A says:
Philosophy PhD. (cand.) at the University of Dallas. I am not a libertarian at all, inasmuch as being a libertarian involves a promotion of liberty in the absence of virtue. But I am against the absurd expansion of government. I read this blog, among others, as a way to avoid finishing my dissertation.
December 16, 2009, 8:54 amjohn says:
Geologist and small business owner for 8 years now. Most of my clients are lawyers (at least I think they are my clients). Business has taken a big hit this year; big. Next year is looking very promising, however.
I lurk more than post, although I always enjoy being here. The last time I waded into a comments section with my opinion, I mixed up the meaning of “mitigaging” and “aggravating” and was (properly) chased out of the thread.
December 16, 2009, 9:07 amjohn says:
That would be “mitigating” (although “mitigaging” could be a useful word).
December 16, 2009, 9:11 amKevin says:
Statistician. Professionally I help political and non-profit organizations raise small dollar donations more efficiently. Academic work was in the quantitative side of political science plus East Asian politics and international relations. Was a Korean linguist in the Army. Politically conservative with some libertarian tendencies (or vice versa).
December 16, 2009, 9:20 amRichard Nieporent says:
I’m just another one of the many physicists who read this blog. I have a Ph.D. in high-energy physics. I am a classical liberal from the 1960s. That means that I am now considered to be a right-wing conservative by the Left.
December 16, 2009, 9:20 amblooddoc says:
I’m a transfusion medicine doctor with a business background and a federalist
December 16, 2009, 9:27 amJeff says:
Economist and programmer at a govt agency.
December 16, 2009, 9:30 amErica M says:
I’m a reporter who covers water policy issues, which often, particularly lately, dovetail with property rights issues.
December 16, 2009, 9:32 amDuunes says:
I’m a sixty year old owner of a small business in NJ. I’m a CPA and an NRA instructor. This is the best blog on the internet, but I’m happy that I didn’t become a lawyer.
December 16, 2009, 9:58 amRr says:
Information security and risk management researcher and writer, MS CS. Arrived here a year or so ago through some link to a post on a “cyberlaw”-related topic. Independent politically, post-conventional morally. US/EU dual citizen whose support of the 1A, 2A, right to self defense, states’ rights, and economic conservatism are ill-understood back in the motherland. Should be most interested in computer-related topics, but I end up reading many posts – mostly because of the great diversity in comments.
December 16, 2009, 10:02 amJames B. says:
I am a geologist working for a major oil company who is interested in legal issues.
December 16, 2009, 10:05 amnotaclue says:
Professor of New Testament at a southern Bible college. Late fifties, father and grandfather.
December 16, 2009, 10:14 amJohn says:
I am a Physicist, Father of 8, Naval Officer(reserves) OEF vet, Hobby farmer
December 16, 2009, 10:16 amand former rocket scientist.
I got hooked on law while helping my father study for law school.
I enjoy the legal discussions as I have enjoyed constitutional issues
since high school. Thought about law school, have not ruled it out.
I also noticed that a fair number of hard science type persons read this blog.
Mark Field says:
I think it is too, but without tone of voice I couldn’t be sure.
December 16, 2009, 10:38 amaeronathan says:
I’m an aerospace engineer in my mid-20s. I’ve become a pretty hard core libertarian since I exited college and as a consequence have developed more than a passing interest in law and politics.
December 16, 2009, 10:42 amA. Seminarian says:
I am a seminarian at a Roman Catholic Seminary.
December 16, 2009, 10:43 amJim Jinkins says:
I have just under 5 years of military service, 3 years of secondary math teaching experience, and 37 years of working with computers, most of it as a software developer.
December 16, 2009, 10:56 amRandomizer says:
I’m a physics teacher in a nicer public high school in Ohio, this is a second career after being an engineer. I have the smart kids, and they need career guidance. You offer some good insight into life as a lawyer and the law school experience. Also, as a conservative generally interested in our country, I like to follow litigation issues.
December 16, 2009, 11:07 amJohn Fisher says:
By day I am an electrical engineer in the defense industry. I disappointed my mother by not becoming a lawyer but have always taken a layperson’s interest in it. My son is a 2L at University of Richmond (shameless plug – if anyone knows of internship opportunities in the MD, DC, VA or NC areas let me know).
December 16, 2009, 11:09 amscattergood says:
I am an ex video game executive who left the soul sucking industry to play in the biggest game in the world, investing and trading. I write algorithms for the price predictions of currency and futures pricing. I train traders, license my software, and trade my own and other people’s money.
Educated in math / computer science and history. The comments on this blog represent both the adherence to the root ideas of the founding of the USA, and the wild departures we have made from those founding ideas.
December 16, 2009, 11:16 amJonathan D. Abolins says:
Among other things, I am an analyst who tracks and researches emerging technological & social developments (including law) for their impact upon security, especially information security in a networked world. I “get around” in various languages, including English, German, Hebrew, and a bit of Arabic & Russian. A quick tagline for me would be “Security & linguistics fellow.”
December 16, 2009, 11:32 amhtom says:
Mostly retired; computer software and hardware designer, I tried to explain to the hardware guys and gals why things couldn’t be done in software, and to those in software, why it couldn’t be done in the hardware. Too many other attempted careers, lighting designer, shop manager, disk jockey, and other things…. not a lawyer, although there was a required (3 credit) and interesting course in “Law for Engineers”, that was mostly “Legal language is neither engineering language nor English” and “You ALWAYS need a lawyer to interpret — in both directions!”
December 16, 2009, 12:09 pmSmallholder says:
I am a high school history teacher and organic farmer in Central Virginia.
December 16, 2009, 12:10 pmChrisTS says:
Wow. Quite the group.
December 16, 2009, 12:30 pmLowly Undergrad says:
My name is Nicole and I’m a senior liberal arts major at a Big Ten university. I’m going to be applying to law school for Fall 2011 and I think I would like to study Constitutional or criminal law. I started reading VC when I was still on the fence about law school, but this blog (among other things, of course) has reassured me that my heart is definitely in law. I read VC RELIGIOUSLY but I don’t often comment because I don’t feel worthy among such smart, educated people!
December 16, 2009, 1:02 pmJim Hu says:
Assoc. Prof. of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Texas A&M. Currently working mostly on “wikifying” genomics and molecular genetics. Also on protein-protein interactions. I’ve always been peripherally interested in law and economics, and I view blawgs as an interesting case for how Web 2.0 stuff fits into academia.
December 16, 2009, 1:06 pmM.N. says:
I am a biology major who is applying to law school.
December 16, 2009, 1:08 pmcelticdragon says:
42 years old, and back to school at Guilford Collage in Greensboro, NC to finish my geology degree. Just finished structural geology and have paleontology next semester. Transgendered woman, and still married to my wife :) One son who is 9. I play Celtic harp, and we enjoy Highland Games, Celtic festivals (and music) and Revolutionary War re-enacting.
December 16, 2009, 1:23 pmcelticdragon says:
I have noticed that there an awful lot of us geology folks here :D
December 16, 2009, 1:26 pmLarryA says:
Dang. Where was the interweb when I was in Vietnam? You guys have all the fun.
[salute]
December 16, 2009, 1:28 pmOrson Buggeigh says:
PhD in history. Faculty member at a small state university. Conservative, male, white, straight. I enjoy the intellectual quality of the posts; and many of the comments. I occasionally comment here myself. Keep up the good work, folks. I don’t always agree with all of you, but I generally find the arguments to be well reasoned and thoughtful. I’ve been reading here for eight or nine years now.
December 16, 2009, 1:36 pmBill N says:
I’m a legal/constitutional historian at a small liberal arts college outside Boston.
December 16, 2009, 1:39 pmdave h says:
I wasn’t going to respond to this post, but since Eugene keeps bumping it up presumably he really wants people to answer.
I’m a post-doc in biophysics (I got my PhD in ’05). I’ve always been interested in law and politics and am strongly libertarian. Even though I think like a scientist and not like a lawyer, this blog brings lots of interesting topics to my attention, provides enough factual support to actually affect what I think about a given subject, and the comments are usual civil, interesting, and informative.
In case it’s interesting to anyone else, this blog is in my regular rotation along with baseballthinkfactory, kausfiles (sometimes meandering over to the Slate main page) and google news/other newslike sites.
December 16, 2009, 1:48 pmDave Schmidt says:
Graduate degree in public policy analysis, worked in both public and private sectors; banking, FDIC, welfare fraud investigations, tax enforcement. Interested in how law is shaping our political environment and vice versa.
December 16, 2009, 2:21 pmDoc Merlin says:
I am Jorge Landivar, masters in physics. Currently working as a developer at UTA and looking for another job. My hobby and passion is economics and this site helps connect me to law which strongly affects real world econ.
December 16, 2009, 2:51 pmLibertarian1 says:
I am a Dermatologist who gradually migrated from an ADA/ACLU political philosophy into a Secular Libertarian. If I were 18 again would go to law school but hear the downside from all my lawyer friends. Living in NYC I get to attend, almost weekly, libertarian luncheons from the Manhattan Institute, Cato and the Federalist Society.
Fortunately, I get to spend 1-2 hours a day reading VC both for pleasure and knowledge. I am most fascinated by constitutional law and even took courses at Berkeley.
December 16, 2009, 2:59 pmUtah Citizen says:
I am a tax auditor for the state of Utah. I read VC to keep updated on pressing legal matters and the overall health (sickness) of the republic and world.
December 16, 2009, 3:16 pmMark Field says:
If you don’t mind my asking, what posting name do you use at BTF?
December 16, 2009, 3:32 pmVolokh Groupie says:
It looks like there’s a decent group of bbtf members here.
December 16, 2009, 3:41 pmW.A. says:
Ph.D. student in Political Science, not a lawyer, but with a strong interest in law (especially constitutional law).
Long-time reader, rarely a commenter.
December 16, 2009, 4:52 pmDRP says:
I’m a 63 yr old VP of IT for manufacturing division of Fortune 500 company. Found the VC when reading of the Heller decision (I’m a Chicago resident), and stayed to read and learn about various aspects of constitutional law.
December 16, 2009, 5:02 pmjccamp says:
Am I the only one who is thinking about saving a link to this thread, so during some future (heated) discussion, I can go back and see who a poster is? You know, “Well, that #$%@ doesn’t know anything.” and then I can check and find out the person actually has the relevant PhD. Oops.
December 16, 2009, 5:10 pmJeff Walden says:
Wow, didn’t realize until reading through the previous 250-odd comments before my first that Jim Owen, another thru-hiker, was here — and I’d even recognize his site. Good stuff!
Others are mentioning it, so I should say that I describe myself as libertarian, perhaps unexpectedly for a RedState reader (knowing my favorite front-pagers there might help: Moe Lane, Pejman Yousefzadeh, and Francis Cianfrocca). Libertarians might call me a libertarian in name only, because practically I vote Republican with few qualms (when I have them, the issue is usually less practically important to me). I’m an econ nut (micro/macro were my most useful non-degree college courses). Therefore, I care mostly about the economic aspects of policy on which Democrats fall absolutely flat. On civil liberties points I can have some impact with Republicans in discussions. Democrats start from the presumption that economic over-regulation is a good idea; where’s common ground?
I’m small-l, but I’ve voted for Libertarians in a manner which would make Ilya Somin proud: if I’m rationally ignorant of the candidates or the issues, I may cast for the Libertarian, reasoning that it sends a message about the basic direction of policies I prefer (also that this says more than a practical vote that wouldn’t make a difference). Mostly I see true Libertarian/third-party success as hopelessly impossible (rare cases like Hoffman in NY-23 are sui generis); I won’t throw away my vote if I know enough about the realistic alternatives.
I’ve read VC regularly for about a year. I read the posts, sometimes the linked news articles, sometimes linked opinions (always if they’re SCOTUS and concern a topic of personal interest), and sometimes comments if I have a question or want to learn more. I also usually find my comments preempted by others. I read to get a non-left, non-right but novel and generally sensible view of the world: right/libertarian thought that might differ from mine, but levelly expressed and explained, without the sometimes-excessive vitriol of RedState or the far-out radicalness of a Libertarian site. I also read to pick up principles of law, legal terms, intellectual rigor of constitutional interpretation, &c.
December 16, 2009, 5:35 pmVAGhost says:
I am a Contracts and Procurement Officer for the State of VA. VC is a darn good read while at lunch as well as one never knows when government aquisition/contracts could be a topic.
December 16, 2009, 5:39 pmCaptain says:
Captain, United States Navy
December 16, 2009, 5:41 pmDave N says:
I didn’t think Dale Carpenter and Randy R. were looking. :)
December 16, 2009, 5:56 pmThor's Screwdriver says:
I am a Land Surveyor. Legal interests include property rights and constitutional issues. Politics: right of center / small government guy. Early 40′s, single/ divorced father of 2 adult daughters. Christian heterosexual and in a committed relationship.
December 16, 2009, 6:10 pmTXMom says:
I am a grandmother and caregiver to my 103 year old mother. While researching the constitutionality of the current health care bill before the Senate, I discovered you through the Heritage Foundation. Thank you.
December 16, 2009, 6:35 pmBT says:
I had a thought along a similar line. Why not just link this and the Lawyer thread permanently under the links to the Conspirators once it closes out? Then when they do this again in a year or so, change it out. It is a great reference tool.
December 16, 2009, 6:48 pmMax Hailperin says:
Ho hum, I’m another computer scientist — a professor of computer science, specifically. I think my connection w/ EV predates my connection with VC — I mentioned some of his law review articles from 1996-1997 regarding freedom of speech in a 1999 commentary I published in the Communications of the ACM about COPA (the Child Online Protection Act) and at that time exchanged some emails with him. I’ve paid a fair bit of attention to the ways in which technological change places under stress the social policy consensus that underlies law. For example, I’ve taught a course on copyright law in the digital age.
December 16, 2009, 7:21 pmjccamp says:
BT –
So we should ask EV to post a CV for the VC (readership)?
I like it.
December 16, 2009, 7:58 pmsbw says:
I’m publisher of a family-owned 13,000 circulation daily newspaper in central New York.
December 16, 2009, 8:18 pmBuckland says:
I’m a statistician.
My career has progressed in seemingly random directions at fairly regular intervals. I started by getting BS degrees in Chemistry and Math, but ended up working my first 8 years as a meteorologist. In my next 8 years I moved back into the lab to exercise my Chemistry background. The next 8 years were spent as a computer programmer and systems analyst. During that time I finished my Statistics MS.
So now I’m 5 years into my 4th career — a statistician. If history is a guide I’ll be embarking on another career journey in another 3 years…
December 16, 2009, 8:52 pmJohn A. Fleming says:
Interested non-lawyers ~450, lawyers ~300. Woohoo, the 3:2 ratio still holds.
I think I’ll write a perl script to pull out all the professions and categories, and make some histograms on this. It should be very interesting.
I found it especially interesting the number of occurrences of people whose primary reference of themselves is to religion. Theologians, pastors, etc. In my admittedly limited intertubes experience, you all are invisible, rarely popping up in these earth-bound secular knowledge spaces (well, at least self-identifying). It would seem that a justice nexus exists between lawyers and clergy, that you all might have more in common than either care to admit.
December 16, 2009, 9:21 pmMikeT says:
Interesting how many mathematician turned software developers there are. I’m a mathematician (PhD Numerical Analysis) and am now a software developer.
December 16, 2009, 9:52 pmBob Sprowl says:
Retired USAF officer. BS Mathematics; MA Management, Human Relations. Member of the Air Force Association and the NRA.
45 years in IT experience in every job from technician to mainframe assembly programmer to technical services manager to network administrator to IT director to consultant.
Currently an adjunct faculty member at small private university.
I lurk mostly to watch the lack of justice in todays legal system and the absurd explanations lawyers use to justify this.
I advocate an constitutional amendment restricting members of the bar from serving in any elected position other than Attorney General as they are already members of the Judicial branch.
December 16, 2009, 10:35 pmKazinski says:
I’m a 54 year old computer programmer living in Seattle.
I’m a paleo-conservative/libertarian. I used to be a proud Republican before Bush and the Republican Congress decided that pork trumps principle and led us into the wilderness.
December 16, 2009, 10:41 pmSteven H says:
53-year old stay-at-home dad, who is homeschooling a 5-year old daughter. I have a master’s degree in international affairs, and previously worked in various government agencies and for government contractors.
December 16, 2009, 10:58 pmDesiderius says:
Harry Eagar,
“Evidently, the least educated person who visits VC.”
Hard Knocks U. highly underrated these days…
As for me, some mix of both. Undergrad in ISyE at Georgia Tech with a year studying Economic History at ManU, UK (during the Eastern European Revolutions – life-forming, that), Masters work in Divinity at Princeton and Education at Xavier.
Have worked in engineering with GE, finance with Habitat for Humanity, Int’l; sales with my uncle’s car dealership, ministry with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and am now and forever more a high school mathematics teacher. Should have done that in the first place.
Turned 40 last week. Live and learn.
I came to VC from Insta (around 2005?) and stayed for the quality of the posters. And by quality, I mean character. Unrivaled on the interwebs.
December 16, 2009, 11:20 pmMartyA says:
PS 150; real estate speculator, hoping to get a piece of Illinois Gitmo prison action if the FOOs haven’t stolen it all already.
December 17, 2009, 12:30 amanon says:
I’m a college senior studying economics who used to have designs on law school; however, my disillusionment with the student life and a cushy job offer persuaded me to become a management consultant after graduation instead.
With that said, I’ve grown up inside the law (father is a commercial real estate attorney) and have not ruled out anything in the future.
December 17, 2009, 12:31 amSparadokos says:
BA in Slavic Languages, emphasis in Russian and Serbo-Croatian.
I work as a wireless/structured cabling estimator and project manager.
US Navy 6 years (Electronics Technician), agnostic who tends to be pro-religion, fiscal conservative, social libertarian, father of two small boys, Russian wife, Seattleite, lived in Russia for a year after college.
My hobby is foreign languages: I have spent this year studying Gothic and Icelandic. Next year: Ukrainian and Dutch. I also love European and Central Asian history.
I am a lurker, unless there is a linguistics post where I feel I might add something intelligent to the discussion. I scan this blog daily and really enjoy the posts and the commenters.
December 17, 2009, 1:11 amAlan K. Henderson says:
Real name. That icon is my real face, but the uniform is photoshopped. BBA in Management Science from the University of Texas/Arlington. Computer operator who works in the ATM industry. Born in 1960 on Guy Fawkes Night, my b-day coincided with the ’68 and ’96 elections when we got Nixon and Clinton. (Next one is in 2024 – that trend worries me.) First TV news coverage I remember watching is Apollo 11. Libertarian-conservative, evangelical Christian, lapsed Mensan, sci-fi geek. Grooves on Thomas Sowell, C. S. Lewis, Robert A. Heinlein, classic rock, classical music. Initial political inspirations were Howard Jarvis and Ronald Reagan. Current political inspirations are Sowell and various Cato/Heritage think-tank sorts.
December 17, 2009, 1:17 ambbbeard says:
Bernard Beard
Another MIT grad, another physicist, another aerospace guy….
MIT SB/SM/PhD (Courses 2/2/8, ’79/’82/’96). My doctoral work was in lattice gauge theory, i.e. computational nuclear physics, but my undergrad & master’s were in mechanical engineering. Also some graduate work in economics. Designed jet engines back in the day (GD and Pratt & Whitney) and I’ve spent some time in the high desert, too. Spent a decade in academia, now back in aerospace, doing consulting with NASA MSFC on the Ares I launch vehicle. So: nuclear physicist and rocket scientist. But apparently I’m in good company here among the VC commenters.
I usually come here via a link from Instapundit, but when Glenn can’t keep up with my clickclickclick I sometimes come here looking for trouble.
Politically: I describe myself as a “national security libertarian”; I usually vote GOP, but I have also voted Libertarian (once) and Democrat (twice).
Generally skeptical, occasionally cynical. I don’t have a lawyer’s mindset, whatever that might mean, but without doubt my favorite bloggers are lawyers (Instapundit, Powerline, VC, Hewitt).
Legally, I try to keep abreast of civil rights issues, especially 2nd Amendment (proud owner of an AR-15 since my 18th birthday).
Fascinating that so many physicists show up here. Also interesting that with very few exceptions, nobody mentions their race/ethnicity. Can it possibly be that no one actually thinks of themselves primarily in terms of their ethnicity anymore? If so, good for us.
Member of perhaps 20 “special interest groups”, including father, husband, scientist, engineer, educator, gun owner, home owner, long-distance commuter, blogger, curmudgeon.
Blog: Detailed Balance, updated maybe monthly, primarily politics and science. Active member at (the erstwhile vigorous but now dwindling) Compuserve SCIMATH Forum.
BBB
December 17, 2009, 2:50 amMichael Zeleny says:
I am a perpetual student of philosophy moonlighting as a
December 17, 2009, 3:33 amserial entrepreneurModernist performance artist.Lance Cahill says:
Economics & Accounting undergraduate (2nd year).
Considering law school or graduate school in economics.
Came to VC after researching laws governing sexual harassment in the workplace and coming across Prof. Eugene Volokh’s law review articles for a HS AP Govt research paper on the topic.
December 17, 2009, 5:38 amGeoff Nathan says:
Linguist (Associate Professor of English at Wayne State), IT Policy geek (technically Faculty Liaison to Wayne’s Computing and Information Technology division) and long-time libertarian. Found out about VC from both LanguageLog and Reason’s Hit and Run.
December 17, 2009, 6:29 amtml says:
I am a fairly conservative female plumber. I have been in this career a bit over three years. I was a chef before that for about ten. When I was in college, I took the science and math classes but am a political news junkie.
December 17, 2009, 7:02 amBasil says:
I might have imagined more economists here than I saw from searching down the page on the word “economist.” My academic training was in natural resource economics and business finance, and I’ve worked for years consulting as an expert witness, which gives me some organic connection to the law as a profession. I’ve also published in a couple of law reviews (Energy Law Journal, and Yale Journal on Regulation). But for the past decade, this has been a sideline, and I’ve been an IT professional and academic.
December 17, 2009, 7:38 amliamascorcaigh says:
Former teacher with a PhD in literature. A published prize-winning poet and novelist in Irish and English.
Born and living in Ireland. Currently translating Petrarch’s sonnets into Irish.
Fascinated with American politics since Everett Dirksen was Minority Leader. Ah, the Joys of Youth!
Long to visit US but fear mightily to travel in Heavy-Bird-That-Falls-Precipitously-From-Sky on the grounds (geddit!) that if God wanted us to fly He wouldn’t have allowed Sir Isaac to invent gravity.
Cannot use the first person singular pronoun as Barack Obama has depleted the world’s supply to dangerous levels.
December 17, 2009, 9:17 amTerence says:
Govt IT drone, Navy Reservist, News Junkie.
December 17, 2009, 9:32 amdave h says:
Mark Field, I post over there also as Dave H. I don’t post that much, and it’s mostly in Sox Therapy, but I read a few articles and comments just about every day. I go to that site for basically the same reason I come here: take an interesting topic, a few people who really know what they’re talking about, and then have them engage through comments with curious people.
December 17, 2009, 10:12 amRebelRenegade says:
Wow. A lot of physicists, mathematicians, engineers in the bunch. This is the smartest website I visit daily.
December 17, 2009, 10:15 amPaul says:
RN. I manage programming for an HIV research consortium.
December 17, 2009, 10:44 amMark Field says:
Mark Field, I post over there also as Dave H.
That explains why I didn’t recognize your name — I don’t read Sox Therapy. I used to post regularly there, but now mostly lurk and post occasionally (baseball history and sabermetric threads).
December 17, 2009, 10:52 amDavid E. Young says:
Environmental interpretation major with minors in math, earth science, biology, and music composition. Public employee union chief steward for 18 years. Retired career wilderness area state park ranger. Lifetime avocational historian specializing in American bill of rights history and ratification era historical sources. Editor, writer, and publisher of own historical research clarifying Second Amendment development and intent. Produced The Origin of the Second Amendment, which was the most cited historical source collection in the District of Columbia vs Heller and U.S. vs Emerson cases. Latest historical book is The Founders’ View of the Right to Bear Arms. Blog regarding Second Amendment related historical errors presented to the Supreme Court in Heller briefs at On Second Opinion.
Started reading VC regularly in early 2008 after reading its posts relating to the Heller case. It provides excellent legally oriented information and links to Second Amendment and other Bill of Rights related sources.
December 17, 2009, 11:02 amsteve s says:
55 y/o anesthesiologist. 8 years military, father of two. Cooking fanatic, information junkie, long time interests in military history and economics, NRA memeber. Occasional writer on health care issues. Libertarian leanings and long term deficit hawk and national defense advocate, which finally drove me out of the Republican party and into the independent camp. This is my go to sight for right of center legal views. Read Balkin for left views.
December 17, 2009, 11:21 amicannotsay says:
a libertarian/conservative alone in network news land.
December 17, 2009, 11:41 amJeff P. says:
41 yrs old, English teacher, Debate coach, father of two, wife works in county government. We live in Kansas. I’m politically left of center, but enjoy reading your analysis as your perspective often causes me to re-evaluate my own ideas. My debaters quote you on constitutional issues because your explanations are generally thorough, and make sense to our audience.
December 17, 2009, 12:21 pmDylan M. says:
I am an undergraduate majoring in government. I started reading because I’m really interested in Constitutional law and I am trying to decide whether to go to law school or grad school for public policy. I’ve continued reading largely because the site is well written and compelling. As a liberal student at a very liberal college, and a regular reader of moderate liberal blogs, I find that I rarely read much commentary that is ideologically opposed to my beliefs. I appreciate the libertarian intellectualism that makes Volokh consistently challenging.
December 17, 2009, 2:00 pmRob Delsman says:
I am Rob Delsman,
I am 51 and an engineer. I am currently fighting for the rights of people with disabilities and on behalf of sick and injured workers.
I am a former employee of General Electric Co. and took a real hosing from the GE Disability Benefits Center that is operated by Sedgwick CMS.
Currently I am being sued by Sedgwick CMS for content that I have posted in my blogs and for postcards that were sent out during “operation going Postcard”. Sedgwick CMS initially lost but then filed an appeal with the 9th Circuit.
I am currently being represented by Paul Alan Levy of Public Citizen and will continue the fight for as long as I am able,
December 17, 2009, 2:00 pmDan says:
I’m Chief Technology Officer of a small tech company and a former advisor to a Canadian cabinet minister.
I have been reading this blog for several years (since approximately 2001)out of an interest in public policy and law.
December 17, 2009, 2:54 pmmj says:
I’m the CFO for a medical device company. I appreciate the legal and normative analysis of economic related events (Kelo, etc).
December 17, 2009, 3:31 pmforeveryoung says:
I am an undergraduate about to start my final semester at Utah State University. I will graduate in May with a dual major in economics and constitutional studies. Considering law school or business school in the future. I am a small ‘l’ libertarian and a recovering conservative. Mormon, 23 years old and newly married. Economic, religious and civil liberties are very important to me. VC was recommended to me two years ago by my advising professor and I have been hooked ever since. Thanks for all the great posts and insights. You will never know how many young minds are being benefitted by your work. At least one of them is very much grateful.
December 17, 2009, 4:57 pmGaMongrel says:
Long time lurker…. married, father of two, computer programmer, libertarian, constitutionalist…
I don’t read the site regularly, but I do make a point to visit and pick up what I can weekly”ish”. Thanks for all you do.
December 17, 2009, 4:58 pmPete F says:
I’m an ex-lawyer so that makes me a non-lawyer too. I work in financial services, but not in a legal capacity although that background surely helps. I graduated law school nearly 30 years ago but haven’t practiced in over 15 years. I read the site to keep tabs on general areas of legal and constitutional interest.
December 17, 2009, 4:59 pmMatthew in Austin says:
I’m 37, a software architect in the insurance industry, married, father of two. I’m a recovering neo-con, trying to balance my federalist/libertarian instincts with a grudging acceptance of the benefits of government in solving some social problems.
I like this blog because it has several posters who are both very intelligent, open-minded and relatively unbiased. Most of the blogosphere is full of people who have already made of their minds in most issues, while the VC has some smart posters who are still interested in questioning their own assumptions.
December 17, 2009, 6:06 pmOld Patriot says:
I’m a retired Air Force noncommissioned officer and retired software test technician. I’m totally disabled, my wife is partially disabled (both with arthritis). We have three grown children, and for the last two years, we’ve been the permanent guardians of a 4-year-old. We are both registered Independents, and quite conservative. We detest the destruction of the American school system, the over-lawyering of everything, and the over-politicization of everything by the left.
December 17, 2009, 6:18 pmM. Thompson says:
I’m an active duty US Navy Missile Tech. I find the insights and ideas you guys post here to be very interesting.
I work in a rather closed off field, and getting some different ideas and perspective keeps me intellectually stimulated. The commentary provided is of very good quality.
December 17, 2009, 6:33 pmMichael Mahoney says:
UAW tool and die maker. BS in aviation and econ. Pilot. I came here off an Instapundit link and it has been part of my daily read for some years now.
December 17, 2009, 6:36 pmIcePilot says:
Mathematician, Nuclear Engineer, Scientist
And best of all – Ice Pilot
December 17, 2009, 7:23 pmJ D Hall says:
Civil engineer/consulting firm owner.
Intelligent and (usually) well thought out commentary.
December 17, 2009, 7:46 pmme says:
construction worker
December 17, 2009, 8:05 pmDon’t always understand the legal stuff but I try
David Sucher says:
Is this the proper place for people who went to law school (Seattle University), passed the Washington State Bar (still a member) and then never practiced? And don’t regret any of it?
(Technically I am a lawyer but since I have never practiced it seems a bit much to claim that “I am a lawyer,” if you know what I mean.)
December 17, 2009, 8:15 pmJB says:
Female, 51, Marketing and Communications director at a Big Ten university in Bloomington, Indiana. Kinda surprised to see how many engineers are regular readers.
December 17, 2009, 8:16 pmc1020 says:
28 yr old Computer PC Technician. I have a strong interest in criminal/constitutional law. I have an affinity towards following the legal reasoning process. In fact, I’ve been able to build a whole life metaphor out of the legal system.
December 17, 2009, 8:36 pmChrisIowa says:
Climatology desperately needs statisticians.
December 17, 2009, 9:00 pmColoComment says:
Paralegal, 63 yr. old female, presently working for a small northern Colorado business law firm, formerly worked in the legal & compliance department of a Denver mutual fund company.
I believe that the free and open exchange of opinion and information among all you very, very smart folks that we readers can now find on the best of the topical blogs is the most exciting transformation of communications in my lifetime.
December 17, 2009, 9:34 pmgnholb says:
Worked as LEO from ’65 to ’93 in large SoCal department. Passed LSAT in 67, considered law school at Southwestern, but was mistakenly promoted early a few times and loved the work. It occurred to me that after having sworn an oath to support and defend the Constitution, etc., it might be a good idea to read and try to understand it. Have been reading, just for fun, Con Law and cases ever since. I know, I know. It’s a sickness.
Its fun for my what remains of my 71 year-old brain to hang out with all the smart folks here at the VC.
Thanks, EV for asking.
December 17, 2009, 11:16 pmBretzky says:
While I am a law student, I think it would be better for me to post on this thread since I have no plans of becoming a lawyer when I’m finished. I’m doing a joint degree program in law and international affairs. I worked for a number of years as a DoD contractor doing contract auditing work mostly. I’ve gone back to school with the intention of working in foreign policy analysis, hopefully with the State Dept, when I’m finished.
December 17, 2009, 11:17 pmJoe Carl White says:
Many hats on my head: independent computer consultant, singer, actor, director, and executive director of a non-profit opera company (we promote the writing of works, and have a festival every spring which is like American Idol for opera composers…check us out!
Consider myself a little-’l’ libertarian.
December 17, 2009, 11:40 pmJeyi says:
Ex-grunt, Vietnam; total SE Asian obsessive since 1968; Berkeley Ph. D. (enviro planning); former consultant for UN family (“every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”), Borld Wank and other MLDBs and bilateral donors, in water resources development, turned insultant, turned unemployable.
Evangelist for emerging digital visualization toolbox in impact assessment and project evaluation –especially post-facto, and for samizdat interactive e-books. Slender academic appointment in the Frozen Prairie, but works mostly in the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic on nickle-and-dime ecological and cultural conservation schemes. Many of the VC’s topics are a little obscure for me and oblique to my interests but the calibre of the writing –both of the posters and of the commenters– is unusually impressive and engaging.
December 17, 2009, 11:52 pmHBL says:
I am in my mid-forties, a middle school science educator and part-time science journalist. I left the law after a career of about thirteen years in 2005. I read this on occasion to keep up with the libertarian/right wing view of things in the law. I also read Balkin’s blog about as often.
I tend to read the constitutional stuff most closely.
December 18, 2009, 12:41 amgregspolitics says:
I am a lawyer, a liberal and a gay man married (without benefit of law) to the same wonderful man for 28 years. I especially enjoy the constitutional law discussions and the sometime stimulus of this inner libertarian who seems to want to pop out of my brain on some issues anyway.
December 18, 2009, 1:26 amDavid in San Diego says:
I am a fire protection engineer, 54 year old male. I think I got to this site by a link from himself.
December 18, 2009, 1:43 amRich Rostrom says:
Computer guy (though always in fringe jobs) lately unemployed. History buff, especially military history. Bachelor, 55. Lived in Chicago my whole life. Conservative Republican, with some eccentric ideas.
December 18, 2009, 3:14 amLTR says:
My parents own a small business where I currently work in what I would call a PR/events planning function. I became interested in constitutional law and SCOTUS operations mostly through my strong interest in politics. I’m still young enough to consider law school, but I would probably just give up as soon as the boring parts came up.
December 18, 2009, 12:51 pmAlex Jablokow says:
Marketing Director and science fiction writer. I skip insider academic posts and skim extended analyses of cases, but value the reasoning and the odd bits of historical fact.
December 18, 2009, 1:04 pmSagar says:
BS Civil Engineering/ MS Environ Engg/ registerd PE and MBA (Intn’l Business)
Working in the IT/Financial Services industry. PMI certified Program Manager.
from time to time I wonder if I should go for a Law degree …
December 18, 2009, 1:08 pmBernie says:
Bernie is the real name. I just retired from the US Navy as an ETCS/SS Nuclear trained. I’m working in the civilian nuclear world now. I rarely comment unless I have some value to add. I do read the blog daily. Thank you.
December 18, 2009, 1:57 pmSurf says:
Systems Engineer in the Intelligent Transportation industry (that is not an oxymoron!). Personal interest in the shifting of societal values and how these values are reflected in our laws and interpretation thereof. I pay more attention to the SC cases, and go so far as to read some of the opinions of cases that interest me. There is no doubt that I should not be a lawyer though :)
December 18, 2009, 3:47 pmDavid says:
Retired lawyer. Was partner in “Big Law” law firm in Chicago. Transactional work and corporate counseling. UVA law school graduate. Now doing pro bono work in small southern coastal city where I retired.
December 18, 2009, 5:56 pmJeff Wilson says:
Retired Navy Captain (30 years, active duty). Physicist, computer scientist, aerospace engineer. Amateur Radio Operator (like several here, listed above). Northern Virginia denizen.
libertarian. Con Law dilettante, which is how I wound up here long ago. Came for the blog entries, and stayed for the comments (even the maddening ones).
December 18, 2009, 7:07 pmmarkm says:
EE, a degree earned while serving in the Air Force as an electronics technician. After a brief stint in defense contracting, I’ve worked in electronic manufacturing in Michigan for twenty years.
I’ve been married for 32 years, with two children and five grandchildren.
December 18, 2009, 9:16 pmrsor84 says:
I’m a statistician for a Japanese pharmaceutical company.
December 18, 2009, 9:50 pmJohn Adams says:
A reluctant loyal reader…A Daddy fighting a system made up of lawyers embarrassingly ignorant of the law and a system of laws out to criminalize all of our (yours and mine) children…At this point 200k poorer for the experience..I have lawyers…(need the license)
My 8 year old was taken into a room with a cop and a school principal and (without any safeguards) forced to confess to crimes he didn’t commit…(he wasn’t alone others were forced also)…
So I now know all about the 4th, the 5th, Chavez v Martinez, Albright, the exclusionary rule, Gault, the 6th, Miranda, the 9th, the 14th, Due Process…
And I thought my other life was a quagmire…
Keep posting..I’ll keep reading…
JA
December 18, 2009, 11:28 pmDavid Sanger says:
David Sanger (really): travel, editorial and stock photographer based in San Francisco area; interested in new media, internet and copyright issues as they effect photographers, legal chair and Advisory Council of Stock Artists Alliance, professional association for stock photographers; graduate of Amherst College, Mass, in Mathematics.
December 19, 2009, 3:20 amDanielO'Neill says:
An aviation guy currently between jobs (it is currently something of a crime to fly in a bizjet). I have in the past done some newspaper writing. I have interests in an array of issues that show up in courts, such as regulatory agencies. Agencies have lawmaking authority at the administrative levels, and nobody on Earth voted for them, but what they regulate probably really is too complex to be debated by 535 people who know nothing about the issue. These agencies can be and sometimes have been captured by zealots and nobody seems able to rein them in.
December 19, 2009, 2:11 pmAlso of interest is firearms regulation. I see lots of opinions and far too much “every other advanced country does it this way” tendered as interpretive of US Constitutional law. Actual lawyers discussing actual legal issues with actual citations helps inform my thoughts and guide me in formation of opinions. I prefer not to be the ignoramus in the crowd!
juris imprudent says:
All around computer geek, currently a “system engineer” working Defense acquisition in tactical wireless networking with an MS in the field. Started with a BA in Econ; OJT guided me into the tech world.
Was once a Big-L Libertarian, parted company with them in an 80s purge, now small-l, but will still often vote “L” just because I can’t stomach the choices the big parties offer. Bitter opponent of all forms of Nannyism.
Avid shooter and 2nd Amdt advocate; passionate amateur historian. Get good fixes of both here.
December 19, 2009, 5:09 pmErik says:
Programmer with interests in economics, law, and small business. Politically I am conservative/libertarian.
December 19, 2009, 7:22 pmI come here to keep informed of major events in law, to gain a better understanding of how law is applied, and to find things to be outraged about.
Thanks.
Peter Namtvedt says:
I read VC avidly, am a fan of Randy Barnett particularly. I also am an Objectivist and fan of Ayn Rand.
As our Republic has turned into a democracy it seems my career choice should have been banker or lawyer. Who else seems to be able to rise to the top in this mess and enjoy the blessings and a better than average chance at some control of it all?
My favorite law-related topic is objective law (tip to Randy) and as a definition, find the eight ways of getting law wrong by Lon Fuller the best in regard to FORM (The Morality of Law). Ayn Rand covered the substance pretty well.
Keep up the excellent blogging.
December 19, 2009, 7:36 pmJ Richardson says:
Middle-aged white guy who works as a financial planner. Spent 3 years in a PhD program in Political Science at UNC and left with a wife but no degree. Have a Masters in Project Management and my CFP.
Started coming here because I still love politics, con law, and guns. The day the Heller decision came down I probably spent more time here and the SCOTUS blog than I did actually working.
December 19, 2009, 7:37 pmPeter Namtvedt says:
I am a retired computer systems analyst, philosopher and now writer.
December 19, 2009, 7:37 pmLeftCoastGuy says:
just a middle aged mortgage broker living in Oregon. Politically I sit a little left of center. An odd mix of views. Pro choice, pro death penalty, gun loving, public option health care supporting, anti corporate, cop loathing, liberty loving type of person.
December 20, 2009, 5:12 pmMikee says:
I am a currently unemployed 50 year old male, a PhD in Chemistry, a social and fiscal conservative, a lapsed Catholic, married with a very loving and wonderful wife and two nearly-grown children.
I come to this blog for the posts, and stay for the extremely informative, well written, and delightful comments.
December 21, 2009, 12:07 pmRobinGoodfellow says:
Environmental engineer from a family of lawyers.
December 21, 2009, 8:10 pmKev says:
Jazz musician. Music instructor at a two-year college and several public schools in the DFW area of Texas. Conservative with (small-l) libertarian leanings (yes, I’m lonely–but not alone–with that outlook in my chosen professions). Christian, single, looking for Ms. Right (and, as others have noted, I’m not likely to meet her here!). Unabashed New Urbanism fan, even if the particulars of my profession (i.e. the need to practice an instrument at home) will probably never allow me to live that lifestyle unless I can afford one of those expensive practice modules.
Came here originally through links from Instapundit and the late Crescat Sententia blog. Some of the more law-specific posts on here are way above my pay grade, but the general discussions and their comments are often very interesting and engaging. Blogger since 2003 who has linked here on several occasions.
Great thread! Thanks for doing this, EV.
December 22, 2009, 12:43 pmSGT_L says:
I’m a Soldier in the US Army where I am a transportation supervisor (my Soldiers drive trucks, I supervise them doing it). I was a student at the University of Iowa until my social activities derailed my PreLaw and PoliSci studies. Currently I’m studying Econ part-time. I read this, amongst a number of other blogs, as a measure against mental atrophe.
December 22, 2009, 2:18 pm