Building on my post discussing the role of eminent domain abuse and the destruction of property rights in helping to cause the decline of Detroit, economist David Henderson has an interesting discussion of how “urban renewal” condemnations in the 1960s helped cause the massive 1967 race riot that most believe was a major milestone in […]
Author Archive | Ilya Somin
My USA Today Op ed on the Troubling Implications of Cases where the Administration Loses 9-0 Decisions in the Supreme Court
USA Today has just posted my op ed on the troubling implications of cases where the executive branch loses unanimous Supreme Court decisions: Those of us who follow Supreme Court decisions spend most of our time debating the contentious issues that divide justices 5-4 along predictable ideological lines…. But we might do well to pay […]
Eminent Domain and the Decline of Detroit
Detroit’s sixty year decline, culminating in its recent bankruptcy, has many causes. But one that should not be ignored is the city’s extensive use of eminent domain to transfer property to politically influential private interests. For many years, Detroit aggressively used eminent domain to promote “economic development” and “urban renewal.” The most notorious example was […]
The Reverse Mussolini Fallacy and Conservative/Libertarian Reactions to PC Excesses
One of senior Conspirator Eugene Volokh’s cleverest inventions is the Reverse Mussolini Fallacy: The Mussolini Fallacy is believing that, because Mussolini made the trains run on time (if he did), that excuses his other acts. The Reverse Mussolini Fallacy is believing that, because Mussolini made the trains run on time, making the trains run on […]
A Property Law Bleg
This fall, I will be teaching the first year course on Property for the first time in a couple years. I would like to ask readers who are property professors, practitioners in the field, or otherwise expert on the subject if you have suggestions for recent cases and other materials that you think should be […]
Former “Southern Avenger” Jack Hunter Resigns from Rand Paul’s Staff
Jack Hunter, the Rand Paul aide once known as the “Southern Avenger” has resigned from the senator’s staff in order to avoid being a “distraction.” Hunter has a history of pro-Confederate and borderline racist statements, though he has repudiated them in more recent years. In addition to creating a political problem for Rand Paul, the […]
Political Ignorance in Congress
By Ilya Somin on July 17, 2013 11:15 am in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Political Ignorance, Public Opinion
David Boaz has an interesting post discussing Jonathan Martin’s Wall Street Journal review of veteran Washington Post journalist Robert Kaiser’s recent book Act of Congress. Martin explains how Kaiser shows that most members of Congress are ignorant about much of the important legislation they vote on: Congress is dominated by intellectual lightweights who are chiefly […]
John Stuart Mill on Slavery, the Confederacy, and the American Civil War
A reader reminded me that many of the same defenses of the Confederacy advanced by its modern apologists (including some of the libertarian ones discussed in my last post) were also advocated by wartime British sympathizers with the Confederates, and effectively rebutted by John Stuart Mill in his 1862 essay, “The Contest in America.” I […]
Libertarianism, the Confederacy, and the Civil War Revisited
By Ilya Somin on July 16, 2013 8:34 pm in Civil War, History, Libertarianism, Racial Discrimination, Secession
Revelations that Rand Paul aide Jack Hunter has a history of racist and pro-Confederate statements during his days as a radio shock jock have rekindled the longstanding debate over libertarian attitudes towards the Civil War. Hunter has repudiated many of his former statements and attitudes. But that hasn’t stopped the controversy from continuing. This uproar […]
Our Amicus Brief on the Property Rights of Private Planned Communities
The Cato Institute recently filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to hear Mariner’s Cove Townhomes Association v. United States , a case addressing an important issue involving the property rights of private planned communities. The brief was filed on behalf of Cato and several property scholars, including Richard Epstein (Chicago and NYU), James […]
Radley Balko’s Rise of the Warrior Cop
By Ilya Somin on July 14, 2013 2:35 pm in Criminal Law, Federalism, Political Ignorance, War on Drugs
Radley Balko’s Rise of the Warrior Cop describes the increasing militarization of America’s police forces over the last several decades, and the immense harm it inflicts. It is the best new book on a law-related topic I have read so far this year. I. The Growth of Militarized Policing. Balko describes the growing use of […]
Police Should Stop Shooting So Many Dogs
A. Barton Hinkle has a column on the tragic prevalence of police shooting dogs for little or no cause: Across the country, both state laws and departmental policies seem to let police officers use deadly force as a first resort against family pets that often present little or no threat. In one infamous 2010 case […]
Political Ignorance in Britain
By Ilya Somin on July 10, 2013 11:10 am in Democracy, Democracy and Political Ignorance, Political Ignorance, Public Opinion, Voting With Your Feet
Sam Bowman of the Adam Smith Institute has an interesting post analyzing recent survey data on widespread political ignorance in Britain [HT: Nigel Ashford]: The public is ignorant about politics and lacks even the basic facts that it would need to make sound judgments about political issues. A new poll by Ipsos-MORI shows just how […]
Video Interview with Elena Kagan
Justice Elena Kagan recently did a video interview with Jeffrey Rosen. As with most Supreme Court justices, Kagan is very careful about what she says in public about her colleagues and the cases before the Court. But there are some interesting moments nonetheless, such as her discussion of the difficulties the justices experience in deciding […]
Video of the Huffington Post Live Discussion on Democracy and Constitutionalism in Egypt
A video of the Huffington Post Live panel discussion on constitutionalism, democracy, and the situation in Egypt is now available here. I was one of four participants. The others were Prof. Stanley Katz of Princeton, Zaid Al-Ali – an expert on constitutional design in the Arab world, and Daniel Landsberg-Rodriguez. I tried to emphasize two […]