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[Eugene Volokh, October 22, 2007 at 1:16pm] Trackbacks
Hanah Metchis Volokh, Guest-Blogging:

I'm delighted to report that Hanah Metchis Volokh will be guest-blogging for the next several weeks.

Hanah does separation of powers law, with some statutory interpretation, federal courts, and administrative law on the side. She's the author of Congressional Immunity Grants and Separation of Powers: Legislative Vetoes of Federal Prosecutions, 95 Geo. L.J. 2017 (2007) and The Two Appointments Clauses: Statutory Qualifications for Federal Officers, 10 U. Pa. J. Const. L. (forthcoming 2008). She's also Chief Articles Editor at the Georgetown Law Journal, and will be clerking next year for Judge Jerry Smith on the Fifth Circuit. She is thus Todd Zywicki's and Ilya Somin's sister in the Jerry Smith clerkship family, and also Sasha's wife and therefore my sister-in-law.

Thief (mail) (www):
So she's a legacy admit? ;)
10.22.2007 2:30pm
anon0489692 (mail):
I'm sure Ms. Volokh is a nice person and intelligent law student. But -- there's something about this arrangement that just seems odd. Can't you wait until she does the obligatory stint in private practice and becomes a law professor? It just doesn't feel right to have her guest-blogging in order to pad her resume.
10.22.2007 3:06pm
Sasha Volokh (mail) (www):
Guest-blogging pads one's resume???
10.22.2007 3:11pm
Thales (mail) (www):
I would think prior to tenure, non anonymous guest blogging by an aspiring academic would generally be an "anti-pad" to one's resume, if anything.
10.22.2007 3:18pm
Guy Smiley:
If you looked up "nepotism" in the dictionary, it would quote from this post.
10.22.2007 3:19pm
Ilya Somin:
If you looked up "nepotism" in the dictionary, it would quote from this post.

This is a guest-blogging stint, not a job. As far as I know, guest-bloggers don't even get paid (I didn't when i was one).
10.22.2007 3:23pm
Ilya Somin:
Welcome, Hanah, and congratulations on the great clerkship!!
10.22.2007 3:24pm
PatHMV (mail) (www):
Well, I say, welcome, Hanah! Any wife of Sasha's is a friend of mine. I do want to know, though, if you guys try to out-do each other by dropping into your dinner conversation obscure words dredged from the bowels of the OED.

Pay no attention to the nattering nabobs of negativism up-thread. I, for one, look forward to your posts.
10.22.2007 3:24pm
TruePath (mail) (www):
That explains alot. I kept thinking that Hannah Volokh was someone's very young daughter so I kept being confused when she was mentioned as a constitutional expert.

Anyway glad to hear you are guest blogging. I don't understand whats with the negative response above but I'm glad your willing to take the time to post.
10.22.2007 3:25pm
Houston Lawyer:
The tenor of the above comments is about par for this blog. Welcome Hanah: prepare to defend yourself.
10.22.2007 3:28pm
Sasha Volokh (mail) (www):
PatHMV: I oppose using obscure words in conversation, writing, or any other context, so, no.
10.22.2007 3:32pm
Freddy Hill:
Maybe the negative response is one of fear. I never heard of a Volokh until a couple of years ago, and would have found it quite unlikely that such a surname was even possible. Now there are Volokhs everywhere. At the current exponential trend, every man, woman and child in America will soon be a Volokh and a lawyer.

I for one welcome our new Volokh overlords.
10.22.2007 3:35pm
FC:
When is a blog a public accomodation? This will be on the final exam.
10.22.2007 3:36pm
Fub:
Sasha Volokh wrote at 10.22.2007 2:11pm:
Guest-blogging pads one's resume???
News to me. I have heard that too much blogging tends to pad an entirely different part of one's anatomy, but a daily aerobic workout will minimize that.
10.22.2007 3:39pm
Dave N (mail):
I want to welcome Hanah as well and look forward to her posts but I must ask: Her husband and her brother-in-law are both not only lawyers, but law professors, and she decided to become an attorney instead of running and screaming in the opposite direction? Wow!
10.22.2007 3:40pm
Guest101:
Ms. Volokh already has a more impressive resume than I do, and I'm sure she has interesting things to say, but has there ever been a law student asked to guest-blog here? Guy Smiley has a point, Ilya's rather hair-splitting defense notwithstanding.
10.22.2007 3:51pm
taney71:

As far as I know, guest-bloggers don't even get paid (I didn't when i was one).

So do you guys/gals get paid as regular bloggers?
10.22.2007 4:10pm
PLR:

She is thus Todd Zywicki's and Ilya Somin's sister in the Jerry Smith clerkship family, and also Sasha's wife and therefore my sister-in-law.

Ah, that would explain the "Conspiracy" thing. Might she also be an eighth cousin to Senator Obama?
10.22.2007 4:11pm
philo:
Wow, lots of philapechthemists on board. (Your first test.)
10.22.2007 4:13pm
PJT:
Im surprised to hear that even full time bloggers get paid
10.22.2007 4:16pm
Ilya Somin:
So do you guys/gals get paid as regular bloggers?

We get a share of the blog's advertising revenue.
10.22.2007 4:16pm
Ilya Somin:
Ms. Volokh already has a more impressive resume than I do, and I'm sure she has interesting things to say, but has there ever been a law student asked to guest-blog here? Guy Smiley has a point, Ilya's rather hair-splitting defense notwithstanding.

This blog is Eugene's and Sasha's hobby, not an equal opportunity meritocracy. They have the right to pick guest bloggers on any criteria they deem relevant. If you think their posts are not worth reading, you have every right to not read them.

I'm confident that Hanah will write some interesting and insightful posts. Even if she doesn't, I think the VC will survive.
10.22.2007 4:20pm
Guy Smiley:
I didn't mean to be rude previously, only curt. My general point was that, although EV can certainly choose any guest bloggers he wishes, choosing such a "legacy" tends to diminish the overall credibility of the blog. While accomplished, Mrs. Volokh is a third-year law student. The only real explanation for her being chosen over any other top-tier law review editor who has had a couple of articles published is her relationship to EV and SV. And although this might not pad her "resume," per se or benefit her monetarily, it certainly gets her name out there before a large group of people and lends her an air of credibility simply by association. This could of course reap benefits down the road.
10.22.2007 4:37pm
Rickm:
This isn't nepotism. She's guest blogging. Its not like she's editing Commentary.
10.22.2007 4:38pm
Guy Frowney (mail):
C'mon Guy, you're close but not quite on the right track -- its not nepotism, its sexism. They only reason Hannah is allowed to post here is because she agrees to sleep with Sasha. Now every blogger applying for a spot here at the VC knows that the way in the front door is through the bedroom. Promotions, salary increases, better office space, etc. are all tied to sex.

(Do you get out much, Guy?)
10.22.2007 4:51pm
GV_:
My general point was that, although EV can certainly choose any guest bloggers he wishes, choosing such a "legacy" tends to diminish the overall credibility of the blog.

Isn't this being a little overly dramatic? This blog isn't scholarship. (Besides, if you were the type of person who would be less likely to read a blog because of one poster, wouldn't David Bernstein already fill up that role? Kidding. Sorta.)
10.22.2007 4:53pm
just me:
In response to TruePath, who said:


That explains alot. I kept thinking that Hannah Volokh was someone's very young daughter so I kept being confused when she was mentioned as a constitutional expert.


Why the confusion? The Volokhs are known as a precocious lot. I expect to see the next generation posting in about a year or two. ("Suppression of Free Speech at a University-run Daycare -- State Action?" and "Forced Toy-sharing as Anti-Liberty".)
sdf
10.22.2007 5:22pm
taney71:
Oh, btw I believe Hannah Volokh has published more than most JDs or PhDs. Good job on her part to publish as a student and come join the blogging world!

I hope to see Hannah post on her articles. I am not sold that Congress doesn't have the right to place statutory restrictions on appointments. From what I have read about the subject lawyers (Calabresi, Yoo, Prakash) tend think its unconstitutional whereas political scientists feel that it is (Corwin, Fisher, Sollenberger).
10.22.2007 5:31pm
Dave Hardy (mail) (www):
I can see the discussion in the faculty hiring committee: "Yeah, so the guy was No. 1 at Yale and clerked for Roberts. I don't see any blogging experience in his CV."

welcome our new Volokh overlords

Has anybody thought of doing another Lord of the Rings sequel? "One blog to bind them..."
10.22.2007 5:42pm
Mark Field (mail):
test
10.22.2007 5:50pm
liberty (mail) (www):

C'mon Guy, you're close but not quite on the right track -- its not nepotism, its sexism. They only reason Hannah is allowed to post here is because she agrees to sleep with Sasha. Now every blogger applying for a spot here at the VC knows that the way in the front door is through the bedroom. Promotions, salary increases, better office space, etc. are all tied to sex.


Hm... I guess this explains the relatively small number of female guest bloggers.
10.22.2007 5:52pm
Steve P. (mail):
While accomplished, Mrs. Volokh is a third-year law student.

Well, that means that legally, she's more accomplished than myself, the last guest-blogger, or the resident puzzleblogger. I'm definitely looking forward to Hanah's posts, albeit I may change my mind if she reverts to cat-blogging.
10.22.2007 5:52pm
Paul S. Hsieh (mail) (www):
Congratulations, Hanah! I'm looking forward to your posts.
10.22.2007 6:12pm
dearieme:
I tried nepotism once - appointed a cousin. Worked terribly well. Highly recomended.
10.22.2007 6:20pm
advisory opinion:
dearieme - that made me laugh.

The Conspiracy has been operating on a female deficit for a long time now. I demand the return of Michelle Boardman.
10.22.2007 6:34pm
Syd Henderson (mail):
Hey, she's a Volokh. You were warned this was a conspiracy when you logged on.

Hi, Hanah.
10.22.2007 6:35pm
jim:
Give her a chance people. For all I care the bloggers on this site could be 6-year-olds, space aliens or disembodied voices eminating from the ether. What matters is that they write interesting things.
10.22.2007 6:49pm
Eric Muller (www):
I thought I had seen it all in the blogosphere.

Then I saw people complaining about a blogger's decision to invite his sister-in-law to guest-blog for a little while.

Unbelievable.

Go get 'em, Ms. Volokh. I look forward to reading your posts.
10.22.2007 6:53pm
Zywicki (mail):
Smith and the Conspiracy--all that's left now is for Hanah to become a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and my scheme will be complete!! [Insert evil chuckle]

Here's our new theme song. Just kidding.

P.S.--Seriously congrats and welcome to the Smith family. He's a truly great man and a great judge. Plus sittings are in New Orleans!
10.22.2007 6:54pm
Ilya Somin:
Smith and the Conspiracy--all that's left now is for Hanah to become a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and my scheme will be complete!!

Won't happen Todd. She can only join the VC permanently if she becomes a New England Patriots/Boston Red Sox fan.
10.22.2007 6:56pm
Patrick216:
I have met Hanah a few times and found her to be very bright and articulate, and a great person to boot. I now learn she is a twice-published scholar and future clerk for a very prestigious judge.

The question for EV's readers is, "does Hanah have something to say that is interesting or insightful on a topic or topic(s) covered by this blog?" The answer is presumptively yes. End of story. Carping because she's Sasha's wife is petty jealousy and nothing more.

The real "nepotism" will come when EV starts posting artwork and various documents produced by his very young children on the blog, and refers to them as "guest bloggers." :)
10.22.2007 7:23pm
Syd Henderson (mail):
I'm personally waiting for Benjamin Volokh's posts on the law as it pertains to children.
10.22.2007 7:49pm
Wugong:
Golly, but do some of you take this thing too seriously. Eugene and Sasha can have whoever they want blog here and it certainly seems like they made a fine choice with Hannah. I really enjoy this blog, but it's not like it consists solely of top-flight legal analysis 24/7. There are comments on the Red Sox, whatever happens to piss off DB in the five minutes before he posts, etc. I'm sure Hannah can more than hold her own.
10.22.2007 8:12pm
Kovarsky (mail):
to put it very precisely, the prerequisite for the Smith family admittance is intense hatred of the yankees. a little anecdote. for anybody that's ever been to houston; the best greek restaurant is nico nico's (sp). after the bucky dent home run, which occurred after he'd picked up takeout there, he vowed he would never again go back until the red sox beat the yankees in the playoffs. literally the day after game 7 in '04, the man was seated comfortably on the outdoor patio, enjoying the best falafel in the city.
10.22.2007 11:30pm
 
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