The Volokh Conspiracy

Who is Justice X?:
[Oops -- I misread an oral argument transcript and based a post on it. Um, never mind; thanks to commenter Chris 24601 for pointing out the misreading.]
MPGA (mail):
Doesn't Scalia claim to be a textualist instead of an originalist?
10.15.2008 2:28pm
Chris 24601 (mail) (www):
I don't think Scalia's saying that history of judge-determined sentencing is irrelevant as such, or as a general interpretive matter; he's saying it's irrelevant, because the sentencing factors weren't binding. That's why he stresses "once you try to narrow it by law" and "when you constrain the judge."
10.15.2008 2:43pm
OrinKerr:
Chris,

Ack, I think you're right. I think I'm being biased by a conversation I once had with this particular Justice about one of his decisions in this line of cases -- you're right, he's making a different point. Let me change the post.
10.15.2008 2:47pm
vassil petrov (mail):
Justice Scalia is the darling of the criminal defense bar.
10.15.2008 2:48pm
r.friedman (mail):
I think Scalia is signalling that there is significant opposition to his bright-line rule concurring in Apprendi. See his dissent from denial of certiorari in Marlowe v. United States (07-1390). From the argument, it turns out that Apprendi was really a reversal of McMillan v. Pennsylvania, in which Stevens was in dissent against Rehnquist and O'Connor, who in turn dissented in Apprendi. Sly dog Stevens triumphs again.
10.15.2008 2:51pm
DeezRightWingNutz:
Is it the name Justice (Thurgood) Marshall took after converting to Islam?
10.15.2008 3:33pm
Hoosier:
Who is Justice X?:

Speed Racer's Brother, if I remember correctly.
10.15.2008 3:33pm
Justin (mail):
Justice X is Monsieur Madeleine?
10.15.2008 4:38pm
Felix Sulla:
I think he came after Justice IX, but before Justice XI.
10.15.2008 5:08pm
Syd Henderson (mail):
Justice X flies far beyond the orbit of the Supreme Court and his existence can only be deduced by his gravitational influence.
10.15.2008 7:27pm
David Friedman (mail) (www):
Surely Justice X has to be Stephen Field.
10.15.2008 11:41pm
Jacob Berlove:
R. Friedman,

In Harris v. United States, Justice Scalia voted to reaffirm McMillan.
10.16.2008 12:01am
BlackX (mail):
My uncle.
10.16.2008 12:54am

Post as: [Register] [Log In]

Account:
Password:
Remember info?

[Important Note to Helpful Readers: If we have confusing typos and especially ugly formatting errors, such as an unclosed underline or bold tag, we'd love to hear from you about them -- but please e-mail the author about this, rather than leaving a comment. We often won't read the comments for a while after the post, and if there's a glaring formatting error, we'd see it quickly when we revisit the post, even without the comment; and in any event the comment likely isn't going to be that helpful to your fellow comment readers. So please e-mail us directly about glitches like this. Thanks!]

Comment Policy: We'd like the posts to be civil, of course (no profanity, personal insults, and the like), but we're also hoping that people try to be as calm, reasoned, and substantive as possible. So please, also avoid rants, invective, substantial and repeated exaggeration, and radical departures from the topic of the thread. Sticking with substance -- and staying on-topic -- will make the comments more helpful to other readers, and more pleasant.

As editors, we reserve the right to delete posts, and even to kick out posters, though we hope that both of these will be exceptional events. (We also reserve the right to be busy with other things, and therefore (1) not remove all the posts that might merit removal, and (2) ignore demands such as "You should remove A's posts, because they're just as bad as B's!")

Here's a tip: Reread your post, and think of what people would think if you said this over dinner. If you think people would view you as a crank, a blowhard, or as someone who vastly overdoes it on the hyperbole, rewrite your post before hitting enter.

And if you think this is the other people's fault -- you're one of the few who sees the world clearly, but fools wrongly view you as a crank, a blowhard, or as someone who overdoes it on the hyperbole -- then you should still rewrite your post before hitting enter. After all, if you're one of the few who sees the world clearly, then surely it's especially important that you frame your arguments in a way that is persuasive and as unalienating as possible, even to fools.

Our goal is to provide an interesting and pleasant environment that can help inform readers. To do that, we'll occasionally have to exercise our editorial discretion. Think of this as an in-person discussion group, where having different voices is critical to a great conversation -- but where sometimes the leader has to deal with cranks who sour the conversation more than they enliven it.

Naturally, there's always a risk that this discretion will be used erroneously, no matter how well-intentioned the editor. But discussion groups (especially on the Internet, but also off it) generally need an editor who'll occasionally make such judgments.

And, remember, it's a big Internet. If you think we were mistaken in removing your post (or, in extreme cases, in removing you) -- or if you prefer a more free-for-all approach -- there are surely plenty of ways you can still get your views out.