Archive | June, 2004

One time back in elementary school, I heard a teacher talking about the logistics of an upcoming field trip, and she said something like this: Everyone can’t fit on the bus. I was confused. Did she seriously mean to say that not a single one of us could fit on the bus? How was that […]

It’s standard to distinguish between constitutional requirements and mere policies. An appropriation for Head Start is a policy, which can be changed however Congress wishes; by contrast, the principle of free speech overrides whatever Congress seeks to do. But there’s something important, rarely unnoticed, and in between — much firmer than mere policies, but falling […]

I must apologize to the song lyric fans that nothing appeared this past Sunday. I have been traveling and I had thought that I had managed to successfully publish a song lyric for a later date. Alas, I was mistaken, and the song lyric (by Nina Simone) disappeared into the ether. I’m still on the […]

There’ve been a number of posts about acronyms recently on some of the blogs I read. One was from me, one from Glen, and one from the guy at Semantic Compositions. This last one reminded me of a letter to the editor I wrote some 15 years ago. The post is about recursive acronyms, the […]

Regarding Eugene’s question as to why some consider it impolite to called Jews “Jews” instead of “Jewish people,” I can contribute a little history. By the 19th century, the word “Jew” was thought by enlightened folks to have derogatory connotations. The leadership of the Reform movement led an effort to abandon the word “Jew” in […]

There are plenty of good arguments against the minimum wage, but I’m not persuaded by reductio arguments like this one: Kerry proposes that the legislated minimum wage reach $7.00 per hour in 2007. Why wait until then? If government can increase workers’ earnings by declaring in a statute that no worker shall be paid less […]

My sister Ellen alerted me to the case of Dave Vardy, who is trying to auction off what many guys would happily give away for free: his virginity. The starting bid is listed at over 6000 British pounds, though I can’t tell whether that’s his reserve price or someone has actually bid that much. I […]

Why do some people think that it’s more polite to say “Jewish people” than “Jews”? I’ve heard some people say that “Jews” is somehow considered rude, and “Jewish people” is better, but I just don’t see why. Does anyone know the story here? People don’t generally say “black people,” “Catholic people,” or “female people.” Why […]

I will soon be sending out reprints of my 2003 trilogy of articles about Lochner v. New York, its origins, and consequences: (1) Lochner’s Legacy’s Legacy, from the Texas Law Review; (2) Lochner Era Revisionism, Revised: Lochner and the Origins of Fundamental Rights Constitutionalism, from the Georgetown Law Journal; and (3) Lochner’s Feminist Legacy, from […]

Ok, it’s not quite a haiku. But as sentences in Supreme Court opinions go, it’s not all that far from that: “Property, a creation of law, does not arise from value, although exchangeable — a matter of fact.” That’s from Holmes’ 1918 opinion in INS v. AP. (By the way, we’re still talking about FDR […]

The blog Liberty & Power keeps stocking up on libertarian intellectual talent. Now it has added to its impressive and provocative roster Robert Higgs, the author of Crisis and Leviathan and the forthcoming book, AGAINST LEVIATHAN: Government Power and a Free Society. No scholar has thought more seriously about the historical relationship between liberty and […]

In the course of my research, much of which relates to selection of legal and ethical decision rules, I’ve often pondered the meaning of the word “rule” itself. What does it actually mean to have a rule, or to be guided by one? The more I think about it, the more I think that a […]

The Rockin’ Book Tour for Restoring the Lost Constitution: The Presumption of Liberty has finally drawn to a close for the summer. I want to thank all the Federalist Society Chapters at the schools listed below for inviting me and for their gracious hospitality. Meeting the local officers at so many schools was inspiring for […]

Eugene identified guest-blogger Cass Sunstein as “a constitutional law scholar at the University of Chicago Law School,” but he’s also Professor of Political Science. That means that, for as long as Cass is here with us, Chicago Political Science will tie UCLA Law and George Mason Law at two co-conspirators each. (This has been true […]

The year before I started teaching I took a leave of absence from the Cook County States Attorney’s Office to be a Research Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School. Cass Sunstein was in the office next store in his very first year of teaching and we spent quality time together that year. Now […]