I got tired of hauling so many books around on plane flights, and decided to try downloading some Kindle books to my Ipod Touch. I don’t yet have a Kindle, although apparently if I am very, very good … I know that Glenn Reynolds prefers the Ipod to read Kindle over the Kindle, but then […]
Archive | November, 2009
Spelling Out Numbers vs. Writing Them Using Digits
Any thoughts on what the rule should be here? My sense is that numbers written using digits are much easier to quickly absorb, so I tend to write them that way whenever they refer to something that people might want to use in calculations or comparisons. I’d say, for instance, that “These books tend to […]
Yoo v. Goldsmith on the KSM Trial
Last week, former OLC deputy John Yoo argued in the WSJ that the decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York was a major mistake. Trying KSM in civilian court will be an intelligence bonanza for al Qaeda and the hostile nations that will view the U.S. intelligence methods and sources that such a […]
The Really Traditional Socratic Method
You ask people hard questions. Then they kill you.
Poll on political bloggers and the media:
This week’s National Journal poll of political bloggers started off by asking them to rank the importance of various media that the political blogger himself uses to stay informed. On both the Right and the Left, “websites/blogs” came in first. However, on the Left, daily print newspapers were second, while on the Right, they were […]
Concluding Thoughts on Public Opinion and Constitutional Law
Thank you for the chance to post here over the past week. Given how much work it is I don’t know how the regular conspirators have time to do anything else. I have now sifted through the 200 or so comments my posts have generated and thought it might be worth responding to them as […]
Sunday Song Lyric
Glenn Beck likes Muse. He’ s hardly alone, given the award-winning British Altrock band’s growing popularity in the U.S. While most other Muse fans may be drawn in by the music, Beck likes the lyrics. “These guys are brilliant, they know the time that we live in,” he said during a September broadcast. “All of […]
Palin, Ignorance, and Stupidity Revisited
Longtime readers may recall that I was initially positive about Sarah Palin because her record was much more libertarian than that of most other major national politicians. Later, I had to reassess my view of Palin, as her ignorance of many important policy issues became apparent. But I also emphasized that ignorance is not the […]
How Common is the Socratic Method?
In a recent post, Orin expresses doubts about whether the “traditional” form of the Socratic method is still used in many law schools. If by “traditional form” he means something like what is portrayed in The Paper Chase, I agree that not many use it. Very few lawprofs are as obnoxious as the mythical Professor […]
President Obama is not a jihadi
By David Kopel on November 21, 2009 5:03 pm in Freedom of Speech, Political Ignorance, Popular Culture, Terrorism, War on Terror
A local controversy here in Colorado involves an auto dealer who used the billboard on his property to ask the question “PRESIDENT or JIHAD?” The rest of the billboard attempts (not very successfully in my view) to connect this question to the issue of Obama’s birth certificate. Last night I was briefly interviewed about the […]
How Common is the Socratic Method in Law Schools Today?
In a post below, Ilya writes: The traditional law school reliance on the the Socratic method, which I criticized on other grounds in this series of posts, is part of the problem. Many professors and students assume that it is the only correct way of teaching law classes, especially large intro courses, and therefore don’t […]
NYT on Hacked Climate E-Mails
The New York Times reports on the hack and disclosure of e-mails from the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit. The e-mails, attributed to prominent American and British climate researchers, include discussions of scientific data and whether it should be released, exchanges about how best to combat the arguments of skeptics, and casual comments […]
Why Tradition Does Not Justify the Socratic Method
One of the standard defenses of the Socratic method, which I criticized in my last post and here, is adherence to tradition. If American lawprofs have been using the method for decades, there must be something to it. Who are we to question the approach that worked so well for Professor Kingsfield? I am generally […]
Teaching to Different Learning Styles in Law School
By nature, I am a highly verbal, nonvisual person. I learn best by reading books or listening to lectures. I rarely benefit from looking at tables, charts, pictures, and the like. I’m the kind of guy who can’t drive to an unfamiliar destination without a detailed mapquest itinerary telling me exactly which turns to take; […]
Missouri Court Upholds Statute Against Gun Possession While Intoxicated
Missouri v. Richard was decided earlier this week by the Missouri Supreme Court, solely on the basis of the Missouri Constitution. Missouri law, Section 571.030.1(5) punishes someone who “Possesses or discharges a firearm or projectile weapon while intoxicated.” Richard did in fact possess a loaded handgun while intoxicated (eventually to the point of unconsciousness) by morphine and […]