This week’s The New Republic features a cover story by Harvard Law School’s Jack Goldsmith on cyberwar. (June 24, 2010.) It’s a long, serious review essay, using Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake’s new book, Cyber War, as the hook. But Jack goes well beyond a book review into the rapidly expanding literature on […]
Archive | 2010
More on Souter’s Bad History
Jonathan has already pointed to the McGinnnis and Rappaport op-ed taking on Justice Souter’s Harvard commencement address. McGinnis and Rappaport are making a point about originalism. I’m not as convinced that originalism provided an easy answer in Plessy–but then again, I’m not a committed originalist, so that’s easy for me to say. Anyway, I do […]
“From Date to Mate” Update
I blogged about this show on Jan. 1: That’s the name of a mock reality show available online on Shalom TV. It’s about four single Jewish twenty-somethings in Manhattan who have agreed to have their online dating life followed by t.v. cameras for eight months. I’ve watched the first two episodes, and two things strike […]
“Justice Souter’s Bad Constitutional History”
By Jonathan H. Adler on June 14, 2010 8:23 pm in Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Fourteenth Amendment, Racial Discrimination, Supreme Court
Last month, retired Justice David Souter delivered the commencement address at Harvard. His speech was a veiled challenge to proponents of originalism. Some commentators, such as Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, Slate‘s Dahlia Lithwick, and TalkLeft’s Big Tent Democrat were impressed. Others, not so much. In today’s WSJ, Northwestern University’s John McGinnis and USD’s Michael […]
Video of Interchange Conference:
The Mercatus Center has posted the video of the three panels from the interchange fee conference that was held last week. You can see them here. For those who are interested, my paper is available here. I see that Navy Federal Credit Union is now alerting its customers to what is likely to happen if […]
“Democracy” is not a Definitive Argument Against the 17th Amendment:
Apparently Glenn Beck’s been thinking about the 17th Amendment too. A short mention in this video and a mention on his website (was this perhaps the text of a short discussion he had on it). Update: Here’s a longer clip with Beck’s analysis at the beginning. He’s actually got it basically right, both on the […]
The Must-Have Fashion Accessory of the Summer:
The “Repeal the 17th Amendment” t-shirt! Two styles: Black and white. (I don’t know this vendor, so I am not recommending it one or the other. I just like the shirt.) Update: Sorry, I see there are few other places that have them here and here (I just stumbled across the other one first and […]
The Wall and the Least Dangerous Branch
Many of my posts have criticized privacy groups and their doctrines. How come, some of you have asked? Aren’t privacy advocates the Ewoks of the policy world — cute and cuddly and easy to like even when they’re on the other side? After all, most of us share their overall goal. We would all like more privacy. […]
UC Irvine Bans Muslim Student Union for a Year, Based on (Among Other Things) Organizing a Disruption of the Israeli Ambassador’s Speech
So reports the Orange County Register, pointing to this decision letter. I haven’t had time to digest the letter (I’m busy with some other projects right now), but I hope to have a bit more to say after I’m done with that. In the meantime, though, I thought I’d pass along the story.
Emmy Award Nomination
Every Friday, I participate in a weekly public affairs roundtable program, Colorado Inside-Out, on Denver’s KBDI television, channel 12. Every summer we do a “time machine” episode. Last summer’s 1959 episode has been nominated for a regional Heartland Emmy award. I play Charleton Drizzelwhit-Koplowitz, book review editor of the Rocky Mountain News. In real life, my father Jerry Kopel worked at […]
Justice Thomas’s First Decision to Assign a Supreme Court Majority Opinion?
Jonathan’s post about the lineup in today’s Dolan v. United States, in which the majority consisted of Thomas, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, and Sotomayor, suggests that this might have been the first time that Justice Thomas assigned a Supreme Court majority opinion (in this case, to Justice Breyer). That assignment decision is made by the senior […]
Congressional Conflicts of Interest
The Washington Post reports that many members of Congress have substantial investments in the industries they oversee. Specifically, many members’ investments overlap with their respective committee jurisdctions. On the House Agriculture Committee, which holds sway over farm policies and subsidies, members had farming and agribusiness investments worth five times on average the amount held by […]
Revolt of the Junior Justices?
Among the four decisions handed down today was Dolan v. United States, which considered whether a sentencing court may order restitution despite missing the statutory deadline of 90-days after sentencing for restitution to be ordered. The Court held, 5-4, that the answer is yes, “at least where, as here, that court made clear prior to […]
Rufus Peckham KOs Oliver Wendell Holmes
I recently sent the final version of my “Rehabilitating Lochner” manuscript to University of Chicago Press for proofreading, typesetting and so forth. Yay! The book should be out in Spring 2011. At some point, my editor asked me for my conception of the cover. I chose something unrealistic, but that I really liked. And I […]
The ICC and Crime of Aggression
Over at Opinio Juris, some first-wave discussion of the agreement on the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and the crime of aggression. Kevin Jon Heller and Julian Ku – not sparring, but instead trying to give an initial read on the deal. A great deal of discussion is about to ensue over this deal, […]