Today’s NYT presents reminiscences from six former clerks to Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, Susan Estrich, Eduardo Penalver, Jeffrey Fisher, Cliff Sloan, Deborah Pearlstein, and Joseph Thai.
Archive | 2010
Sunday Song Lyric
Punk pioneer Malcolm McLaren died this week. McLaren managed both the New York Dolls and the Sex Pistols. While neither band lasted too long in its initial incarnation, both were quite influential. Under McLaren’s leadership, the Sex Pistols courted controversy and cemented their place in history. Their 1977 single, “God Save the Queen,” was almost […]
Obama’s Diverse Shortlist
With Justice Stevens having announced his retirement, all eyes now turn to President Obama’s purported short list: Elena Kagan, Merrick Garland, and Diane Wood. Obama will have a tough choice, as he is picking from three very different candidates. No matter who he picks, his selection is likely to break down some major barriers. First, […]
Further to Andrew Ferguson on Behavioral Economics
By Kenneth Anderson on April 10, 2010 5:53 pm in Economy, Libertarian Paternalism, Libertarianism, Regulation
Todd’s right, Andy Ferguson’s Weekly Standard piece is excellent – whether one agrees with his ultimate take on it or not. The bottom line of the piece, however, is not simply a skepticism about the powers of social science – behavioral economics as the New Social Engineering. It is, rather, a broadly libertarian point, going […]
Fannie Meltdown?
The Wall Street Journal has a short report today on the testimony by former Fannie and Freddie executives, as well as their government regulators, in front of the Congressionally-mandated Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission – most recently, the Commission heard from Greenspan and the central bankers. A Congressional panel heard clashing views about what caused the […]
“Obama’s Next Justice”
National Review Online asked a bunch of people “What lies ahead?” with regard to the Stevens replacement, and published the answers here. There are contributions from our own Jonathan Adler, James Copland, Ted Frank, Rick Garnett, Stephanie Hessler, Curt Levey, Neomi Rao, Ralph Reed, William Saunders, Ilya Shapiro, and me. Here’s my answer: What lies […]
Andrew Ferguson on Behavioral Economics and the Obama Administration:
Interesting article by Andrew Ferguson on the influence of behavioral economics on Obama Administration regulatory policy here. Clever title too.
Wishful Linguistics
A commenter on one of the republic vs. democracy threads writes, Perhaps my dictionary says different things, but “representative democracy” is a contradiction. “Democracy” is a system of government rule by the people–all of the people. Referring to a “republic” or a “democratic republic” as a democracy strikes me as improper. Even if the common […]
The Kennedy Court Comes of Age
As if Justice Kennedy did not wield enough influence on the Supreme Court’s decisions already, SCOTUSBlog’s Lyle Denniston explains why Justice Stevens’ retirement is likely to increase the swing justice’s effect on the Court. This is so for two reasons. First, Justice Stevens’ retirment means there are only two justices on the Court with seniority […]
Justice Stevens’ Retirement and the Next Justice
I’ve contributed to two online symposiua discussing Justice Stevens’ retirement and his potential successor. The first — “Topic A” on WashingtonPost.com — includes contributions from Senator Arlen Specter, UC Irvine Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, and Walter Dellinger, among others. The second, on National Review Online, includes contributions from many NRO regulars, as well as Notre Dame’s […]
Acquiring UAV Technology
By Kenneth Anderson on April 9, 2010 9:50 pm in Counter-Terrorism Policy, Robotics, Targeted Killing, Uncategorized, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
I’ve noticed a number of posts and comments around the blogosphere on the spread of UAV technology. Which indeed is happening; many states are developing and deploying UAVs of various kinds. The WCL National Security Law Brief blog, for example, notes that India is now acquiring weaponized UAVs: India is reportedly preparing to have “killer” […]
Whole Lot of Error Going On
This comment on the republic vs. democracy thread struck me as worth noting, because the errors in it seem to me to be pretty common. Recall that in the thread I was arguing that it’s just fine to call Georgia (the one whose capital is Atlanta, not Tbilisi) a “democracy,” and not just a “republic” […]
Diane Wood on the Second Amendment
In Justice v. Town of Cicero, 577 F.3d 768 (7th Cir., Aug. 14, 2009), Judge Wood upheld the handgun registration ordinance of Cicero, Illinois. The opinion accurately explained that under the then-current law of the Circuit, the Second Amendment was not incorporated in the Fourteenth. Surprisingly, Judge Wood then asserted that even if the Second Amendment were […]
Dawn Johnsen Withdraws Nomination to be OLC Chief
Dawn Johnsen has withdrawn her nomination to be OLC Chief, the Associated Press reports.
Merrick Garland is no friend of the rights of gun owners
Details here, regarding the 2000 case NRA v. Reno, and Judge Garland’s refusal to require the Clinton Department of Justice to obey the federal statute requiring the destruction of records of firearms purchases by law-abiding Americans. The decision also suggests a cavalier disregard for privacy rights in general, such as the right not to be put on a […]