I want to thank everyone at NYU, and especially my host Richard Epstein, for my wonderful visit there last week. I really enjoyed meeting and talking with the students and faculty there, and was grateful for the wonderful turnout for my Hayek Lecture, “Commandeering the People: Popular Sovereignty and the Individual Insurance Mandate.” NYU has […]
Archive | 2010
From Law Clerk to U.S. Senator?
Chris Coons, the Democratic Nominee for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Joe Biden, is a former law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for Jane Roth of the Third Circuit. Coons is a heavy favorite to win his race and become a U.S. Senator. Which prompts a trivia question: If he wins, […]
Lawyers and Institutional Roles, or, Why Lawyers Seem So Obsessed With Technicalities
I was thinking recently, after teaching a first-year law class, that one of the key aspects of “thinking like a lawyer” is understanding institutional roles. The law often breaks down power among different institutions, with each institution getting one part of a broader problem. That means that each institution only has limited power, and the […]
Third Way Memo Opposing Mortgage Foreclosure Moratorium:
Third Way, which I take to be a centrist Democratic think tank, has just released a memo opposing a foreclosure moratorium. It is here. They make a key point that others have overlooked, both in this context and in the foreclosure amelioration context more generally: While the fact of so many underwater borrowers is a […]
University of Florida Federalist Society:
I’ll be at the University of Florida Law School tomorrow (Thursday) to speak to the student division of the Federalist Society on “The Mortgage Crisis.” I’ve not been able to find a link directly to the information, but my understanding is that the program will be at 2:00 p.m. in law school’s moot courtroom. If […]
Senator O’Donnell?
My guess is that the Tea Party’s great victory in Delaware — in nominating Christine O’Donnell for the Senate — will turn out to be a rather substantial disaster for the movement. There are some serious issues that the T.P. movement is raising — but O’Donnell’s candidacy merely feeds suspicions that the movement is fed […]
So You Want to Go to Law School?
A very funny video, with some truths that idealistic pre-law students should be aware of (e.g., the odds that you will get to practice constitutional law are very, very slim). H/T Jim Chen at Moneylaw.
Justice Thomas’s Wife Asks Anita Hill for an Apology
And she did so in what strikes me as a really bizarre way, by leaving a voicemail for Hill at her Brandeis University office over the weekend: “Good morning Anita Hill, it’s Ginni Thomas,” it said. “I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would […]
“People Raised By Delaware”
I recently learned that a book has been published about me. Ok, more like a book has a chapter on me. Ok, it’s not really a book, it’s probably more of a booklet. And the part about me is around one page. But you’d probably never know that if you saw the Amazon.com page for […]
Murder Is Excusable, But Being Gay….
From a BBC story about a Saudi Prince, now living in London, who murdered his servant after having a sexual affair with him: If he ever returns to his home country he faces the possibility of execution – not because of the murder, but because being gay is a capital offence in Saudi Arabia.
Wasteful Weatherization Projects
The stimulus bill included $5 billion for weatherization projects. The idea was not just to create jobs, but also invest in energy efficiency. The money didn’t get spent quite as quickly as some had hoped, but it was still worthwhile , right? Maybe not. The stimulus funds ramped up weatherization programs so much that quality […]
[UPDATE: Survey Broken, Post Deleted, Hope to Revive It Tomorrow]
When I Hear “Pure Vermont,” Racial Purity Is the First Thing That Comes to Mind
Curtis Reed Jr., the Chair of the Vermont State Advisory Committee On Civil Rights (I’m not sure whether that’s current or past chair), has this argument against the Brian Dubie for Governor “Pure Vermont” advertising campaign: Brian Dubie’s “Pure Vermont” brand is [an] example of cross-cultural blundering. Presumably, the slogan refers to Vermont’s agricultural products […]
Christian in South Asian Country Sentenced to Prison for “Attempting to Promote Civil Unrest” by Screening Pro-Christianity Movies
By Eugene Volokh on October 19, 2010 2:42 pm in Freedom of Speech, Religion and the Law, Religious Freedom
From Kuensel Online (“Bhutan’s daily news site”): Gelephu dungkhag court sentenced last week a 40-year old man to three years in prison for attempting to promote civil unrest. Prem Singh Gurung from Tarithang was arrested on May 21, after villagers in Gonggaon and Simkharkha of Jigmecholing gewog complained that he was screening movies on Christianity […]
Justices’ Trial Experience
Reader Tim Hudson writes: Other than Justices Sotomayor and Alito (who were both prosecutors) and maybe Ginsburg (with the ACLU), have any other Supreme Court Justices ever tried a case? In addition, has any active Supreme Court Justice ever tried a civil case to a jury? The federal appellate trend is to draw from biglaw […]