One way to carve up the categories of failure of past and continuing financial regulation is complexity, conflicts, and complacency. That’s taking cupidity for granted. The rating agencies appeared to offer a way to outsource the agency problems inherent in investors seeking to evaluate complex financial instruments that, in any case, trucked in assets a […]
Archive | August, 2011
Deterrence or Retribution Theory of Punishment?
From the Guardian: Monks at the 15th century church of San Salvatore al Monte, which was a favourite of Michelangelo, were irritated when a rare and expensive bible disappeared from the lectern, and they flew off the handle when a replacement bible donated by a worshipper also went missing and within a few hours. In […]
My RegBlog Post on the 11th Circuit Individual Mandate Decision
By Ilya Somin on August 18, 2011 2:35 pm in Commerce Clause, Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper, Taxing and Spending Clause
My RegBlog post on the 11th Circuit’s recent decision striking down the individual mandate is now available here. The post considers the the ruling in more detail than my previous commentary on the subject. RegBlog is a relatively new website established by the University of Pennsylvania Program on Regulation. For VC readers who may be […]
The Individual Mandate, Natural Law, and Lochner: A Scholarly Perspective from Ken Cuccinelli
In the latest issue of the Texas Review of Law & Politics, the Virginia state officials behind the Fourth Circuit challenge to the individual mandate — AG Ken Cuccinelli, SG Duncan Getchell, and Deputy AG Wesley Russell — have written a law review article on the broader jurisprudential context of their lawsuit: Why the Debate […]
College Department Chair Sues Professor for Libel, Loses
By Eugene Volokh on August 18, 2011 12:43 pm in Defamation, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
An interesting example of this fortunately rare occurrence comes in Olguin v. Santa Barbara Community College Dist. (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 15, 2011). The case has an interesting discussion of the state-law “common interest privilege,” which is quite important in cases involving alleged defamation within an organization or in job references; but here is an […]
Legal Policy Arguments (Post 1 of 2) — Tying Abstract Arguments to Concrete Ones
I thought I’d post again some thoughts that I had about making effective policy arguments, in law school, in legal articles, and in briefs. I include this in the readings for my first-semester Torts students, and I thought other law students might find them helpful, too. Some of these points are obvious, but I’ve often […]
Henry Ford Had Nothing to Do with Creating Medicare
An opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Henry Ford Health System v. Department of Health and Human Services begins: “My effort is in the direction of simplicity,” once wrote the namesake of the Henry Ford Hospital. Henry Ford, My Life and Work 13 (Garden City Publ’g Co. 1922). Mr. […]
What Drives Law School Tuition?
Over at Inside the Law School Scam, the anonymous “Lawprof” has some interesting posts, here and here, on why law school tuitions have grown so much over the last 20 to 30 years. I agree with some of it, but I wonder if it’s also missing a significant part of the picture: The combined role […]
“Skating on Stilts” Wins Award
My book, Skating on Stilts, has been named a 2010 Book of the Year, winning a bronze in the Political Science category from ForeWord Review, whose awards are made each year by a panel of librarians and booksellers choosing among the offerings of independent publishers.
Charter School May Not Sue State; Charter School Teachers’ Free Speech Rights Not Violated by State Curriculum Restrictions
From Nampa Classical Academy v. Goesling (9th Cir. Aug. 15, 2011) (nonprecedential) (unsigned opinion by Judges Reinhardt and Willie Fletcher, with Judge Rawlinson concurring in the result only: Nampa Classical Academy (“NCA”), along with plaintiffs Moffett, Kosmann and M.K., sued the Idaho Public Charter School Commission, alleging that its policy prohibiting the use of sectarian […]
My Newsday Op Ed on the 11th Circuit Individual Mandate Decision
By Ilya Somin on August 17, 2011 2:29 pm in Commerce Clause, Federalism, Necessary and Proper, Taxing and Spending Clause
Newsday has published an op ed I wrote on the 11th Circuit decision striking down the individual mandate. Because of very tight space constraints, I was unable to cover many of the nuances of the decision. But the op ed does summarize my main thoughts on it: Last week’s Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision […]
Student Loan Forgiveness and Government or Nonprofit Employment
Amid the debates over rising student loan debt that is undischargeable in bankruptcy, I have not seen a lot of public discussion over provisions of law that provide special forgiveness benefits to those who go to work for government or nonprofits. I’m thinking of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (2007), described here at the […]
The “Unlimited Power” Argument and the Commerce Clause
There has to be some natural limit on how much commentary readers can bear on the individual mandate, but I wanted to respond to one argument that seems to be at the core of the arguments in the mandate debate. As the recent Eleventh Circuit decision and the recent SCOTUSblog symposium make clear, much of […]
More Individual Mandate Commentary Coming Soon
I recognize that I have been somewhat derelict in failing to post additional commentary on the Eleventh Circuit’s important decision striking down the individual mandate. Unfortunately, I was away at a friend’s wedding this weekend, and testifying before the US Commission on Civil Rights on Friday. Plus, it took some time to read the court’s […]
Do Sex Offender Registries Reduce Sex Offenses?
Today, in Anderson v. Holder, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected a constitutional challenge to the District of Columbia’s sex offender registry. Specifically, the court rejected a claim that the law enacting the registry violated the Constitution’s Ex Post Facto clause because it required individuals to register who had committed covered […]