National polls show a tie, or perhaps a tiny Romney lead. (Right now, Real Clear Politics average of polls shows a tie, but the larger a poll’s sample size, the better Romney is doing. And fwiw, I find it hard to take the National Journal’s poll with a five-point Obama edge seriously except as a […]
Archive | October, 2012
Only a Few Examples of Censorship on Campus?
By Greg Lukianoff, guest-blogging on October 31, 2012 6:10 pm in First Amendment, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
A few commenters on my latest post for The Volokh Conspiracy have been riffing on the theme that the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE, where I work) is only able to show a few examples of censorship on campus, and therefore it must not be that big of a problem. Here’s my erudite […]
Slate Quiz: Recognize the Year from the Electoral College Map
Lots of fun; take it here. Here’s Slate‘s blurb: Today, Slate challenges its readers to demonstrate their grasp of presidential election history. Check out the 12 electoral maps randomly generated from presidential elections since 1860. States are shaded according to the party of the candidate who won them: red for Republicans, blue for Democrats, and […]
May a State Ban Electioneering on Election Day?
The answer is pretty clearly “no,” given the First Amendment, and Emineth v. Jaeger (D.N.D. Oct. 29, 2012) has struck down such a North Dakota statute: Any person asking, soliciting, or in any manner trying to induce or persuade, any voter on an election day to vote or refrain from voting for any candidate or […]
Thoughts on the Oral Arguments in the Dog Sniff Cases
This morning I attended the oral arguments at the Supreme Court in the dog sniff cases, Florida v. Jardines and Florida v. Harris. Based on the arguments, my guess is that the state will win one and lose one. The Court will probably agree that the Fourth Amendment was violated in Jardines, in which the […]
Christopher Sprigman Set to Deliver Inaugural IP Lecture in DC on ‘The Knockoff Economy’
Christopher Sprigman, guest blogging last week on his and Kal Raustiala’s terrific new book, The Knockoff Economy, will be delivering the inaugural Peter Jaszi Distinguished Lecture on Intellectual Property at Washington College of Law, American University – my law school, WCL, and we are honored to have him! The event is tomorrow, November 1, and […]
The Reality of College Censorship, Part 2: Speech Codes
By Greg Lukianoff, guest-blogging on October 31, 2012 9:45 am in First Amendment, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
While the public seems to fondly believe that speech codes are a thing of the past — a bygone product of the “political correctness” movement of the 1980s and 1990s — they are alive and well on the modern college campus. As I explain in Unlearning Liberty, these days, you’re unlikely to open up a student handbook and […]
Just How Unpopular are Race Preferences in Admissions?
This unpopular: At Brown University, long known for being among the most politically correct universities in the country, and where Obama supporters outnumber Romney supporters by better than 9 to 1, only 35% of students think the university should consider race in student admissions or in faculty hiring. H/T Eric Muller, who provided a link […]
Sake + Wasabi
Next time you’re out for sushi and drinking hot sake, try adding a bit of wasabi to the sake and stir well. I’m sure it’s not for everyone, but I quite like it.
Georgia pwn my mind: the face of a Russian cyberspy?
I’ve been beating the drums for the value of tracking down the cyberspies who are attacking US government agencies and private companies alike. Somebody seems to be listening. Counterhackers have already unmasked a Chinese cyberspy. And now the government of Georgia has landed an even bigger fish, seizing control of a cyberspy’s computer and taking screen […]
“Failure: Why We Need It”
That was the provocative title of a seminar earlier this month organized by the Istituto Bruno Leoni, Italy’s free market think tank. The event was the IBL’s 9th annual Mises Seminar. As is common at multinational seminars in Europe, the event and the papers were in English, which is today’s lingua franca among well-educated Europeans. My favorite […]
Reason.TV with Kal Raustiala The Knockoff Economy
A cool 10-minute video Reason.TV interview, on the book that Kal and Christopher Sprigman guest-blogged about a few weeks ago.
How Should Libertarians Vote?
Continuing the series of posts examining how libertarian-leaning folks should vote (assuming they think it’s worth voting at all), Reason has published essays on the libertarian case for Obama (Mike Godwin), Romney (Robert Poole) and Gary Johnson (Nick Gillespie). Some may also be interested in this post by law professor Brad Smith explaining why he […]
Steven L. Schwarcz Guest Comment on the Meaning of “Responsibility Failure” in Financial System Regulation
A week ago, I posted about a new draft article on SSRN by Steven L. Schwarcz (Duke University Law School) on ways in which scholars talk about the financial system and its regulation. (The working paper is on SSRN here – “Regulating Shadows: Financial Disintermediation and the Need for a Common Language.”) I noted in […]
The Reality of College Censorship, Part 1: Censorpalooza
By Greg Lukianoff, guest-blogging on October 30, 2012 1:00 pm in First Amendment, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
As those of you who read my blog yesterday know, Eugene invited me to be a guest contributor to The Volokh Conspiracy this week in order to discuss some of the issues raised in my recently released book, Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate. Yesterday, I described the negative impact that suppressing […]