I’m passing along for interest a call for papers for a conference next year on “equality as a social and political ideal guiding public policy”: The George Washington Forum on American Ideas, Politics, and Institutions, which has its home at Ohio University, invites paper proposals for a conference and subsequent edited volume on Equality and Public […]
Archive | November, 2012
Le Blog de Jean-Paul Sartre
From the New Yorker — very funny.
Complaint Filed with Egyptian Prosecutor General over Anti-Islamist Speech
Ahram Online reports: A complaint was filed with the prosecutor general on Sunday by forty Egyptian lawyers, accusing renowned reform campaigner Mohamed ElBaradei of offending Islamists, of being against Islamic sharia law and of having insulted prominent Islamist preachers. According to Ahram Arabic news website, the complaint was based on statements made by the founder […]
The Original Meaning of “the Freedom of the Press” and Non-Political Speech
I occasionally hear people argue that the freedom of the press was originally understood as extending only to publications on political topics. I don’t think that’s right. The freedom of the press was certainly understood as providing some protection for political publication, though there was disagreement about what limitations were permitted, and even whether the […]
The Latest Victim of European Privacy Law? Privacy Itself
Transcending parody, the European Union has proposed a privacy regulation that will inevitably deprive many people of their privacy. The regulation, now working its way through the tortuous Brussels process, includes a “right to data portability.” This is typically oversexed Commission-speak for a regulatory requirement that information services must hand over all of a subscriber’s […]
Lincoln
I saw Lincoln last night, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the movie is almost entirely about the history of the Thirteenth Amendment. Tony Kushner’s writing and Steven Spielberg’s directing are perhaps just a bit heavy-handed, but the acting is superb. And how often do you get to see a movie about the […]
Greatest American Novelist Since Faulkner Hangs It Up
Without much fanfare, Philip Roth has declared that he is retiring. There’s a very nice appreciation by Panio Gianopoulos here on Slate, with others, surely, to follow. The best American novelist since Faulkner? Here’s my idiosyncratic list of his true masterpieces: Portnoy’s Complaint, American Pastoral, The Ghost Writer, The Human Stain, The Plot Against America, Everyman, and Sabbath’s Theater. Who else […]
Ancient D&D 20-sided Die in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
It turns out that the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a 20 sided Dungeons and Dragons die made in ancient Egypt: The Metropolitan Museum of Art owns what may be the world’s oldest d20 die. It’s made out of serpentine and looks to be in remarkably good shape for its age. The die is a […]
$1,791 in Damages for a First Amendment Violation
From Zinna v. Congrove (10th Cir. 2012), decided earlier this year: Zinna was affiliated with BJC Development Corporation (“BJC”) in 2000 when a real estate transaction between BJC and Jefferson County, Colorado failed to materialize. The ensuing dispute was ongoing in 2003 when Zinna launched the website JeffcoExposed.com, and later, ColoradoExposed.com. These websites served as […]
Judicial Minimalism, the Mandate, and Mr. Roberts
In July, I suggested that Chief Justice Roberts’ decision to uphold the individual mandate as a tax in NFIB v. Sebelius was largely consistent with the overall judicial approach he’s demonstrated since joining the Court. I have expanded this argument into an essay that will be included as a chapter in the forthcoming book The […]
Assessing the REINS Act
Among the regulatory reform proposals passed by the House of Representatives this year was the “REINS Act,” a proposal to require Congressional approval before major regulations could take effect. Supporters and opponents of this bill have presented the REINS Act as a deregulatory tool. The actual effect of the REINS Act is likely to be […]
Lessons of Gary Johnson’s Presidential Campaign
Although we don’t yet have absolutely final totals, it looks like Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, the former Republican Governor of New Mexico, got just under 1% of the popular vote. This is the best total for a libertarian candidate since 1980, when the party’s nominee got only slightly more than Johnson. I was wrong […]
Introduction, and opportunities for further introductions
I have been, like Nick, a longtime reader of the Volokh Conspiracy, and am honored and delighted to enter the cabal. My scholarship focuses on constitutional and international law, and in keeping with the maxim to stick with what you (are in theory supposed to) know, my posts will likely focus on public law. The […]
If there were any doubt that this is another blockbuster Supreme Court Term . . .
. . . it just ended. Today the Supreme Court granted cert in Shelby County v. Holder, 12-96, which will address the following question (as mildly reformulated by the Court): Whether Congress’ decision in 2006 to reauthorize Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act under the pre-existing coverage formula of Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act exceeded […]
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Testimony on the First Amendment and Anti-Muslim/Anti-Islam Speech
By Eugene Volokh on November 9, 2012 3:15 pm in "Hate Speech", Blasphemy, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities, Freedom of Speech Restricted by Thugs, Hostile Environment Harassment Law
I was invited to testify on this subject at today’s U.S. Commission on Civil Rights briefing on Federal Civil Rights Engagement with the Arab and Muslim American Communities Post 9/11, so I thought I’d pass along my written remarks. You can read them in PDF form here, or in plain text below (though without the […]