Garrett Epps has a fascinating read in the American Prospect on the Roberts Court, that explores the dichotomy among conservatives on the Court: between those who came of age during the Reagan Administration (dedicated to judicial restraint), and those who have embraced the modern era (with a stronger focus on judicial engagement). Citing Mark Tushnet’s new book on the […]
Archive | September, 2013
Russian Quarrel Over Kant’s Philosophy Leads to Shooting
RIA Novosti reports: A “passionate argument” about 18th-century Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant, renowned for his treatises on ethics, “deteriorated into a fistfight” between two men waiting in line for beer during an outdoor City Day event in the southern Russian metropolis of Rostov-on-Don, police said Monday. The argument ended when one of the debaters pulled […]
Popular Constitutionalism and Obamacare: From Off-The-Wall to On-The-Wall
One of the more remarkable aspects of the three-year long constitutional challenge to Obamacare is how the legal arguments against the law unfolded before our eyes in real time–many of them right here on the Volokh Conspiracy. These arguments went from a laugher in 2009 to commanding five votes of the Supreme Court in 2012. How did […]
Hmmm…
Two straws in the wind for the Snowden flap: 1. When Silicon Valley corporate leaders are grilled over their view NSA by an outraged Michael Arrington, he uncovers a remarkably diverse set of views and ends up complaining, ”I’m not getting anyone to care so far on stage.” 2. When Joseph Menn of Reuters does a […]
Don’t Cry for Argentina
It’s not every day that a sovereign nation files a petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court. This year, however, Argentina has filed multiple petitions, and another could be on the way. The South American nation is particularly eager to get the Court to review adverse rulings from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the […]
New Jersey Adopts Dubious Post-Kelo Eminent Domain “Reform” Law that is Likely to Endanger Property Rights More than it Protects Them
New Jersey recently became the 45th state to adopt an eminent domain reform law in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s controversial 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London, which ruled that it was constitutionally permissible for government to condemn private property and give it to another private owner in order to promote […]
A Sign of the Times
Competitive parenting anxiety dreams.
Surprise! Tor Privacy Technology Mainly Helps Botnets
According to the MIT Technology Review, a short-lived security flaw in the anonymousTor network allowed researchers to analyze and categorize the traffic that Tor was protecting. The results weren’t pretty: The Tor network is an online service that allows users to surf the web anonymously. Its main benefit is to reduce the chances of network surveillance […]
The Rise of Movements Seeking to Create New States Through Secession
Over the last week, secession movements seeking to create new states have made some progress in northern California and rural Colorado. Back in 2011, I wrote about the secession movement in southern California. All three movements are examples of rural jurisdictions seeking to secede from state governments they perceive as dominated by urban interests and […]
Interesting Interview with George Will
Reason TV has an interesting interview with famous Washington Post columnist George Will. Among other things, Will describes how and why he has become more libertarian over the years.
Video of Stewart Baker’s Recent Cyberespionage Speeches
I’ve been giving speeches lately on cyberespionage, the attribution revolution, and how it helps corporate boards and general counsels to think about the cybersecurity problem without trying to do the Chief Information Security Officer’s job. Video of a recent speech is embedded below: Another version of this speech can be found here. And a somewhat […]
Censorship of Pro-Gay Movies in Russia
From the Hollywood Reporter: A Russian television movie channel has been sent an official warning for allegedly airing films that support same-sex relationships. Russia’s federal media oversight body, Roskomnadzor, on Thursday warned popular movie channel EvroKino after it aired 2007 French musical Les Chansons d’Amour (Love Songs). The agency said the film contains “propaganda of […]
State v. Brewington Oral Argument
I just returned last night from Indianapolis, where I had the honor and pleasure of arguing on behalf of amici in State v. Brewington; many thanks to the defendant’s lawyer, Michael Sutherlin, for agreeing to split his time with me, and both to Michael and his associate, Sam Adams, for all their help on the […]
The Biggest Democracy’s Bigger Death Penalty
By Eugene Kontorovich on September 13, 2013 6:42 am in Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Criminal Law, Foreign and Religious Law in American Courts, International Law
India has just sentenced four men to death in the infamous Delhi rape/murder case. India has apparently ended an eight-year moratorium on executions last year, greatly altering the global capital punishment map. At the same time, it also passed a new rape law, which would allow for execution in aggravated cases (not necessarily involving minors) […]
Obamacare Comes Full Circle in Arizona
One of the first governors to push back against the Medicaid expansion was Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. Brewer vigorously opposed Obamacare for nearly three years. However, after the Court upheld the law, and gave states the option to opt into the Medicaid expansion, Brewer pulled a 180, and supported joining Obamacare. In a bizarre tactic, […]