ESPN reports that the New York Yankees have just broken ground on construction of their new stadium, which will be partly financed with $200 million in state and New York City government subsidies, as well as an undetermined quantity of tax exempt bonds. There is absolutely no justification for this kind of government subsidization of […]
Author Archive | Ilya Somin
Should We Try To Increase Voter Turnout?:
I have always wondered why so many people are concerned about voter turnout and and so few are concerned about the fact that most of the voters know little or nothing about what they’re voting about. The state of Arizona has established a $1 million dollar lottery for the purpose of trying to increase voter […]
Public Service Announcement for Professors and Students Using the Brest, Levinson, Balkin, Amar, & Siegel Constitutional Law Textbook:
This is a public service announcement for those constitutional law professors and students who have had the same problem I am now having with the the excellent textbook by Brest, Levinson, Balkin, Amar, & Siegel – Processes of Constitutional Decisionmaking: The most recent version of the book (the 2006 5th editions) omits several major recent […]
Blight, Sweet Blight – The Problem of Blight Condemnation After Kelo:
My op ed on condemnation of “blighted” property was published today by the Legal Times, and can be read here. In the wake of Kelo v. City of New London, there has been a major backlash against condemnations of private property for “economic development,” but not enough attention has been paid to the even greater […]
Appeasement from Israel’s Religious Right:
This kind of appeasement mentality towards radical Islamist terrorism is usually associated with the more myopic elements of the political Left. In this case, however, it has emerged from within Israel’s version of the religious right: Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and Rabbi Yehuda Leib Steinman, a leading Ashkenazi haredi spiritual leader, have given their […]
Bush v. Federalism (Again) – Expanding Presidential Power Over the National Guard:
Both Republican and Democratic Governors are opposing a provision in a Bush Administration-supported appropriations bill that would greatly expand presidential power over the National Guard, as the Washington Post explains here: The nation’s governors on Saturday launched a bipartisan drive to block a move to expand the president’s authority to take over National Guard troops […]
Advice to Entering Law Students:
Lawprofs Orin Kerr and Brannon Denning have useful advice for entering law students. Here are a few suggestions of my own. I. Get to know at least some of your professors outside of class. As Orin suggests, it can help you understand the class assignments better. But just as important, it will be a big […]
Should You Support An Immediate Ceasefire in Lebanon if You Want to See More Israeli Withdrawals from the West Bank?
Outside of Israel, almost everyone who supports further Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank also seems to support an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, before Israeli is able to deal Hezbollah a decisive blow. But do these positions in fact go together? There is a strong case that they are actually at cross-purposes with […]
Larry Legend vs. Big Papi:
Bloggers are sometimes accused of ignoring the really big issues of the day. To combat this erroneous impression, I felt I absolutely had to blog about ESPN columnist Bill “The Sports Guy” Simmons’ transcendently important column addressing the absolutely vital question of whether or not Larry Bird is a bigger Boston sports legend than David […]
The Conspiracy Takes Over the Supreme Court Economic Review:
Co-blogger Todd Zywicki and I are the new Co-Editors of the Supreme Court Economic Review, beginning with Volume 17. We are filling the VERY large shoes left by our predecessors Lloyd Cohen and Francesco Parisi, who did an outstanding job. The SCER is one of the country’s best-known peer-reviewed law journals focused on constitutional and […]
The Perverse Incentives Created by Rewarding Terrorists for Hiding Behind Civilians:
Other writers such as Charles Krauthammer and co-blogger David Bernstein (link below) have made the moral case against blaming Israel for civilian deaths in Lebanon resulting from Hezbollah’s tactics of hiding behind civilians. I want to focus on a different point and emphasize the perverse incentives this practice creates. If terrorists know that liberal democracies […]
Property, Judicial Power, and Minority Rights:
I recently read Seton Hall law professor Rachel Godsil’s excellent forthcoming Michigan Law Review article “Race Nuisance: The Politics of Law in the Jim Crow Era.” An excerpt from the abstract: This article explores a line of cases in the Jim Crow era in which courts ruled against white plaintiffs trying to use common law […]
Who is the Real Anti-Muslim Here?
New Zealand politician Don Brash has been accused of making “racist” and “anti-Muslim” remarks (hat tip – Tim Blair): A prominent New Zealand politician was accused of racism on Saturday after a speech in which he said immigrants who did not accept the country’s “bedrock values” should not be allowed to stay. Don Brash, leader […]
The Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in Norwood v. Horney – A Major Victory for Property Rights:
The Ohio Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Norwood v. Horney, issued today, is an important victory for property rights. It is probably the most important judicial decision on eminent domain since Kelo v. City of New London. Perhaps the most significant element of the decision is the fact that the Court went beyond banning “economic […]
Dealing With Political Disagreements:
Psychologist/Blogger Helen Smith offers some useful advice on dealing with political disagreements among friends, family members and acquiantances: So what can you do to get along when you vacation with loved ones or friends whose world views are different than yours? First, accept that everyone has differing opinions and that this might be a good […]