The National Review discusses the controversy over the George Mason Law and Economics Center and judicial ethics. Obviously, I’m not a completely unbiased observer. But in truth the LEC conferences for judges are no different from events sponsored by a wide variety of other groups, both liberal and conservative.
Author Archive | Ilya Somin
Harry Potter May Die:
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is hinting that Harry could die in the forthcoming seventh and final volune in the series. If it does happen, many fans of the series are likely to be sad or outraged. When Arthur Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes, the outcry from fans was so great that the author […]
Limits on Federal Power After Raich:
Today, in United States v. Sullivan, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the conviction of Roger James Sullivan for “knowingly possessing child pornography images that were transported in interstate commerce via the Internet.” A unanimous panel rejected Sullivan’s claim that Congress lacked the power under the Commerce Clause to prohibit the […]
Scalia v. Roberts on Agency Deference in Rapanos:
Some commentators have zeroed in on a potential tension between Justice Scalia’s plurality opinion and Chief Justice Roberts’ separate concurring opinion in Rapanos over the issue of judicial deference to an agency’s statutory interpretation. This tension is interesting both because the Chief Justice joined Scalia’s opinion, and because it may tell us something about how […]
Ukraine Advances in the World Cup:
Ukraine, the homeland of the Volokh clan (and of several of my ancestors), has advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Cup, by far their best result ever. If they win their next game, they will equal the best showing ever by the old USSR team (which could draw on a much larger talent pool, […]
Scalia v. Alito:
Today’s decision with the most interesting lineup is undoubtedly United States v. Gonzales-Lopez. In this case, the court held, 5-4, that if a trial court erroneously deprives a criminal defendant of his choice of defense counsel, the defendant is entitled to a reversal of his conviction under the Sixth Amendment. Justice Scalia wrote the majority, […]
Climate Change Goes to the Supreme Court:
Among the five cases granted certiorari this morning was Massachusetts v. EPA, a challenge by several states and environmental groups to the EPA’s refusal to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. The case involves interesting standing and statutory interpretation issues, about which I hope to have several posts in the coming weeks. Background […]
Senator Bob Byrd – From Exalted Cyclops to King of Pork:
Washington Post reporter Michael Grunwald has an interesting article on West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd, onetime “Exalted Cyclops” of the Ku Klux Klan and currently the longest-serving senator in American history. The article summarizes what the author delicately refers to as Byrd’s “discomfort with racial issues” (which, as the article points out, continued long after […]
Pushing Philly in New York:
As a Philadelphia native, I was tickled by this series of mock ads designed by advertising students to encourage New Yorkers to move to Philadelphia (described here). (Link via Concurring Opinions.)
Rep. King Wants NYT Prosecuted:
Representative Peter King (R-NY), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, believes that the Justice Department should look into prosecuting the New York Times for its stories on classified government anti-terror programs, such as this article on federal monitoring of international financial records. Appearing on FoxNews Sunday this morning, Rep. King said: To me, the […]
The Origins of RFK Jr’s Election Story:
Today’s NYT profiles Robert F. Kennedy Jr., covering his environmental activism and his recent foray into electoral politics. Among other things, it contains this account of what inspired his Rolling Stone article alleging Republicans “stole” the 2004 Presidential election. Mr. Kennedy spent Christmas skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho, at the home of Ms. David and […]
Sunday Song Lyric:
Redheadlaw7 is no longer a redhead. Having returned to being a brunette, she might be more accurately referred to as “suedehead.” “Suedehead” is also a song on Viva Hate, Morrissey’s first (and perhaps best) solo album. Viva Hate also featured “Every Day Is Like Sunday” — a song that has “Sunday Song Lyric” written all […]
Against Preempting The Korean Missile:
In today’s Washington Post, Charles L. “Jack” Pritchard, former special U.S. envoy for negotiations with North Korea, strongly disagrees with the suggestion by William Perry and Ashton Carter that the U.S. should consider preempting North Korea’s missile test. For 1,971 days the Bush administration ignored North Korea’s missile program as unimportant and unthreatening to the […]
NRO Summer Reading List:
National Review Online asked a bunch of us to name two or three books we would be reading this summer. As usual, much of my summer will be spent on reading work-related books and articles — and I wouldn’t subject NRO or VC readers to those recommendations. With that in mind, here was my contribution […]
Preempting the Korean Missile:
From an article in today’s Washington Post by former Clinton Defense honchos Aston Carter and William Perry: Should the United States allow a country openly hostile to it and armed with nuclear weapons to perfect an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering nuclear weapons to U.S. soil? We believe not. The Bush administration has unwisely […]