Author Archive | Ilya Somin

In my last post, I argued that the quality of the federal judiciary is not suffering from the fact that most judges could make far more money in the private sector. Why would outstanding lawyers be willing to become federal judges in spite of the lower pay? The answer is that being a judge has […]

One thing that federal judges across the political spectrum agree on is that they deserve a raise. According to Chief Justice John Roberts’ 2005 Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary, low pay is a “threat to judicial independence” because “[i]f judges’ salaries are too low, judges effectively serve for a term dictated by their […]

Critics of proposals for decentralized federalism in Iraq raise several standard objections. See this recent piece by Anthony Cordesman for a representative example (hat tip to an anonymous commenter on my previous post). Here, I answer three of the most important ones: distribution of oil revenue, the problem of local minorities, and the claim that […]

Both liberal democratic Senator Joe Biden and the conservative National Review have recently published articles arguing that decentralized federalism is the way forward in Iraq, and the best policy for addressing that country’s serious ethnic and religious conflicts. Hopefully, a broad consensus will emerge on this point in the United States and (more importantly) in […]

As senior Conspirator Eugene Volokh has warned, one of the dangers of censoring “offensive” speech is “censorship envy.” If one group is given the power to suppress speech offensive to it, others are likely to press harder to get the same privilege for themselves. As Eugene points out in the post linked above, many of […]

In the post linked below, Jim Lindgren discusses Forbes’ estimate that Fidel Castro has a net worth of $900 million. However impressive this figure seems, it actually understates Castro’s real wealth. As an absolute dictator, Fidel can appropriate for his use virtually any asset – or person – in Cuba, anytime he wants. His true […]

David’s recent post raises the interesting suggestion that government regulation of public space should, for the most part, mimic the rules that private owners would establish over a given type of space if it were privatized. I agree with David’s point that we would be better off if much of the land that is currently […]

In brief response to Eugene’s thoughtful post below: I. The Yuck Factor in Public Space. Eugene argues that perceived yuckiness should be sufficient to justify regulation of behavior in public space because the space is government-owned and the state has a right to “maximize the aggregate enjoyment of those spaces.” I am not convinced that […]

Amber Taylor writes: Other people are unwilling spectators to our offensive expression and conduct all the time. I can stand on the steps of the Supreme Court and wave gory, graphic photos of dismembered fetuses at passing schoolchildren. I can wear a jacket that says “Fuck the draft” in a courthouse. I can put cartoons […]

Conservative commentators David Frum, Bruce Bartlett, and Jonah Goldberg all condemn George W. Bush’s embrace of big government conservatism and analogize his policies to those of Richard Nixon. Frum’s piece is particularly interesting, given that he is a former Bush speechwriter and author of The Right Man, a laudatory book about W. By now, it […]

Although belated due to the recent nature of my joining the Conspiracy, I do want to pay tribute to legendary urban theorist Jane Jacobs, who passed away last week. Jacobs wrote many important books, including The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961), a classic critique of urban planning and “renewal” programs that caused […]

As promised in my last post, I will now explore the reasons why the Bluebook market failure persists despite its manifest flaws. 1. Most Bluebook costs are externalities. The decision whether or not to use the Bluebook is made by law review boards, but most actual bluebooking is done by low-level journal members or by […]

In a recent post, Eugene gives aspiring law review editors advice on how to pass the Blue Book tests many of you are now suffering through. I would like to go one better and free you from Blue Book drudgery altogether. The Blue Book, as every lawyer and law student is forced to learn, is […]

Here is Ann Althouse’s most recent post: A perception about time. Seconds are short. Minutes are long. Hours are short. Days are long. Weeks are short. Months are long. Years are short. Decades are long. Life is short. Don’t you agree? Unusual–and yet at the same time typical of Ann’s interesting mind.

The recently published annual State Department report on human rights notes that “democracy does not guarantee what President Bush has called a commitment to ‘the non-negotiable demands of human dignity.’” It cites Russia and Venezuela as nations with democratically elected governments that violate basic human rights. Obviously, the case of the Afghan who may be […]