In previous posts, I have argued that the Constitution does not give the federal government the power to make binding treaties on issues that are otherwise outside the scope of federal power (see here, here, and here). In his latest contribution to our debate, guest blogger Rick Pildes argues that this position would make it […]
Author Archive | Ilya Somin
Charles Rangel’s Case for Conscription
If the Pentagon’s recent decision to open up combat positions to women leads conservative Dave Carter to worry that women will be drafted, liberal Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel embraces the idea and calls for the establishment of a draft that applies to both men and women: Since January 2003, at the height of the debate […]
Women and the Draft
By Ilya Somin on January 26, 2013 4:45 pm in Conscription, Sex Discrimination, War and Armed Conflict
The Pentagon’s recent decision to abolish most restrictions on women serving in combat leads conservative commentator Dave Carter to worry that women will now be subject to the military draft: It was 22 or 23 years ago, I think, that I wrote in the Air Force Times a cautionary article on the combat exclusion that […]
The Law and Economics of Dog Poop Externalities
Dog owners who let their furry friends poop in public places and then don’t clean up the mess are a classic example of what economists call “externalities.” They inflict harm on other people that they don’t have to pay for, and therefore have little or no incentive to prevent or mitigate the damage. The classic […]
John Kerry Tries to Distinguish Obama’s Bombing of Libya from Richard Nixon’s Bombing of Cambodia
In this interesting exchange from John Kerry’s confirmation hearings for the position of Secretary of State, Republican Senator Rand Paul presses Kerry on the contradiction between his longstanding view that President Richard Nixon’s bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War was unconstitutional because it lacked congressional authorization, and his defense of President Obama’s 2011 bombing […]
Property Owners Prevail in Important Asset Forfeiture Case
By Ilya Somin on January 25, 2013 3:02 pm in Asset Forfeiture, Due Process Clause Property Rights, Property Rights
A federal district court in Massachusetts has ruled in favor of the property owners in United States v. 434 Main Street, Tewksbury, an important asset forfeiture case. This is the case where the federal government sought the forfeiture of a motel on the grounds that a few of the motel’s customers had bought or sold […]
Asset Forfeiture Abuse Revisited
By Ilya Somin on January 21, 2013 6:47 pm in Asset Forfeiture, Due Process Clause Property Rights, Property Rights
John Ross of Reason has a nice article summarizing the problem of asset forfeiture abuse, as exemplified by dubious practices in the nation’s capital: Jerrie Brathwaite was not in her car when Washington, D.C. police seized it in January 2012. She had lent her 2000 Nissan Maxima to a friend, and that friend was pulled […]
Reasons to Worry About Overreaching on the Treaty Power
In his most recent thoughtful post on the treaty power, guest blogger Rick Pildes describes my position as follows: Ilya… is concerned with Congress enter[ing] into a treaty pretextually – not for genuine reasons of foreign policy, international relations, and the like – but for the purpose of gaining legislative powers that would otherwise be […]
The Legal Status of Treaties that Require Violations of the Constitution
Co-blogger Nick Rosenkranz and I agree on most of the practically important issues regarding the constitutional status of treaties. But in his insightful recent post responding to my most recent comment on the subject, Nick does identify one theoretically interesting difference between us. He believes that treaties that require action that violates the Constitution are […]
Bond v. United States and the Treaty Power
As guest blogger Rick Pildes notes, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear Bond v. United States, an important case addressing the issue of whether international treaties can authorize Congress to legislate on issues that would otherwise be under the exclusive control of state governments. This is one of the very rare cases that […]
The Supreme Court and Partisanship
I was recently asked to participate in a Zocalo Public Square forum on the Supreme Court and partisanship, which asked participants whether “the Supreme Court[is] any less partisan than the two other branches of government?” The other participants were former congressman Mickey Edwards, political scientists Tom Clark (Emory) and Timothy Johnson (Minnesota), and Talking Points […]
Talk on Kelo and Post-Kelo Eminent Domain Reform at South Texas College of Law
By Ilya Somin on January 14, 2013 6:23 pm in Eminent Domain, Kelo, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
This Thursday at 5 PM, I will be speaking on Kelo v. City of New London and post-Kelo eminent domain reform at South Texas College of Law in Houston. The talk will be held in the Emile Slohm conference roomon the 6th Floor, and is sponsored by the South Texas Federalist Society. I will will […]
Tax Rates and Political Ignorance
Many polls show that large majorities of the public want to raise tax rates on people earning over $250,000 per year. But in an interesting recent post on the Democrats’ approach to tax policy, Megan McArdle cites an interesting 2012 poll of likely voters conducted for The Hill, which shows that the vast majority of […]
James Buchanan, RIP
Nobel Prize-winning economist James Buchanan passed away today. Buchanan was one of the founders of public choice economics, which seeks to apply economic analysis to politics. Closely related was his important work applying economic analysis to constitutions, most notably in his classic work The Calculus of Consent, coauthored with Gordon Tullock. The burgeoning field of […]
Our Amicus Brief Urging the Supreme Court to Hear Ilagan v. Ungacta – An Important Post-Kelo Property Rights Case
By Ilya Somin on January 8, 2013 10:50 am in Eminent Domain, Kelo, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
We recently filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to hear Ilagan v. Ungacta, an important property rights case on the Public Use Clause of the Fifth Amendment. I wrote the brief on behalf of the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center, twelve other organizations (including the Cato Institute, the Becket […]