After the first presidential debate and again after the debate between the VP candidates, I lamented the fact that the candidates and moderators had almost completely ignored judicial nominations. This is one of the areas where presidents have their biggest impact, and there are big differences between the two parties on a variety of major […]
Author Archive | Ilya Somin
Thoughts on the Virginia Eminent Domain Reform Referendum Question
By Ilya Somin on October 16, 2012 4:24 pm in Blight, Eminent Domain, Kelo, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
Various people have asked me what I think of Virginia Question 1, the eminent domain reform referendum question that will be on the ballot in November. Question 1 is one of many eminent domain reform referendum questions developed as part of the political backlash against the Supreme Court’s decision in Kelo v. City of New […]
Review of Atlas Shrugged II
My wife and I recently saw Atlas Shrugged, Part II. Overall, I thought it was much better than Part I, which I assessed here. The acting was significantly better, and the movie did a better job of conveying the message of Ayn Rand’s book. There are still some problems in translating a 1950s novel into […]
Is the Supreme Court “Pro-Business”?
Stephen Richer of Forbes has a good summary of the reasons why claims that the Supreme Court has a “pro-business” bias are misplaced. He also provides numerous links to articles and blog posts on both sides of the issue, including one by co-blogger Jonathan Adler. I summarized my own thoughts on the issue in this […]
Gary Johnson’s Libertarian Candidacy
In my post comparing Romney and Obama from a libertarian perspective, I promised to take up Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson in a future post. This is it. From a policy perspective, Johnson is extremely appealing to libertarians. Last year, I wrote that “Johnson is about as good on the issues as any remotely mainstream […]
Foot Voting, Federalism, and Political Freedom
By Ilya Somin on October 15, 2012 11:30 am in Democracy, Federalism, Political Ignorance, Voting With Your Feet
My forthcoming article, “Foot Voting, Federalism, and Political Freedom,” is now available on SSRN. The article is part of a symposium on Federalism and Subsidiarity in the interdisciplinary journal Nomos, which focuses on a different broad issue in political theory every year. Other contributors include a variety of big-name federalism scholars in legal academia and […]
Eric Hobsbawm and the Neglect of Communist Crimes
I was going to comment on the passing of Eric Hobsbawm, the famous historian and longtime apologist for communism. But co-bloggers Jonathan Adler and David Bernstein have already said most of what I could have said. I also recommend this column by Jeff Jacoby. I will add only that Hobsbawm’s career is yet another example […]
Darth Vader and the Contracts Clause
One of my few pedagogical innovations as a constitutional law professor is using Darth Vader’s “alteration” of his agreement with Lando Calrissian in the The Empire Strikes Back to illustrate the importance of the Contracts Clause, which forbids state laws that “impair the obligation of contracts.” A government that can renege on its contracts not […]
Why the Presidential Race Should Not Ignore Judicial Nominations
In this post, I complained about the total lack of discussion of judicial nominations in last week’s presidential debate. Tonight’s vice presidential debate was only slightly better. The only mention of the courts was a brief reference by Joe Biden while discussing the issue of abortion. In reality, as I explained here, there are many […]
A Libertarian Perspective on Romney vs. Obama
In recent weeks, libertarians have been debating whether there’s any good reason for us to support Romney over Obama, or vice versa. In contrast to 2008, when many libertarians endorsed Obama, few if any are making the case for him this year. There is near-universal agreement among libertarian commentators that Obama’s presidency has done more […]
The Military Rationale for Affirmative Action in College Admissions
By Ilya Somin on October 11, 2012 12:40 am in Affirmative Action, Fisher v. University of Texas, War and Armed Conflict
In the recent oral argument in Fisher v. University of Texas, and in his amicus brief on behalf of the United States, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli emphasized the military rationale for affirmative action. Without racial preferences in college admissions, we will not have an adequate supply of minority officers in the armed forces, which would […]
Thoughts on the Oral Argument in Fisher v. University of Texas
By Ilya Somin on October 10, 2012 11:24 pm in Affirmative Action, Fisher v. University of Texas, Standing
Today’s oral argument in Fisher v. University of Texas largely bears out what most observers expected. As Amy Howe explained on SCOTUSblog, the five conservative justices seem inclined to strike down the University of Texas’ affirmative action program, though not to completely overrule Grutter v. Bollinger, which allows the use of racial preferences to promote […]
Thoughts on Fisher v. University of Texas
I have little to add to my previously posted on thoughts on Fisher v. University of Texas, the major affirmative action case that the Supreme Court is about to hear. But here are some links to earlier posts on the subject that might interest readers who follow the issue. Here is my initial post about […]
Do Surveys Overestimate Political Ignorance?
In a recent Language Log post, Mark Liberman argues that surveys overestimate the extent of political ignorance. Unfortunately, his evidence is far from compelling. He notes a few examples where scholars or reporters simply misstated the results of a particular survey. That surely happens. But it doesn’t account for more than a small fraction of […]
Ninth Circuit Treats Supreme Court Individual Mandate Necessary and Proper Clause Ruling as a Binding Precedent
Co-blogger Jonathan Adler recently posted on United States v. Elk Shoulder, a recent Ninth Circuit decision which may be the first court of appeals case interepreting the Supreme Court’s individual health insurance mandate decision in NFIB v. Sebelius. When NFIB came down, some commentators argued that Chief Justice Roberts’ conclusion that the mandate was not […]