Eight years after the Supreme Court ruled in Kelo v. City of New London that private property can be taken and transferred to other private owners in order to promote “economic development” because such development qualifies as a “public use” under the Fifth Amendment, the Kelo condemnation site still lies empty. But New London Mayor […]
Author Archive | Ilya Somin
Volokh Conspiracy Holiday Gifts
It is the holiday season! And if you happen to be looking for gifts for the VC readers in your life, books by VC bloggers might be a good choice. Among my favorite books by VC authors are Randy Barnett’s Restoring the Lost Constitution (now available in a new edition), David Bernstein’s Rehabilitating Lochner, Dale […]
Philadelphia Condemns Artist’s Studio to Build a Supermarket and Parking Lot
Nick Sibilla of the Institute for Justice has a good article on the City of Philadelphia’s dubious efforts to condemn a successful artist’s studio in order to transfer it to a new private owner that would build a supermarket and parking lot on the site. This scheme isn’t quite paving paradise to put up a […]
Kansas City Police Allegedly Threatened to Shoot Homeowner’s Dogs if He Refused to Let them Search his House Without a Warrant
A Kansas City homeowner claims that police officers threatened to shoot his dog if he refused to let them search his house without a warrant: Eric Crinnian, a lawyer, heard a loud banging at his door Monday night, he was instantly alarmed since a neighbor’s house was robbed a few weeks ago, so he grabbed […]
Upcoming Event on A Conspiracy Against Obamacare
Co-bloggers Randy Barnett, Orin Kerr, and I will be speaking at an upcoming event at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC on our recently published book A Conspiracy Against Obamacare: The Volokh Conspiracy and the Health Care Case, which details ours and the VC’s role in developing the arguments in the Supreme Court’s Obamacare decision […]
Upcoming Talk on Democracy and Political Ignorance at the University of Dayton
This Thursday, I will be giving a talk on my book Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter at the University of Dayton. The event is sponsored by the Dayton Econonomics Department, and will run from 1:30 until about 2:45, and will be held in Miriam 121.
Review of the Catching Fire Movie
My wife and I recently saw the film version of Catching Fire, the second in the series of movies based on Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games book trilogy. Overall, I thought the movie was very impressive, as good or better than the first film in the series, which I reviewed here. The plot of Catching Fire […]
The Prospect of Scottish Secession from Britain
One of the major issues on the British political agenda while I have been in the UK this week giving talks about Democracy and Political Ignorance is the prospect that Scotland might become an independent nation separate from the United Kingdom. A referendum on independence is scheduled for September 2014. A recent poll shows the […]
Ian Millhiser on Me, the Federalist Society, and “Judicial Activism”
Ian Milhiser at ThinkProgress has written an article on the recently concluded Federalist Society National Convention, where he claims it shows that conservatives have embraced wideranging “judicial activism.” He also includes a summary of a discussion he had with me, at the convention. The summary is accurate in so far as it goes, but omits […]
Upcoming Talks in Britain on Democracy and Political Ignorance
By Ilya Somin on November 18, 2013 10:04 am in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Political Ignorance
Next week, I will be giving four talks about my book Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter in the United Kingdom. Here is the list: November 25, 7-8:30 PM: Oxford Hayek Society, Oxford University, Christ Church College, Lecture Room TBC, Oxford (more details and RSVP link here). November 26, 6:30 PM-8 PM: […]
The Impact of the Volokh Conspiracy on the Obamacare Litigation
By Ilya Somin on November 13, 2013 11:10 am in Blogosphere, Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate
Part of my concluding essay in my new book, A Conspiracy Against Obamacare: The Volokh Conspiracy and the Health Care Case (coauthored with VC co-bloggers Randy Barnett, Jonathan Adler, David Bernstein, Orin Kerr, and David Kopel) deals with the impact of the VC and the blogosphere on the case. Here is an excerpt: What role […]
Excerpt from My Concluding Essay in A Conspiracy Against Obamacare
Today is the publication date for A Conspiracy Against Obamacare: The Volokh Conspiracy and the Health Care Case, a book I coauthored with VC co-bloggers Jonathan Adler, Randy Barnett, David Bernstein, Orin Kerr, and David Kopel. The book compiles our most important VC posts on the Obamacare case and its aftermath, as well as some […]
Upcoming Josh Blackman Presentation on his book Unprecedented at George Mason University School of Law
This Wednesday from 5 to 6 PM, South Texas College of Law Professor Josh Blackman will be doing a presentation on his book Unprecedented: The Constitutional Challenge to Obamacare at George Mason University School of Law. In addition to being a highly successful young legal academic, Josh is also a prominent blogger, and a GMUSL […]
NAACP Backs State Autonomy on Marijuana Policy
By Ilya Somin on November 11, 2013 11:20 am in Federalism, Racial Discrimination, Racism, War on Drugs
The NAACP recently passed a resolution backing a proposed federal law that would prohibit enforcement of federal laws banning marijuana in states that have imposed lesser penalties or have legalized marijuana entirely. The resolution cites the “misguided and misplaced policies” of the War on Drugs, which have resulted in “the disproportionate over-confinement of racial and […]
Book Signing at the Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention
By Ilya Somin on November 8, 2013 1:40 pm in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Federalism, Individual Mandate
Next Friday, November 15, from 11 to 12 AM, I will be signing copies of my recently published books Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter and A Conspiracy Against Obamacare: The Volokh Conspiracy and the Health Care Case, at the Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention, in the main promenade of the hotel […]