This post is mostly intended for George Mason law students. On Monday, September 16, from 5-6 PM, I will be speaking at the introductory meeting of the George Mason Law Students for Liberty, for which I am the faculty adviser. Students for Liberty is the nation’s largest and most successful libertarian student organization, and the […]
Author Archive | Ilya Somin
The 12th Anniversary of the 9/11 Attacks
Today is the twelfth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I don’t think anyone who lived through that day at an age old enough to understand what was happening is likely to ever forget it. I doubt I can say anything about that event which has not already been better said by others. But, for what […]
A “Libertarian” Case for Conscription?
There are a number of standard arguments for military conscription. But Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry’s recent essay for Cato Unbound is unusual for claiming that conscription can be justified on libertarian grounds. With the possible exception of strict pacifism, it’s difficult to imagine an ideology more antithetical to conscription than libertarianism. As it turns out, most of […]
Congress’ Options on the Syria AUMF in Light of the Russian Offer to Transfer Assad’s Chemical Weapons to International Control
The Russian government and the Assad regime recently offered to transfer Syria’s chemical weapons to “international” control, in exchange for the US and its allies foregoing a military strike on Assad’s forces. Obviously, the offer raises many issues, including whether Russia’s and Assad’s assurances can be trusted and effectively verified. In this post, I only […]
Even Mathematically Literate People Become Innumerate when they Focus on Political Issues
At Mother Jones, Kevin Drum and Chris Mooney have interesting posts discussing a new paper by Yale law professor Dan Kahan and his coauthors, which finds that even people who are generally good at interpreting statistics act as if they are innumerate when faced with data that goes against their political views. Mooney summarizes the […]
The Nature of the Syrian Rebels and the Case for Intervention in Syria
I have previously suggested that the case for military intervention in Syria depends in large part on the nature of the rebels fighting to overthrow the regime of Bashar Assad. If the rebels are primarily radical Islamists who would establish a government as oppressive and anti-American as Assad’s, it would be both foolish and immoral […]
Rep. Charles Rangel Cites Possible Intervention in Syria as a Justification for his Call for Reinstating the Draft
Democratic Representative Charles Rangel cites the possibility of intervention in Syria as a justification for reinstating the draft, a cause he has long advocated: America seems increasingly inclined to engage in a new military conflict every few years, faced with a new populace to defend, a new democracy to design, and a new dictator to […]
Does it Matter if US Intervention in Syria Violates the UN Charter?
Most international law experts agree that a US military intervention in Syria would violate the United Nations charter, which forbids the use of force against another state except in self-defense or when authorized by a UN Security Council Resolution. In this case, the Assad regime has not attacked the United States, and there is no […]
Will Obama Order Military Intervention in Syria Even if Congress Refuses to Authorize it?
Although President Obama has asked Congress to authorize the use of military force against Syria, he and other administration officials continue to insist that he has the power to order a strike even if Congress refuses his request. In my view, anything more than an extremely limited operation requires congressional authorization under the Constitution. But […]
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on Political Ignorance
By Ilya Somin on September 6, 2013 8:09 pm in Democracy, Democracy and Political Ignorance, Education, Political Ignorance, Voting With Your Feet
Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor recently gave a speech lamenting widespread political ignorance in the United States: Two-thirds of Americans cannot name a single Supreme Court justice, former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor told the crowd that packed into a Boise State ballroom to hear her Thursday. About one-third can name the three branches […]
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Passes Syria AUMF
By a 10-7 vote, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed an authorization for the use of military force in Syria today. The AUMF adopted by the committee appears to be similar to the draft I discussed in this post (though I have not yet seen the final text). However, the nonbinding Statement of Policy section […]
My JOTWELL Post on Will Baude’s “Rethinking the Federal Eminent Domain Power”
In my capacity as one of the editors for the constitutional law section of JOTWELL (a sited devoted to reviewing important new legal scholarship), I review an important new constitutional law article every summer. I usually try to pick articles that are 1) within one of my fields of expertise (primarily federalism and property rights), […]
Thoughts on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Narrow Version of the Syria AUMF
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has drawn up its own version of a resolution authorizing the use of military force in Syria, which imposes significantly tighter constraints on the president than the administration version. Here is the key language [SEE IMPORTANT UPDATES BELOW]: SECTION 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES. (a) AUTHORIZATION-The […]
Syria and the Morality of Humanitarian Intervention
Legal scholar Fernando Teson, a leading academic expert on humanitarian intervention has an interesting post on why the humanitarian case for intervening in Syria is weak. Like Fernando, I’m not opposed to such intervention on principle. But it can only be justified if there is a high probability of improving the situation in the targeted […]
The Passing of Ronald Coase
As co-blogger Jonathan Adler notes, Nobel Prize-winning economist and legendary law and economics scholar Ronald Coase passed away today at the age of 102. Coase was the author of such foundational articles as “The Problem of Social Cost,” and “The Nature of the Firm.” His contributions to scholarship are so massive that it is hard […]