Author Archive | Randy Barnett

Having read the lengthy piece by David Kopel, Fifty-six Deceits in Fahrenheit 911, I was struck by the sheer cunningness of Moore’s film. When you read Kopel, try to detach yourself from any revulsion you may feel at a work of literal propaganda receiving such wide-spread accolades from mainstream politicos, as well as attendance by […]

One of the great things about living in Boston is the summer concert scene. So much to pick from, so close at hand. Tonight was the best Boston Pops program I ever heard. In its season finale, Keith Lockhart conducted a Gershwin tribute including American In Paris, Three Preludes (scored for orchestra) and Rhapsody and […]

WOW! Liberty & Power has added a host of interesting “Contributing Editors” to its already impressive stable making it a libertarian intellectual powerhouse. I go way back with most of the folks on its roster–in some cases, to when they were students, in others to when I was a student. My congratulations. Given the stance […]

The Onion has this somewhat amusing story (hat tip to The Irish Trojan’s Blog), the best part of which is the title: American People Ruled Unfit to Govern. The opening reads: WASHINGTON, DC—In a historic decision with major implications for the future of U.S. participatory democracy, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 Monday that the American […]

William F. Buckley and Milton Friedman have long supported legalizing marijuana. Years ago, Buckley publicly announced that he had smoked marijuana on his boat off the coast outside the three mile limit (unlike me, who have never tried it). Now 78 years old and giving up ownership of the National Review, Buckley writes in National […]

This morning, the Supreme Court announced that it was granting the government’s petition for certiorari in Raich v. Ashcroft. In Raich, the Ninth Circuit held that the application of the Controlled Substance Act to persons who cultivated their own cannabis for medical use, or had caregivers cultivate it for then at no charge, was unconstitutional […]

On Balkanization Jack Balkin offers an insightful analysis of why Bill Clinton was reviled by so many Republicans: Clinton understood that the Democrats could get back in the White House if they appealed to parts of the coalition of voters that had elected Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. And so he set out consciously […]

I believe that Cass is describing a very real social phenomenon. There surely are, and have always been, some positions or “norms” that are sufficiently “beyond the mainstream” as to disqualify someone from national office. These norms are “effectively binding” in the sense that one publicly disavows them at one’s peril. While these norms remain […]

In his recent post, Cass invokes the concept of a “constitutive commitment,” by which he means something more than “a policy” and something less than “a constitutional requirement.” I take it that he would distinguish between constitutive commitments and Ackermanian ethereal unwritten constitutional amendments adopted during so-called “constitutional moments.” But (rousing myself reluctantly from a […]

The blog Liberty & Power keeps stocking up on libertarian intellectual talent. Now it has added to its impressive and provocative roster Robert Higgs, the author of Crisis and Leviathan and the forthcoming book, AGAINST LEVIATHAN: Government Power and a Free Society. No scholar has thought more seriously about the historical relationship between liberty and […]

The Rockin’ Book Tour for Restoring the Lost Constitution: The Presumption of Liberty has finally drawn to a close for the summer. I want to thank all the Federalist Society Chapters at the schools listed below for inviting me and for their gracious hospitality. Meeting the local officers at so many schools was inspiring for […]

The year before I started teaching I took a leave of absence from the Cook County States Attorney’s Office to be a Research Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School. Cass Sunstein was in the office next store in his very first year of teaching and we spent quality time together that year. Now […]

Radley Balko over at Liberty & Power loves HBO’s Deadwood as much as I do. Like him, I thought the season finale was superb. Here is a portion of Radley’s post: The show bustles with themes of rugged individualism, and explores the troubles and travails of a small community emerging from Hobbesian anarchy into a […]

In the passage sent to Eugene by a reader, Mark Kingwell misquotes Cary Grant as saying: “Every man wants to look like Cary Grant. I want to look like Cary Grant.” Grant is actually reputed to have said, “Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant.” I think the actual […]

Today, the Ninth Circuit has issued the following order in the medical cannabis case of U.S. v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative case that I argued last September: This matter was argued September 17, 2003. This court subsequently issued its decision in Raich v. Ashcroft, 352 F.3d 1222 (9th Cir. 2003), petition for cert. filed, (U.S. […]