Author Archive | Sasha Volokh

This is part of a series of posts discussing the background of the Supreme Court’s “fleeting expletives” case from last week, FCC v. Fox Television Stations. In the last two posts (click here to see the whole string of posts, including this one, on a single page, in chronological order), I talked about the FCC’s […]

Tomorrow early morning, I’m off to the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. I’m sticking around there through Saturday early afternoon. Let me know, by e-mail or in the comments, if you’ll be there or if you think there are particular sessions or events that would be interesting. Meanwhile, speaking […]

While I’m embedding videos, here are two songs that are making the rounds on Facebook. First, “The Humans Are Dead” (also known as “Robots”) from the New Zealand group Flight of the Conchords. Second, here’s a version of “Stand By Me” (not embedded, but go to the link) recorded on streets worldwide.

Here’s a nice video about the Smoot-Hawley tariff, the Great Depression, and protectionism generally. I should note that the idea that protectionism was a substantial cause of the Great Depression is not universally shared. But watch the video anyway, which has good history and good analysis of the ill effects of protectionism. From the folks […]

This is part of a series of posts discussing the background of the Supreme Court’s “fleeting expletives” case from last week, FCC v. Fox Television Stations. Last time, I discussed George Carlin‘s Seven Dirty Words routine and the FCC’s 1975 opinion that the routine was “indecent,” though not obscene, and thus prohibited under the Communications […]

“I’ve also had critics for the last 40 years saying that I was on my way out every year. Right. So f*** ’em.” That’s Cher, during the 2002 Billboard Music Awards, aired live on Fox. And here’s Nicole Richie in the 2003 Billboard Music Awards, also aired on Fox: “Why do they even call it […]

is up and running — this is the product of a consortium of top law reviews to produce op-ed-length online versions of their full-length paper articles. Here’s a quote from their press release (I’m cribbing from Larry Solum’s post): A consortium of America

Elena Kagan has been confirmed as Solicitor General. Early on, before becoming Dean of Harvard Law School, she showed wise judgment by giving me an A in Administrative Law, which I’m teaching right now. And, in one of her first acts while dean, she graciously moderated my target shooting club’s debate featuring Eugene, Alan Dershowitz, […]

My friend Tom Palmer, with his colleagues at the Atlas Global Initiative for Free Trade, Peace, and Prosperity, is (as part of a larger campaign) circulating a free trade petition, which will be unveiled on April 1st before the G20 meetings in London. He encourages everyone, especially (but not only) economists, to sign it, and […]

My colleague Johnny Rex Buckles has just posted the following paper on SSRN: Do Law Schools Forfeit Federal Income Tax Exemption When They Deny Military Recruiters Full Access to Career Services Programs? The Hypothetical Case of Yale University v. Commissioner. Here’s the abstract: Most United States law schools prohibit prospective employers who discriminate against students […]

There are a number of Latin renditions of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” — this site collects a bunch, both in the main text and in the comments. The first version is listed as “translator unknown, widely repeated on the Internet,” and indeed, this is the version I first came across. Dissatisfied with the Latin grammar […]

I’m not an expert on civil rights law or anything, but just looking at the D.C. harassment case that Eugene just linked, it looks like a more literalist reading of the D.C. Code would have been kinder to the plaintiff. 1. Analysis under the D.C. Code Here’s what the district judge says: Plaintiff’s sexual harassment […]

Check out this video restaurant review. “I’m kind of on a budget, so I’m looking for cheap, but flavorful, penis.” This is work-appropriate. Hat tip: Paul Eremenko. UPDATE: For “work-appropriate,” substitute “arguably work-appropriate, depending on your workplace.

The Manhattan Institute has released Greater Justice, Lower Cost: How a “Loser Pays” Rule Would Improve the American Legal System, by my friend Marie Gryphon. From the executive summary: Effects of Loser Pays This paper infers from its examination of the scholarly literature how loser pays would affect the American legal system: Almost every economist […]

From United States v. Crist, the Fourth Amendment case that Orin discussed the other day, p. 2: After [they] explained what they were doing, Crist angered. I had never seen this usage of “anger” before. I just looked it up in the OED: d. intr. (refl. pron. omitted.) rare. c1400 Destr. Troy XV. 6911 Vlixes..angrit […]