A customizable gift for your favorite imperialist traitor. Thanks to Glenn Reynolds (InstaPundit) for the pointer.
Author Archive | Eugene Volokh
“38 Test Answers That Are 100% Wrong But Totally Genius At The Same Time”
From Distractify. I do not vouch for their authenticity, but I laughed out loud at some of them. Thanks to GeekPress for the pointer.
“The Inadequacy of the Brief That Her Lawyer Has Filed … Precludes Our Vacating the Denial of Asylum”
UPDATE (post bumped in light of the update): I asked the lawyer whether he wanted to say something in response; here is what he passed along: I feel that the brief explained the position in a case which dealt with a narrow issue and not much positive caselaw except for one recent Seventh Circuit case. […]
Prof. Zachary Price, Guest-Blogging
I’m delighted to report that Zachary Price, who is now a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, will be guest-blogging this week about his Enforcement Discretion and Executive Duty (forthcoming in Vand. L. Rev.). Prof. Price has also written previously about the rule of lenity, the constitutionality of […]
“Leaked! Harvard’s Grading Rubric”
In Saturday’s New York Times. Thanks to InstaPundit for the pointer.
Why the Utah Law Criminalizing Polygamy Is Unconstitutional
By Eugene Volokh on December 16, 2013 12:35 pm in Freedom of Speech, Religious Freedom, Same-Sex Marriage
I’m no fan of the Utah federal court’s opinion striking down the Utah law criminalizing polygamy. But I do think that the law, at least as currently interpreted by Utah officials, is indeed unconstitutional. Here’s a brief sketch of my thinking. 1. The relevant statute states, A person is guilty of bigamy when, knowing he […]
Utah Criminal Law Banning Polygamy Struck Down
The case is Brown v. Buhman (D. Utah Dec. 13, 2013); the plaintiffs are the polygamists from the “Sister Wives” reality TV show. The court did not hold that the state must recognize polygamous marriages as legally valid; it held only that the Utah law criminalizing entering into even non-legally-recognized polygamous marriages was unconstitutional. (Special […]
Student Dismissed Partly Because His Expressed “Views … Were Deemed Not in Alignment” with Government Standards
Here’s yet another brief that the UCLA First Amendment Amicus Brief Clinic has filed in the last few weeks. This brief is in a Ninth Circuit university student dismissal case, and it’s filed on behalf of the Foundation for Individual Rights and the Student Press Law Center, in Oyama v. University Hawaii (the link is […]
The Returned
My wife and I have been much enjoying this new TV show, which we’re watching on Amazon Instant Video. It’s in French, with English subtitles, but they haven’t interfered with our getting into the story. The premise is that dead people are coming back to life (as apparently ordinary people, not zombies) in a small […]
My Hobby Lobby Posts, in a Single Word Document
Here are my Hobby Lobby posts in a single Word document, in case some of you might find them helpful.
A Response on the Hobby Lobby Posts, from Matt Bowman at the Alliance Defending Freedom
I thought I’d pass this along, since many of our readers are interested in the case. Naturally, I’m also open to posting something from one of the lawyers or academics on the opposite side of the issue. First, I want to thank Prof. Volokh for his fine series of posts on the cases involving the […]
The Aurora Mass Shooting, Choice of Law, and Newsgatherer Shield Statutes
Reporter, who is based in New York, gathers information in Colorado, related to a Colorado crime. She returns to New York, but is subpoenaed to appear in Colorado court proceedings, to testify about her confidential sources. Should New York newsgatherer shield law or Colorado newsgatherer shield law apply? An interesting and unusual choice of law […]
Have Proved or Have Proven?
Is it “have proven false” or “have proved false”? “Have proven to be right” or “have proved to be right”? Google Ngrams, in keeping with some usage guides, tells us that historically “have proved” has been the dominant form. In recent books, though, the two have been roughly equally common. I think “have proved” is […]
Tortious vs. Tortuous
“Tortious” is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as the adjective form of the noun “tort,” so “tortious conduct” is conduct that constitutes a tort. “Tortuous” is defined as: 1. Having or marked by repeated turns or bends; winding or twisting: a tortuous road through the mountains. 2. Not straightforward; circuitous; devious: a tortuous plot; […]
10-Day Gun Waiting Period Potentially Unconstitutional
So concludes today’s Silvester v. Harris (E.D. Cal. Dec. 9, 2013). The analysis (some paragraph breaks added): The WPL [the Waiting Period Law] prohibits every person who purchases a firearm from taking possession of that firearm for a minimum of 10 days. That is, there is a period of at least 10 days in which […]