Author Archive | Eugene Volokh

is available here. I don’t have the time to blog about it much right now, except to say that many of the ACLU criticisms of it are quite apt. Gov. Dan Carcieri, whose office proposed the bill, deserves to be harshly criticized for this. UPDATE: The Governor has withdrawn the bill; thanks to How Appealing […]

More on the “Vagina Warriors” protest: From Chris at Work in Progress, some comments on “Not all vaginas are skinny, white + straight” (actual quote from a protester’s T-shirt).

California Penal Code sec. 359 (thanks to Xrlq, who has more comments, for the pointer) provides: Every person authorized to solemnize marriage, who willfully and knowingly solemnizes any incestuous or other marriage forbidden by law, is punishable by fine of not less than one hundred nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in […]

Many people are outraged by the New Mexico proposal to require all cars to be equipped with breathalyzer interlocks, so that a car owner would have to be breath-tested before he can use his car. The bill has passed the New Mexico House of Representatives, but the ACLU and others are strongly objecting to it. […]

The University of Michigan student newspaper reports that the KKK has endorsed the anti-race-preferences Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. The MCRI campaign manager sensibly points out that the MCRI has no control over what other groups say; but, the article says, Receiving support from a group that opposes civil rights has raised questions about MCRI’s commitment […]

Life imitates The Onion: David Kaufman points to this fantastic story: They silently stood hand in hand with gray duct tape pasted across their lips and “Vagina Warriors” emblazoned on the back of their white shirts. The front of the shirts had different messages: “Warning: Hostile Vagina,” “Not all vaginas are skinny, white + straight” […]

A reader asks: If Massachusetts passes a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriages, and retroactively canceling all marriages created under the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s Goodridge decision, would that violate the Ex Post Facto Clause? The answer is “no.” Though the Ex Post Facto Clause restricts state as well as federal decisions — it’s one […]

Here and here. Pretty funny.

According to KRQE-TV: Some state lawmakers are convinced they have the answer to solve the D.W.I. epidemic and want to require everyone on the road to take a breathalyzer test before they can start the engine of any vehicle. . . . A bill requiring an ignition interlock device be installed on every car, truck, […]

The talk about John Stuart Mill allegedly saying that stupid people are generally conservative led me to track down the correct quote. I think I now have it, from Public and Parliamentary Speeches by John Stuart Mill, November 1850 – November 1868, at 83 (John M. Robson & Bruce L. Kinzer eds.) (speech on May […]

here; thanks to Arthur Silber for the pointer. Among other things, it discusses the question whether the mayor and county clerk are “administrative agencies” and are thus foreclosed by the California Constitution (art. III, sec. 3.5) from concluding that state laws are unconstitutional or unenforceable. I would also be happy to link to the challengers’ […]

The Feb. 14 Washington Post has the following exchange about the argument that the Federal Marriage Amendment may prohibit even legislatively created civil unions: “But surely it is right to ask not only what are the intended consequences of the proposal, but the unintended ones, as well,” said Eugene Volokh of the University of California […]

From the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin: An e-mail from group leaders [of OAD, a quasi-fraternity] suggested that members snap “a photo with 10 or more Asians,” an ethnic group that makes up about 13 percent of students. Rumors about the photo scavenger hunt, which also asked members to photograph themselves doing things like standing on […]

There’s a nice short piece on the natural-born citizenship requirement for President in The Green Bag. Interestingly, there’s some controversy even about whether children born abroad to U.S. citizens (for instance, to American servicemen stationed overseas) would qualify.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is issue marriage licenses to gay couples, something that California statutes definitely do not allow. Should he be condemned the way Alabama ex-Chief Justice Roy Moore was condemned when he insisted on keeping up the Ten Commandments monument in the courthouse?      I think the answer is “no,” or at least […]