Is anyone else a bit puzzled by the tone of this article from the Syracuse University newspaper? Student accused of blackface use An alleged blackface incident took place over the weekend, but those involved say it could all be a misunderstanding. Just after midnight on Saturday morning, the Department of Public Safety received a report […]
Author Archive | Eugene Volokh
Gay marriages in Boulder, 1975:
The San Francisco Chronicle reports: Back in 1975, when she was the county clerk for Boulder, Colo., [Clela] Rorex made headlines — and enemies — when she changed the words “male” and “female” to “person” on the county’s marriage license application and allowed six same-sex couples to wed. None of the licenses has held up […]
Town T-shirts barred in town schools:
AP reports: Showing town spirit in Climax is cause for punishment in this Minnesota town. Shirley Moberg, superintendent of Climax-Shelly schools, said T-shirts bearing the town’s slogan “Climax — More than just a feeling,” are inappropriate because of the sexual innuendo. About a dozen students wore centennial T-shirts to school this week in protest, and […]
Slate on the Massachusetts constitutional convention: Dana Mulhauser has a smart and readable piece on this in today’s Jurisprudence — a column that, while I often criticize, I also often very much enjoy reading.
Cathy Seipp on blogging: As usual with Cathy’s work, a very readable and interesting piece, this time with thoughts on the media, children, education, and politics. He’s the first paragraph: My 14-year-old blogger daughter got Instalanched last week, after she wrote about how her English teacher had ridiculed her in front of the class for […]
Stupidity, conservativism, and math:
Several readers objected to the logic of Prof. Brandon’s argument, and not just to its factual underpinnings or the accuracy of its paraphase of John Stuart Mill. Even if “stupid people are generally conservative,” the readers argue, this doesn’t mean that conservative people are especially likely to be stupid — and, they say, that’s a […]
Party affiliation and political knowledge:
Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University, writes: Apropos the conservatism and “stupidity” issue, you may find interesting the attached data from my analysis of the 2000 National Election Study (the NES is the most comprehensive US survey of political attitudes and knowledge, which breaks down political knowledge by strength of party affiliation. […]
Those brilliant professors, those accurate literary references:
Prof. Robert Brandon, chair of the philosophy department at Duke, is quoted as saying (thanks to InstaPundit and Andrew Sullivan for the pointer): “We try to hire the best, smartest people available,” Brandon said of his philosophy hires. “If, as John Stuart Mill said, stupid people are generally conservative, then there are lots of conservatives […]
Venting:
A reader writes, apropos the “How not to argue” post: You are absolutely right; letters like that are a disaster. And I’ve written enough of them myself (no, not quite so lame as that). I just don’t send them. Venting accomplished, nobody hurt. I admit that I am nursing one venting letter now that I […]
Seventh Circuit judges’ letter opposing Rule 32.1 (the rule that would require courts of appeal to allow citation of their unpublished opinions). It’s signed by 9 of the 12 Seventh Circuit judges.
How not to argue:
A reader cc’d me on a copy to Duke Professor Robert “Stupid People Are Generally Conservative” Brandon; here’s what the letter said: People with above average IQ’s are more likely to be original thinkers, not mind numbed robots mouthing the party line so they can become tenured and then go to sleep for the next […]
Love and death:
David Kaufman passes along this AP story: Dressed in a demure black suit, a 35-year-old Frenchwoman has married her dead boyfriend, an exchange of vows that required authorization from President Jacques Chirac. Under French law, Christelle Demichel became both bride and widow in the ceremony, which was performed Tuesday at Nice City Hall on the […]
Drake University and protester subpoenas dropped:
From the New York Times (thanks to reader Matthew Elkin for the pointer): Facing growing public pressure from civil liberties advocates, federal prosecutors on Tuesday dropped subpoenas that they issued last week ordering antiwar protesters to appear before a grand jury and ordering a university to turn over information about the protesters. . . . […]
Language of exclusion in the Constitution:
My former student Eric Soskin (of the Ex Parte blog) makes two points, apropos the “guy who first used the Constitution to codify bigotry” argument: But I see a larger question here. Should President Bush (and other elected leaders) prioritize the question of how they “want to be remembered” when making policy decisions? Just four […]
More on arguing about the Federal Marriage Amendment:
I’ve added some more material to my post below, which criticizes Dahlia Lithwick’s Slate question “Does President Bush really want to be remembered as the guy who first used the Constitution to codify bigotry?” Key point: Questions like this, which simply assume that one is right and ask why the other side would want to […]