Archive | Uncategorized

An L.A. Times editorial says: So Donald Trump wants to patent the expression “You’re fired.” . . . Maybe he’s serious about the trademark so he can sell “You’re Fired!” T-shirts and gambling machines; of course, not having such a patent wouldn’t stop him either. Maybe, just maybe (we’re only suggesting here) the patent filing […]

There’s a helpful summary, with some criticism, by Ken Lammers (CrimLaw).

A few weeks ago, as part of a lecture on academic freedom at Emory University, I noted that censorious campus feminists have been the leading force behind campus speech restrictions masquerading as “hostile environment” rules, and stated the following:One does not need much of an imagination to come up with examples of how antidiscrimination law […]

My paper with this title, part of a Pepperdine Law Review Symposium on asbestos litigation, has been posted at SSRN.

Some months ago, Lawrence Solum’s Legal Theory Bookworm recommendation was Allen Buchanan’s Justice, Legitimacy, and Self-Determination: Moral Foundations for International Law. This volume articulates a systematic vision of an international legal system grounded in the commitment to justice for all persons. It provides a probing exploration of the moral issues involved in disputes about secession, […]

This is not my field, but I sent this set of blog references along to my lawyer wife. (Mainly I wanted to show her that blogging and reading blogs isn’t a waste of time.) Why shouldn’t you get the material too? The links help lawyers keep current with the field of corporate law and SEC […]

Franz Kafka has a couple of nice short “stories” about the law. The most famous one, “Before the Law,” which I may post one day, is from the novel The Trial, which of course is all about the law; but here’s another one, called “The New Attorney.” We have a new attorney, Dr. Bucephalus. Little […]

lots of inane (but often victorious) lawsuits to make your blood boil at Overlawyered.com.

ESPN reports that UMD may ban “vulgarities” said by fans in its stadium. I think that would be constitutionally permissible, and here’s why.      Vulgarities are generally protected by the First Amendment, unless they fit within the fighting words exception (which usually covers only face-to-face insults that have a tendency to start an immediate fight). You […]

Continental Airlines has very good relations with Israel, flying direct from Newark to Tel Aviv. So I was pretty surprised to find out that Continental is agreeing to the demands of certain Arab countries that it prohibit flight attendants from working military charters if they have Israeli stamps on their passports, as detailed in the […]

I really enjoyed my visit last week to Nebraska, Michigan, Indiana and St. Louis. I have really enjoyed meeting Volokh Conspiracy readers pretty much every where I have spoken, especially those who traveled way out of their way. Last Monday, an architect drove from Omaha to Lincoln and, on Thursday, a judge drove from Lafayette […]

“Charles Saatchi, by far the most influential figure on the contemporary British art scene, has been reported to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for allegedly monopolising the art market. Charles Thomson, a gallery owner who has made it his mission to burst the BritArt bubble, has now taken the extraordinary step of submitting a […]

“One of the greatest artworks of all time is scattered in fragments across Europe. But there is now a way to view the surviving Parthenon sculptures together for the first time – a virtual reconstruction. They’re still magnificent nearly 2,500 years after being carved, but the sculptures of the Parthenon are a bit like sad […]

The estimable Tom Palmer, who used to do similar work in Eastern Europe, is working on providing both English and (later) Arabic copies of major works of liberal thought to Iraqi universities and libraries. It’s an important enterprise and deserves lots of help; details are here.

Here’s the Fifth Circuit decision approving of such searches. A bunch of people e-mailed me about this — it’s worth a read, and laypeople should find it quite readable (though not short). I think the dissents are ultimately more persuasive than the majority, but I probably won’t have a chance to blog more about the […]