Another inflation calculator, going back to 1800. Thanks to reader Kim Scarborough for the pointer.
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On (libertarian and other) utopianism:
Reason has been hosting a debate on “how to think about liberty,” between Richard Epstein, Randy Barnett, David Friedman, and James Pinkerton. Some in the blogosphere think this is amusing. Belle just thinks the Barnett/Friedman varieties of anarcho-capitalism are loopy, which is fair enough; but she also thinks there’s something objectionable about even looking that […]
Court records on the Internet:
In re Estate of Engelhardt, 2004 WL 345941, a one-judge decision by a Ohio Probate Court judge, comes out solidly in favor of public access to such records. Hamilton County Probate Court apparently routinely puts all its records on the Internet (see, e.g., Engelhardt’s will, which I quickly found by searching on the site). Representatives […]
Need some help from people who know about the empirics of tort law:
Does anyone know where I can find numbers, or credible estimates, on the total amount paid out by the tort system? I don’t mean “the cost of the tort system” in terms of products taken off the market or anything like that, just total tort payments. Ideally, this would even include the amounts paid out […]
Martha Stewart and the anticooperative effect of law:
Eric Rasmusen and Duncan Frissell make an interesting point about the false statements statute, 18 USC sec. 1001: Cases such as Martha Stewart’s may discourage people (even innocent people) from talking to federal authorities at all, because they might fear that some error on their part may be characterized as a lie, and might thus […]
What next?
“A group is challenging the rule of chess which states that white moves first is racist; it just perpetuates the image that whites make moves and blacks have to adjust to it. How they plan to change the rule I don’t know. I saw this on television. Who they would sue to have this changed […]
NPR’s Day to Day and Three Strikes: NPR’s Day to Day had a segment on California’s Three Strikes law this morning. Among other things, the segment spent some time on one major criticism of the law: that it allows a very long prison term (25 years to life) when the third strke is a relatively […]
Justice Scalia and criminal defendants:
At times, I’ve heard people express doubt that Justice Scalia’s judicial principles — chiefly a preference for clear rules and for interpreting the Constitution by focusing on its original meaning and on its traditional application — ever helps supposedly traditionally liberal causes, such as the rights of criminal defendants. I’ve pointed before to many cases […]
Rockin’ Book Tour This Week:
Last week’s visits to Chapman, UCLA, Pepperdine, USC, Loyola & USD were draining but very rewarding. The Restoring the Lost Constitution Rockin’ Book Tour continues this week with three talks in Northern California: Wednesday 3/10:Hastings law school (3:40pm)Thursday 3/11:Stanford law school (noon)Santa Clara law school (4:00pm BANNAN HALL 127) As always, let me know you […]
The Martha Stewart case:
Who better to read on this topic than Professor Bainbridge? His bottom line: “Martha Stewart was convicted on all counts. Longtime readers know that my take on the Stewart case was as follows: (1) The securities fraud count was bogus. The judge agreed and threw that one out. (2) The obstruction and false statement were […]
Who knows the EU rulebook?
“Less than two months before 10 new member states join the European Union, it has emerged that about half have failed to translate the EU’s 85,000-page rulebook into their national languages. The embarrassing disclosure could have serious legal consequences, because EU laws are only enforceable in the new member states when written in the national […]
The French Mind:
I’ve been on a bit of a Roman poet/philosopher kick the last year or so, and I was leafing through a biography of Seneca, the great Roman philosopher, by Paul Veyne, Professor of Classics at the College de France in Paris. I came across this little gem: Veyne describes the the “modernity” of Seneca’s writing […]
Sunday Song Lyric:
I was surprised how many readers were unaware of Danny Elfman’s libertarian leanings. Of course, no discussion of libertarian-leaning bands could be complete without mention of Rush. The Canadian power trio, about to embark on its 30thanniversary tour, is arguably the most prominent libertarian band of all time. Rush dedicated an album, 2112, to “the […]
Searching for Bobby Fischer:
And freedom of chess. (Via Will Baude of Crescat.)
MemoGate(Less) Report:
The Sergeant-at-Arms report is now out. I have not read it yet, so I do not know whether I should modify the views I expressed here and here. Here‘s the Washington Post story, and an op-ed by Melanie Kirkpatrick with a decidedly different spin. Howard Bashman also has links to the report and related material.