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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. […]

Justin Katz has a response to my TNR argument about the Federal Marriage Amendment. Not much by way of rejoinder. But if the following matters a great deal: The problem with this arises when one realizes, having read the Federal Marriage Amendment dozens of times, that nowhere therein are the words “civil union.” then I […]

Here and here. Also, a libertarian who thinks some Texans are stupid.

From the Yale Daily News (via How Appealing):“I would say I’m a centrist, but when I got to law school I found myself to be conservative [by comparison],” Muzin said. “I find that the student body here is ultra-liberal and extremely intolerant; I realized it shortly after I started here.” But Cooke said he has […]

Byron York has an excellent analysis of the evidence concerning the President’s service in the National Guard: Bush and the National Guard: Case Closed. In addition to analyzing the evidence concerning Bush’s last year in the Guard, it adds some additional information of which I was unaware. having simply been following this in one media […]

Heaven help me if the fact that I’m employed at a state university stopped me from pointing out (as Juan, tongue-in-cheek (I think), implies that it would) that state universities create inherent civil liberties problems when they, as they must, engage in content-based speech regulations. For that matter, it shouldn’t stop me from pointing out […]

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 […]

Jack Balkin says, responding to Juan’s and Glen’s posts (paragraph break inserted): Glen’s assertion that goverments should never be in the business of deciding which ideas are good and which are bad is much too broad. To a very large extent governments are in the business of deciding which ideas are better than others, because […]

Jack Balkin has a thoughtful reply to my critique of his case for public universities. He accepts a portion of my argument, but remains unconvinced. He posts, in relevant part: in some cases its possible that remedying market failures either through public subsidizes or through direct government provisions of a public good can be worse […]

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 […]

I’ll leave the free speech aspects of Jack Balkin’s post to David, but I do want to comment on the case Balkin makes for public universities. Balkin’s view of free speech necessitates public infrastructure including “free public education.” “Without public universities, our cultural life would be much poorer,” Balkin suggests, because the private marketplace will […]