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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’ […]

My new New Republic column is online. It discusses both the odd understanding of separation of powers in the FMA’s impossible attempt to ensure that only legislatures can create civil unions, and the new kind of intrusion on federalism that a federal command to construe state constitutions in a particular way would represent. See also: […]

I don’t have time to respond to Jack Balkin’s very interesting post on freedom of speech and the desireability of public universities, but if you would like to know what the brightest minds on the left are thinking on such topics, it’s a good place to start.UPDATE: Balkin says the purpose of freedom of expression […]

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 […]

When John Holbo has the time for serious blogging he’s one of my favorites to read. He apparently has had time the last couple of days, because he has one great post on conservatives in academia, and then another one, and then an impressive essay on the dirty hands problem. [UPDATE: Whoops. The second entry […]

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 […]

I am, as I’ve said a number of times, strongly in support of gay marriage. That said, the decision by San Francisco’s city government to start issuing same-sex marriage licenses doesn’t at all please me the way it does Andrew Sullivan. San Francisco officials are obligated to implement California state law. The California mini-DOMA was […]

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 […]

Natalie Solent explains, with reference to a favorite poem of mine (written in the Northwest Midlands dialect of Middle English, and one of the Three Great Works of 14th-century English literature), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. (Note: The versions I link to are edited by Tolkien, but the modern translations aren’t by him. Let […]

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 […]

Read the thoughts of Will Wilkinson, a very smart philosopher.

I know I’m supposed to be on a blogging slowdown, but how can I resist stories like this one? A group called “Presbyterian Peacemakers,” which on its website professes to pursue “a journey of racial justice and understanding,” as well as a commitment to overcoming prejudice, brought a virulently anti-Israel speaker to Wooster College who […]

I’m speaking at Yale Law School at 12:45 tomorrow (Tuesday) in room 111, and at 5:00 pm at Touro Law School on Long Island. Free and open to the public.