Opinions

He is an engaged activist, who attends large rallies of like-minded agitators, often dressed in funny clothes. She would tear down the present structure so that human nature will take over and something beautiful will grow. He makes a case based on theory and ideology, and dismisses contrary evidence as a media conspiracy. She spends [...]

I came across this recent piece by Jonathan Adler at The Volokh Conspiracy. He critiques recent promises by GOP presidential hopefuls that they will abolish the Environmental Protection Agency when elected. I like the post because Adler counters with an approach to environmental protection that is conservative in ideology, but constructive in application. Importantly, he [...]

I came across this recent piece at Thomson Reuters--Oracle Judge Okays Damning E-mail Despite Google Privilege Claim--and I got to marvel, from a refreshingly safe distance, all the ways that things can go wrong in a courtroom. In its patent infringement case against Google, the Oracle team prepared an exhibit binder for a July 21st [...]

Here’s a dilemma: you live in a great community, where you and your neighbors all know how great it is, and you also know that part of what makes it great is that not too many outsiders know how great it is. So what do you do when yet another media source--Kiplinger in this case--tells [...]

I’ve been reading a series of posts titled “Let ‘em Play” by guest-blogger Mitch Berman at The Volokh Conspiracy. Professor Berman starts with a general proposal that we can examine the rules-regimes within sports to enhance our discussion and understanding of society’s legal frameworks. In this series he specifically considers the practice of calling fouls [...]

Like other lawyers I know, I don’t usually follow high-profile crime stories. Applying the law to the messy non sequiturs of life can be dissatisfying in the most dignified setting; media hyperbole makes it simply agonizing. Just ask the jurors, lawyers and insiders of the Casey Anthony case. So, reluctantly, I clicked the link from [...]

You are an American. You are today the most powerful national citizen who has ever existed. But you live in a world mostly populated by non-Americans, many of whom believe you enjoy privileges they do not, and many of those people would like to make some changes. Some of those non-American change-seekers would love to [...]

I read several great pieces over the weekend. Here are the best of them. University of Chicago Professor Geoffrey R. Stone had this New York Times op-ed entitled "Our Untransparent President." Mr. Stone alleges that: "While Mr. Obama has taken certain steps, notably early in his administration, to scale back some of the Bush-era excesses, [...]