Legal minds on legal matters and whatever else strikes our fancy.
A few months ago, federal judge Henry Hudson ruled that the Obama Administration’s health care law—and specifically, the requirement that everyone buy health insurance from a private company—exceeds Congress’ constitutional authority. That case (which you can read here) is now on appeal before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and today, PLF, [...]
On Monday, I spoke to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco about economic liberty and the law. They've posted the video of the talk on YouTube. The talk is also going to be broadcast on Bay Area public radio, but I haven't yet heard when that will be.
The forthcoming decision in Turner v. Rogers, No. 10-10, will represent one of those rare cases in which there is the very real chance that no one will win, at least long-term. The case pits the liberty of a man unable to pay his child support payments versus the cost that states would [...]
In the latest Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, I review UCLA law professor Stuart Banner's book Who Owns the Sky? The Struggle to Control Airspace from the Wright Brothers On. Banner’s book is outstanding because it presents the history of air law -- particularly the struggle to determine who would have property rights in and [...]
On Wednesday, Annie and I visited the Supreme Court. Although I have studied, filed briefs in, written about, and generally gushed over the Court for eleven years, it was my first visit to the place that has enormously impacted my life. I was kind of nervous that the Court could not possibly [...]
David Kopel put up a very nice post about the many philosophers who have written on the distinction between a true government and a gang of armed robbers. According to these philosophers, there are real differences between a gang and a government—that is, the latter operates according to certain fundamental principles of [...]
One of my long-standing pet peeves is the way advocates of “judicial restraint” often mis-quote Alexander Hamilton’s brilliant Federalist 78. They’re particularly fond of the phrase “if they [the courts] should be disposed to exercise WILL instead of JUDGMENT, the consequence would equally be the substitution of their pleasure to that of [...]
It was kind of a quiet week here at the CockleBur–most likely because it has been a largely quiet week in the legal world. So I wanted to just throw out some things I have been thinking about. Next week is a huge week for me. My wife and I are traveling [...]
Justice Alito’s dissent in Snyder v. Phelps, 09-751, has received more press than any of his previous Supreme Court opinions. I covered this topic last week on the CockleBur, as did Dahlia Lithwick, Jeffrey Rosen at the Washington Post, Michael Dorf, Josh Blackman, and the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties. Yesterday, John Paul Rollert at the Huffington [...]