Category Politics
Textualism is not Strict Constructionism is not Originalism
As President Donald Trump prepares to appoint a second Supreme Court justice, the national dialogue has been saturated with gossip over what judicial philosophy the next nominee might bring to the bench. For legal nerds, SCOTUS nominations are what the World Cup is to soccer fans: the one time everyone else cares about your passion. […]
The Crisis of Civic Illiteracy and Disengagement
For anyone remotely tuned-in to public dialogue on law and policy, the criticism that a proposed action is unconstitutional is a familiar one. But while some exclaim, “That’s unconstitutional!” others just as readily respond, “Who cares?” At least anecdotally, the honest answer to that question seems to be “some, but not others.” One may venture […]
In Defense of 2017
“When I was 17, it was a very good year.” In October, scientists from Caltech announced that they had detected gravitational waves resulting from the collision of two black holes 1.3 billion years ago. While such phenomena is predicted by the theory of relativity, it remained unobserved until just a few months ago. A small […]
The Papal Style in American Politics
“[T]here is no need to narrate actions that do not affect the truth of the history, if they are going to result in the discrediting of the hero.” —Don Quixote To mark the anniversary of last year’s election, Vice News interviewed a set of the president’s diehard fans to see how they felt things have […]
Taxation Tuesday: The State and Local Tax Deduction, or, Everyone’s a Little Bit Wrong
The federal income tax finds you everywhere. State taxes don’t: California takes up to 13.3% of your income, while Nevada takes nothing. Every state taxes property in some way, but at different levels. But state taxes don’t immediately overburden high-tax state residents as badly as this sounds, because of the State and Local Tax Deduction, […]
Justice Don Willett’s Uncontroversial Commitment to the Constitution
The 1905 Supreme Court case Lochner v. New York has long been a lightning rod for the claim that unelected judges have no place in our Constitutional system striking down laws purporting to ensure public health and safety. The periled precedent played its part this week as UT Law student Noah Horwitz dutifully deployed it against […]
Taxation Tuesday: Don’t Try to Pass a Wealth Tax
Good morning; let’s talk about tax policy! One of the ways Senator Bernie Sanders has offered to finance his suggested health care plan is a wealth tax. A wealth tax does what it says on the box: taxes assets, as opposed to our current tax structure, which taxes income. This is far from the first […]
Fine, Build the Wall, If…
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday that the administration will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals initiative begun by its predecessor. DACA provided otherwise law-abiding illegal aliens brought here by their parents some relief from the fear of deportation, along with work permits and sundry other benefits. Much of the controversy so far focused […]
The First Amendment: A Right Against Bared Arms
The past weekend’s white nationalist rally in Charlottesville meant déjà vu all over again regarding the status of “hate speech” under the First Amendment. As a positivist matter this debate is a nonsense: uncountable cases made it quite clear over the past hundred years that bigots are entitled to speak their mind. “Hate speech” is […]
Least Dangerous Blog 