POLITICAL SCIENCE DEPT.
The Mythical California Problem
Now that we’ve had a second recent election in which the candidate who won the popular vote ended up losing the electoral vote, lots of people are talking about getting rid of the Electoral College. My gut feeling is that it would be a good idea, because it seems like an unnecessary complication that violates… Read more
CRIMINAL DEFENSE DEPT.
What Are the Magic Words?
Over at Simple Justice, Scott Greenfield is lamenting the fact that courts are requiring criminal suspects to leap ever higher obstacles to invoke their rights when being questioned by police. Roland didn’t invoke when he said, “I ain’t signing shit without my attorney”? To successfully invoke the right to counsel, the suspect’s desire to have… Read more
HOME OWNERSHIP DEPT.
Blowing Snow
Today I am a man suburbanite. We had a few inches of snow overnight, and this morning I got out the snowblower and cleared the driveway. I also did the sidewalk out front, the walkways to all the doors, and the patio in the back yard. I know that seems like no big deal to… Read more
FREE SPEECH DEPT.
The Worst Way To Fight Fake News
There’s been a lot of talk about “fake news” lately, apparently because some people blame it for Donald Trump’s election. Over at Bloomberg View, columnist Noah Feldman, who’s also a professor of constitutional and international law at Harvard, thinks it’s time to do something about it. Basically, he doesn’t think our experiment with free speech… Read more
ARGUMENTATION DEPT.
Deceitful Words: Disqualifying
This is the first of what I hope will be a series of posts about words and phrases that should make you suspect that someone is trying to get something past you. I’m starting with one that we heard a lot of during this last election: “Disqualifying.” People kept saying things like: “Hillary Clinton’s risking… Read more
Classical liberalism, criminal laws, the war on drugs, economics, free speech, technology, photography, sex work, cats, and whatever else comes to mind.
