What in the heck is going on in Montana? A slightly-edited version of this essay first appeared in The Federalist as “How ‘America’s Worst Court’ Intimidates Elected Officials To Fight Judicial Reform,” on August 28, 2024 (here). Thanks to Real Clear Policy (here), How Appealing…
Judicial Activism
Ending the Ninth Circuit’s “Cruel and Unusual Punishment” of America’s Cities
Vagrancy is conduct, not status. Courts should not force communities to tolerate the despoilation of public areas. A slightly-revised version of this essay appeared in Law & Liberty on February 27, 2024 (here). Thanks to How Appealing, National Review‘s The Corner (here), the Ace of Spa…
Inventing Modern Libel Law
To the old adage that “fans of laws and sausage should never watch either one being made,” one can add the often-unappealing background of landmark activist Supreme Court decisions. This article first appeared in Law & Liberty on July 26, 2023 (here). Thanks to Power Line, In…
Elite Lawyers Wage War on America’s Cities
Virtue-signaling “pro bono” litigation is today’s “radical chic”; the ruling class can escape the ensuing chaos in their exclusive enclaves. This article originally appeared in the May/June 2022 issue of The American Conservative, as “Lawyers Cause Homelessness” (here). Than…
The Lawyers’ War on Law
This essay originally appeared in the pre-digital magazine The American Enterprise (published by the American Enterprise Institute) in March 2001. Written over 21 years ago in the wake of the 2000 election dispute in Florida, which was resolved in Bush v. Gore, I think my take has held up pretty …
Who Created the “Diversity” Monster?: How Republican Supreme Court Justices Gave Us Affirmative Action
The U.S. Supreme Court started down the slippery slope of racial preferences in 1978, with baleful consequences. This essay first appeared in the March/April 2022 issue of Chronicles magazine (here). Thanks to Real Clear Policy and Real Clear Books (here)! Scholars increasingly treat the issue of…
Not So Unexpected Consequences
In pursuit of flattery from the Left, Justice Gorsuch went badly astray, with predictable consequences. This essay originally appeared in Law & Liberty, on February 10, 2021 (here). Thanks to Tennessee Conservative News (here) and Instapundit (here)! “Sometimes small gestures can have unexp…
Revisiting William O. Douglas
Attempting to portray the quintessential judicial activist as a victim of political skullduggery is like putting lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig. This essay originally appeared in Law & Liberty on June 22, 2020 (here). Thank you, Instapundit (here)! Properly done, studying history is a …
Is Scalia’s Originalism—Indeed, Constitutional Self-Government–Passé?
The eternal temptation to read one’s own values into the Constitution beguiles even religious conservatives espousing “natural law” A revised version of this essay originally appeared in the April/May 2020 issue of Chronicles as “Faux Originalism” (here). Thanks to How Appealing…
Capra Meets Kafka: Political Intrigue Too Bizarre for Fiction
Once-placid judicial confirmations have become a brutal proxy for the take-no-prisoners culture war A slightly revised version of this essay first appeared in Law & Liberty on August 2, 2019 (here). Thanks to Power Line and How Appealing! In Justice on Trial, a devastatingly-thorough journali…