Freespace

My presentation on the Magna Carta's 800th anniversary

The American Freedom Alliance has posted the video of the panel on the Magna Carta anniversary event on which I participated. My part begins at 18:03, and there is a Q&A at 1:01:30.

Can the government just steal half of the nation's raisin crop?

I blogged about yesterday's excellent decision in the Horne case at PLF Liberty Blog, and talked about it with Armstrong & Getty this morning.

Why Magna Carta is--and isn't--relevant today

Here's my paper on the Magna Carta and the law of the land 800 years on.

EconPop on Cast Away

Superb. And true!

Attorneys general have a duty not to defend unconstitutional laws

A few years ago, Eric Holder, Kamala Harris and other attorneys general sparked a heated debate over whether an attorney general has a duty to defend the constitutionality of laws even when they believe those laws to be unconstitutional. Harris refused, for example, to defend the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, which meant that the initiative’s supporters were forced to do so themselves. That ultimately failed when the United States Supreme Court ruled that they lacked standing to do so in federal courts (although, of course, they could do so in state court, where federal standing rules do not apply). Some, including Indiana Attorney General Gregory Zoeller, denounced this refusal as a threat to the rule of law. But in my view, not only is an attorney general entirely free to refuse to defend a law she thinks unconstitutional, but she is obligated to do so.

Commemorating Magna Carta's 800th anniversary

I'll be speaking at the American Freedom Alliance's event commemoration Magna Carta on June 14 in Los Angeles. Please join us!

My Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy article on Competitor's Veto laws

...is now available on SSRN.