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Category Archives: Law
“The Classical Liberal Constitution”
That is the title of Richard A. Epstein’s latest book. We are attending a two-day colloquium in Philadelphia this week-end to discuss various aspects of Prof. Epstein’s book with a small group of other legal scholars. We will keep you … Continue reading
Why isn’t “Constitution Day” a holiday?
Moreover, why do we celebrate “Labor Day” instead of Constitution Day? We propose the following: Instead of celebrating Labor Day on the first Monday of September, why not abolish this meaningless holiday and celebrate Constitution Day every Sept. 17 instead? (On that day in … Continue reading
In defense of Ray Rice’s legal rights
We offer the following three-part commentary in response to the Ray Rice witch-hunt: 1. Self-righteous TV news anchors and the news media generally have now milked the unfortunate Ray Rice affair for all it’s worth by airing the infamous elevator surveillance video countless times. … Continue reading
Is Apple’s iCloud a defective product?
As a threshold matter, we would first have to determine whether Apple’s iCloud digital storage system is a “product” or a “service.” For the record, the answer to this key question is not obvious to us. Neither is it obvious to us whether this threshold issue poses a matter of … Continue reading
Supreme Court Selection Bias?
Where do Supreme Court justices get their facts from? Oftentimes, they get their “facts” from amicus curiae legal briefs that are filed by “friends of the court,” i.e. private parties with axes to grind. Now, check out this fascinating report by Adam … Continue reading
Posted in Bayesian Reasoning, Deception, Law, Logical Fallacies
Tagged Selection Bias, Supreme Court
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Anti-constitutional moments?
In our most recent paper, a work-in-progress titled “Gödel’s Interbellum,” we borrow Bruce Ackerman’s influential theory of “constitutional moments” in order to survey the major extra-constitutional events unfolding in Europe during the interwar period between World War I and World War II. Specifically, … Continue reading
Posted in History, Law
Tagged Anti-Constitutional Moments, constitutional dictatorship, Interbellum Europe, Kurt Gödel
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Self-defense?
How many civilians, on average, do police forces in the United States kill each year? Legal scholar Richard Epstein, however, asks a different lethal-force question: Police officer deaths in the line of duty, year to date for 2014, were 67 of which … Continue reading
Posted in Bayesian Reasoning, Current Affairs, Law, Uncategorized
Tagged Police Killings, Richard Epstein
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The legal philosophy of red-light cameras
Many cities around the world have installed high-tech red-light cameras at busy intersections to increase safety and raise traffic revenues — although some cities are already starting to phase-out these cameras. The debate over the legality of such cameras not only presupposes that many drivers run red … Continue reading
Posted in Game Theory, Law, Philosophy, Traffic
Tagged H.L.A. Hart, Red Light Cameras
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Questions for Richard Epstein
On page 71 of his beautiful book The Classical Liberal Constitution, Richard A. Esptein acknowledges “how difficult it is to deal with systematic errors in [constitutional] interpretation that perforce creep into all interpretive efforts with the passage of time” (emphasis ours). … Continue reading
Posted in Law, Logical Fallacies, Politics
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Stare decisis (questions rarely asked)
The doctrine of stare decisis — the cornerstone of the common law tradition — is a legal principle by which judges are self-obliged to adhere to precedents or previous court decisions. Furthermore, this venerable doctrine is designed to promote stability, predictability, and the rule of law. Hey, … Continue reading
prior probability 