Balkinization
an unanticipated consequence of
Jack M. Balkin
To some, former President Donald Trump’s prosecution and conviction in New York vindicates the principle that no person is above the law; to others, it is a witch-hunt, the product of a “rigged” system. While the case’s critics often grossly distort what transpired in New York, they are not wrong that the prosecution was informed by politics in some...
A few days ago, I published an op-ed in the L.A. Times detailing how disconnected the composition of the Supreme Court has become from electoral influence. Justices nominated by Republican presidents have constituted a majority of the court for more than 50 years and, unless something changes, will continue to do so far into the future. A...
I have posted a draft of an article by Ian Ayres and me, The Law of AI is the Law of Risky Agents Without Intentions, on SSRN. Here is the abstract:Many areas of the law, including freedom of speech, copyright, and criminal law, make liability turn on whether the actor who causes harm (or creates a risk of harm) has a certain mens rea or intention....
People disagree what to make of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s recent remark that in today’s climate of political polarization, “one side or the other is going to win.” It has been interpreted as an “anodyne” description of that polarization, or as a “horrific” claim that compromise is impossible and that he is one of the partisans. ...
Last week, the Columbia Law Review’s board of directors shut down its website briefly because of concerns about the process by which the review published an article critical of Israel. The decision quickly called forth charges of censorship. Then the board reactivated the website, leading to allegations that it had “buckled.” Both the editors...
Calls from the public for Justice Sonia Sotomayor to step down so that President Joe Biden can name a younger replacement are unlikely to be effective. Advice from strangers often carries little weight or might even backfire if the recipient doesn’t want to seem to knuckle under political pressure. Private suggestions from trusted colleagues...