Trump's Columbus Day Proclamation contains no mention of the suffering and death Columbus unleashed upon the indigenous peoples of the Americas. On the blog, I argue that, in light of his prior statements and the proclamation itself, Trump lionizes Columbus because, not in spite, of his atrocities.👇

Would banishing fraternities from college campuses tamp down excessive drinking, drug use, and sexual violence--or would it move those activities to unregulated zones where they would be potentially worse? Prof Neil Buchanan offers some lessons from implementing alcohol regs at Harvard in the 80s. 👇

Today on the blog, Prof Neil Buchanan has scorn but also sympathy for journalists covering Trump. Scorn because they too often sanewash his rambling lies but sympathy because it is impossible to respond to the Gish Gallop. 👇

Bellesisles also presented at the symposium for which I wrote that article. Once his data were exposed as fraudulent, I didn't rely on them in subsequent work. I wrote a 2008 blog post noting that Bellesisles's ability to get his initial papers published showed a weakness of peer review. 👇

Malcolm Gladwell's new book on gun violence in the US is engaging and interesting but his analysis of the 2nd Amendment is badly confused (although I share his disdain for SCOTUS 2nd Am rulings). That makes me skeptical about what he says about other topics about which I'm not an expert. Details👇

I think this is a compliment? Kinda? (For the record, Beau CALI’d my Fed Courts class, so if he didn’t follow, I was probably just incoherent.)

Splenetic, yes. Eric, no. That’s from me. I forgot to include my name at the bottom. I’ll do that now.

During yesterday's SCOTUS argument, CJ Roberts & other conservatives were more concerned about a flood of lawsuits than the literal floods that climate change unleashes. They thus were sympathetic to blocking the Colorado case based on what I call the "dormant Nothing Clause." Details on the blog. 👇

Please read my actual essay. I explain that the allegations in the civil complaint would make out a case without reference to Doe’s intoxication.

The Jane Doe case has led to calls to amend the NY law making voluntary intoxication of a conscious victim generally irrelevant to consent. I explain why that's not necessarily relevant to the case, which includes allegations that could support convictions regardless. Many other observations too. 👇

Title VI (concerning federally funded institutions) doesn't cover religious discrimination. Title II (concerning public accommodations) doesn't cover sex discrimination. Why not? On the blog, I recount the history, which amounts to: There's not good reason for it; it's just our policy. 👇

Not just her hypo. The whole line of questioning was based on the assumption that speech but no violence or true threat was involved and the presidents all answered by toeing the First Amendment line.

As I say in the column, the definition itself is unobjectionable but with the examples it inevitably creates a de facto presumption that speech critical of Israel is antisemitic. And the proposed Antisemitism Awareness Act expressly would adopt the examples. Here's the definition alone. 👇

Here's the final report. /End 🧵

There is a housing shortage in wealthy countries around the world. On the blog, Prof Neil Buchanan explains that it is not mostly a product of over-regulation of the building of housing but a complex of misaligned regulations and norms (including the preference for owning rather than renting). 👇