In this week of the self-paced course on Objectivity we feature Tara Smith’s “Objective Law”. Smith (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University) is professor of philosophy at the University of Texas and author of Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System (Cambridge University Press, 2015). Our Executive Summary gives eight key points from Smith’s 13-page article. The full course […]
Tara Smith, “Objective Law” [Atlas Intellectuals] Read More »
Brief, thoughtful post: “police union privileges are only one part of a system and reform requires system-thinking. Nevertheless, getting rid of these special privileges, including so-called qualified immunity and restoring the equal rule of law are good places to start. Need I also mention that police should not keep fines and forfeitures …” Source: https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/06/police-union-privileges-revisited.html.
Tabarrok on police privileges Read More »
“By the mid-fifteenth century crimes subject to the death penalty … included the following: rebellion, fraud, bigamy, incest, arson, theft, adultery, carrying off a woman against her will, blasphemy, moving signs of property boundaries, attacking someone, high treason, child murder, using dishonest weights and measures, murder, counterfeiting, rape, attempted suicide,* striking someone to death, converting
Death penalty in 1400s central Europe Read More »
The chart indicates that about fourteen adult males are incarcerated for every adult female who is. Also, on lengths of sentences: “males received 12 percent longer prison terms than females after ‘controlling for the offense level, criminal history, district, and offense type.’” Follow-up questions: 1. Do males collectively commit 14 times the number of crimes
Male and female incarceration rates in the USA Read More »
As political winds blow, those whose principles are merely tactics change tack. But it’s especially galling when it’s professional legal and religious experts who reveal themselves so.
On unprincipled political hacks, then and now Read More »
In 1770, tensions were high between the American colonists and their British rulers. Anxious soldiers confronting an angry mob precipitated the Boston Massacre. Eight soldiers were then put on trial for murder. The lawyer John Adams was a strong American patriot, yet he took on the defense of the British soldiers. His purpose was explicitly
Revolutionary justice: French versus American style Read More »
In my Introduction to Philosophy course, we discuss Plato’s Crito. Here is a diagram of one line of argument: Here is an Excel version, should one want to add to or revise it for oneself. Related: Socrates’ Two Bad Arguments for Not Escaping. [The feature image is Jacques-Louis David’s portrayal of the death scene from
Crito versus Socrates — argument diagram Read More »
Tara Smith has a very good article reinvigorating and extending the philosophical arguments for religious freedom: “What Good is Religious Freedom? Locke, Rand, and the Non-Religious Case for Respecting It” (Arkansas Law Review 69:4). Along the way she discusses the arguments and counter-arguments of John Locke, Brian Leiter, Jeremy Waldron, Ayn Rand, and others. Direct
What Good is Religious Freedom? Tara Smith article in Arkansas Law Review Read More »