The killing of Jordan Neely has become one of those cases where mythology has swiftly consumed the unpleasant task of actual thought. While the unduly passionate inexplicably decided that standing on subway tracks chanting about lynchings would somehow help Neely, the district attorney of New York County, Alvin Bragg, has announced that Penny will be charged with Manslaughter in the Second Degree.

There are four crimes with which Penny could have potentially been charged. The first two fall under Murder in the Second Degree, whether under an intentional murder theory or a “depraved indifference” theory. There was no evidence that Penny intended to kill Neely, and the crux of “depraved indifference” murder is conduct that is so clearly deadly that the perpetrator knew it created a “grave risk of death.” The classic example is shooting into a crowd, where the shooter may not intend to kill any particular individual, but recognizes that his actions would almost certainly result in someone being killed. That wasn’t the case here either. Continue reading →

Dr. SJ stayed yelled at the TV, at Kaitlin Collins. “Say something.” And she tried, to no avail. Whether it was because she wasn’t up to the task or it was an impossibility no matter who was moderating the “Town Hall,” filled with supporters whose questions ranged from the equivalent of “what’s your favorite color” to the always tough, “if you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be,” the answers were the same. The election was rigged.

On a scale of 1 to Marjorie Taylor Greene, I’d give him an 11.

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Little Marco’s reaction was the best he could muster. “That jury’s a joke.” On the contrary, it was every bit as valid a verdict as it would have been had it found for Trump, as it did on the rape cause of action where he was not found liable. For those who understand nothing about trials, at least when it suits their convenience, this is the kicker in the verdict.

But would a jury so hopelessly biased against Trump jury reject Carroll’s rape claim? Or is that an indication that the jury actually weighed the evidence supporting each charge?

Of course, the flip side of ignorance “interprets” this finding differently. Continue reading →

Much as some wish passionately that Heller never happened, that the Second Amendment would disappear, that Bruen didn’t make it worse and even less coherent, the reality as we find it today is that Americans have a fundamental individual right to bear arms and the limits on that right are, well, far more limited than Nino Scalia thought when he wrote his errant paragraph in Heller.

These are not the subjects of argument here, because this reflects the current state of the law and, if one enjoys their constitutional rights, one can’t deny the constitutional rights of others that one doesn’t like as much. Continue reading →

The headline in the New York Times is pure Larry Tribe, very important Harvard con law prof emeritus (as opposed to Dersh, who taught crim law).

Why I Changed My Mind on the Debt Limit

Of the myriad things that could possibly matter, why Tribe changed his mind does not make the list. But if he has an actually sound reason why the debt limit would be unconstitutional under Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment, that could actually be interesting. After all, much as he’s demonstrated his gymnastic willingness to bend and twist with the latest progressive fashion, he was still a prawf, even if at Harvard. So did he have anything worthwhile to offer this time in contrast to his genius last time? Continue reading →

Who does it persuade? Who does it inconvenience? Who does it harm? What does it accomplish?

https://twitter.com/RebsBrannon/status/1654973123916095488

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When I first read the words, I knew Lyrissa Lidsky was right. They’ve stuck with me ever since.

Nevertheless, I know that in the war of generations, the younger always wins.  I just wonder what victory looks like.

Ross Douthat has a lengthy and interesting column arguing that the progressive revolution is winding down, and its legacy will be of less consequence in journalism than it will be in academia. In the course of getting there, he makes a point that has long been of concern. Continue reading →

ONE: A conversation that almost certainly didn’t happen.

SHG: Hey Chris, heard you’re planning to join the TV and film writers on strike in LA?

Chris: Yeah, I’m gonna do designer drugs and throw cans of soup at art to show my solidarity.

SHG: Hmm, that’s one way to do it. But just so you know, AI can write your columns if you run off to LA.*

Chris: What? You’re saying a robot can replace me? Continue reading →

No New Yorker who rides the subway is unfamiliar with mentally ill, homeless people on platforms or inside subway cars screaming at people, behaving erratically, posing the possibility of violence. We mostly back away and don’t look. We sometimes change cars to avoid them.

When they put on a show or sit in their sad spot holding a sign that they’re hungry, some will throw them some change, but most walk by giving them a wide berth. They smell bad. There are too many of them. We can’t save them, or at least not them all. And we go on with our day. Continue reading →

Back when Chief Justice John Roberts questioned how diversity would contribute an educational benefit to physics during oral argument in Fisher v. University of Texas, I argued that every discipline, physics included, would benefit from having diverse students bring their perspectives to the issue. Many here scoffed at my take, arguing that physics was physics, so different perspectives changed nothing about science.

Since then, the situation has morphed into one that wraps diversity, along with its fellow travelers inclusion and equity, up with meaningless jargon in such a way as to demonize any doubt as racist and sexist. No longer is the issue limited to the approaches that might be brought to solving a question based upon differing experiences, views and perspective, but that one’s having the ideologically correct identity makes one’s solution more valid than a white heterosexual male. What I argued was a sound approach within the limits of reason has not become dogma that ignores merit and validity in favor of the victim hierarchy. This is unsustainable. Continue reading →