Contingency, Anarchy and Oliver Wendell Holmes

One of the most influential books in my life is the late Stephen Jay Gould’s “Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History,” about the evolution of life during what is known as the “Cambrian explosion,” about 505 million years ago.  Gould’s thesis is that contingency–chance–is perhaps the most important factor in evolution.  Rewind the tape of life and let history unfold again and the evolutionary outcomes, including Homo sapiens, are impossible to predict.  Gould argues that we humans are a great–but wonderful–accident.

With this introduction, readers may understand why a post about how Oliver Wendell Holmes ended up on the U.S. Supreme Court caught my attention.  The short answer (re: why Holmes ended upon on the court) is that an anarchist assassinated President McKinley.  That’s contingency in operation folks.

Why Ted Cruz Should Not Be President

Because he believes that the United States Constitution allow states to prohibit, even criminalize, sexual self-pleasure. Money quote from David Corn’s article in Mother Jones; according to Cruz:

There is no substantive-due-process right to stimulate one’s genitals for non-medical purposes unrelated to procreation or outside of an interpersonal relationship.

UPDATE: To be fair, Cruz said this in the context of a legal brief he wrote while defending the State of Texas in a lawsuit challenging a state ban on sex toys.  Lawyers often make arguments that they do not personally accept. That is part of being a zealous advocate for a client. But until I hear Ted Cruz disavow this argument, I shall assume he agrees with it.

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Airport Authority Refuses To Disclose Casino Docs

The Journal Inquirer reports that the Connecticut Airport Authority “is refusing to disclose information about its proposal for a third casino, claiming the documents and discussions are exempt from the state’s Freedom of Information Act.”  A hearing is scheduled before the Freedom of Information Commission tomorrow. 

I asked the law firm that made the FOI request on behalf of the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, Carmody, Torrance, Sandak & Hennessey LLP, if it would share their pre-hearing brief with me, which they kindly did.  I’ll try to get a copy of the CAA’s brief and post it shortly.

Klau Launches CT Good Governance

Dear Readers:

I am very pleased to announce the launch of my new site, CT Good Governance. The mission of the site is to improve state and local governmental policy outcomes, promote ethical decision-making, increase the confidence of citizens and public officials in their government, and help government meet its constitutional and statutory obligations to the citizens of the State of Connecticut. CT Good Governance seeks to fulfill its mission by applying the principles of good governance to the constitutional, statutory and legislative rules, as well as informal customs and conventions, that govern the processes by which our state and local governments make and implement decisions.

I am very excited about the site, which I hope will serve as a public forum for non-partisan discussion of ideas and strategies to improve the democratic process in the Nutmeg State. Please take a moment to peruse the site and the several “good governance” proposals already on it. I’d be delighted to discuss the site and my hopes for it with you.

Warmly,

Dan Klau

Death To The Bluebook!

So says Judge Richard Posner, and other folks (myself included) concur.  As a rule, book burning is very very bad.  But I’ll make an exception in the case of the dreaded Blue.

What’s At Stake In Selecting Scalia’s Replacement?

More than you can imagine.  As author Jeffrey Rosen writes,

Everyone agrees that this is the most significant Supreme Court vacancy in a generation. But what competing visions of the Constitution, precisely, are voters choosing between?The constitutional stakes could hardly be higher.

Read Rosen’s entire discussion of this issue at the National Constitution Center’s blog.