Just over six months ago, I set resolutions for myself, law students, the Supreme Court, the Big 12 Conference, my freeloading chickens, and the D.C. Circuit, among others. This week seems as good as any to check in on how everyone is doing. First, I resolved to write something for the Wall Street Journal. Alas, […]

I remember well the indignation I felt when I first learned about unpublished decisions. The idea that an appellate court in a common-law system can issue a decision that “carries no precedential force“—an opinion good for one case only—struck me as scandalous. The rule of law, I felt, depended on precedential effect. But then I […]

Justice Elena Kagan has many talents, one of which is asking sharp questions at oral argument. For instance, one of my favorite moments as a litigator came, in a case about raisins, when Kagan asked these questions to the attorney for the United States: (1) “[B]efore you do that then [i.e., get to his prepared […]

This is a foolish way to start a sentence, especially one published on the internet: “I’m no military historian, but ….” After all, there are lots of actual military historians out there, and they often have strong opinions on the subject. Even so, I’ll chance it. I’m no military historian, but it seems to me […]