Seisin
  • Home
  • Archive
Seisin
  • Home/
  • Archive/
Seisin

Archive

Seisin
  • Home/
  • Archive/
Featured
The Missed Opportunities of the 2016 Election
Oct 25, 2016
The Missed Opportunities of the 2016 Election
Oct 25, 2016

Donald Trump's candidacy has pushed aside any discussion of the 2008-2016 GOP Congress.

Oct 25, 2016
No, America Doesn't "Need" a Third Party
Sep 20, 2016
No, America Doesn't "Need" a Third Party
Sep 20, 2016

A multi-party government is not a magic bullet for American politics.

Sep 20, 2016
The "Death Tax" Isn't a Tax, It's Welfare
Aug 16, 2016
The "Death Tax" Isn't a Tax, It's Welfare
Aug 16, 2016

It's time to start seeing the estate tax for what it really is: an inheritance income tax credit.

Aug 16, 2016
DNC Hack: Remember, Everyone's Emails Are Horrible (Yes, Including Yours)
Jul 28, 2016
DNC Hack: Remember, Everyone's Emails Are Horrible (Yes, Including Yours)
Jul 28, 2016

Give me 20,000 of your emails, and I'll make you look like a monster.

Jul 28, 2016
Beneath the Red Meat, a Terrible Idea on Trade
Jul 23, 2016
Beneath the Red Meat, a Terrible Idea on Trade
Jul 23, 2016

Does Trump's plan to break up regional trade deals make any sense?

Jul 23, 2016
"Events in Turkey," and Avoiding the Magic Word
Jul 18, 2016
"Events in Turkey," and Avoiding the Magic Word
Jul 18, 2016

Why is the United States so slow to label an obvious coup attempt a "coup"?

Jul 18, 2016
Why We Shouldn't Stop Peter Thiel
Jun 26, 2016
Why We Shouldn't Stop Peter Thiel
Jun 26, 2016

The PayPal founders' campaign against Gawker is unseemly, but that doesn't mean we should make rules to stop it.

Jun 26, 2016
Carhartts and Uniforms: Why Modern Workers are Failing the Labor Movement
Jun 9, 2016
Carhartts and Uniforms: Why Modern Workers are Failing the Labor Movement
Jun 9, 2016

Why do so few office workers feel the urge to unionize?

Jun 9, 2016
The Clown Armor of Donald J. Trump
May 12, 2016
The Clown Armor of Donald J. Trump
May 12, 2016

How 2016’s most absurd candidate can find his way into the White House.

May 12, 2016
Would a Federal Takeover of Elections be Constitutional?
Apr 24, 2016
Would a Federal Takeover of Elections be Constitutional?
Apr 24, 2016

With complaints flying about some states' handling their elections, would it be legally possible for the federal government to administer the elections on its own?

Apr 24, 2016
What Can Campaign Subreddits Tell Us About the Presidential Candidates?
Apr 19, 2016
What Can Campaign Subreddits Tell Us About the Presidential Candidates?
Apr 19, 2016

Each candidate's Reddit page gives a surprisingly revealing look at what makes each campaign tick.

Apr 19, 2016
The Reason the PLCAA is Unique in American Law
Apr 13, 2016
The Reason the PLCAA is Unique in American Law
Apr 13, 2016

I don't think there's anything like the Protecting Lawful Commerce in Arms Act anywhere else in the U.S. Code.

Apr 13, 2016
Delaware is not Panama
Apr 12, 2016
Delaware is not Panama
Apr 12, 2016

Equating incorporation in Delaware to setting up a haven in Panama is absurd.

Apr 12, 2016
Why I Hate the RICO Act
Apr 8, 2016
Why I Hate the RICO Act
Apr 8, 2016

The RICO Act may have been written to catch mobsters, but it's devolved into meaninglessness in the civil courts. 

Apr 8, 2016
Why, Exactly, is it Wrong For the IRS to Consider a Group's Name?
Apr 7, 2016
Why, Exactly, is it Wrong For the IRS to Consider a Group's Name?
Apr 7, 2016

Everyone keeps saying it was "inappropriate" for the IRS to use group names to select 501(c)(3) & (4) applications for secondary screening.  I've never understood why.

Apr 7, 2016
It Really Looks Like John Oliver Just Ripped Off His Segment on Congressional Fundraising
Apr 5, 2016
It Really Looks Like John Oliver Just Ripped Off His Segment on Congressional Fundraising
Apr 5, 2016

Nearly every beat in his last feature segment appeared in a March 2012 episode of This American Life.

Apr 5, 2016
Kansas Legislature: "We Don Need No Stinkin' Judges!"
Apr 1, 2016
Kansas Legislature: "We Don Need No Stinkin' Judges!"
Apr 1, 2016

On March 22, the Kansas State Senate passed Senate Bill 439, which effectively expands the scope of impeachment in such a way that the legislature could remove state supreme court justices merely because they disagree with these justices' decisions.  Can this law pass constitutional muster?

Apr 1, 2016
An Annoyance: How Meaningless Court Filings Become News Stories
Mar 30, 2016
An Annoyance: How Meaningless Court Filings Become News Stories
Mar 30, 2016

One of my big pet peeves is when journalists camp out on court dockets to and force a story out of the non-stop minutia that makes up a typical case.

Mar 30, 2016
Caveat Emptor: Trying, and Failing, to Sue your Law School
Mar 28, 2016
Caveat Emptor: Trying, and Failing, to Sue your Law School
Mar 28, 2016

The additional disappointment that comes with suing your law school.

Mar 28, 2016
Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney Look to Stop Narcissist by Aligning With Sociopath
Mar 23, 2016
Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney Look to Stop Narcissist by Aligning With Sociopath
Mar 23, 2016

Right about now I figure Jeb Bush -- the worst return on investment since Pets.com -- is crying into a highball of whiskey wondering about his life choices.  Mitt Romney, I presume, is holding a warm glass of milk and doing the same.  

Mar 23, 2016
Thoughts on the Brussels Attacks
Mar 22, 2016
Thoughts on the Brussels Attacks
Mar 22, 2016

Like virtually anyone older than their mid-20s, I remember exactly where I was the morning of September 11, 2001.  I was three days into my freshman year at college, and I awoke to a classmate pounding on my door.  I was one of the few kids in the stairwell to bring a TV, and the student -- from Westchester, NY -- needed to turn on the news.

Mar 22, 2016
Puff, Puff, Passing on the Court's Original Jurisdiction
Mar 22, 2016
Puff, Puff, Passing on the Court's Original Jurisdiction
Mar 22, 2016

I've always been intrigued by civil lawsuits between individual states; they're like fights between angry neighbors in a subdivision, writ large.  On Monday, in a one-sentence opinion, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear a complaint by Nebraska and Oklahoma against Colorado that challenged the Centennial State's proposition legalizing recreational marijuana.  

Mar 22, 2016
Stumping Trump at the Convention
Mar 20, 2016
Stumping Trump at the Convention
Mar 20, 2016

A dive into the Republican National Committee's rules -- is there any secret to stopping Trump?

Mar 20, 2016
On the Supreme Court, Election Year Vacancies are Rare
Mar 16, 2016
On the Supreme Court, Election Year Vacancies are Rare
Mar 16, 2016

Right now, Barack Obama and the GOP Senate are in a standoff regarding the replacement of Justice Antonin Scalia. As part of their justification for refusing to consider Obama's nominee, Senate Republicans have begun to argue that an unwritten rule prevents the Senate from considering any nominees that would replace a vacancy that occurs during an election year.

Mar 16, 2016
Who Are You Calling "Asshole"?
Mar 16, 2016
Who Are You Calling "Asshole"?
Mar 16, 2016

Does the law recognize an asshole?  A dance through the relevant case law.

Mar 16, 2016
A Quick Primer on the Futility of the Sandy Hook Lawsuit
Mar 9, 2016
A Quick Primer on the Futility of the Sandy Hook Lawsuit
Mar 9, 2016

In the last couple democratic debates, Hillary Clinton has criticized Bernie Sanders regarding his support for a 2005 law that created immunity for certain suits against gun manufacturers -- the "Protection for Lawful Commerce in Arms Act."  The candidates have referenced the Sandy Hook victims' suit against Bushmaster, but the plaintiffs face an uphill battle.

Mar 9, 2016
FBI, Apple and the Scope of Privacy
Mar 5, 2016
FBI, Apple and the Scope of Privacy
Mar 5, 2016

The legal debate between Apple and the FBI concerning encrypted phones mostly concerns the extent to which the government can compel a private third party to assist in a law enforcement investigation.  But if you read Tweets, comments and commentary surrounding the FBI/Apple debate you sometimes get the sense that the public feels, at some level, that the act of unlocking the phone itself is an invasion of privacy.  

Mar 5, 2016
Who's Your Second-Favorite Black Rapper/Writer?
Mar 4, 2016
Who's Your Second-Favorite Black Rapper/Writer?
Mar 4, 2016

There's something eerily similar in the way liberal America celebrates writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and rapper Kendrick Lamar, something that bothers me, and I think I've figured out what it is: the casual insult that comes with acting like these two are so qualitatively beyond their peers.

Mar 4, 2016
I Guess Anyone Can Be President Now
Feb 29, 2016
I Guess Anyone Can Be President Now
Feb 29, 2016

I think the biggest Overton shift this cycle is that anybody thinks they're qualified to be president, and the electorate seems not to mind.  Perhaps we should blame Obama, who came in as a one-term Senator.

Feb 29, 2016
A Little Perspective on American Priorities
Feb 20, 2016
A Little Perspective on American Priorities
Feb 20, 2016

Jeb Bush just suspended his campaign, turning $150 million of donor money into nothing.  It seems like a lot, until you realize that this is the combined effort of the American plutocracy to put a favored son into the presidency, the single most important job on planet earth, a man with power over nuclear weapons that can obliterate all human life -- and they spent a little less than Walt Disney did making Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Feb 20, 2016

See All Posts . . .