Overlawyered » WO writings

Will Stand Your Ground change the outcome of the Martin/Zimmerman case?

Walter Olson — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:25:57 +0000

The Orlando Sentinel asked me to analyze how Florida’s Stand Your Ground law affects the Trayvon Martin shooting case. I conclude that in most likely scenarios, the law will make no difference one way or the other on George Zimmerman’s guilt or innocence, though it does help him on some points of procedure. Jacob Sullum has related thoughts at Reason (more at Cato).

The other piece in the point-counterpoint is from Florida prosecutor Buddy Rogers who emphasizes that claims of justifiable homicide have risen sharply (from 12 to 33 a year), even if homicides per capita themselves have not. I took a look at the crime numbers in this Cato post.

To answer a question, it was the Sentinel editors who elected to describe the antagonists in the Sanford confrontation by way of a given name for one (“Trayvon”) but a surname for the other (“Zimmerman”). My own inclination is to use a surname for both.

Michael Mannheimer has an important post on the role of “provocation” in the Martin/Zimmerman case at PrawfsBlawg. Earlier here, here, and here.

P.S. David Kopel similarly argues that Zimmerman’s guilt or innocence (depending on which version of events is accepted) is no different in Florida from what it would be under the law of New York or any other state; he also defends the rationale for Florida’s use of an immunity, which he argues “does not change the law, but… apparently is effective at reminding law enforcement officers of the standard they are required to obey” under court precedents forbidding arrest without probable cause.

Tags: Florida, Martin-Zimmerman case, self-defense, WO writings

Will Stand Your Ground change the outcome of the Martin/Zimmerman case? is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Don’t rush to repeal “Stand Your Ground” laws

Walter Olson — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:33:46 +0000

The New York Times invited me to participate in a “Room for Debate” discussion of Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law, and my contribution is here. I elaborate on some of the issues at stake — including the failure of Florida’s violent crime rate to rise as predicted under the law — in this Cato post (& welcome Instapundit, Reihan Salam/NRO, Alex Adrianson/Insider Online, Aaron Worthing, David Codrea readers).

Tags: crime and punishment, Florida, guns, Martin-Zimmerman case, New York Times, self-defense, WO writings

Don’t rush to repeal “Stand Your Ground” laws is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Welcome New York Times readers

Walter Olson — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:07:08 +0000

I contribute to a “Room for Debate” symposium on the 2012 farm bill here (& Drovers Cattle Network).

P.S. As Nicole Kurokawa Neily reminds us, Cato has been active on farm bill issues for many years, including this 2007 paper by Sallie James and Dan Griswold.

Tags: agriculture and farming, WO writings

Welcome New York Times readers is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Gonna wash Salon right outta my hair

Walter Olson — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:25:24 +0000

A howler-packed Michael Lind screed against libertarians and classical liberals asserts, among other tall things, that John Stuart Mill, Benjamin Constant, and Thomas Macaulay were apologists for “autocracy.” I do my bit to correct the historical record at Cato at Liberty. Meanwhile, Will Wilkinson and Jason Kuznicki challenge Lind’s gross misrepresentations of Mises and Hayek, while Damon Root and Roderick Long take on some of his other errors. Sam Schulman, on Twitter, has fun with “Michael Lind’s eccentric view of history, upon the pinnacle of which stands – Michael Lind.” And yet more: Sam Bowman, AdamSmith.org, Brad Schlesinger, Pejman Yousefzadeh.

Tags: WO writings

Gonna wash Salon right outta my hair is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Yes, it has come to this

Walter Olson — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 05:34:31 +0000

You can “like” me on Facebook. Thanks to Cato’s Zach Graves for setting it up.

Tags: about the site, Facebook, social media, WO writings

Yes, it has come to this is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Antiquities law ensnares coin collectors

Walter Olson — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:34:22 +0000

As I note at Cato, antiquities law has been expanding to restrict private ownership of more and more ancient artifacts. The latest targets are numismatists; more on that in an op-ed that I published last week in the Examiner.

Tags: antiquities, WO writings

Antiquities law ensnares coin collectors is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“If I could press a button and instantly vaporize one sector of employment law…”

Walter Olson — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 16:32:45 +0000

In a new Reason symposium on how to revitalize the American job market, I explain my answer to that question.

More: This set off a round of discussion on employment blogs including Jon Hyman (nominating FLSA for vaporization), Suzanne Boy (concur), Daniel Schwartz (leave laws), Suzanne Lucas (citing “the fabulous Overlawyered.com”), the ABA Journal, Tim Eavenson, Jon Hyman again, HR Daily Report, and Russell Cawyer. Also relevant on age discrimination laws: a June symposium in the NYT’s “Room for Debate” feature; ComputerWorld on age bias and IT.

Tags: accolades, age discrimination, wage and hour suits, WO writings, workplace

“If I could press a button and instantly vaporize one sector of employment law…” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Happy Meals and Campbell’s Soup

Walter Olson — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:20:51 +0000

This week has brought one nudge forward and one push back for the paternalistic “food policy” crowd, or so I argue in a new opinion piece for the New York Daily News (& welcome Instapundit/Glenn Reynolds readers, Center for Consumer Freedom “Quote of the Week“).

Tags: McDonald's, nanny state, obesity, salt, WO writings

Happy Meals and Campbell’s Soup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Get ready to surprise yourself with a drug test

Walter Olson — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:41:19 +0000

In my new post at Cato at Liberty, I quote a few highlights from Philip Greenspun’s account of his encounter with Federal Aviation Administration regulators intent on applying to the smallest aviation businesses the same rules that govern the largest. Per George Wallace, “All regulation aspires to the condition of a Monty Python sketch.”

Tags: FAA, illegal drugs, small business, WO writings

Get ready to surprise yourself with a drug test is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

WSJ op-ed on same-sex marriage and religious exemptions

Walter Olson — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 05:13:50 +0000

I’ve got an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal on New York’s vote last Friday to legally recognize same-sex marriage. I also applaud the inclusion of protections for religious institutions (and would have favored strengthening the protections beyond the current level). The WSJ frames the discussion as “Two Views from the Right,” and they’ve got Maggie Gallagher giving the opposite side.

Tags: same-sex marriage, WO writings

WSJ op-ed on same-sex marriage and religious exemptions is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system