Things to Read This Week (12/22)

Happy Holidays

Parliament, The Executive, and the Courts: Who Has The Last Word? Remarks by Australian Justice Geoffrey Kennett about executive defiance of the courts — with reference at the end to Remedies For a Constitutional Crisis. (More on that coming soon!)

Disregarding Severability, by Kevin Walsh. Walsh is perhaps the number one name in severability, so it is with trepidation that I report that he criticizes the “bank shot” theory of severability that I defend in Severability First Principles. The same issue of the Catholic University Law Review also contains John Harrison on inseverability and the valid rule requirement, a “conversation” between Walsh and Judge Stephanos Bibas, and more.

And this one is to listen: I was on Advisory Opinions last week to talk with Julian Mortenson about the Supreme Court and executive power, loosely inspired by one of his provocative tweets. But the podcast was a much better format than Twitter sparring, I think, even if I mumbled worse than usual.

Finally, I decided to shelve my draft post about this, but I have to mention that Compact article by Jacob Savage, The Lost Generation, that details the operation of “DEI” hiring preferences over the last decade or so in journalism, academia, and show business. As Steve Sachs notes, the article is an “Interesting read on an issue that’s hard to talk about. If you’ve made it, you have no standing; if not, you must be talentless; to mention it is hopelessly gauche (if not prejudiced), &c. &c. And dwelling on it really can be bad for you, as we each have only one life to live.” Yet judging by my social media feeds, my private correspondence, and my hallway conversations, people certainly are talking about the article.