Libertarian

Law, Policing, and Criminal Justice Reform

Richard Epstein parses some of the most prominent recent proposals for criminal justice reform and analyzes the shift in American race relations over the past decade.

America Burning

Richard Epstein analyzes the charges against the Minneapolis police officer involved in George Floyd’s death, considers whether existing law is excessively protective of law enforcement, and explains the parameters of government power to deal with civil unrest.

Free Speech and Social Media

With Twitter’s decision to append fact-checks to Donald Trump’s tweets, new questions are emerging about how much social media should regulate politicians — and how much government should regulate social media.

Watching the Watchmen

Richard Epstein argues that the long and sordid case of Michael Flynn illustrates the importance of putting limits on the power of federal prosecutors — and explains the reforms that are necessary to create a better Department of Justice.

COVID in the Courts?

Richard Epstein analyzes the congressional debate over whether the federal government should insulate business from Coronavirus-related lawsuits.

Education Reform, the Law, and the Problem with Positive Rights

Richard Epstein examines a recent case about Detroit’s struggling schools in which the Sixth Circuit ruled that students have a ‘right’ to a certain minimal standard of education. Along the way he explains the dangers of courts getting too entangled in the provision of states service, the problem with ‘positive rights’ (and why their application is different at the the state level than the federal), and what more meaningful educational reform would look like.

Parsing the Biden Agenda

Richard Epstein reflects on his first run-in with Joe Biden — a stunt the former Vice President intended to derail Clarence Thomas’s Supreme Court nomination — and analyzes the policy platform of the de facto Democratic nominee.health carehealth care

Against ‘Common Good Constitutionalism'

Richard Epstein rebuts Harvard Law professor Adrian Vermeule’s recent plea in the Atlantic for ‘Common Good Constitutionalism,’ an approach that calls for conservatives to abandon classical liberalism.

Recovery and Resilience in a Pandemic

Richard Epstein considers the legal and economic issues around the government’s management of the Coronavirus.

Law, Economics, and Coronavirus

Richard Epstein examines the sweeping legal authorities and dramatic economic interventions being called on to combat COVID-19 — and considers whether they’re proportionate to the problem.