Jonathan Krohn was a conservative sensation when, in 2009 at the tender age of 13, he published a book Defining Conservatism and also spoke at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). It was all rather harmless, though it was a little odd to see old politicians scrambling to associate themselves with a child’s view of politics and pronounce him the face of the next generation of conservatism. [Read more…]

I do not follow too closely the extreme right commentariat, having neither the time nor the stomach to wade through all that ranting. But Roy Edroso of the Village Voice is made of sterner stuff and in an interesting article has carefully chronicled the right wing reaction to the Supreme Court verdict on the Affordable Care Act. [Read more…]

Juries are almost always told that it is their job to judge the facts of the case before them and it is only up to the judge to interpret the law. But that is wrong. Juries can judge both the facts and the law and have the right to acquit someone of a crime if they feel that the law under which the person was convicted is an unjust one, even if the facts of the case clearly show that the person is guilty. Such a result is known as ‘jury nullification’. [Read more…]