Osler's Razor

Over the past several months, I've been doing a lot of writing, which is one of my favorite parts of this job. Here is a list of what I've got coming out in the next six months or so:

Roe’s Ragged Remnant, Stanford Law and Policy Review (forthcoming, Spring 2013). One of Roe v. Wade’s troubling legacies is two distinct time thresholds—viability and birth—for the attachment of rights. This odd choice has allowed legal abortion of viable infants.

The Valuation of Harm and a Failure to Evaluate in Narcotics Law, Valpariaso Law Review (forthcoming, Spring 2013). Written for a symposium on narcotics sentencing, this article argues that several mistaken assumptions regarding narcotics are written into penal codes, setting false priorities and mandating failure.

Learning From Crack, Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law (forthcoming, Spring 2013). By seeing the crack “epidemic” as a product of economic forces, Learning From Crack offers a new perspective that also serves as a critique of our societal response to this problem.

Victims: Transforming the Death Penalty Debate and Talking to Each Other in the Dark: The American Abolition Movement and The Christian Opportunity (with Jeanne Bishop). These two book chapters will appear in Ashgate Press’s forthcoming volume, New Voices About Capital Punishment (2013).

A Biblical Value in the Constitution: Mercy, Clemency, Faith, and History, St. Thomas Law Journal, forthcoming, Fall 2012). While some try hard to see biblical values in the Constitution, they often fail to identify what may be the most obvious: The value of mercy written into the pardon power.

The Promise of Trailing Edge Guidelines to Resolve the Conflict Between Uniformity and Judicial Discretion, University of North Carolina Journal of Law and Technology (forthcoming, Fall 2012). The federal sentencing guidelines present a host of chronic problems, and many of them can be addressed through the use of a modern Sentencing Information System. This article explains how.

While doing that academic writing, I've been lucky to have the chance to do a lot of short-form writing and speaking, too:


“Cutting Off Cash Flow the Way to End Drug Trafficking,” Washington Times, September 24, 2012.

Lecture, “Civil Discourse in Tumultuous Times,” Nativity Episcopal Church, Burnsville MN, September 23, 2012.

“Ask Now About the Pardon Power,” Huffington Post, September 21, 2012.

Lecture, “The Marriage Amendment,” Club 331, Minneapolis MN, September 20, 2012.

Interview, “The Insanity Defense,” Tru TV, September 19, 2012.

Lecture, “Civil Discourse in Tumultuous Times,” St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church, St. Paul MN, September 18, 2012.

Panel Discussion, Supreme Court Term Review (with Michael Stokes Paulsen, Robert Delahunty, and Thomas Berg), St. Thomas, September 17, 2012.

Sermon, “Power and Influence,” Grace Episcopal Church, Menomonie WI, September 16, 2012.

“Amendment is Wrong Way to Preserve Traditional Marriage,” Minneapolis Star-Tribune, August 25, 2012.

“The New Episcopalian,” Huffington Post, August 22, 2012.

Trial of Jesus, Univ. of St. Thomas, August 22, 2012.

“Kagan’s Elegant Principle: Children are Different,” Huffington Post, July 10, 2012.

“Time to Deal on Life Sentences for Kids,” (with Jeanne Bishop), CNN.com, July 6, 2012.

Interview by Daniel Fisher, Forbes, “Was the Clemens Jury a Hotbed of Tea Partiers?” June 18, 2012.

“When the Atheists are Right,” Huffington Post, June 6, 2012.

Lecture: “Productive Advocacy,” Minnesota Peace Project, May 29, 2012.

“My Take: The Christian Case for Gay Marriage,” CNN.com, May 19, 2012.