The special Lochner issue of the NYU Journal of Law & Liberty is now available. My article on "Wine, Commerce, and the Constitution" (with my friend and former FTC colleague Asheesh Agarwal) is included in the issue, even though it has nothing to do with Lochner. Randy has an article as well, although his actually deals with Lochner.
The Editors have also posted a Call for Papers for upcoming issues:
Call for Papers:
The NYU Journal of Law & Liberty accepts papers on a range of topics grappling with the many issues affecting human freedom. We publish articles of every ideological stripe, particularly those that either develop or criticize libertarian or classical liberal ideas. Topics of particular interest for 2006 include:
Customary Law: Its History, Function, and Future
The Modern Right to a Jury Trial
Behavioral Law & Economics' Challenge to the Classical Liberal Program
I happen to think that the decision was an excellent use of a legal doctrine to further a noble public policy aim - public access to the state's beaches. But others might differ ...
We're trying something new here, perhaps quixotic but I hope useful. We'd like the posts to be civil, of course (no profanity, personal insults, and the like), but we're also hoping that people try to be as calm, reasoned, and substantive as possible. So please, also avoid rants, invective, and substantial and repeated exaggeration. Sticking with substance will make the comments more helpful to other readers, and more pleasant.
As editors, we reserve the right to delete posts, and even to kick out posters, though we hope that both of these will be exceptional events. (We also reserve the right to be busy with other things, and therefore (1) not remove all the posts that might merit removal, and (2) ignore demands such as "You should remove A's posts, because they're just as bad as B's!")
Here's a tip: Reread your post, and think of what people would think if you said this over dinner. If you think people would view you as a crank, a blowhard, or as someone who vastly overdoes it on the hyperbole, rewrite your post before hitting enter.
And if you think this is the other people's fault -- you're one of the few who sees the world clearly, but fools wrongly view you as a crank, a blowhard, or as someone who overdoes it on the hyperbole -- then you should still rewrite your post before hitting enter. After all, if you're one of the few who sees the world clearly, then surely it's especially important that you frame your arguments in a way that is persuasive and as unalienating as possible, even to fools.
Our goal is to provide an interesting and pleasant environment that can help inform readers. To do that, we'll occasionally have to exercise our editorial discretion. Think of this as an in-person discussion group, where having different voices is critical to a great conversation -- but where sometimes the leader has to deal with cranks who sour the conversation more than they enliven it.
Naturally, there's always a risk that this discretion will be used erroneously, no matter how well-intentioned the editor. But discussion groups (especially on the Internet, but also off it) generally need an editor who'll occasionally make such judgments.
And, remember, it's a big Internet. If you think we were mistaken in removing your post (or, in extreme cases, in removing you) -- or if you prefer a more free-for-all approach -- there are surely plenty of ways you can still get your views out.