Eminent Domain

I apologize for being neglegent in my posting this week. Oddly enough, I commented to a fellow law student recently how long it had been since the Supreme Court handed down a case. A day later, they dropped a ton of them on us. With my reading for class, I have barely even had the time to start reading the Philip Morris case. I'm not through it yet, but I'll join the chorus of commentators who are upset that Roberts and Alito signed on to a substantive due process decision. Politically, I'm not a big fan of unrestrained punitive damages. I've seen too many juries that "have something to prove" and deal out damages like someone drunk on power. But I can't agree that the Constitution places substantive restraints on those damages. Oh well, you can't expect absolute purity. That's just setting yourself up for heartbreak.

There will be no posts this weekend, as I will be in Chicago attending this year's Federalist Society Student Symposium. You can check out the MULS FedSoc blog for more details. I look forward to getting out of Milwaukee for a weekend, hearing some excellent speakers and debates, and maybe even having a little fun. I'll try to take notes and post about it when I get back.