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Jack M. Balkin

Jack M. Balkin is Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School, and the founder and director of Yale's Information Society Project, an interdisciplinary center that studies law and new information technologies.
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Professor Balkin is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the author of over a hundred articles in different fields including constitutional theory, Internet law, freedom of speech, reproductive rights, legal philosophy, and social theory. He writes political and legal commentary at Balkinization. His books include Living Originalism; Constitutional Redemption; The Constitution in 2020 (with Reva Siegel); The State of Play: Law Games and Virtual Worlds (with Beth Noveck); Cybercrime: Digital Cops in a Networked Environment (with James Grimmelmann et al.); Cultural Software: A Theory of Ideology; The Laws of Change: I Ching and the Philosophy of Life; What Brown v. Board of Education Should Have Said; and What Roe v. Wade Should Have Said.
How Obama Can Prevent Another Debt-Ceiling Crisis

How Obama Can Prevent Another Debt-Ceiling Crisis

Some Democrats want the president to raise it by himself. But the 14th amendment offers him a much better strategy. More »

What It Will Take for Barack Obama to Become the Next FDR

What It Will Take for Barack Obama to Become the Next FDR

First, he should let the United States go over the fiscal cliff. Then he should push filibuster reform. More »

Why the GOP Should Fear a Romney Presidency

Why the GOP Should Fear a Romney Presidency

At best, he would be hamstrung by the conflicting demands of a radicalized party. At worst, he would wreck the Reagan coalition. More »

The Right Strikes Back: A New Legal Challenge for Obamacare

The Right Strikes Back: A New Legal Challenge for Obamacare

The fight over health care reform is still going strong: A conservative group now argues that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional because it started in the wrong House of Congress. More »

The Not-So-Happy Anniversary of the Debt-Ceiling Crisis

The Not-So-Happy Anniversary of the Debt-Ceiling Crisis

The 2012 election will decide the real political meaning of the showdown over whether the U.S. would pay its debts. More »

The Court Affirms Our Social Contract

The Court Affirms Our Social Contract

The health-care case wasn't about broccoli or the Commerce Clause. It was about ratifying a change in our nation's social policy. More »

From Off the Wall to On the Wall: How the Mandate Challenge Went Mainstream

From Off the Wall to On the Wall: How the Mandate Challenge Went Mainstream

How did a legal argument that most scholars thought was crazy get taken so seriously so quickly? The Republican Party's staunch support played a crucial role. More »

The Health-Care Mandate Is Clearly a Tax—and Therefore Constitutional

The Health-Care Mandate Is Clearly a Tax—and Therefore Constitutional

The mandate fits the textbook definition of a tax: it raises revenue, serves the general welfare, does not violate fundamental rights, and it is not a criminal penalty in disguise. More »

How Obama Can Attack the Supreme Court—and Win

How Obama Can Attack the Supreme Court—and Win

Some liberals want the president to go after the Court in the upcoming election. History shows there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. More »

The Small Chance the Supreme Court Will Overturn the Health Care Act

The Small Chance the Supreme Court Will Overturn the Health Care Act

If the Court overturns the Affordable Care Act, it will upset a balance of power that has been in place since the New Deal. More »

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