Glenn Harlan Reynolds

Penumbral Reasoning on the Right

The use of penumbral reasoning in cases like Griswold v. Connecticut has received considerable criticism from so-called conservative constitutional commentators, most notably Robert Bork. This essay demonstrates that penumbral reasoning is also widely used by courts in service of results generally regarded as conservative, with much less controversy. Penumbral reasoning, it suggests, is an essential implement in the judicial toolbox, and worthy of more respect, and use, from courts that care about fidelity to constitutional text and structure.

Virtual Realities and Virtual Welters: A Note on the Commerce Clause Implications of Regulating Cyberporn

This Essay draws an analogy between interstate catalog taxation cases such as Quill and National Bellas Hess, and the impact of disparate state obscenity laws on Internet porn. It suggests that the burden of complaying with disparate state obscenity standards could be, like the burden on catalog sellers of complying with disparate sales taxes and classifications, a burden on interstate commerce sufficient to trigger dormant commerce clause scrutiny. It also suggests that First Amendment doctrine should take account of similar concerns and chilling effects.