The Volokh Conspiracy

The Volokh Conspiracy

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Web address	reason.com/volokh
Type of site	Legal blog
Registration	None
Available in	English
Created by	Eugene Volokh
Launched	April 2002 (2002-04)

The Volokh Conspiracy (/ˈvɑːlək/ VOL-ik) is a blog co-founded in 2002 by law professor Eugene Volokh, covering legal and political issues from an ideological orientation it describes as "generally libertarian, conservative, centrist, or some mixture of these." It is one of the most widely read and cited legal blogs in the United States. The blog is written by legal scholars and provides discussion on complex court decisions.

Its name is a joking reference to Hillary Clinton's claim in 1998 of a "vast right-wing conspiracy" she believed was persecuting her and husband President Bill Clinton.

In January 2014, The Volokh Conspiracy migrated to The Washington Post, with Volokh retaining full editorial control over its content. After June 2014, the blog was behind a paywall. In 2017, the blog moved to Reason. Volokh cited his principal reason for the move was to “be freely available to the broadest range of readers” and to have more editorial independence.

Background

The Volokh Conspiracy was founded in April 2002 by Eugene Volokh, a First Amendment expert and Soviet Jewish refugee. After being offered a guest-blogging gig on InstaPundit, Volokh decided to start his own blog in order to quickly disseminate his views in real time to a popular audience. Volokh, a professional computer programmer, built the site himself and invited his brother, Sasha, then a Harvard graduate student, to join him. The blog was initially called The Volokh Brothers and then changed to The Volokh Conspiracy, in reference to Hillary Clinton's claim of a "vast right-wing conspiracy." Volokh recruited other contributors through a "closely guarded selection process."

Affordable Care Act

Eugene Volokh, founder of The Volokh Conspiracy

The Volokh Conspiracy, among other blogs, played an important role in influencing the view of Americans against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Many of The Volokh Conspiracy's postings were picked up by journalists and integrated into traditional media outlets. Subsequently, The Volokh Conspiracy impacted the questioning and opinions of judges and Supreme Court justices. Law professor Andrew Koppelman wrote that the blog was the "most important incubator" for constitutional challenges to the ACA.

According to legal scholar Dick Howard, The Volokh Conspiracy "provided a forum for conservative legal scholars to develop arguments against the individual mandate, helping to break down the perception of expert consensus on the constitutional issues in play." Additionally, authors of the blog were influential behind the National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius case where they were invited to submit an amicus brief which would be later referenced by Justice Antonin Scalia at oral argument. The blog was the originator of the "broccoli horrible" argument against the ACA.

Some contributors of the blog—including Randy Barnett, Jonathan Adler, David Bernstein, Orin Kerr, David Kopel, and Ilya Somin—wrote about their experiences challenging the ACA in a book titled A Conspiracy Against Obamacare: The Volokh Conspiracy and the Affordable Care Act (2014). The book details the precursor to the challenges and provides the text of the actual blogs that helped influence legal battles against the ACA. In the foreword of the book, former Solicitor General Paul Clement, the lead attorney who contested the ACA, compared The Volokh Conspiracy to the Federalist Papers and wrote: "[I]f ever a legal blog and a constitutional moment were meant for each other, it was the Volokh Conspiracy and the challenge to the Affordable Care Act."

Reception

The Volokh Conspiracy is one of the most widely read and cited legal blogs in the United States. It receives over 30,000 daily views. The blog's readership consists of scholars and policymakers across the ideological spectrum. The Volokh Conspiracy blog appeared in ABA Journal's "Blawg 100 Hall of Fame".

Yale constitutional law professor Jack Balkin, founder of the liberal legal blog Balkinization, stated that The Volokh Conspiracy "discusses law and public policy at a very sophisticated level...It’s an example of how blogging transcends existing categories and expectations." Legal scholar Cass Sunstein wrote that the blog often provides "illuminating criticism" of the Supreme Court and found it filled with "civility, intelligence, and overall high quality," despite occasional group polarization. Lawyer Tom Goldstein, who co-founded SCOTUSblog, asserts that The Volokh Conspiracy "remains the single best place to go for interesting, thought-provoking, high-level thinking on the law."

Adam Liptak, Supreme Court correspondent for the New York Times, wrote that the Volokh Conspiracy "is the most influential law blog with a point of view." Andy Guess of Inside Higher Ed wrote that the blog "probably has more influence in the field – and more direct impact – than most law reviews."

Law professor and blogger Glenn Reynolds lists The Volokh Conspiracy as his favorite legal blog. Justice Elena Kagan is reportedly a regular reader of the blog. Fact-checkers like PolitiFact and FactCheck.org have repeatedly cited The Volokh Conspiracy for legal analysis.

Contributors

Over twenty law professors from across the country contribute to The Volokh Conspiracy. Notable contributors, past and present, include:

• Eugene Volokh, UCLA School of Law professor, one of its founders
• Alexander "Sasha" Volokh, professor of law at Emory University School of Law, brother of Eugene Volokh
• Jonathan H. Adler, professor of law at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, who contributed under the pseudonym "Juan Non-Volokh" until May 1, 2006
• Kenneth Anderson, professor of law at American University
• Randy Barnett, professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center
• David Bernstein, professor at the George Mason University School of Law
• Dale Carpenter, professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, and adjunct professor of law at William Mitchell College of Law
• Paul Cassell, professor of law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah
• Tyler Cowen, professor of economics at George Mason University, and James Buchanan Center and Mercatus Center scholar
• Clayton Cramer, historian
• Orin Kerr, professor of law at UC Berkeley School of Law, formerly at USC Gould School of Law
• Eugene Kontorovich, Antonin Scalia Law School professor
• David Kopel, research director of the Independence Institute and adjunct professor, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
• Jim Lindgren, professor of law at Northwestern University School of Law and director of their Demography of Diversity Project
• Eric Posner, professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School
• Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center
• Ilya Somin, professor of law at George Mason University School of Law
• Todd Zywicki, professor of law at George Mason University School of Law

Articles are often posted by guest law professors who are not among the listed Conspirators.

External links

• Official website
• Former website at The Washington Post
• Original website