Legal Commentary

A Law-Professor-Blogger Becomes A Justice

By Orin Kerr

Okay, we?re talking a state Supreme Court Justice, but still: As Dale Carpenter notes below, University of Minnesota law professor David Stras, who blogs at SCOTUSblog and Empirical Legal Studies, has been appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court. You can watch the announcement here, with Stras starting at the 9:30 mark. 

My congratulations to David ? that?s pretty cool. Of course, don?t expect other law professor bloggers to become judges any time soon. Federal judgeships and most state appellate judgeships require either confirmation by the legislature or, in some state cases, an election. Law professors generally aren?t very good running for the latter, and blogging regularly about controversial legal topics is just about the worst way to smooth the path for the former. However, as I understand Minnesota law, this is an appointment that the Governor was free to make that does not require any confirmation.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on May 13, 2010 (boomark / email).