2019-09-01 00:00
In response to the valorization of economic liberty, Progressives articulated an alternative vision of “real liberty” for the modern, industrial world; real liberty was something… Read More
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Commentary about the history of law and technology. Written by a JD/PhD Candidate in the last stages of finishing a dissertation on technology and privacy.
2019-01-16 16:20
Howard White notes that is is not clear “how far science can legitimately regard the sacredness of the individual as a restraint upon science.”
The objection that is sometimes… Read More
2018-09-22 19:38
In a recent First Circuit appeal, National Federation of the Blind v. The Container Store, 2018 WL 4378174 (1st Cir. Sept. 14,
2018), a federal appeals court upheld a lower court’s dec… Read More
2018-09-02 19:27
What we want is a permanent, all the year round, high-class quarantine, conducted under national auspices, and clothed with paramount authority. Yellow fever is an exotic. It appears in the… Read More
2018-07-28 07:00
While the “medieval home was a public, not a private place,”1 by the eighteenth century, the “home” in English law increasingly assumed the role of the ultimate of pr… Read More
2018-06-27 00:00
As I noted previously, Orin Kerr has critiqued the Supreme Court’s version of
Fourth Amendment history and the incorrect (but widely shared) characterization that Fourth Amendment sear… Read More
2018-06-09 00:00
In the year before the Supreme Court decided Katz and Berger, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Crime Commission concluded:
The present status of the law with respect to wiretaps and bugg… Read More
2018-06-04 00:00
Orin Kerr, in “The Curious History of Fourth Amendment Searches,” reinvestigates the history of how courts interpreted “searches” under the Fourth Amendment—and… Read More
2018-06-01 00:00
Beginning in the 1860s, reformers attempted to protect the nation’s private homes by policing the public sphere. Temperance advocates, for example, urged controls on establishments se… Read More
2018-06-01 00:00
The Comstock Law shifted censorship from the urban public sphere to the liminal space between the public sphere and private sphere—from bookstores, newsstands, and brothels to the mai… Read More
2018-05-26 00:00
On May 25, 2018, Una Mullally wrote the following in The Irish Times in response to the landlslide vote to repeal the constitutional prohibition on abortion in Ireland:
Secrecy is toxic
S… Read More
2018-05-20 00:00
This upcoming week is the last one of my first online class (U.S. History, covering Reconstruction to the present day).
At this point, I’ve decided on a key takeaway:
Fundamentally, as… Read More
2018-05-06 00:00
Science, often combined with religion rather than framed as being in opposition, played an importance role in justifying and enabling new intrusions into Americans’ private lives leadi… Read More
2018-05-04 00:00
In his 1982 law-review article, “The History of the Public/Private Distinction,” legal historian Morton Horwitz wrote, “The distinction between public and private realms ar… Read More
2018-04-24 00:00
From Edward Bond Foote, The Radical Remedy in Social Science; Or, Borning Better Babies Through Regulating Reproduction by Controlling Conception: An Earnest Essay on Pressing Problems (Murr… Read More
2018-04-22 00:00
“Because letters make their address to audience explicit,” writes Elizabeth Hewitt, “they emphasize reciprocity:”
indeed, the letter’s address works to make re… Read More
2018-04-08 00:00
In the aftermath of Congress’ investigations into the disputed Hayes-Tilden election in 1876 (and the use of Congress’ legislative subpoena power—which generally operated i… Read More
2018-03-26 00:00
In 1883, journalist Charles T. Congdon wrote an article, “The Adulteration of Intelligence,” warning about power of the press if misused.
He noted, as example, the challenge pres… Read More
2018-03-20 00:00
Richard B. Du Boff writes, in relation to the telegraph in the mid-nineteenth century:
Even though opposition to “government” was on the rise and unceasing attacks on alleged go… Read More
2018-03-13 00:00
In a 1999 article, “What Place for Family Privacy,” Martha Albertson Fineman examines the unique nature of American legal rules applicable to the family—and its designation… Read More
2018-02-26 00:00
Sam Adler-Bell writes for The New Inquiry:
> For Snowden, privacy is the “fountainhead” of all rights. Without a “quiet space, a space within yourself” beyond the… Read More
2018-02-25 00:00
As I noted previously, I was first involved in
online instruction in the last millennium—and have always been a skeptic. This semester, however,
was the first time I taught my own onli… Read More
2018-02-02 00:00
Last Update: February 2, 2018
This privacy policy applies to websites owned and operated by
Kristopher A. Nelson, including
krisnelson.org, in propria
persona, kristopheranelson.com,
kristop… Read More
2018-01-31 00:00
Although I’ve been involved in online instruction since the first dot-com bubble burst back in the day, I’ve
always been a skeptic: how could online instruction possibly replace… Read More
2018-01-18 01:00
In 1944, several doctors published a series of case
studies
about the use of postoperative saline and various outcomes for
patients.
In it, they reference earlier work from around 1913 in wh… Read More
2018-01-18 00:00
Australian privacy law draws more on English precedent (focusing on
confidential relationships) than American privacy law does (which turned
Warren and Brandeis’ “Right to Privac… Read More
2018-01-14 00:00
For the first several years, in propria persona ran on Blogger. After I
tired of the limits of that platform, I moved it to the hugely configurable
and widely used WordPress platform, usuall… Read More
2018-01-14 00:00
For the first several years, in propria persona ran on Blogger. After I
tired of the limits of that platform, I moved it to the hugely configurable
and widely used WordPress platform, usuall… Read More
2017-10-22 21:40
I occasionally come across fun little writings as I go about my own research. Here’s one from the “Boston Beacon” (and republished in the San Francisco Chronicle) in 1885 (… Read More
2017-10-22 21:40
I occasionally come across fun little writings as I go about my own research. Here’s one from the “Boston Beacon” (and republished in the San Francisco Chronicle) in 1885 (… Read More
2017-10-22 21:40
I occasionally come across fun little writings as I go about my own research. Here’s one from the “Boston Beacon” (and republished in the San Francisco Chronicle) in 1885 (… Read More
2017-10-20 21:48
In considering how the telegraph and privacy law interacted in the nineteenth century, I’ve developed the theory that the failure of telegrams to gain the same constitutional privacy p… Read More
2017-10-20 21:48
In considering how the telegraph and privacy law interacted in the nineteenth century, I’ve developed the theory that the failure of telegrams to gain the same constitutional privacy p… Read More
2017-10-12 00:04
Eighteenth-century political theorists John Locke is often associated with “libertarian” ideals that suggest that almost any exercise of government power is a problem and that al… Read More
2017-10-12 00:04
Eighteenth-century political theorists John Locke is often associated with “libertarian” ideals that suggest that almost any exercise of government power is a problem and that al… Read More
2017-10-12 00:04
Eighteenth-century political theorists John Locke is often associated with “libertarian” ideals that suggest that almost any exercise of government power is a problem and that al… Read More
2017-08-31 17:30
In the 1923 case of Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923), which grew out of the anti-German sentiment of World War I, the Supreme Court “upheld the right of parents to direct the upb… Read More
2017-08-31 17:30
In the 1923 case of Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923), which grew out of the anti-German sentiment of World War I, the Supreme Court “upheld the right of parents to direct the upb… Read More
2017-08-30 17:30
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965), is one of the foundational cases of a constitutional “right to privacy” in the United States — though, as many have pointed ou… Read More
2017-08-30 17:30
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965), is one of the foundational cases of a constitutional “right to privacy” in the United States — though, as many have pointed ou… Read More
2017-08-29 17:30
James Q. Whitman‘s 2004 article, “The Two Western Cultures of Privacy: Dignity vs. Liberty,” compares American perspectives on privacy with those of Germany and France, and… Read More
2017-08-29 17:30
James Q. Whitman‘s 2004 article, “The Two Western Cultures of Privacy: Dignity vs. Liberty,” compares American perspectives on privacy with those of Germany and France, and… Read More
2017-08-29 17:30
James Q. Whitman‘s 2004 article, “The Two Western Cultures of Privacy: Dignity vs. Liberty,” compares American perspectives on privacy with those of Germany and France, and… Read More
2017-08-26 23:20
Was President Trump right when he tweeted that “all agree the U. S. President has the complete power to pardon“? It is true that the power of the President of the United States t… Read More
2017-08-26 23:20
Was President Trump right when he tweeted that “all agree the U. S. President has the complete power to pardon“? It is true that the power of the President of the United States t… Read More
2017-07-07 18:22
Within a month of taking office, President Donald Trump announced his desire to go after “leakers” who have helped embroil his administration in controversy. He also declare… Read More
2017-07-07 18:22
Within a month of taking office, President Donald Trump announced his desire to go after “leakers” who have helped embroil his administration in controversy. He also declare… Read More
2017-02-16 17:30
In 1937, William M. Kantor published an interview with an early pioneer in sterilization (especially of men), Dr. Harry Sharp, in the Journal of Heredity.[1] Kantor had, according to documen… Read More
2017-02-16 17:30
In 1937, William M. Kantor published an interview with an early pioneer in sterilization (especially of men), Dr. Harry Sharp, in the Journal of Heredity.[1] Kantor had, according to documen… Read More
2017-01-23 18:30
The press serves an important role in checking executive power in the American system. Two cases, both involving The New York Times, are illustrative — and, since both involve the Cons… Read More
2017-01-23 18:30
This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Press FreedomThe press serves an important role in checking executive power in the American system. Two cases, both involving The New York Times, are… Read More
2017-01-19 21:12
Much has been written recently about the explosion of so-called “fake news” — much of which is, unlike real fake news such as that generated by the Onion or Andy Borowitz … Read More
2017-01-19 21:12
Much has been written recently about the explosion of so-called “fake news” — much of which is, unlike real fake news such as that generated by the Onion or Andy Borowitz … Read More
2016-10-06 00:22
As part of my dissertation on privacy and technology, I’m looking into sterilization in the early part of the twentieth century. Many of the patients (men and women) were vulnerable, m… Read More
2016-10-06 00:22
As part of my dissertation on privacy and technology, I’m looking into sterilization in the early part of the twentieth century. Many of the patients (men and women) were vulnerable, m… Read More
2016-05-03 15:37
Access to birth control became, controversially, protected by the “right to privacy” in 1965;1 a hundred years before, “procreation was a matter of public concern.”2… Read More
2016-05-03 15:37
Access to birth control became, controversially, protected by the “right to privacy” in 1965;1 a hundred years before, “procreation was a matter of public concern.”2… Read More
2016-05-02 18:10
In a response to the common fact that young mothers so often died — through disease but especially in childbirth — the Victorians developed “what amounted to a dead-mother… Read More
2016-05-02 18:10
In a response to the common fact that young mothers so often died — through disease but especially in childbirth — the Victorians developed “what amounted to a dead-mother… Read More
2016-04-22 19:45
A nice little “inkling” from the Indigo Book, a public-domain implementation of U.S. legal citation standards (of note: the Indigo Book emerged despite threats from the Harvard L… Read More
2016-04-22 19:45
A nice little “inkling” from the Indigo Book, a public-domain implementation of U.S. legal citation standards (of note: the Indigo Book emerged despite threats from the Harvard L… Read More
2016-04-22 17:58
The domestic home has consistently been a key source of privacy protections in American law. From the old maxim that “a man’s home is is castle” to Justice Scalia’s o… Read More
2016-04-22 17:58
The domestic home has consistently been a key source of privacy protections in American law. From the old maxim that “a man’s home is his castle” to Justice Scalia’s… Read More
2016-04-15 16:19
Franz Neumann, a key political theorist of the mid-twentieth century, on freedom:
For today, freedom is defined — as it has been for decades — as essentially negative-juristic… Read More
2016-04-15 16:19
Franz Neumann, a key political theorist of the mid-twentieth century, on freedom:
For today, freedom is defined — as it has been for decades — as essentially negative-juristic… Read More
2016-04-14 17:32
Indiana may have passed the first sterilization law in 1907, but before World War II, it was California that led the nation in eugenic sterilizations. The goal? To “apply science to so… Read More
2016-04-14 17:32
Indiana may have passed the first sterilization law in 1907, but before World War II, it was California that led the nation in eugenic sterilizations. The goal? To “apply science to so… Read More
2016-04-12 18:02
Nayan Shah’s 2011 book on race, sexuality, and the law in the North American West, Stranger Intimacy, deals with the complexities of a growing, migratory, contradictory population of t… Read More
2016-04-12 18:02
Nayan Shah’s 2011 book on race, sexuality, and the law in the North American West, Stranger Intimacy, deals with the complexities of a growing, migratory, contradictory population of… Read More
2016-04-08 18:00
I have written previously on the extensive deference given by courts in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when states, acting under the aegis of the so-called “police power… Read More
2016-04-08 18:00
I have written previously on the extensive deference given by courts in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when states, acting under the aegis of the so-called “police power… Read More
2016-03-03 18:00
“Is it possible,” asked the Chicago Tribune in 1902, “to be a private citizen in Chicago?”The paper goes on first to make a distinction between “a prominent cit… Read More
2016-03-03 18:00
“Is it possible,” asked the Chicago Tribune in 1902, “to be a private citizen in Chicago?”
The paper goes on first to make a distinction between “a prominent ci… Read More
2016-02-29 17:00
Periodically, I like to review the top WordPress plugins I use on this blog and capture a snapshot of what I like best and why.Let me note up front that you must install a caching plugi… Read More
2016-02-29 17:00
Periodically, I like to review the top WordPress plugins I use on this blog and capture a snapshot of what I like best and why.
Let me note up front that you must install a caching plug… Read More
2016-02-28 21:39
Science and technology studies (STS) is an interdisciplinary collection of analytic approaches. It is neither unitary nor fixed in meaning, but generally includes works from traditional disc… Read More
2016-02-28 21:39
Science and technology studies (STS) is an interdisciplinary collection of analytic approaches. It is neither unitary nor fixed in meaning, but generally includes works from traditional dis… Read More
2016-02-26 17:00
I want to quickly capture, without deep analysis, a problematic side of privacy.The current fight between Apple and the FBI pits — rhetorically at least — the privacy of (po… Read More
2016-02-26 17:00
I want to quickly capture, without deep analysis, a problematic side of privacy.
The current fight between Apple and the FBI pits — rhetorically at least — the privacy of (p… Read More
2016-02-24 21:56
In “The Violence of Privacy,” a chapter in a larger edited work from 1994 called The Public Nature of Private Violence, Elizabeth M. Schneider discusses the challenges posed to a… Read More
2016-02-24 21:56
In “The Violence of Privacy,” a chapter in a larger edited work from 1994 called The Public Nature of Private Violence, Elizabeth M. Schneider discusses the challenges posed to a… Read More
2016-02-20 18:30
States and designated localities (notably not the federal government) exercised nearly unlimited power when they acted to protect the public: faced with an outbreak of smallpox, for example… Read More
2016-02-20 18:30
States and designated localities (notably not the federal government) exercised nearly unlimited power when they acted to protect the public: faced with an outbreak of smallpox, for example… Read More
2016-02-18 16:39
One of the oldest and strongest limitations on liberty is that governments can act — via the so-called “police powers” of the states — to protect the health and welfa… Read More
2016-02-18 16:39
One of the oldest and strongest limitations on liberty is that governments can act — via the so-called “police powers” of the states — to protect the health and welfa… Read More
2015-12-28 02:39
Despite being part of the original Hippocratic oath, doctor-patient confidentiality is a relatively new addition to Anglo-American law. The relevant part of the traditional te… Read More
2015-12-28 02:39
Despite being part of the original Hippocratic oath, doctor-patient confidentiality is a relatively new addition to Anglo-American law. The relevant part of the traditional te… Read More
2015-10-30 18:24
As I was curious about the methods and approaches of so-called “Smart DNS” services to get around geo-blocking, I wanted to experiment with a variety of them to see how they func… Read More
2015-07-10 18:02
A rather incredible 1869 train accident involved President Grant, his family, and the Secretary of the Treasury — and a cow.
Running at full speed, the train’s “engineer ob… Read More
2015-07-10 18:02
A rather incredible 1869 train accident involved President Grant, his family, and the Secretary of the Treasury — and a cow.Running at full speed, the train’s “engineer obs… Read More
2015-07-05 21:40
A recurring theme in criticisms of allowing same-sex marriage — or, as Obergefell did, in finding that bans violated the fundamental right to marriage — is some variation of the… Read More
2015-07-05 21:40
A recurring theme in criticisms of allowing same-sex marriage — or, as Obergefell did, in finding that bans violated the fundamental right to marriage — is some variation of the… Read More
2015-07-01 21:07
Kennedy took a fascinating approach to discussing fundamental rights in Obergefell, making an argument that combined substantive due process with equal protection. To do this, he m… Read More
2015-07-01 21:07
Kennedy took a fascinating approach to discussing fundamental rights in Obergefell, making an argument that combined substantive due process with equal protection. To do this, he m… Read More
2015-04-06 19:15
Image from page 381 of “American engineer and railroad journal” (1893)There are times when certain conflicts of the 1880s and 1890s seem eerily similar to debates today &mda&hell…Read More
2015-04-06 19:15
Image from page 381 of “American engineer and railroad journal” (1893)There are times when certain conflicts of the 1880s and 1890s seem eerily similar to debates today &mda&hell…Read More
2014-11-05 22:35
In the contentious years of Gilded Age America — 1870-1900 — the general consensus has been than the United States, as a whole, favored industrialists and free-market capitalism… Read More
2014-11-05 22:35
In the contentious years of Gilded Age America — 1870-1900 — the general consensus has been than the United States, as a whole, favored industrialists and free-market capitalism… Read More
2014-10-22 22:31
In 1916, Herbert Winslow Hill published The New Public Health, an attempt to update old ideas about public health — focused on the efforts of “sanitarians” to pus… Read More
2014-10-22 22:31
In 1916, Herbert Winslow Hill published The New Public Health, and attempt to update old ideas about public health — focused on the efforts of “sanitarians” to pu… Read More
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