Bumblebees Are Fish - Ep 7 of the LRI Podcast

In this episode, we explain why (under one California law, at least) bumblebees are fish and why you shouldn't laugh at the court for saying so, report on the abortive attempt on the life of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and consider the main alternatives to originalism as a judicial philosophy. We'll also reminisce about Attack of the Clones, brush up on our Kantian philosophy, and recount the linguistic theory behind Orwell's 1984.

0:01:13 – Bumblebees are fish
0:07:40 – Gunman apprehended outside home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh
0:19:10 – Judicial philosophy and judicial methodology
0:22:50 – Textualism… and all the rest
0:30:30 – Consequentialism
0:34:20 – Legal realism
0:41:17 – Purposivism
0:56:35 – Cooperative partnership theory
1:00:20 – Intentionalism
1:09:20 – The “Kantian judiciary” (Alexander’s name for it) or “moralism” (David’s)
1:15:08 – Hot Takes