The ABA Journal has released its list of the top 100 legal blogs in the world and we are once again in this august group of blogs. Congratulations to all of our regulars contributors and weekend bloggers. This blog’s success is due entirely to the consistently high level of commentary among our readers and, I believe, our commitment to civil and substantive (if at times passionate) dialogue on the legal and political issues of our day. We are again placed in the “opinion” category and facing two of the top five most popular blogs. You can vote at You can vote at this site by clicking on the “opinion” category and we need your vote. A quick registration is needed to prevent cheating in the competition.
We are up against two very popular sites: Ann Althouse and Volokh Conspiracy. Both are conservative legal sites and are highly regarded. The latter is a site founded by UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh and is run by 19 conservative law professors, including my colleague Orin Kerr. While I often disagree with their conclusions, I have always found it very substantive and thought-provoking. Ann Althouse is one of the oldest legal sites with a very large audience placing her in the top three most visited legal sites in the world — a remarkable achievement.
I must confess that maintaining this site and my day job does not leave me much time to visit other sites. However, this competition highlights the remarkable array of top sites available to readers, including those in the opinion category. Other categories include sites that I have always found insightful and provocative like Scotusblog, BLT, Simple Justice, How Appealing, Sentencing Law and Policy, and TaxLaw Prof. I recommend, however, that you look at the other sites — including many appearing for the first time.
Our blog is described as follows:
Maybe it’s our journalism bias, but we like when D.C.-based constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley opines on the news of the day and isn’t always satisfied with the version recounted in media reports. In February, he went straight to the source to tease out the sequence of events that cost an Indiana deputy attorney general his job. Of course, we also get a kick out of the occasional random, off-topic posts, especially the penguin videos he shared after his son Ben pointed them out.
Benjamin was thrilled by the reference to his penguin selection.
This is always a fun competition, win or lose. Last year, the competition turned ugly with a misinformation campaign by a regular from one of the other competing sites (again among the opinion blogs this year) that told pro-gun sites that I am a leading anti-gun advocate — and encouraged all gun owners to vote against our blog in defense of gun ownership. It spoiled an otherwise friendly contest among blogs. All blogs should be rightfully proud of their accomplishments and common purpose — and intense loyalty of their regulars contributors.
Good luck to all of the blogs this year and thank you ABA Journal. Now go and vote!
@Frankly,
It’s the same one. She can be interesting and insightful in one post on the same day she is being sad and pathetic in another post.
She is a human being and contains multitudes.
Many people are happy to excoriate her, kick her out of “their” party for it, and dehumanize her with various ad hominem and mostly wrongly applied pejoratives.
Others of us think that’s a stupid strategy if not an immoral act.
YMMV
However, one trick to reading her, is to understand, and I shit you not, that she hated being a lawyer and isn’t thrilled about being a law professor. She would much prefer to be a popular culture pundit. So that is what she is. Tenure enables her to be a popular culture pundit law professor, whereas moving into some different department would be extremely difficult. (This is my (probably flawed) recollection of a real conversation had with her many years ago in her comments.)
She’s not entirely stupid, but she is nowhere near as sanctimonious, unaware and priggish as the clichéd dumbasses that safeguard this blog’s comment threads from value and insight.
HTH
Damn, Blouise. Lake Erie is just recovering from the last bout of pollution. Don’t send them there.
I hear the weather is nice on White Island, New Zealand.
“I have noticed the humor impaired sometimes have a hard time with the Turley Blog–” (OS) … ain’t that the truth … the thinned skinned bleed easily on this site
I was very pleased yesterday to read the kudo to Benjamin … for all the intense discussions that take place here, children remain a great source of pride and joy for all of us.
Voted yesterday (18) … I should go look and see where we are now but am busy composing an email to the CIA declaring the Senate a terrorist organization and demanding they be held incommunicado on an island in the middle of Lake Erie.
Of Irish blood, a vote cast concise,
The kisses owed be twice as nice.
I just voted! Good luck professor!
Voted
Turley Blog got my vote in the opinion section.
I voted too. Now I’m going to make a appeal on Facebook. I have limited friends there and almost never log in, but the friends I do have are more involved with social media and might spread the word. Those of you, more involved than I might do the same.
Kiss me, I voted.
anon – apparently I read a different althouse than you do. Yours sounds interesting and intellectually challenging the one I cam across is sad and pathetic, maybe I should get the URL.
Regardlss of the vote count, I think we’ve already won. That said, let’s whip those ninnies on the right and that Satyricon on the who knows what!
Ditto OS…
I think the good professor’s blog is one of the finest on the innerwebs, legal or otherwise.
Here is a better link to the story: Huffington Post
Top legal blogs should speak out!
I wonder if the ACLU will file a lawsuit to have the Senate Bill that allows U.S. citizens within the U.S. to be accused of “terrorism” then detained at GITMO indefinitely without indictment or trial?
Shouldn’t it held unconstitutional because it violates the 4th Amendment:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons … against unreasonable … seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons … to be seized.”
and the 5th Amendment:
“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury … nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law …”
and the 6th Amendment:
“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed … and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.”
and 8th Amendment:
“… nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”
Where are the “strict constructionists”?
Constitution Link
You have my vote, but I need to know. The bill just passed in the Senate for indefinite detention of Americans, and the nonsense about the entire United States being a battle ground….if this goes against the Constitution, isn’t it illegal. Wouldn’t the Constition have to be amended for it to be legal?
I know Obama says he will veto it, but I’ve lost count of the number of times he says one thing and does another,
I remember the bogus claims from last year. We have some regulars here who don’t know very much about firearms and the discussions where guns are involved are all over the landscape, but that is what opinion is all about. What I like is the willingness of most folks here to listen to arguments from all sides. I have noticed the humor impaired sometimes have a hard time with the Turley Blog–the snark can get deep around here.
I hope there is not a disinformation campaign again this year. Voted already.
With their 19 law professors, the Volokh Conspiracy is useful for demonstrating exponential decay as applied to law bloggers.
Well, if you ask me, both you and Professor Althouse are far too interesting to pin down in boxes labeled “liberal”, “libertarian”, or “conservative.”
Althouse is an interesting blog, she can be right on target on so many issues and then completely blind on others. Still, it’s not “fair” to just label her a conservative. It’s more interesting to recognize her as “Democratic Party left her” and then ask what that actually means. Because that is a path that is all too frequent and many current progressives are completely satisfied, happy and eager to kick more people out.
“In February, he went straight to the source to tease out the sequence of events that cost an Indiana deputy attorney general his job.”
There are bloggers I value a great deal but who disappoint me because they are eager to rant and yet refuse to pick up a phone, or send off an email, and use the power of their press to dig into the real events.