Personal Responsibility Lawyer
22 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsA podcast for people who own their own decisions and consequences. We will discuss using the civil justice system to enforce personal responsibility, stories of people who overcame great odds by taking control of their own choices, and how we can change public policy to greater empower people to enjoy the benefits of their choices.
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Episodes
Tort Reform is Anti-Free Market
March 25, 2021 16:53 - 1 hour - 87.9 MBThe Texas House is considering #HB19, which shifts the costs of tragic wrecks caused by trucking companies onto the victims, and away from insurance companies and trucking companies. “Tort reform" is usually thought of as coming from “conservative” Republicans. There is nothing conservative about this bill; it is a horrible example of #CronyCapitalism and a gift to socialists who attack capitalism because it lets them compare socialism to crony capitalism instead of free market capitalism. I...
Policies that Help or Harm the Black Community
July 14, 2020 10:00 - 58 minutes - 80 MBProblems can be solved. This episode is all about solving the problems related to the gap between outcomes for black communities as compared to white communities. Race and racial tensions dominate the headlines. Very little of the news or arguments focus on how to make things better. This episode is all about solutions. Dr. Richard A Johnson III is the director of the Booker T. Washington Initiative. He has been instrumental in crafting policies to help break the school to prison pipel...
Tariffs, China, Trump, and Fixing America's Trade Policy
May 04, 2020 10:30 - 54 minutes - 75.2 MBChina may be a bad actor in international trade, but are tariffs the way to deal with them? The candidacy and presidency of Donald Trump has brought international trade policy—especially with respect to China—to the forefront of political discussion. The pre-Trump Republican Party was staunchly free trade, but Trump has challenged and changed that to a great extent, for better or worse. Free trade advocates (like your intrepid host!) may rightly oppose tariffs in principle, but does that m...
Economic Effects of the Pandemic Shutdown with SMU Professor Nathan Balke
April 14, 2020 11:00 - 58 minutes - 80.8 MBUnless you've been under a rock, you know that a huge part of the US economy has been shut down by shelter in place orders in nearly every state. The idea behind this is to limit human interactions, which then at least theoretically limits the transmission of the novel coronavirus. It makes sense, at least in theory. But what are the costs? And how do we make fiscal policy--both in Congress and at the Federal Reserve--that minimizes the long term damage of shutting down. The purpose of t...
How Do We Reopen the Economy after COVID-19?
March 31, 2020 04:09 - 52 minutes - 42.4 MBWe have never had such a huge part of the American economy shut down immediately, without warning, and without an end in sight. What do we do now? How do we get ready to re-open? How do we limit the damage to the economy without risking excessive caronavirus carnage? Has Congress's relief package provided much relief? Rob Henneke of the Texas Public Policy Foundation and I dive into these questions and more.
Litigating Religious Liberty in the 21st Century
March 24, 2020 03:57 - 57 minutes - 105 MBThe first freedom mentioned in the Bill of Rights is the freedom of religion. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." First Liberty is a public interest law firm based in Texas that helps people live out that freedom. I had the opportunity to sit down with Jeremy Dys (@JeremyDys) to talk about a recent landmark decision that First Liberty won at the United States Supreme Court. The case is often referred to as the Bl...
What Does it Mean to "Not Live in Fear" in COVID-19?
March 15, 2020 23:54 - 12 minutes - 10 MBIn a rare departure from law and public policy discussions, I tackle what I think it means--or should mean--when a Christian declares "I'm not going to live in fear." Jesus rebuked his disciples for being afraid and not having faith. He did not rebuke them because they were wrong about being in a dangerous situation. What does this story and some related Bible passages tell us about how we should live?
COVID-19: Good Sense Lies in Between Extremes
March 13, 2020 23:33 - 21 minutes - 17.8 MBThere are two extremes--as always--about the novel coronavirus. One extreme says we're all gonna die. The other says that this is nothing, barely a little flu bug. As always, neither side should be heeded. Take reasonable measures. Cancel unnecessary events. Stay home for a while. And then--hopefully--we can argue later over whether we overreacted once it passes and is no big deal.
Aggressively Belligerently Ambivalent about Impeachment
February 21, 2020 23:18 - 25 minutes - 35.6 MBThere are good arguments on both sides of the impeachment debate. So why is everyone screaming that getting this wrong is the end of our republic. Here's my strong opinion: it doesn't matter a whole lot either way. Listen to hear why this is the case. The vitriol in the impeachment debate is a symptom of the trouble in our political culture, not the cause of it.
What is Socialism? Communism? Is America Capitalist?
February 18, 2020 00:12 - 56 minutes - 77.8 MBIf you’re paying any attention at all, you have heard the word “socialism” thrown around a whole lot more in the last few years than ever before. At least, you’ve heard it more frequently without an expletive before it. In fact, the current leader in the contest for the Democratic Party nomination for President is a self-described and unapologetic socialist. But what does that really mean? The vast majority of us—I think—abhor the idea of socialism, but do we really know what it is? And a ...
Our Criminal Justice System is Making us Less Safe
December 10, 2019 18:52 - 1 hour - 51.6 MBYou've got to lock up the bad guys in order to keep us all safe. Right? It seems right, but it's not so simple. NYU Law Professor Rachel Barkow (@RachelBarkow) discusses her book Prisoners of Politics: Breaking the Cycle of Mass Incarceration. Prof. Barkow is an expert in criminal justice reform. This conversation is full of surprising information about how our collective zeal to punish has ended up making us less safe, and has actually made crime worse, not better. Listen to this conversati...
Anti-Federalist Papers with Judge Andrew Oldham
November 02, 2019 04:09 - 56 minutes - 45.3 MBThe Anti-Federalists played a huge role in shaping the Constitution that we have today, even though they were opposed to ratification. But we have largely forgotten that there were Anti-Federalists, and that they wrote some very interesting articles in opposition to ratifying the Constitution, called (predictably) the Anti-Federalist Papers. If you're serious about understanding the Constitution, you need to know more about the Anti-Federalist Papers.
The Conservative Case for Class Actions
October 22, 2019 10:00 - 1 hour - 53.4 MBConservatives hate class actions, right? It's just greedy liberal trial lawyers who like class actions, and that's just because they get all the money and nothing goes to the victims, right? Not so fast, according to Prof. Brian Fitzpatrick. Prof. Fitzpatrick, a conservative former Scalia law clerk, explains the "ironic" history of class actions, and why conservatives should be more in favor of the class action than they are. Prof. Fitzpatrick and I discuss the history of class actions, w...
Interview with David Hoey
August 21, 2019 04:27 - 31 minutes - 42.8 MBAt some time, most of us will have someone we love living in a nursing home or assisted living facility. Sometimes, these places are a wonderful and safe place for the elderly. Unfortunately, though, that's not always the case. One way to make sure these facilities are safe is to hold them accountable when they fail to take care of our elderly the way that they should. My guest today is David Hoey, a personal injury trial lawyer who specializes in protecting our elders, making their lives ...
Waterloo School of Austin Co-Founders Interview
June 04, 2019 13:00 - 1 hour - 91.4 MBIn a culture of shallow learning, shallow work, and shallow relationships, the Waterloo School of Austin is fostering deep learning, deep work, and deep relationships. The way we run schools was designed by 10 people back in the 1890s. Why should we be surprised that today's education system is not producing people ready to thrive in a dramatically changed world? The Waterloo School of Austin is a new high school that is changing how education is done. In this episode, I talk to Craig Doe...
Clark Neily of the Cato Institute
May 03, 2019 19:40 - 1 hour - 89.6 MBIf you're arrested and indicted for a crime you didn't commit, no need to worry, right? The criminal justice system will give you a fair shake. Right? Well, not so fast, according to Clark Neily. Clark is the Vice President for Criminal Justice at the Cato Institute. In this interview, Clark and I discuss plea bargaining. Criminal cases almost never go to a jury trial. The default assumption is that a defendant will plead guilty and accept a sentence. If he or she refuses to plead guilty, pr...
Interview with Tim Sandefur
February 04, 2019 21:01 - 1 hour - 83.6 MBIf you don’t know a lot about Frederick Douglass, well, join the club. But then get out of the club. You want to know about this man’s life. Trust me on that one. My guest in this episode of the Personal Responsibility Lawyer podcast is Tim Sandefur. Tim is the Vice President of Litigation at the Goldwater Institute. We could have spent a full episode talking about the fascinating lawsuits he oversees involving constitutional rights. But this episode is about one of his many books, Freder...
Interview with Martial Artist Richard Johnson
December 31, 2018 20:31 - 53 minutes - 74.1 MB8th Degree Taekwondo black belt and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu brown belt Richard Johnson talks to me about his martial arts journey, and how martial arts teaches basic principles about life and personal responsibility. Richard started in martial arts when he was in high school and was tired of being bullied. His idea was that he was going to start winning the fights with the ones who had picked on him. Instead, he hasn't been in a fight since. Well, he's been in a lot of fights, but they were...
Interview with Shoshana Weissmann
December 27, 2018 17:27 - 28 minutes - 39.9 MBI had a great time interviewing Twitter's Senator, Shoshana Weissmann! If you haven't already, you can find her on Twitter, @SenatorShoshana. If you're a Twitter kind of person, I highly recommend you follow her. She is also the digital media guru for the R Street Institute (@RSI or rstreet.org), a free market think tank in Washington, DC. Shoshana and I talk about occupational licensing reform, and how the federal, state, and local governments have gotten into the business of protecting t...
Economic Liberty with Arif Panju of the Institute for Justice
November 16, 2018 18:41 - 1 hour - 94.6 MBThe government requires a license to work about 500 different jobs. How arbitrary and unreasonable can those licensing requirements be before they violate your constitutional (state or US) rights to earn an honest living? Can the government pass laws just to protect established businesses with good lobbyists? If the regulations violate your rights, what can you do? My guest today is Arif Panju (@arifpanju) of the Institute for Justice (@IJ). Arif and IJ have sued the government in state a...
Modern Cruel and Unusual Punishment
November 14, 2018 05:31 - 1 hour - 88.9 MBCan the conditions in a prison be so bad that they violate convicted criminals' right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment? Can our prison system treat its pigs better than its inmates (yes, that's a real question)? These are questions that are all raised by the lawsuit filed by my guests in this episode. My guests are Jeff Edwards and Mike Singley of the Edwards Law Group. These two talented trial lawyers, along with a great team of other lawyers, sued the State of Texas in federa...
Intro Episode
November 05, 2018 20:03 - 13 minutes - 15.3 MBIt seems only fair that if I'm going to do a podcast, I should tell you what it's about. And I would do that if I had a really clear and easily defined subject matter. I don't. So here I give you a decent overview of what I have in mind, and I invite you to listen along as we explore all sorts of topics related to Personal Responsibility. The topic intersects with law, religion and spirituality, politics, and human stories. Many upcoming episodes will contain interviews with smart and/or i...