Walter Olson

@walterolson

Writer on law etc.; Cato Institute. Election law, Maryland civic stuff, cooking. Blogged at Overlawyered back when. No kings, no tyrants.

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Walter Olson@walterolson· 19d

And here are some further thoughts on the New Jersey mistaken noncitizen registrants/voters: /3, end

Screenshot: "To get another set of issues on the table, "motor-voter" -- using residents' DMV interactions either to offer them the chance to register to vote or, as in New Jersey's case, to affirmatively register them unless they choose to opt out -- has resulted in damaging glitches and problems across multiple states. Critics warned at the time that it handed sensitive responsibilities over intake design and data transfer to a group of state employees whose background and expertise may have nothing to do with elections. This is the latest (and worst?) of the glitches thus far.
Maybe it doesn't mean backing off from motor-voter, but at least we should consider the view that major changes to election systems are best phased in over time with seasoned election administrators being given prominent responsibilities in their design and maintenance. Ironically, the SAVE America Act itself ignores this advice, seeking to impose drastic changes in a period of months in an environment where all sorts of data problems are likely.
To put it differently, I think it would help if the advocates who campaigned for motor-voter stuck with the process long enough to take part in oversight of the dull details of implementation and debugging, rather than simply patting themselves on the back for "expanding democracy" and moving on."

Walter Olson@walterolson· 19d

I had some further thoughts on the New Jersey registration fiasco on another site. Here's one part: /2

Screenshot: "I agree that the most damaging part is that former Democratic governor Phil Murphy swept it under the rug, and appreciate that incoming Democratic governor Mikie Sherrill was having none of that. This is the biggest by far instance of unlawful noncitizen voting discovered in our generation, so I think it's significant that apparently everyone agrees it was not intentional misconduct either on the state's part or on that of the persons mistakenly registered. Sherrill also noted that the registrants chose various parties to register with.
An advantage of America's multi-layer approach to election security is that the periodic audits and data checks tend to catch things like this after the fact, although in this case not fast enough to prevent voting in (I am guessing) one cycle. So if there are other fiascoes out there, they too are likely to be caught, which should reassure us about there not being some giant submerged quantity building up."

Walter Olson@walterolson· 19d

Timeless. (First saw this four years ago.)

"NextDoor now Trending Post -- suspicious guy in neighborhood promoting "voting""

Walter Olson@walterolson· 20d

Looking forward to an appellate decision rebuking the Trump administration for its attempts to use federal leverage to meddle in choices of expression and mission that should be Harvard's alone to make. /3, efn

Screenshot from ACLU release reading: "“Private educational institutions need to be free to select and pursue their missions, and the First Amendment does not permit the government to force them to replace that chosen mission with someone else's notion of ideological balance,” said Walter Olson, senior fellow at Cato's Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies. “The courts have made clear that the government may not use funding leverage to coerce recipients into surrendering constitutional rights of expression. Beyond that, any federal move to define and dictate what is ideological balance in the faculty makeup of a department or among the students in a classroom would give Washington improper power to decide what viewpoints are or aren't important enough to merit representation as well as discretion to retaliate against faculty, programs and students it dislikes for ideological reasons. That this administration demanded that Harvard target its divinity school for an ideological overhaul — its divinity school! — should make clear the First Amendment dangers here.”"

Walter Olson@walterolson· 20d

List of participating organizations. Defending the independence of the nonprofit and university sectors is a cause that should cut across ideological lines. /2

List reading: "ACLU
ACLU of Massachusetts
ACLU of Maine
ACLU of New Hampshire
ACLU of Puerto Rico
ACLU of Rhode Island
Cato Institute
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Knight First Amendment Institute
National Coalition Against Censorship
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Rutherford Institute"

Walter Olson@walterolson· 21d

Steve made veal involtini or rollatini after an old Marcella Hazan recipe: scaloppine wrapped around a filling of ground lamb, fastened together with a little skewer and sautéed with tomato and anchovy. Old style but good. Bulgur wheat was the accompaniment. #CookSky #FoodSky #BlueskySupperClub

Big pot with skewered roll-ups, tongs are grabbing one of them.

Walter Olson@walterolson· 23d

Via my friend Stephanie V., but I don't know where she got it.

Two photos side by side, the first of Rue McClanahan (Golden Girls) in a purple blouse and black slacks, the second of arrested Andrew Tate attired similarly, captioned "Blanche wore it best."

Walter Olson@walterolson· 23d

Peak moment for lilies, all of them richly perfumed, plus our first hibiscus, which just sits there and looks gorgeous. #gardensky

Close up of two yellow and cream lilies in full bloom.

Flamboyant red hibiscus with its greenery.

Walter Olson@walterolson· 23d

Cod and shrimp soup with potatoes, bell peppers and tarragon. #CookSky #FoodSky #BlueskySupperClub

Copper pot with red soup and wooden spoon.

Walter Olson@walterolson· 24d

LibCon has wrapped after a day and a half of discussions on how free societies can reconstruct after authoritarian assault on institutions. I was delighted to moderate Friday's well attended breakout session, introduced by @andycraig.bsky.social, on federalism as a bulwark. @ismapolicy.bsky.social

Screenshot of four panelists from LibCon with descriptions:

Kathrina Wolfkot
Senior Counsel
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

Kevin Williamson
National Correspondent
The Dispatch

Walter Olson
Senior Fellow
Cato Institute

Jessica Bulman-Pozen
Betts Professor of Law
Columbia Law School

Walter Olson@walterolson· 24d

Green gumbo (gumbo z’herbes) with pork shoulder, loosely based on a recipe in an old Picayune Creole Cookbook. Lots of greens and flavorings but the secret is the roux.

Walter Olson@walterolson· 26d

A few more comments on Trump’s election claims, beyond my draft statement. /2, end

Screenshot reading: “A few additional points:

Trump now makes much of a claim that China “obtained” some voter files, This in itself means nothing; you can buy or rent voter files from states that make them public information. The intelligence community, which follows these issues every cycle, found some hostile powers probed for information but there was zero evidence that they had any capacity to, or did, alter votes or tabulations of votes.

Ironically, the apparent goal of hostile powers like Russia in some of these messing-around efforts was to stir doubt about the integrity of American democracy, the same thing Trump is doing. Defector Miles Taylor, by the way, says that while Trump was presented with intelligence reports both about foreign powers’ promoting of his opponents and about foreign powers’ promotion of his own election, he was interested exclusively in the former.”

Walter Olson@walterolson· 26d

My draft Cato statement on Trump’s latest election conspiracy-mongering. /1

Screenshot reading: “Here’s my statement submitted to Cato on Trump’s speech tonight. (Subject to editing before release.)

“Donald Trump, the sorest loser in American presidential history, is out with a rewarmed farrago of nonsensical, oft-refuted, and fanciful theories seeking to deny his 2020 election loss. His own federal agencies studied the role of foreign powers at the time and no such powers changed the result. Trump displays a sinister zeal in his efforts to undermine Americans' confidence in our election system, but the Constitution gives him no power to replace it with any other system.”

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jul 12

Farmer’s market haul resulted in bean and vegetable stew with @ranchogordo.bsky.social large white lima beans, tomatoes, olive oil, okra, shishito peppers, onions, basil, garlic, chipotle, and white pepper. Outstanding. #CookSky #FoodSky #vegan #BlueskySupperClub

Dish of large white beans and vegetables.

Copper pot of large white beans and vegetables.

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jul 10

Two new big pieces at @reason.com on Donald Trump's corruption, both very much worth your attention. I also note that Jacob Sullum, at the close of his piece, quotes my suggestion that the deal may be "the most corrupt act ever taken by an American president." (Links follow below.) /1

Screen clip from Reason magazine with picture of Donald Trump amid Richard Nixon and other political figures. Text: "Donald Trump

The Most Corrupt Presidency in American History, by the Numbers
Looking back through the biggest scandals in American history through the lens of Trump 2.0.
Matt Welch | 7.9.2026 1:20 PM"

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jul 9

Honored to join tomorrow as an expert panelist at NextGen Roundtable: Decision 2026, a deliberative gathering of 400 first-time voters hosted by the Close Up Foundation and several partner groups. I look forward to thoughtful questions from the participating students from all 50 states.

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jun 29

Is there some interpretation of this more innocent than that Musk is endorsing executing those responsible for liberal immigration policies?

X post with graphic of man pointing gun execution style, with message “First the traitors / then the invaders” and comment from an X user, “No point in bailing the boat while traitors are still busy chopping holes in the bottom”, with response from @elonmusk: “Yes”

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jun 29

Laura Bondank statement for Cato in Chatrie v. U.S., the Fourth Amendment geofence case.

Screenshot reading: "Today, the Supreme Court held in Chatrie v. United States that the government conducted a Fourth Amendment search when it used a geofence warrant to obtain user Location History from Google. The majority extended Carpenter v. United States, holding that people have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their cell phone's location records. The Court did not decide whether the specific warrant here was valid, leaving that question for the Fourth Circuit on remand.
Cato filed an amicus brief urging the Court to ground its Fourth Amendment analysis in the constitutional text rather than the malleable reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test. In his concurring opinion, Justice Gorsuch agreed. Citing Cato’s brief, Gorsuch argued that Chatrie’s Location History is his personal property and that a search occurred under the plain meaning of the Fourth Amendment.
While the validity of the geofence warrant itself awaits resolution on remand, today’s decision makes clear that Fourth Amendment protections do not evaporate at the frontier of new technology.
For media inquiries, please contact Matthew Cavedon (mcavedon@cato.org) or Laura Bondank-Harmon (lbondank@cato.org)."

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jun 29

My statement for Cato, and Stephen Richer's, on today's RNC v. Watson. "Eager to address policy implications, Alito's dissent warns against absentee ballots generally and says the majority’s decision 'opens Pandora’s box.' By his analogy, however, Pandora's box has been lying open for years."

Screenshot of draft Cato Institute press release, reading: "Following today's Supreme Court decision in RNC v. Watson, Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, released a statement:

"In my view, there are plausible policy reasons to specify that all ballots should be in hand, not simply in the mail, by Election Day. But the Supreme Court was not presented today with that, or any, policy question. It was asked to resolve the narrow question of whether the laws passed by Congress have all along forbidden states from allowing grace periods. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for a five-justice majority, found that current law is best construed as leaving the issue to the discretion of states, as is common in our constitutional election system.

"Eager to address policy implications, Justice Samuel Alito's dissent warns against absentee ballots generally and says the majority’s decision 'opens Pandora’s box.' By his analogy, however, Pandora's box has been lying open for years, as many states have long observed grace periods (including, here, the conservative state of Mississippi). Perhaps bad experience with grace periods, especially long ones, will lead states to retreat, or perhaps Congress will use its Constitutional power to prescribe a new uniform rule. Either way, those are policy questions for legislators and not for the Court to resolve today."

Stephen Richer, a legal fellow with Cato’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, also released a statement:

"Whether or not this makes for good public policy is certainly debatable. But this ruling is a major sigh of relief for election administrators in 15 states. A ruling in favor of the RNC would have created a whole host of last-minute administrative challenges."

To speak with Olson or Richer further on today's decision, contact Christopher Tarvardian.

Christopher Tarvardian
Media Relations Manager"

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jun 29

Justice Gorsuch, concurring in judgment with Justice Kagan's majority in today's Chatrie (geofencing warrants) cites the Cato Institute amicus brief. @cato.org

Screenshot from Supreme Court opinion, reading: "CHATRIE v. UNITED STATES
GORSUCH, J., concurring in judgment
Ann. §18.2–152.2 (2021). Altering or making an unauthorized copy of computer data can constitute the crime of “computer trespass” (another property law concept). §§18.2–
152.4(A)(3), (6). And the State provides a right to sue for
anyone “whose property or person is injured” by violations
of the Act (again suggesting a right to exclude). §18.2–
152.12(A).
Nor is Virginia some outlier. In Texas, “computer . . .
data” can constitute “[p]roperty.” Tex. Penal Code Ann.
§33.01(16) (West Cum. Supp. 2025). State law likewise
criminalizes “knowingly access[ing] . . . a computer, computer network, or computer system . . . with the intent to
obtain or use a file, data, or proprietary information” for a
prohibited purpose. §33.02(b–1)(2)(C) (West 2016). Once
more, as well, those whose “property has been injured” by
certain computer crimes may bring a “civil cause of action.”
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. §143.001 (West 2019).
Georgia has a similar regime. See Ga. Code Ann. §§16–9–
93(b), (g) (2018) (criminalizing “[c]omputer [t]respass” and
providing a private right of action for such violations). And,
it appears, so do many other States. See Brief for Cato Institute as Amicus Curiae 14–15, and n. 5 (“Today, more
than half of states . . . treat digital records and data as personal property,” and “[m]any” of them “make it illegal for
private actors to access or convert another person’s digital
data”); see also, e.g., People v. Seymour, 536 P. 3d 1260,
1273 (Colo. 2023) (finding that “law enforcement’s copying
of [the defendant’s] search history meaningfully interfered" Highlighting on sentence mentioning Cato Institute

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jun 29

Also making the rounds.

Threads post by Joy Scaglione, against background of Puritan scene: "I saw Goody Proctor throwing algae into the reflecting pool."

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jun 26

Ground-beef-bulgur-walnut kibbeh, tahini sauce with pomegranate arils, sautéed zucchini with mint and vinegar #CookSky #FoodSky #BlueskySupperClub

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jun 21

Georgian spiced beet and walnut spread (coriander, fenugreek, jalapeño, parsley) on homemade buttered rolls. #FoodSky #CookSky #BlueskySupperClub

Blue Onion plate with split roll topped with red spread.

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jun 18

Spicy tamarind fish and herb stew, a winner from Naz Deravian, Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories (2018). Besides lots of tamarind, garlic and turmeric it’s got three bunches of cilantro. Steve used cod. #CookSky #FoodSky #BlueskySupperClub

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jun 17

Source: Gilbert & Sullivan, in the Lord Chancellor's monologue on how he persuaded himself to grant his own petition for the hand of Phyllis, ward of his court. /2, end gsarchive.net/iolanthe/web...

Screenshot of excerpt from W.S. Gilbert's Iolanthe, reading: "Enter Lord Chancellor.

Lord Chancellor. Victory! Victory! Success has crowned my efforts, and I may consider myself engaged to Phyllis! At first I wouldn’t hear of it – it was out of the question. But I took heart. I pointed out to myself that I was no stranger to myself; that, in point of fact, I had been personally acquainted with myself for some years. This had its effect. I admitted that I had watched my professional advancement with considerable interest, and I handsomely added that I yielded to no one in admiration for my private and professional virtues. This was a great point gained. I then endeavoured to work upon my feelings. Conceive my joy when I distinctly perceived a tear glistening in my own eye! Eventually, after a severe struggle with myself, I reluctantly – most reluctantly – consented."

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jun 15

Pot of tiny brown Puglia lentils from @ranchogordo.bsky.social with chopped escarole, tomato, garlic and olive oil. Delicate taste and held their shape well. #CookSky #FoodSky #BlueskySupperClub #vegetarian #vegan

Pot with brown dots and green and red streaks.

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jun 15

Brett Rowland quotes me at Center Square (syndicated) on a new poll on public attitudes toward mid-census-cycle redistricting. Link here: www.purdueexponent.org/news/nationa...

Screenshot reading: "Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute's Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, who has written extensively on elections and redistricting law, said the poll findings reflect a longstanding voter preference that has survived the redistricting battles.

"For decades both Republican and Democratic voters as well as independents have told pollsters they prefer a system where lines are drawn in a neutral rather than partisan way," Olson told The Center Square. "That underlying sentiment remains despite the past year's descent into the mud."

Olson said the costs of last-minute redistricting fall on voters, election administrators and candidates alike.

"The later they settle it, the more aggrieved parties remain, from bewildered voters themselves, to election administrators asked to revamp ballots in weeks, to candidates who may have invested small fortunes in time and money campaigning in a district that no longer exists," he said. "These are high costs to inflict on a state just to enable a last-minute power grab by one party."

Olson said Congress has the authority to act.

"Congress can and should use its enumerated powers to call a halt, with an exception for court-ordered redraws," he said."

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jun 7

When we bring home the farmers market haul, the first thing that often gets put in the cook pot are the beet greens, here simmered for a few minutes and then tossed with olive oil, lemon and salt. From farmer Ben at Pleasant Hill Produce of Walkersville, Md. #CookSky #FoodSky #BlueskySupperClub

Red thin stalks and green broad leaves on plate.

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jun 4

Berries have arrived at our local farmers market and rhubarb is hanging on at the farmstand - Steve’s homemade crème fraiche in the center #BlueskySupperClub #Foodsky #CookSky

Plate with central mound of white surrounded by red fruit.

Walter Olson@walterolson· Jun 1

Shrimp on a bed of lentils and rice. Ingredients include cumin, parsley, garlic and half-sharp paprika. #BlueskySupperClub #FoodSky #CookSky