This is the Libertarian Podcast from the Hoover Institution.

I'm your host Tom Church and the Libertarian is Professor Richard Epstein.

Richard's the Peter and Kirsten Bedford senior fellow here at the Hoover Institution

he's the Lawrence A Tish Professor of Law at NYU and his senior lecturer at the

University of Chicago and Richard today I'd like to talk to you about a

controversy that arose following the opening of a seat on the Supreme Court.

As you know, President Biden made a campaign pledge to nominate the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

And with Justice Breyer's retirement it looks

like he will attempt to keep that pledge. Some people have questioned whether it's

fair or appropriate to exclude candidates based solely on their race or gender

including Ilius Shapiro, a senior

lecturer at Georgetown Law. Shapiro got in trouble for a poorly worded tweet

in which he'd suggested another candidate, an Indian American candidate, and then ended with,

but alas, doesn't fit into the latest intersectionality hierarchy so it will get lesser

black woman. This tweet he deleted, he apologized for, but in response,

Shapiro's been put on paid administrative leave while an investigation is made into his

series of tweets. But what do you think should happen to Shapiro in this situation?

Well, I mean, I have to first make a disclosure. I live Shapiro was one of my very strong students. We always make jokes

about Roman law on either the Libertarian or on law talk, but he was one of my

Roman law students. I had him in other courses. He is a Russian immigrant who understands

the way in which the world works in terms of oppression.

He was at the Cato Institute where talking about ideas in the libertarian sense were very common.

...