THE ROSE AND THISTLE JOINED: On this day in 1707, the Acts of Union, uniting England and Scotland, went into effect. The two kingdoms had been ruled by the same monarch since James VI of Scotland (son of Mary, Queen of Scots) became James I of England and Ireland in 1603. But the Acts of Union made it a true political union and not just two crowns sitting on the same head.

For the English, the union was a good deal because it ensured that when Queen Anne died with no surviving children, Scotland and England would continue to have the same monarch. If instead Scotland had elected to go its own way, it might have chosen to return to its “auld alliance” with France. Such a move, England believed, would jeopardize its security.

On the other hand, the less populous Scots wanted to ensure access to English markets. This was especially so after the disastrous Darien scheme to create a Scottish colony in Panama, which left much of the country in financial ruin.

For most of its history, the marriage has been a reasonably happy one (though every marriage has had its … rough patches). But in more recent years cracks have started appearing in the marriage. In 1979, an effort to establish (or re-establish) a separate Scottish legislature via referendum failed.   It did so, however, only because the Act authorizing the referendum required that at least 40% of the entire Scottish electorate vote in favor. While the referendum got more yes than no votes, turnout was poor. In 1997, another such referendum was held. This time it passed, a Scottish Parliament was established, and the process of “devolution” was begun.

In 2014, when an independence referendum was held, it came a lot closer to passing than union supporters would have preferred. Ultimately, Scottish voters went 55.3% to 44.7% in favor of sticking it out with England.

At the time, the European Union actively discouraged an independent Scotland and let it be known that Scotland would have a tough time petitioning for entry into the E.U. if it decided to strike out on its own. Too many E.U. members have sub-national entities yearning for independence. The E.U. could ill-afford to encourage such movements.

Of course, that was then and this is now. After Brexit (which most Scottish voters opposed), one could imagine a different attitude on the part of the E.U. Or maybe not.  It is hard to imagine countries like Spain with their own internal issues being keen on dealing with Scotland in this way. Scotland would have to secede from the U.K. and then petition for entry into the E.U.

Two things have happened since the Brexit vote in 2016 that make such a scenario less likely: First, contrary to predictions, leaving the EU didn’t cause the sky to fall in the U.K. Second, COVID-19 really has made free movement across international borders look less wonderful than it did just a few months ago. So maybe the rose and thistle will stay together … if nothing else than for the sake of the children.

ON THIS DAY IN 1975:  The Fall of Saigon.

MAKING A FEDERAL CASE OUT OF IT:  In the brave, new, progressive world, every case of school discipline can give rise to a federal lawsuit. Of course, it can work both ways.

“ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE IS OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE”:  Plasma treatments for COVID-19 patients may be working.  I hope so anyway.  We have a lot more potential donors now than we did in March.

REMEMBER THE CHINESE STUDY SUGGESTING THAT BLOOD TYPE A IS SOMEWHAT MORE LIKELY TO GET COVID-19?: Now there is an American study that included data from patients at New York Presbyterian Hospital.  It suggests the same thing and a little more. It found COVID-19 patients were more likely to be A or B blood types and were less likely to be O. These results were significant only for Rh positives. The difference in rates is not overwhelming, so don’t stop washing your hands if you have O type, and don’t run for the hills if you have A or B.

HELP WANTED: If you are a conservative or libertarian lawyer with a strong interest in civil rights law, click here. Yes, this is a paying job.

(If you have a long memory, you may recall that I wrote a similar post back in the summer. For reasons having to do with the inefficiency of the federal government in dealing with personnel issues, the current very capable incumbent was not able to start a new job until now. I am therefore starting the process all over again.)

IT’S CALLED “POLITICAL USEFULNESS BIAS”: I can’t imagine that anybody is surprised by the media’s failure to pounce on the sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden.  Still, it’s worth pointing out every time it happens.  Rub their noses in it.

THANK YOU TO THE EMPLOYEES AT BRASKEM AMERICA! YOU’RE SAVING LIVES!: More than 40 employees at Braskem America in Pennsylvania volunteered to work, eat and sleep at the plant for 28 days straight in order to manufacture the raw materials used to make N95 masks, hospital gowns, and sanitary wipes. On Sunday, they got to go home for a while.

IT’S CONFUSING TO ME:  Why has the Voice of America become a voice of confusion?

GOOD QUESTION:  If academic skills aren’t going to be what gets you into a good college, then what will?

DETAINEES AT IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTERS IN CALIFORNIA LAUNCH CORONAVIRUS HUNGER STRIKE: Or at least that’s what activists claim. Detention center officials weren’t so sure.

(For background on detention center conditions, including their medical facilities, see my Commissioner Statement from a few years back.)

LOCKDOWN OR NO, THE CLOCK IS TICKING ON THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: Yes, he might get re-elected, but I would feel a lot better if someone in the Administration were trying to do something about the problem of disparate impact liability now.

HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE HEARD THIS STORY?:  Outrageous racist threats and attacks that rattled the University of La Verne last year turn out to have been faked.   (See also my Dissenting Statement to the Commission on Civil Rights’ overwrought report on hate crimes, which catalogues a number of such stories.)

POLICIES HAVE CONSEQUENCES:  Female prison officers have been raped by inmates who self-identify as trans women in the U.K.

THIS IS A REAL PROBLEM:  The Trump Administration doesn’t seem to take the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission seriously.  It enters into package deals (as it must) with Senate Democrats when it seeks to fill EEOC commissioner positions.  But somehow the deal it gets is always a ghastly one.  Back in 2017,  the Trump Administration paired a non-lawyer with the Democrats’ nomination of Chai Feldblum, a far-far-left law professor (and someone I rather like as a personal matter).  The non-lawyer (whose name I won’t mention) was a very talented guy who richly deserved a post somewhere in the Trump Administration. But I guarantee you that Chai Feldblum would have steamrolled him.  Employment discrimination law is complicated; learning it on the job as an EEOC Commissioner just won’t work.  Mercifully, that deal unraveled once Senate Republicans took a look at it.  Now Senate Democrats have apparently convinced the Trump Administration to enter a package deal with Jocelyn Samuels, who, like Chai Feldblum, was responsible for some of the Obama Administration’s worst excesses in this area of the law.  Paul Mirengoff at Power Line explains why such a package is not a great idea.

REPOST:  For those of you who couldn’t download my “Stand Your Ground” dissent on SSRN a few days ago, I am reposting.  (For reasons that were never quite clear to me, SSRN took it down for a while.)

HOT, HOT, HOT!!: The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has finally released its report on “Stand Your Ground” laws. My fellow commissioners were disappointed that the staff’s independent empirical research didn’t support their preconceived beliefs … so they buried it. Read my dissenting opinion here.  

JOHN FUND:  “In Some Places, Easter Isn’t Being Celebrated.  It’s Being Fined.”

BREAKING THE CARDINAL RULE:  A disturbing miscarriage of justice is finally righted by the High Court of Australia.  But what does it say about Australia’s judicial system that it took the High Court’s intervention?

“STAND YOUR GROUND” LAWS: Former Attorney General Eric Holder has argued that “Stand Your Ground” laws are a dangerous new innovation in the law. But as I explain in my dissenting statement to the Commission on Civil Rights’ new report, “Stand Your Ground” laws are new only if Sir Edward Coke’s Institutes of the Lawes of England is your idea of new.

(Yes, I’m a law nerd. I can’t get enough of 17^th century law books. The long history of the “Stand Your Ground” approach to self-defense law is particularly interesting.)

SWEDEN: Some people are pointing to the contrast between Sweden and Norway as a useful model for our situation. Sweden is one of the few countries that has not shut things down drastically. Instead its leaders say that they are relying on people’s common sense. By contrast, the otherwise similarly situated Norway has taken an approach more like ours. Many people are thus pointing to the fact that while Sweden’s population (about 10 million) is twice Norway’s (about 5 million), Sweden has only about 30% more confirmed cases. That sounds good … at least at first blush.

But numbers can be deceiving. While Sweden’s population is twice Norway’s, its number of deaths from among confirmed cases is more than six times higher than Norway’s. The difference is unlikely to be the quality of Swedish health care. My initial thought was that it was much more likely that Norway has tested more symptomatic people in its population than Sweden has. Sweden therefore may have a higher proportion of unconfirmed but nevertheless very real cases.  They just aren’t being counted.

Testing kits remain in short supply. Most countries are able to test only a proportion of the individuals who are symptomatic. It may well be the case that to get the test in Sweden one needs to be sicker than one does in Norway.

I checked this against the data on Real Clear Politics and sure enough, Norway has given massively more tests (113,896) than Sweden has given (54,700), despite Sweden’s much larger population.

We need more analysis.

JOHN FUND & JOEL HAY:  “Has Sweden Found the Right Solution to the Coronavirus?”

WORLD ENDS TONIGHT, WOMEN AND MINORITIES HARDEST HIT:  “Pandemic Could Jeopardize Law Firm Diversity Efforts.”

ON THIS DAY IN 1841, TYLER, TOO, BECAME PRESIDENT … SORT OF: President William Henry Harrison died only 31 days into his term, making him the first President to die in office. Two days later, Vice President John Tyler was sworn into office. Here’s the Constitutional quirk: In those days, the Constitution simply said that in case of the President’s death “the Powers and Duties of the said office” “shall devolve upon the Vice President.” It didn’t say that the Vice President BECOMES the President. Tyler, however, took the position that he WAS then the President. While many people disagreed at the time, his action set the precedent. It wasn’t until the 25^th Amendment, ratified in 1967, that it was made clear that the Vice President actually becomes the President upon the death, resignation or removal of the President.

WASH YOUR HANDS … AND DON’T GIVE DR. LISTER ANY LIP ABOUT IT: On this day in 1827, Joseph Lister, the father of modern antiseptic surgery, was born. Lister had the idea that surgeons could prevent infecting their patients by washing and disinfecting their hands with carbolic acid before surgery. This idea earned him ridicule—until people started noticing that it did indeed help.

MORE ON THE SLOW-JOE-TO-CUOMO SCENARIO:  Will the Democrats Junk Joe?