Ken Levy

Biography

Ken Levy teaches criminal law, criminal theory, international criminal law, white-collar criminal law, and tort law.

Ken continues to work primarily in criminal theory. His current interests include free will and moral responsibility, criminal responsibility, constitutional law, hate speech, and causation.

Selected Publications

Books

Ken Levy, Free Will, Responsibility, and Crime, 1st ed. (Routledge 2020).
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Law Review Articles

Ken Levy, Normative Ignorance: A Critical Connection Between the Insanity and Mistake of Law Defenses, 47 Florida State University L. Rev. 411 (2019).
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Ken Levy, Why the Late Justice Scalia Was Wrong: The Fallacies of Constitutional Textualism, 21 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 45 (2017).
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Ken Levy, Does Situationism Excuse? The Implications of Situationism for Moral Responsibility and Criminal Responsibility, 68 Ark. L. Rev. 775 (2015).
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Ken Levy, It’s Not Too Difficult: A Plea to Resurrect the Impossibility Defense, 45 N.M. L. Rev. 225 (2014).
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Ken Levy, Why Retributivism Needs Consequentialism: The Rightful Place of Revenge in the Criminal Justice System, 66 Rutgers L. Rev. 629 (2014).
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Ken Levy, Dangerous Psychopaths: Criminally Responsible But Not Morally Responsible, Subject to Criminal Punishment And to Preventive Detention, 48 San Diego L. Rev. 1299 (2011).
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Ken Levy, Killing, Letting Die, and the Case for Mildly Punishing Bad Samaritanism, 44 Georgia Law Review 607 (2010).
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Ken Levy, Gonzales v. Oregon and Physician-Assisted Suicide: Ethical and Policy Issues, 42 Tulsa Law Review 699 (2007).
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Ken Levy, The Solution to the Real Blackmail Paradox: The Common Link Between Blackmail and Other Criminal Threats, 39 Connecticut Law Review 1051 (2007).
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Ken Levy, The Solution to the Problem of Outcome Luck: Why Harm Is Just as Punishable as the Wrongful Action that Causes It, 24 Law and Philosophy 263 (2005).
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Philosophy Articles

Levy, Ken, On Three Arguments Against Metaphysical Libertarianism. Review of Metaphysics 76: 725-48 (June 2023)
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Levy, Ken, Let's Not Do Responsibility Skepticism. Journal of Applied Philosophy 40, 458-73 (July 2023)
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Levy, Ken, Trying to Make Sense of Criminal Attempts. Jurisprudence 7: 656-64 (2016)
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Levy, Ken, Blocking Blockage. Philosophia 44:565-82 (2016)
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Levy, Ken, On the Rationalist Solution to Gregory Kavka's Toxin Puzzle. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 90: 267-289 (2009)
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Levy, Ken, The Solution to the Surprise Exam Paradox. Southern Journal of Philosophy 47:131-58 (2009)
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Levy, Ken, Baumann on the Monty Hall Problem and Single-Case Probabilities. Synthese 158: 139-51 (2007)
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Levy, Ken, Why It is Sometimes Fair to Blame Agents for Unavoidable Actions and Omissions. American Philosophical Quarterly 42: 93-104 (2005)
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Levy, Ken, Is Descartes a Temporal Atomist? British Journal for the History of Philosophy 13: 627-74. (2005)
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Levy, Ken, The Main Problem with USC Libertarianism. Philosophical Studies 105: 107-127 (2001)
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Levy, Ken, Hume, the New Hume, and Causal Connections. Hume Studies 26: 41-75 (2000)
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Chapters in Books

Ken M. Levy, Criminal Responsibility, in Wiley Blackwell's Companion to Free Will (2023).
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Ken Levy, Criminal Responsibility, in SAGE Encyclopedia of Criminal Psychology (2019).
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Ken Levy and Alex Cohen, Mental Illness, Dangerousness, and Involuntary Civil Commitment, in Philosophy and Psychiatry: Problems, Intersections and New Perspectives, 147-160 (eds. Gary Gala & Daniel D. Moseley, Routledge, 2016)
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Ken Levy, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Insanity Defenses, in Oxford Handbook on the Philosophy of the Criminal Law (2011).
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Letters, Op-eds, and Short Essays

Sophistry at the Supreme Court, The Hill (May 6, 2022), co-authored with Prof. Jody L. Madeira, https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/3479023-sophistry-at-the-supreme-court/

Prosecutors can abuse discretion to seek charges. We propose some fixes, Chicago Tribune (April 6, 2022), co-authored with Prof. Zachary D. Kaufman, https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-opinion-passive-prosecutors-criminal-justice-20220406-wwplg6b2prelhathxrrt5oynwa-story.html

Republicans Are the Worst, The Bayou Progressive (Feb. 11, 2022), https://bayouprogressive.com/2022/02/republicans-are-the-worst/

How to Combat Trumpism (Even After Trump Is Gone), Common Dreams (11/13/20), co-authored with Jen Senko, https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/11/13/how-combat-trumpism-even-after-trump-gone

Three theories on government explain what to expect until Nov. 3, The Hill (Oct. 6, 2020), https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/519129-three-theories-on-government-explain-what-to-expect-until-nov-3

Is Trump Responsible for His Bad Behavior?, Counterpunch (July 24, 2020), https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/07/24/is-donald-trump-responsible-for-his-bad-behavior/

Letter: Challenge to free speech, college admissions in LSU controversy, The Advocate (June 11, 2020), https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_dfe28048-ab46-11ea-8a49-0bd8b0ffd923.html

Sorry, Republican Senators: Alan Dershowitz’s Theory of Impeachment Is Total Bullshit, Common Dreams (Feb. 4, 2020), https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/02/04/sorry-republican-senators-alan-dershowitzs-theory-impeachment-total-bullshit

Despite posturing U.S. Sen. John Kennedy gives thumbs-up to dubious Trump judicial nominees, The Advocate (Dec. 30, 2019), https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/article_bf3637fa-1c5c-11ea-bbde-731078ccbc04.html

The McConnell Rule: Nasty, Brutish, and Unconstitutional, Counterpunch (July 13, 2018), https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/13/the-mcconnell-rule-nasty-brutish-and-unconstitutional/

The ‘McConnell Rule’ is law, and Senate Democrats should sue to enforce it, The Hill (July 8, 2018) http://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/395696-the-mcconnell-rule-is-law-and-senate-democrats-should-sue-to-enforce-it

Letter: Scalise Dubious Choice as Commencement Speaker, The Advocate (May 2, 2018), http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_89896ac8-4e22-11e8-868b-bf9213828acb.html

The (Current) Gun-Control Debate Is Not Really About Gun Control, Common Dreams (March 22, 2018), https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/22/current-gun-control-debate-not-really-about-gun-control

God, Heaven, and Evil: A Renewed Defense of Atheism, Skeptic Magazine 23(1) (2018)

Apparently, Child Rapists Deserve the Death Penalty, But a Child Molester Deserves a U.S. Senate Seat, Counterpunch (Dec. 12, 2017), https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/12/12/apparently-child-rapists-deserve-the-death-penalty-but-a-child-molester-deserves-a-u-s-senate-seat/

Why We Need to Take Animal Cruelty Much More Seriously, Counterpunch (Nov. 17, 2017), co-authored with Dr. Wendy Wolfson, https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/11/17/why-we-need-to-take-animal-cruelty-much-more-seriously/

The Right Doesn’t Oppose Affirmative Action – for Themselves, Truthout (Aug. 9, 2017),
http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/the-right-doesn-t-really-oppose-affirmative-action-for-themselves

Yes, Crimes Were Committed, Common Dreams (July 19, 2017), https://commons.commondreams.org/t/yes-crimes-were-committed/43361

Letter: Kennedy Should Oppose Bush Nomination, The Advocate (July 12, 2017), http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_8b83043a-6717-11e7-ac6d-5351047b0e81.html

Sorry, But It’s Entirely the Right’s Fault, Counterpunch (June 22, 2017), re-posted on BillMoyers.com (June 23, 2017), http://billmoyers.com/story/sorry-entirely-rights-fault/

Why – How – Do They Still Love Trump?, Counterpunch (May 19, 2017), re-posted on Alternet as Why—and How—Is Trump's Base Still Loyal to a Guy Who Is a Proven Disaster? (May 24, 2017), http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/why-and-how-trumps-base-still-loyal-guy-who-proven-disaster

Why the Right Is Morally Wrong, Counterpunch (May 5, 2017), https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/05/05/why-the-right-is-morally-wrong/

Judge Gorsuch's strict 'originalism' puts justice itself at stake, The Hill (April 7, 2017), http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-judiciary/327808-strict-originalism-puts-justice-itself-at-stake

The Right’s Selective Enforcement of Criminal Law, Counterpunch (April 7, 2017), https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/04/07/the-rights-selective-enforcement-of-criminal-law/

The Problems with Originalism, New York Times (March 22, 2017), https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/22/opinion/the-problems-with-originalism.html

Our Nietzschean Struggle, Counterpunch (March 3, 2017), https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/03/03/our-nietzschean-struggle/

Four Weeks into Hillary’s Presidency, The Satirist (Feb. 21, 2017), https://www.thesatirist.com/satires/four-weeks-into-hillarys-presidency.html

The Real Problem with the USDA, Truthout (Feb. 17, 2017), http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/39529-the-real-problem-with-the-usda

A Psychological Divide: Irrationality, Psychopathy, and Trump’s Cult, Counterpunch (Feb. 2, 2017), reposted on BarbaraStreisand.com, https://www.barbrastreisand.com/news/psychological-divide-irrationality-psychopathy-trumps-cult/

Joe McKnight, Ronald Gasser, and the Law of Self-Defense in Louisiana, The Times-Picayune (Dec. 9, 2016), http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2016/12/joe_mcknight_death_1.html

If You Don’t Support Gun Control, Then You Don’t Support the Police, Counterpunch (July 19, 2016), https://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/19/if-you-dont-support-gun-control-then-you-dont-support-the-police/

Louisiana Republican Voters Are Tapping Into their Jindal-Fueled Anger, The Times-Picayune (March 9, 2016), http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/03/trump_jindal.html

The Silly, Dirty, Ugly Game of Publishing in Law Reviews, Times Higher Education (Nov. 12, 2015), https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/us-law-reviews-dirty-game-peer-review-by-student

Bad Faith: Why the Christian Right’s Homophobia Is Indefensible, The Humanist (Sept. 9, 2015), https://thehumanist.com/commentary/bad-faith-why-the-christian-rights-homophobia-is-indefensible

Veto Allows Mistreatment of Animals to Continue, The Times-Picayune (June 20, 2014), at B-6, http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2014/06/gov_bobby_jindals_veto_allows.html