Jump to content

Walter Olson: Difference between revisions

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
removing unsourced opinion
GreenC bot (talk | contribs)
Bots
2,547,813 edits
 
(41 intermediate revisions by 27 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Legal scholar and author}}
'''Walter K. Olson''' (born August 20, 1954) is an author and blogger who writes mostly about [[tort reform]]. Olson is a senior fellow of the [[Cato Institute]], a [[Libertarianism in the United States|libertarian]] [[think tank]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] Formerly, Olson was associated with the [[Manhattan Institute]] in [[New York City]]. He founded several websites, including the Manhattan Institute's scholarly PointOfLaw.com, and continues to run [[Overlawyered]].com, a more popularly-oriented website focusing on tort reform and alleged overreaching by [[lawyer]]s. He has published three books on the American litigation system: ''The Litigation Explosion'', ''The Excuse Factory'', and most recently ''Schools for Misrule''.
'''Walter K. Olson''' (born 1954) is an American author and blogger who writes mostly about legal subjects, including [[tort reform]]. Olson is a senior fellow of the [[Cato Institute]], a [[Libertarianism in the United States|libertarian]] [[think tank]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] Formerly, Olson was associated with the [[Manhattan Institute]] in [[New York City]]. He founded several websites, including the Manhattan Institute's scholarly PointOfLaw.com, and continues to run [[Overlawyered]].com, a more popularly oriented website focusing on tort reform and alleged overreaching by [[lawyer]]s. He has published four books on the American litigation system: ''The Litigation Explosion'', ''The Excuse Factory'', ''The Rule of Lawyers'', and most recently ''Schools for Misrule''.
Olson is a Republican.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/hogan-creates-emergency-commission-to-deal-with-embarassment-of-gerrymandered-congressional-districts/2018/11/26/0ca7dc96-f193-11e8-aeea-b85fd44449f5_story.html "Maryland Politics: Hogan creates emergency commission to deal with ‘embarrassment’ of gerrymandered congressional districts"], Erin Cox, ''Washington Post'', November 26, 2018</ref> [[The Washington Post]] has dubbed Olson an "intellectual guru of tort reform."<ref>
⚫
{{cite news |title=Walter Cronkite Video Helps Stir Up Debate Over Tort Reform |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/74048826.html?dids=74048826:74048826&FMT=ABS
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425005831/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/74048826.html?dids=74048826:74048826&FMT=ABS
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=April 25, 2011
⚫
|author=Torry, Saundra |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=September 14, 1992 |accessdate=2009-03-10}}</ref> He has testified to Congress numerous times, and has written articles for publications such as ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', ''[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]'', ''[[Reader's Digest]]'', and ''[[The New York Times]]''. His work is often discussed in the press and has been cited in court opinions.<ref>Alice Jansen vs. Packaging Corp. America, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 95-3128 123 F3d 490 / Kimberly B. Ellerth vs. Burlington Industries, Inc., 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 96-1361 123 F3d 490 [http://laws.findlaw.com/7th/953128.html]</ref><ref>Doe v. City of Belleville, Illinois, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 94-3699 119 F3d 563 [http://laws.findlaw.com/7th/943699.html]</ref>


Olson is a graduate of [[Yale University]]<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.cato.org/blog/walter-olson-joins-cato | title=Walter Olson Joins Cato| date=2010-05-04}}</ref> and was cited in a 2014 list of religious unbelievers with conservative views.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/372060/yes-atheism-and-conservatism-are-compatible-charles-c-w-cooke | title=Yes, Atheism and Conservatism Are Compatible| website=[[National Review]]| date=2014-02-26}}</ref> Despite being a legal pundit, he lacks a [[Juris Doctor|J.D.]] degree.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-3483200109/olson-walter-k-1954.html| title = Olson, Walter K. 1954– {{!}} Encyclopedia.com}}</ref>
''[[The Washington Post]]'' has dubbed Olson an "intellectual guru of tort reform."<ref>
⚫
{{cite news |title=Walter Cronkite Video Helps Stir Up Debate Over Tort Reform |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/74048826.html?dids=74048826:74048826&FMT=ABS
|author=Torry, Saundra |publisher=[[The Washington Post]] |date=September 14, 1992 |accessdate=2009-03-10}}</ref>
⚫
He has testified to Congress numerous times, and has written articles for publications such as ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', ''[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]'', and ''[[The New York Times]]''. His work is often discussed in the press and has been cited in court opinions.<ref>Alice Jansen vs. Packaging Corp. America, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 95-3128 123 F3d 490 / Kimberly B. Ellerth vs. Burlington Industries, Inc., 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 96-1361 123 F3d 490 [http://laws.findlaw.com/7th/953128.html]</ref><ref>Doe v. City of Belleville, Illinois, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 94-3699 119 F3d 563 [http://laws.findlaw.com/7th/943699.html]</ref>


Olson has written about redistricting reform and [[gerrymandering]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.cato-unbound.org/2017/11/06/walter-olson/why-libertarians-others-should-care-about-gerrymandering | title=Why Libertarians - and Others - Should Care About Gerrymandering| date=2017-11-06}}</ref> In 2015 he was appointed by Maryland Gov. [[Larry Hogan]] as co-chair of the Maryland Redistricting Reform Commission,<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/26excom/html/31redist2015.html | title=Redistricting Reform Commission, Maryland}}</ref> which issued recommendations later that year for comprehensive reform. The commission's recommendations served as a basis for legislation Hogan has introduced since then in the Maryland legislature.
Olson is a graduate of [[Yale University]]<ref>http://www.legalreforminthenews.com/ROL/Olson_bio.html</ref> and an [[Atheism|atheist]].<ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/article/372060/yes-atheism-and-conservatism-are-compatible-charles-c-w-cooke</ref>


==Politics==
==Politics==
Olson has said that while he campaigned for [[George W. Bush]] in 2000, he did not support his re-election in 2004: "Foreign policy and defense blunders aside, the last thing I wanted was an administration combining aggressive [[social conservatism]] with uncontrolled spending and big new government programs."<ref name="olson1">{{cite news
Olson has said that while he campaigned for [[George W. Bush]] in 2000, he did not support his re-election in 2004: "Foreign policy and defense blunders aside, the last thing I wanted was an administration combining aggressive [[social conservatism]] with uncontrolled spending and big new government programs."<ref name="olson1">{{cite news
| title = Election roundup: the White House
| title = Election roundup: the White House
| publisher = OverLawyered
| publisher = OverLawyered
Line 15: Line 19:
| url = http://overlawyered.com/2004/10/election-roundup-the-white-house/
| url = http://overlawyered.com/2004/10/election-roundup-the-white-house/
| accessdate = 2008-10-27 }}</ref>
| accessdate = 2008-10-27 }}</ref>

Olson supports [[same-sex marriage]].<ref name="buzzfeed">{{cite news |last1=Geidner |first1=Chris |title=Cato Scholar Hosting Benefit To Protect Maryland's New Marriage Equality Bill |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/chrisgeidner/cato-scholar-hosting-benefit-to-protect-marylands |website=Buzzfeed News |date = 2012-07-20 |accessdate=25 February 2020}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Olson is married to Steve Pippin, with whom he has adopted a son.<ref name="buzzfeed" /><ref name="csmonitor">{{cite news |last1=Bruinius |first1=Harry |title=Gay rights, religious freedom, and the battle over adoption |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2020/0221/Gay-rights-religious-freedom-and-the-battle-over-adoption |accessdate=25 February 2020 |work=Christian Science Monitor |date=February 21, 2020}}</ref><ref name="reason">{{cite news |last1=Shackford |first1=Scott |title=Can a City Refuse To Use a Foster Agency That Discriminates Against Same-Sex Couples? |url=https://reason.com/2020/02/24/can-a-city-refuse-to-use-a-foster-agency-that-discriminates-against-same-sex-couples/ |accessdate=25 February 2020 |work=Reason |date=2020-02-24}}</ref>


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
* ''The Litigation Explosion: What Happened When America Released the Lawsuit''. E.P. Dutton/Truman Talley Books, 1991; ISBN 0-525-24911-7
* ''The Litigation Explosion: What Happened When America Released the Lawsuit''. E.P. Dutton/Truman Talley Books, 1991; {{ISBN|0-525-24911-7}}
* ''The Excuse Factory: How Employment Law is Paralyzing the American Workplace''. Free Press, 1997; ISBN 0-684-82732-8
* ''The Excuse Factory: How Employment Law is Paralyzing the American Workplace''. Free Press, 1997; {{ISBN|0-684-82732-8}}
* ''The Rule of Lawyers: How the New Litigation Elite Threatens America's Rule of Law''. Truman Talley Books, 2003; ISBN 0-312-28085-8
* ''The Rule of Lawyers: How the New Litigation Elite Threatens America's Rule of Law''. Truman Talley Books, 2003; {{ISBN|0-312-28085-8}}
* ''Schools for Misrule: Legal Academia and an Overlawyered America''. Encounter Books, 2011, {{ISBN|1-594-03233-5}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last= |first= |editor-first= |editor-last= |editor-link=|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism |title=Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859) |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC&pg=PT347#v=onepage&q&f=false |accessdate= |edition= |year=2008 |publisher= [[SAGE Publications|SAGE]]; [[Cato Institute]] |location= Thousand Oaks, CA |id= |isbn= 978-1-4129-6580-4 |oclc=750831024| lccn = 2008009151 |pages=347–8 |quote= |ref= }} [[Ronald Hamowy]], editor
* {{cite encyclopedia |editor-first= |editor-last= |editor-link=|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism |chapter=Macaulay, Thomas Babington (1800–1859) |chapter-url=https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/libertarianism/n185.xml|year=2008 |publisher= [[SAGE Publishing|Sage]]; [[Cato Institute]] |location= Thousand Oaks, CA |isbn= 978-1412965804 |oclc=750831024| lccn = 2008009151 |pages=309–310 |quote= |doi= 10.4135/9781412965811.n185|last1= Olson|first1= Walter}} [[Ronald Hamowy]], editor


==References==
==References==
Line 27: Line 37:
==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.cato.org/people/walter-olson Cato Institute biography]
* [http://www.cato.org/people/walter-olson Cato Institute biography]
⚫
* {{C-SPAN|39472}}
* [http://www.overlawyered.com/ Overlawyered.com]
* [http://pointoflaw.com/ Pointoflaw.com]
⚫
* {{C-SPAN|Walter Olson}}
* [http://speechwriting-ghostwriting.typepad.com/speechwriting_ghostwritin/2006/01/trial_by_tvblog.html Interview] on ''speechwriting-ghostwriting.typepad.com''
* [http://speechwriting-ghostwriting.typepad.com/speechwriting_ghostwritin/2006/01/trial_by_tvblog.html Interview] on ''speechwriting-ghostwriting.typepad.com''
* {{Goodreads author|name=Walter K. Olson}}
* {{Goodreads author|902498.Walter_Olson}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}
Line 45: Line 51:
[[Category:Yale University alumni]]
[[Category:Yale University alumni]]
[[Category:Cato Institute people]]
[[Category:Cato Institute people]]
[[Category:Manhattan Institute for Policy Research]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]

Latest revision as of 06:37, 28 July 2024

Walter K. Olson (born 1954) is an American author and blogger who writes mostly about legal subjects, including tort reform. Olson is a senior fellow of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, D.C. Formerly, Olson was associated with the Manhattan Institute in New York City. He founded several websites, including the Manhattan Institute's scholarly PointOfLaw.com, and continues to run Overlawyered.com, a more popularly oriented website focusing on tort reform and alleged overreaching by lawyers. He has published four books on the American litigation system: The Litigation Explosion, The Excuse Factory, The Rule of Lawyers, and most recently Schools for Misrule. Olson is a Republican.[1] The Washington Post has dubbed Olson an "intellectual guru of tort reform."[2] He has testified to Congress numerous times, and has written articles for publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Reason, Reader's Digest, and The New York Times. His work is often discussed in the press and has been cited in court opinions.[3][4]

Olson is a graduate of Yale University[5] and was cited in a 2014 list of religious unbelievers with conservative views.[6] Despite being a legal pundit, he lacks a J.D. degree.[7]

Olson has written about redistricting reform and gerrymandering.[8] In 2015 he was appointed by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan as co-chair of the Maryland Redistricting Reform Commission,[9] which issued recommendations later that year for comprehensive reform. The commission's recommendations served as a basis for legislation Hogan has introduced since then in the Maryland legislature.

Politics

[edit]

Olson has said that while he campaigned for George W. Bush in 2000, he did not support his re-election in 2004: "Foreign policy and defense blunders aside, the last thing I wanted was an administration combining aggressive social conservatism with uncontrolled spending and big new government programs."[10]

Olson supports same-sex marriage.[11]

Personal life

[edit]

Olson is married to Steve Pippin, with whom he has adopted a son.[11][12][13]

Bibliography

[edit]
  • The Litigation Explosion: What Happened When America Released the Lawsuit. E.P. Dutton/Truman Talley Books, 1991; ISBN 0-525-24911-7
  • The Excuse Factory: How Employment Law is Paralyzing the American Workplace. Free Press, 1997; ISBN 0-684-82732-8
  • The Rule of Lawyers: How the New Litigation Elite Threatens America's Rule of Law. Truman Talley Books, 2003; ISBN 0-312-28085-8
  • Schools for Misrule: Legal Academia and an Overlawyered America. Encounter Books, 2011, ISBN 1-594-03233-5
  • Olson, Walter (2008). "Macaulay, Thomas Babington (1800–1859)". The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Cato Institute. pp. 309–310. doi:10.4135/9781412965811.n185. ISBN 978-1412965804. LCCN 2008009151. OCLC 750831024. Ronald Hamowy, editor

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Maryland Politics: Hogan creates emergency commission to deal with ‘embarrassment’ of gerrymandered congressional districts", Erin Cox, Washington Post, November 26, 2018
  2. ^ Torry, Saundra (September 14, 1992). "Walter Cronkite Video Helps Stir Up Debate Over Tort Reform". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 25, 2011. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
  3. ^ Alice Jansen vs. Packaging Corp. America, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 95-3128 123 F3d 490 / Kimberly B. Ellerth vs. Burlington Industries, Inc., 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 96-1361 123 F3d 490 [1]
  4. ^ Doe v. City of Belleville, Illinois, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 94-3699 119 F3d 563 [2]
  5. ^ "Walter Olson Joins Cato". 2010-05-04.
  6. ^ "Yes, Atheism and Conservatism Are Compatible". National Review. 2014-02-26.
  7. ^ "Olson, Walter K. 1954– | Encyclopedia.com".
  8. ^ "Why Libertarians - and Others - Should Care About Gerrymandering". 2017-11-06.
  9. ^ "Redistricting Reform Commission, Maryland".
  10. ^ "Election roundup: the White House". OverLawyered. 2004-10-26. Retrieved 2008-10-27.
  11. ^ a b Geidner, Chris (2012-07-20). "Cato Scholar Hosting Benefit To Protect Maryland's New Marriage Equality Bill". Buzzfeed News. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  12. ^ Bruinius, Harry (February 21, 2020). "Gay rights, religious freedom, and the battle over adoption". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  13. ^ Shackford, Scott (2020-02-24). "Can a City Refuse To Use a Foster Agency That Discriminates Against Same-Sex Couples?". Reason. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Walter_Olson&oldid=1237120058"