Volokh was born in theSoviet Union to aJewish family residing inKyiv, Ukraine.[8][9] He emigrated with his family to the United States at the age of seven.[10] Volokh exhibited extraordinary mathematical abilities from an early age. At the age of 9, he was attending university-level mathematics and calculus courses after he was found studyingdifferential equations on his own.[11][12] When only 10 years 1 month old, he earned a 780 out of a possible 800 on the math portion of what is now called theSAT-I.[13]
In 2024, Volokh retired from UCLA, becoming a Professor of Law Emeritus, and moved to the Hoover Institution at Stanford, where he is the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow.[6]
Volokh is commonly described as politically conservative or libertarian.[22][23] In 2012, one commentator described Volokh's politics as "soft libertarian", and Volokh as an "unpredictable libertarian-leaning" writer.[24] He has been a longtime member of theFederalist Society since he first joined in the 1980s.[25]
In the2008 presidential election, Volokh supported former Tennessee SenatorFred Thompson, saying Thompson had good instincts on legal issues and that he preferred Thompson's positions on theFirst Amendment and political speech toJohn McCain's sponsorship ofcampaign finance reform. Volokh also liked Thompson's position in favor ofindividual gun ownership.[26] He noted that Thompson "takes federalism seriously, and he seems to have a fairly deep-seated sense that there is a real difference between state and federal power."[26]
Volokh has also expressed support for the right to use racial epithets in classroom settings.[28] Following this, UC Davis Law review released an editorial statement clarifying their policies forbidding the usage of racial slurs in their publication.[29]
Volokh's article about "The Commonplace Second Amendment" (1998),[30] was cited bySupreme Court JusticeAntonin Scalia's majority opinion in the landmarkSecond Amendment case ofDistrict of Columbia v. Heller,[31] and he has been quoted in the media on gun laws.[32][33] His article, "Might Federal Preemption of Speech-Protective State Laws Violate the First Amendment?" (2021) was cited by JusticeClarence Thomas in a concurring opinion forKnight First Amendment Institute v. Trump (2021), with Thomas arguing that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act might be unconstitutional and that Twitter should be regulated as a common carrier.[34]
Volokh's brother, Alexander "Sasha" Volokh, is a law professor at Emory University.[48][49] Like Eugene, Alexander also clerked for Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court, although Alexander clerked for Justice Alito as well.[50]
^Sasha Volokh (July 20, 2016)."I'm finally attacked by name on the floor of the Senate".The Volokh Conspiracy. The Washington Post.Archived from the original on July 21, 2016. RetrievedJuly 20, 2016.[S]he pauses for a second or two in her notes, carefully considering how to pronounce my last name before settling on [ˈvoʊlɒk] (rhymes with 'bow lock') – I don't object to that pronunciation, even though we use [ˈvɑːlək] (rhymes with 'frolic') and the Russian pronunciation is [ˈvoləx]
^"UCLA Magazine".The Contrarian.Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. RetrievedNovember 11, 2006.
^Nash, J. Madeleine; Frederic Golden; Philip Faflick (May 3, 1982)."Here Come the Microkids". Time. Archived fromthe original on February 5, 2013. RetrievedFebruary 23, 2011.
^Volokh, Eugene (April 25, 2014)."Federalist Society's second annual Executive Branch Review Conference".The Washington Post.I've been a member of the Federalist Society for over 25 years (since before I even went to law school), I'm involved with the Federalist Society's Free Speech & Election Law Practice Group, and I often give talks (which generally come with honoraria) at Federalist Society local chapters.
^Hasen, Richard L. (2022).Cheap Speech: How Disinformation Poisons our Politics-And How to Cure It. Yale University Press. pp. 122-125.ISBN9780300259377.OCLC1262192857.
^Schabner, Dean (August 15, 2017)."Was Racial Slur Anger or Hate Crime?".ABC News. Go.com.Archived from the original on September 21, 2017. RetrievedSeptember 21, 2017.Eugene Volokh, a specialist in the First Amendment who was one of the legal advisors on California's Proposition 209 anti-race-preference ballot measure
^Egelko, Bob (January 17, 2014)."Court Ruling Helps Bloggers in Libel Cases".San Francisco Chronicle.Archived from the original on October 7, 2017. RetrievedSeptember 18, 2017.Eugene Volokh, a UCLA law professor who is also a prolific blogger
