Lew, I am not surprised to see Richard Posner providing theoretical justifications for the police state. Posner’s jurisprudence has always rested on the premise that the government should have the power to override the rights of the individual for “the common good.”

Some misguided libertarians have seen Posner as a ally, because he recognizes the relationship between free-markets and private property to economic prosperity. However, Poser’s Law and Economics is, in large part, inspired by Coase’s rejection of the Austrian subjective theory of value in favor of a theory that judges can promote “efficiency” if they are empowered to override the voluntary actions of individuals.

More on Posner here, here, and here.