John Kastellec
@jkastellec.bsky.social
đ¤ 6175
đĽ 383
đ 193
Professor of Politics at Princeton University @Princeton .
http://www.makingthesupremecourt.com
pinned post!
Happy to announce that
@anthonytaboni.bsky.social
and I have created a new dataset of the Supreme Court's Shadow Docket actions from 1993-2025. A paper describing the data and a website with the data and documentation are here:
www.shadowdocketdata.com/s/kastellec_...
www.shadowdocketdata.com
loading . . .
Supreme Court Shadow Docket Database
https://www.shadowdocketdata.com/
11 months ago
0
27
10
Virginia is one of only 2 states (the other is South Carolina) that uses legislative appointments for its state supreme court judges.
news.ballotpedia.org/2025/03/18/a...
3 days ago
0
10
3
reposted by
John Kastellec
Jen Mercieca
4 days ago
Idk if yâall are following the Canvas hack story, but apparently whoever hacked it is holding each uniâs access to canvas for ransom. Grades are due for graduation and no one can log on. đŹ
41
806
283
add a skeleton here at some point
4 days ago
2
14
6
reposted by
John Kastellec
Brendan Nyhan
5 days ago
Important corrective to influential article
add a skeleton here at some point
0
25
7
reposted by
John Kastellec
Noah Rosenblum
7 days ago
It is pretty striking to see the speed with which the Court wants to implement this rule â as opposed to the delay it exhibited in other pressing cases in the recent past, like Texasâs abortion ban or the Trump immunity decision.
add a skeleton here at some point
21
683
216
reposted by
John Kastellec
Steve Vladeck
7 days ago
Quite a remarkable exchange between Justice Alito (concurring) and Justice Jackson (dissenting) respecting the Supreme Courtâs decision to issue the judgment in the Louisiana redistricting case immediately:
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
loading . . .
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25a1197_097c.pdf
38
349
108
reposted by
John Kastellec
Matt Grossmann
7 days ago
Gilens' data shows responsiveness to low-income public opinion for both issues where affluent favor change more & less. Seeming lack of responsiveness is due to a higher rate of policy change when the rich favor more Article:
sociologicalscience.com/articles-v13...
Post:
medium.com/3streams/one...
1
29
16
reposted by
John Kastellec
Alexander Howard
9 days ago
Hains Point is a national treasure & a beloved civic space for hundreds of thousands of Americans who live in DC. The community golf course & surrounding parklands need maintenance, but not at cost of permanent loss of public access for all public uses.
www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2026/...
loading . . .
Trump fundraiser shares plans for âGarden of Heroes,â golf course as takeover looms
A fundraising pitch obtained by The Washington Post touts plans, which have not been approved, to dramatically reshape parts of Washingtonâs waterfront.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2026/05/02/trump-garden-golf-east-potomac-plans/
31
656
248
reposted by
John Kastellec
Central NJ Yimby đď¸đ˛đđşđ¸
10 days ago
I am back. And I have seen the self-parodic antics of these NIMBYs. Imagine being a titled professor at Princeton University and accusing an inclusionary housing development of being "a monument to conspicuous privilege"!?! They will say literally anything. They have no shame!!
add a skeleton here at some point
2
18
5
reposted by
John Kastellec
Dave Weigel
11 days ago
The RBG cult is very weird and it's important to smash its icons. Souter retired at age 70, healthy for that age, because he wanted Obama to replace him. In 2013 (the obvious time to retire, Dems ran Senate) Ginsberg had beaten cancer several times, was 80 years old, and... just rolled the dice!
add a skeleton here at some point
24
505
59
Totally unprecedented for a Supreme Court justice to cite a tendentious statistic that purportedly supports their predetermined preferred outcome.
bsky.app/profile/devi...
add a skeleton here at some point
11 days ago
0
2
0
reposted by
John Kastellec
Devin Caughey
11 days ago
The decision in Louisiana v. Callais claims, "By 2004, the racial gap in voter registration and turnout had largely disappeared.... Black voters now participate in elections at similar rates as the rest of the electorate" (26â27). This is misleading: White turnout remains much higher than non-White.
1
5
7
Strange choice for the Washington Post to publish some generic NIMBY-ism about a small town in Central New Jersey.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
loading . . .
Opinion | A luxury high-rise could ruin this historic neighborhood
A local developer's plan for âaffordableâ housing in Princeton is a profit-driven, history-destroying ruse.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/04/29/princeton-needs-affordable-housing-not-luxury-units/
11 days ago
0
3
0
reposted by
John Kastellec
Jonathan Ladd
12 days ago
Lots of alternative approaches to districting. But none will work without Supreme Court reform, because the Supreme Court is highly likely to strike down proportional representation, a federal ban on partisan gerrymandering, or anything. The text of the Constitution does not matter to them, sadly.
9
294
100
reposted by
John Kastellec
Josh Chafetz
12 days ago
Just a reminder that in Shelby County, Roberts told us not to worry about the loss of VRA preclearance, because weâd still have VRA sec. 2 suits. That was, of course, disingenuous nonsense even at the time. Now, with Brnovich and Calllais, itâs all the more so.
30
2364
686
reposted by
John Kastellec
Josh Chafetz
13 days ago
1/ As far as I can tell, the only thing Randy has posted about Renee Good or Alex Pretti is to complain that Jonathan Last referred to their murders as state terrorism. He openly mocks Obama's reaction to the murder of Trayvon Martin, in the process accusing Obama himself of violent leanings.
17
446
85
Many thanks to Ethan Bueno de Mesquita, Wioletta Dziuda, and Anthony Fowler for inviting me on the Not Another Politics Podcast to discuss bargaining on the Supreme Court.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...
jkastellec.scholar.princeton.edu/document/166
loading . . .
Is the Median Justice Running the Supreme Court?
Podcast Episode ¡ Not Another Politics Podcast ¡ April 24 ¡ 1h 10m
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/is-the-median-justice-running-the-supreme-court/id1496412542?i=1000763454408
14 days ago
0
7
2
reposted by
John Kastellec
James Downie
16 days ago
Just a reminder that past motives for assassination attempts have included: "because the ghost of William McKinley told me to," "to save the trees" and "to impress Jodie Foster."
add a skeleton here at some point
47
3111
659
reposted by
John Kastellec
American Political Science Review
18 days ago
From our FirstView: Replication of âInstrumentally Inclusive: The Political Psychology of Homonationalismâ (Turnbull-Dugarte and LĂłpez Ortega 2024) by
@dandekadt.bsky.social
.
doi.org/10.1017/S000...
0
5
2
reposted by
John Kastellec
Brendan Nyhan
20 days ago
Tragic and heart-breaking. Why we must not let our guard down - measles is terribly contagious and can and will come roaring back if we let it.
add a skeleton here at some point
0
72
19
reposted by
John Kastellec
Josh Chafetz
20 days ago
Once again I am begging my fellow legal academics to remember that judges are the objects of our study, not our bosses, priests, or revered elders.
add a skeleton here at some point
5
338
47
reposted by
John Kastellec
Josh Chafetz
21 days ago
I donât know much of anything about the rules of professional responsibility for lawyers, so I defer to my friend
@stephenesachs.bsky.social
on the details. But if a reporter reporting out a story violates the rules of professional responsibility, so much the worse for the rules.
add a skeleton here at some point
11
50
5
reposted by
John Kastellec
Jamal Greene
21 days ago
I agree with much of this, but it seems to me that your fourth point leaves some serious--dare I say scandalous--questions as to why the Court does not seem more alarmed now than it was then. The things you say *we* now know seem to have escaped the current majority's notice.
1
8
1
reposted by
John Kastellec
Kevin
23 days ago
I don't really care f someone uses it or not but, I don't think a lot of anti-AI people on bluesky realize what outliers they are in mainstream society.
add a skeleton here at some point
11
65
13
reposted by
John Kastellec
Andrew Gelman et al.
29 days ago
All graphs are comparisons, and the relevance of this principle to practical advice for producing better graphs
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2026/04/12/a...
loading . . .
All graphs are comparisons, and the relevance of this principle to practical advice for producing better graphs | Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science
https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2026/04/12/all-graphs-are-comparisons-and-the-relevance-of-this-principle-for-practical-advice-for-producing-better-graphs/
1
13
5
reposted by
John Kastellec
ArtButMakeItSports
29 days ago
Woman Walking in an Exotic Forest, by Henri Rousseau, 1905, via @garrett_TFE
9
1911
233
reposted by
John Kastellec
Julia Azari
about 1 month ago
"7 prominent law professors" has some big toothpaste commercial energy
add a skeleton here at some point
2
95
9
reposted by
John Kastellec
Sahil Kapur
about 1 month ago
đ¨ TRUMP: âI agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.â
94
346
323
reposted by
John Kastellec
Josh Chafetz
about 1 month ago
1/2 Here's the thing about the fund nothing option ... it still relies on some sort of internalized sense in the executive branch that it ought to follow the law. Or, put differently ...
add a skeleton here at some point
5
123
28
reposted by
John Kastellec
Brendan Nyhan
about 1 month ago
It's
@professormusgrave.bsky.social
o'clock again, alas
1
476
114
reposted by
John Kastellec
Brendan Nyhan
about 1 month ago
Under the baseline scenario, the median justice doesn't return to the center of the political spectrum until after 2050
add a skeleton here at some point
1
37
15
reposted by
John Kastellec
I used Claude Code to build an website that implements the simulations presented in "Making in the Supreme Court: The Politics of Appointments, 1930-2020" (with Chuck Cameron) that predict the composition of the Supreme Court under different scenarios.
jkastellec.github.io/msc-simulator/
loading . . .
MSC Simulator â Supreme Court Composition
https://jkastellec.github.io/msc-simulator/
about 1 month ago
2
14
9
reposted by
John Kastellec
Reilly Steel
about 1 month ago
Very cool, and a useful tool for legal scholars to game out the future composition of SCOTUS.
add a skeleton here at some point
0
2
1
I used Claude Code to build an website that implements the simulations presented in "Making in the Supreme Court: The Politics of Appointments, 1930-2020" (with Chuck Cameron) that predict the composition of the Supreme Court under different scenarios.
jkastellec.github.io/msc-simulator/
loading . . .
MSC Simulator â Supreme Court Composition
https://jkastellec.github.io/msc-simulator/
about 1 month ago
2
14
9
reposted by
John Kastellec
Thomas J Wood
about 1 month ago
In the April
@apsa.bsky.social
ejobs release, we're still tracking a 30% decline in political science tenure track jobs since 2023-24.
0
10
10
reposted by
John Kastellec
Andrew Little
about 1 month ago
It's almost like there is a trade-off between loyalty and competence đ¤
7
205
37
reposted by
John Kastellec
Kenny Lowande
about 1 month ago
How should scholars who study American politics change what they do in a political time like ours? I'm skeptical it will get much circulation on this site, but in a new review, I critique the emerging turn toward a kind of political advocacy mixed with research.
myumi.ch/w9R2W
1
17
9
reposted by
John Kastellec
American Political Science Review
about 1 month ago
From our FirstView articles: The Path of Law: Legal Uncertainty and Issues of First Impression in the U.S. Courts of Appeals by
@anthonytaboni.bsky.social
.
doi.org/10.1017/S000...
0
7
3
The Madisonian system with extreme levels of party polarization AND where the majority party can't effectively coordinate even during periods of unified government really is the worst.
about 1 month ago
0
4
0
reposted by
John Kastellec
Talbot Andrews
about 2 months ago
Do you need to measure precise preferences for visual outcomes with very little survey space? Markus Prior, Justin Curl, and I have some solutions for you! Now officially published in
@polanalysis.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1017/pan....
loading . . .
Meaning Beyond Numbers: Introducing the Plot Staircase to Measure Graphical Preferences | Political Analysis | Cambridge Core
Meaning Beyond Numbers: Introducing the Plot Staircase to Measure Graphical Preferences - Volume 34 Issue 2
https://doi.org/10.1017/pan.2025.10015
0
8
4
reposted by
John Kastellec
Josh Chafetz
about 2 months ago
1/ It's not just that unilaterally paying TSA agents is illegal. It's that Trump has now repeatedly undermined the core of the congressional power of the purse. He's not spending money that has been appropriated by law (impoundments) and he's spending money that has not been appropriated.
114
5893
1995
reposted by
John Kastellec
Alex Garlick
about 2 months ago
I really enjoyed writing this review of state interest group scholarship with Tom Holyoke for SPPQ (not to say writing isn't usually "fun"). In our view there's good research emerging in recent years on interest group mobilization, how lobbyists matter and interest group effects on policymaking.
loading . . .
A Renaissance in State Interest Group Studies | State Politics & Policy Quarterly | Cambridge Core
A Renaissance in State Interest Group Studies
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/state-politics-and-policy-quarterly/article/renaissance-in-state-interest-group-studies/E77B3D5E07C93987B9C323F726858284
1
6
2
reposted by
John Kastellec
lauren
about 2 months ago
war_iran_final-blow_v1.pdf war_iran_final-final-blow-v2.pdf war_iran_final-blow-no edits.pdf war_iran_final-blow-no edits (1).pdf war_iran_final-blow-no edits (1) APPROVED.pdf IRANWARPLANSFINALFINALFINAL.pdf IRANWARPLANSFINALFINALFINAL (1).pdf
add a skeleton here at some point
210
9544
1926
reposted by
John Kastellec
American Political Science Review
about 2 months ago
From our FirstView article: The Political Transformation of Corporate America, 2001â2022 by REILLY S. STEEL
doi.org/10.1017/S000...
0
11
10
reposted by
John Kastellec
Elizabeth Picciuto
about 2 months ago
I remember when back in the 90s the spring breakers they interviewed were never ignorant. They would debate interpretations of Childe Haroldâs Pilgrimage and Einsteinâs refusal to recognize quantum mechanics.
add a skeleton here at some point
17
412
39
reposted by
John Kastellec
huck mason
about 2 months ago
"What kind of TSA PreCheck Member are you"
26
5962
1064
reposted by
John Kastellec
Andrew Rudalevige
about 2 months ago
Posted without commentâŚ
add a skeleton here at some point
4
69
23
reposted by
John Kastellec
Anthony Michael Kreis
about 2 months ago
Professor Wurman seems to relish in calling me a bad academic who doesnât sufficiently extend good faith presumptions and scholarly charity. He also demands I produce evidence in real time. Fairs. So, Ilan Wurman, Iâd like you to meet Ilan Wurman.
80
1976
364
reposted by
John Kastellec
Josh Chafetz
about 2 months ago
Every article I read about sports betting--and the McKay Coppins piece is an excellent one--just makes me more and more convinced that we need to ban this scourge. And that we shouldn't sleep on Murphy v. NCAA in the pantheon of Terrible Roberts Court Decisions.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
loading . . .
My Year as a Degenerate Sports Gambler
Practically overnight, America made wagering on a game as frictionless as checking the weather. I was determined to understand the consequencesâfor my country, and for myself.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/04/online-sports-betting-app-addiction/686061/
13
241
65
Load more
feeds!
log in