Plus ca change . . .

kind of darkly funny that "gender studies" is the stereotypical "useless degree" because gender studies will help you understand a large and important chunk of the current psychosis in american life

“Critics have likened Mr. Trump’s approach to extortion, while others agree it’s extortion but aren’t critics.”

sometimes a beautiful book arrives at just the right time. cannot recommend @riislover667.bsky.social’s This Watery Place highly enough!

My moderating skills were a little rusty, but this event still turned out SO GREAT thanks to @sandynurse.bsky.social & @ngusdorf.bsky.social!! If you want to learn about how NYC government works (we get deep into the city budget) you absolutely can't miss this event!! youtu.be/kTZb8XlVJs0

In Skrmetti, the Supreme Court put hundreds of thousands of kids in harm's way while inflicting damage on the larger project of sex equality for all. My latest in Harvard Law Review: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

In the Harvard Law Review, @kredburn.bsky.social has a new piece explaining what happened in Skrmetti, and what it means for trans rights and sex equality more broadly.

Out today in HLR, my piece Skrmetti Beyond Scrutiny. What happened, what it means for trans rights and sex equality more broadly: harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-13...

Out today in HLR, my piece Skrmetti Beyond Scrutiny. What happened, what it means for trans rights and sex equality more broadly: harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-13...

to be clear: the government's claim - validated by the Court - is that it would *irreparably harm* the president to not misgender trans people

Worth reading the dissent in this horrible order - Justice Jackson points to the pattern of emergency docket abuse and the absurdity of the government's claims.

You African Studies majors out there: you too can become mayor of New York City!!!

Excited about the first @lpenyc.bsky.social Night School event of the new academic year, now at @cuny.edu Law — with @masonbwilliams.bsky.social and Gregory Louis in conversation with @llchristyll.bsky.social!! RSVP below!

Such a pleasure to join @imarajones.bsky.social on @translash.org to talk about the history of anti-queer and trans surveillance

Genevieve Lakier is who everyone should be reading on the risks of government jawboning in the Jimmy Kimmel case. @genevievelakier.bsky.social

Part of the success of “cancel culture” as a meme is that it makes dissimilar activity look the same. Protesting a speaker is not the same as shunning sexual predators is not the same as the federal government silencing dissent.

I wrote a book that I hope helps people think about the relationship between law, science, social movements, &political economy. It tells the story of how feminists transformed the response to AIDS to ensure better access to healthcare. Avail for preorder! www.cambridge.org/core/books/r...

It can be hard to keep up with all the ways the feds are going after trans folks- really helpful analysis of concerning developments at FTC from @lookheron.bsky.social

There are two big legal issues when states try to fill gaps in fed health insurance regulations: (1) the insurance issue is more likely to require new state legislation than the pharmacy issue & (2) states can’t touch two of the biggest types of insurance - “self-insured” employer plans & Medicare

Several states are moving fast to remove barriers, but their power over insurance coverage is more limited than their power to permit pharmacists to give vaccines.…

Subpoenas made public this week show the government is demanding doctors turn over a wide range of sensitive, identifiable data about its trans patients — everything from social security numbers to Zoom records, notes, addresses, "everything written or recorded." Our story: wapo.st/4lAnkRy

The astounding triumph Born in Flames by @benchansfield.bsky.social is out! The rare work of history that changes common sense - in this case the burning of the Bronx and other cities in the 70s - while also making revelatory moves for theory and historiography. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/b...

Under the radar, gender affirming care won’t be covered by major federal insurance programs. www.advocate.com/politics/fed...

Today is publication day and I can't wait for my pre-ordered copy to arrive. CONGRATULATIONS BENCH! Get your own copy today and read it with others.

Back to school! ✨📚 Excited to teach “Law and Inequality” again at @brooklynlawschool.bsky.social, joined by these wonderful scholars: Alice Abrokwa Matthew Patrick Shaw Russell Robinson @kredburn.bsky.social @lauraportuondo.bsky.social Maureen Edobor Susan Sturm

Torts teachers: the 2025 edition of the completely FREE Witt-Tani casebook is now up on the CALI website! Thanks again to @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social for adding me as a co-author a few editions back. I love this book & love hearing from those of you who use it! www.cali.org/books/torts-...

Very disheartening (& gratuitously cruel) that the federal government has gone all the way from (i) Title IX requires schools to allow transgender students access to restrooms (which is correct) to (ii) Title IX prohibits schools from doing so (which ain't).[1] www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

On this day in 1924, Phyllis Schlafly was born. She spearheaded efforts to block ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in the 70s and 80s, in part by denying the persistence of discrimination against women. Then she tried to get an important post in the Reagan admin & was passed over. #WeTheMen

We can’t wait to read your ideas! For more information and to submit, check out our website: lawandpoliticaleconomy.org

⭐️ Are you a scholar 1-3 years away from the job market? Learn more about applying to our emerging scholars program at this link: lawandpoliticaleconomy.org.

📢 Heads up! The Association of Law & Political Economy is accepting submissions for our first-ever conference starting THIS Friday 🎉

“The hand that torched the Bronx and scores of other cities,” Ansfield writes, “was that of a landlord impelled by the market and guided by the state.” Dan Piepenbring on Born in Flames, by Bench Ansfield (@benchansfield.bsky.social).

Law and History Review is pleased to announce publication of this year's first issue of The Docket, our digital imprint dedicated to bringing cutting-edge legal history to our readers--no paywall, no access restrictions. Here's our table of contents for Volume 8, Issue 1-2 (2025)

The agreement forces Brown to adopt definitions of sex which exclude trans people across the university: "all practices, policies, and procedures adopted and implemented by the University for any athletic opportunity, event, competition, category, program, or activity designated for women."

Just read the Brown University agreement and this really jumped out. "The University will not perform gender reassignment surgery or prescribe puberty blockers or hormones to any minor child for the purpose of aligning the child's appearance with an identity that differs from his or her sex."

“Roughly 50 religious leaders and advocates testified individually on bills restricting bathroom use and participation in women’s sports this spring. All but four opposed the legislation.”

Marianne Hirsch is a brilliant critical theorist and inspiring colleague. A pillar of our critical community here at Columbia. apnews.com/article/colu...

Starred review from @publisherswkly.bsky.social says The Radical Fund is “an immense and essential achievement” with an “exhilarating range of figures” and “stark parallels with the present.” www.publishersweekly.com/9781476765877

I spoke with the LA Times about the Trump administration's latest attacks on transgender kids. I appreciated how thoughtful Sonja Sharp was in our conversation and the article.

Here is @dorfonlaw.bsky.social on Columbia's settlement. Read through to the end for the big important point. www.dorfonlaw.org/2025/07/how-...

Bracing analysis from Columbia Law School’s David Pozen about the significance and implications of Columbia’s settlement with Trump. balkin.blogspot.com/2025/07/regu...

Periodic reminder that if you are the kind of sicko who wants to think and write about the Supreme Court in your spare time, you should pitch me, because I will at least pay you for it ballsandstrikes.substack.com/p/do-you-wan...

Incredible news for trans people - the Medicaid provision is out of the Trump horror bill. It did not require a point of order vote, and instead, Republicans pulled it out on their own, likely knowing they would lose the vote. Good job to everyone for calling their Senators.

This paragraph is going to be my joker origin story. That "two people can get married...so long as they love each other" is just objectively true. It is not a view that can be accepted or rejected.

At oral argument in this case DOJ said it would burden parents for their child to share a classroom with a trans student.

If the Supreme Court thinks universal injunctions are unconstitutional, to wait until *now* to say that, in this of all cases, with this of all presidents, is a devastating indictment of both its impartiality and its prudence.