RIP Dan Howe, a great historian of the antebellum United States 🗃️

Downloads of the Year 2025 Here are ten papers that I found particularly interesting, innovative, or valuable in 2025. Originalism, the Administrative State, and the Clash of Political Theories by J. Joel Alicea The Supreme Court Under Threat: Early Lessons in Judicial Self-Protection by Curtis…

An excerpt on the violence of the protest movement's aims: 4/

William E. Nelson, one of the giants of U.S. legal history has passed. I have fond memories of spending a year as a Golieb Fellow at NYU under his tutelage -- as do many others. Sending love and comfort to his family and to all those who who counted him as a friend.

In this co-authored article for Lawfare (@lawfaremedia.org), Fordham Law Professor Doni Bloomfield (@donibloomfield.bsky.social) argues that the regulations intended to prevent bioweapons proliferation may actually be increasing bioweapon risks.

The story of how Xiao Wang was treated sounds really bad.

Well said

Describing this growing group of Jan 6 pardonees as 'facing new legal trouble' seems to miss what I fear is the most plausible explanation for why so many are back: they understood the pardon they received as an official license to resume doing exactly what they had been doing on Trump's behalf.

Gerard Magliocca’s new book is a must read for scholars of constitutional and administrative law, legal historians, and political scientists. global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Join us Thursday morning for a discussion on immigration and migration policies in the second Trump administration with Jaya Ramji-Nogales, Ingrid Brunk, and @monicahakimi.bsky.social Register here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

“Do you wanna keep your seat reclined or do you wanna keep your kneecaps?”

Drawing on a draft article, I filed an amicus brief in the 5th Cir. en banc Alien Enemies Act litigation, with great representation by Covington & Burling. The brief shows that Pres Trump's use of the statute is inconsistent with its meaning when enacted in 1798. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Neal Katyal says he's working on a TV show that he describes as "The West Wing for the Supreme Court," and my question is, have We As A Society not suffered enough

I agree with @ilyasomin.bsky.social, US should recognize a Victims of Communism day. The #s of killed, starved, tortured, terrorized, blackmailed, surveilled, denied other basic liberties (religious practice, political participation, child rearing etc) are staggering reason.com/volokh/2025/...

We had only very bad choices on the ballot. I held my nose and voted Cuomo, fwiw

Now that your guy won, can Mamdani people admit that "when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it's been laced by the IDF" sounds a lot like something an anti-Semite would say?

Andrew Kent and I have a blog post on Quorum Call, the blog of the Harvard Law School Journal of Legislation, about the tariffs case being argued tomorrow. You can find it here: journals.law.harvard.edu/jol/2025/11/...

A substack post about the brief Andrew Kent and I submitted in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, the tariffs case: paulstephan.substack.com/p/an-amici-b...

New amicus brief in IEEPA tariff case by law profs @andrewkent.bsky.social @pbs3.bsky.social: "Interpreting IEEPA as not covering tariffs or other monetary exactions does not hobble the President. Existing trade law gives him significant authority to adjust tariffs to confront a national emergency."

Legal Theory Bookworm: "Contemporary Non-Positivism" by Atiq, buff.ly/tW60iUQ - The Legal Theory Bookworm recommends Contemporary Non-Positivism by Emad H. Atiq.

Craig Green is very worth reading on Erie papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

What I'm saying is that Niskanen should bring on some fellows to do esoteric readings of Plato

The criticisms here of the effects on law students are right, but miss the most important piece: hiring on first semester grades hurts first-gen students, students who don't have lawyers in the family, students who take a little longer to adjust to law school, etc. 1/ www.law.com/2025/08/18/h...

Excellent scholarly analysis by @andrewkent.bsky.social of Trump's invocation of Alien Enemies Act. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

As we watch the increasing weaponization of economic tools, this new collection of (often prescient) articles on "Economic Sanctions and the Law" in the Fordham International Law Journal has become only more relevant: www.fordhamilj.org/volume-48-is...

Even if justices are geniuses, a democratic culture, committed to the people's self-govt largely through elective institutions, should work hard treat them like ordinary people with a job (though an important one). The fan cults around eg Scalia and RBG were embarrassing and unfortunate

This isn’t aimed only at Sotomayor. But to expand on Robert’s point, with the exception of Holmes and Posner, none of these people are geniuses. They’re generally good lawyers who had the benefit of circumstance. Treating them like wizards—as we do at these public talks—is a recipe for disaster.

Big news! After 8 years of exemplary service, @gauthamrao.bsky.social is stepping down as editor of @lawandhistrev.bsky.social. The ASLH seeks applications for the next editor. Great opportunity, though Gautham's shoes will be hard to fill. Details here: legalhistoryblog.blogspot.com/2025/08/law-...

Delighted to share my latest, History and Fetishism in the New Separation of Powers Formalism, now live in the Penn Law Review! The piece traces the emergence of the Supreme Court’s new approach to separation of powers law and argues that it is grounded in a set of basic mistakes. (1/3)

I've just posted "The Alien Enemies Act of 1798," a draft article doing a deep dive into all aspects of the statute and background law -- what it all meant in 1798. It defines "invasion" and "predatory incursion," among other provisions. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

there's a nice (derogatory) confluence between the second trump administration's embrace of Redemption politics and its effort to engage in a Redemption-style rewriting of Jan 6 and associated recent history

This is so awful. Life saving technology attacked by an addled loon, utterly unfit for his job Kennedy Cancels Nearly $500 Million in mRNA Vaccine Contracts www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/h...

Finally a car that can make any hard right turn.

At my kids' K-12 school, wokeness definitely coming from teachers and admin staff, not all of them, for sure. But those groups seem stronger generators of it than students, I think

strongly strongly strongly recommend

Very well done Lawfare piece co-authored by one of my Fed Courts students at a Fordham law. Oral Argument Summary: CC/Devas (Mauritius) Ltd. v. Antrix Corp. Ltd. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/oral...

Seeking multiple litigation attorneys to join our impact litigation team on a contract basis for 6 months, possibility of extension. And, seeking an experienced, passionate Dir. of Partnerships to manage a midsize fundraising team, deadline for this role is May 12. protectdemocracy.org/jobs

I’ve been struck by the fact that the most influential conservative intellectual judges and commentators when I was in law school are now some of the loudest and clearest voices speaking out against the abuses of this administration.

My thoughts on the Alien Enemies Act, DOJ v. Boasberg, Trump v. Roberts, and where we are. open.substack.com/pub/executiv...

At @jotwell.bsky.social, I explain why @fordhamlawnyc.bsky.social prof @donibloomfield.bsky.social thinks IP scholars should pay more attention to export controls and secrecy orders ip.jotwell.com/government-s...

The Trump Administration: Protecting Tesla dealers more fiercely than they protected the Capitol.

Good piece. But Harry Bridges was not just an "Australian union organizer" in the US targeted for "pro-labor speech activities." Soviet archives evidence shows he was a CPUSA leader -- at a time when that org was significantly involved with Stalin's intel services. Bridges repeatedly lied about this