My article, "Statutory Liquidation," is now in final form. Check it out on SSRN: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... Or at the Administrative Law Review website: administrativelawreview.org/volume-77-is... Thank you to the many who helped improve it!

Question: How long until Trump FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr claims he's a victim of "cancel culture" because people rebelled against Carr's attempt to have government censor Kimmel - and rejected Carr's efforts to impose a state-sanctioned censorship regime?

SCOTUSblog had long called the shadow docket by its neutral term, the “Emergency Docket,” but the site has just switched to Kavanaugh’s new preferred term, “Interim Docket.” Dispatch Media’s helping Brett make fetch happen.

shit ain’t over til it’s over

Tune in for my conversation with Skye Perryman @democracyforward.org on legal news and THEN listen to hear all 3 of us + Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social talk ... the great KBJ!!!

NEW: White House officials are "ecstatic" at their long winning run at the Supreme Court. Details on their aggressive legal strategy here: www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...

Thanks to Thor Benson @thorbenson.bsky.social for doing a piece on SCOTUS - and including my thoughts on it! madness.ghost.io/leah-litman-...

Today’s “One First” looks at the status of the birthright citizenship cases—and their broader lessons for what we miss when we ignore the cases in which the Trump administration is both (1) losing; and (2) *not* seeking emergency/expedited appellate relief. It turns out that those are the majority:

this is an incredible read:

An important piece.

Just hilariously sloppy. He'll lie and pretend it was meant to be public, but he would NEVER post "it's killing our reputation and credibility."

“On Sept. 20, with hidden cameras recording the scene, Homan accepted $50,000 in bills, according to an internal summary of the case.” Homan was being investigated for allegedly “soliciting payments in exchange for awarding contracts should Trump win the election” www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/t...

EXCLUSIVE: Tom Homan was investigated for accepting $50,000 from undercover FBI agents. Trump's DOJ shut it down.

Critical part of the President's new $100,000 charge for H1-B visas: The Administration can also offer a $100,000 discount to any person, company, or industry that it wants. Replacing rules with arbitrary discretion. Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.

Serendipitously, I finished @leahlitman.bsky.social fabulous book the same day I finished catching up on 6yrs of Strict Scrutiny podcasts. I highly recommend this read!

The Republican reaction to Kirk’s murder has been a campaign of state repression that ends with Trumpist toadies deciding what Americans are allowed to think, do and say. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

In a March 2024 concurrence, Justice Barrett argued that temporary “administrative” stays should be relatively rare and of exceptionally limited duration. As today’s bonus “One First” notes, in the 18 months since, they’ve only proliferated at #SCOTUS, and lower courts have continued to abuse them:

Happy Constitution Day

Thanks to Adam Liptak for including my thoughts on this piece on the shadow docket - which will hopefully paint a clear picture of what’s going on for those who don’t follow the court regularly www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/u...

This data about the highly partisan nature of the Roberts Court's manipulation of the shadow docket won't be surprising to honest Court watchers, but it's good to have it presented this clearly to a mainstream audience, which happens less than it should www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2025/09/empi...

A real situation in CA5 The day after I argued before this same Panel! www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...

Appeals court rules against Trump over his effort to immediately fire Fed member Lisa Cook. Trump appointee dissents.

On my library’s lucky day shelf: Leah Litman’s “Lawless” next to “Never Flinch” by Stephen King. Note the drawing of Lady Justice. @strictscrutiny.bsky.social @leahlitman.bsky.social

@leahlitman.bsky.social activated me like a sleeper cell while also unlocking a core memory

Yet another killing seemingly without any legal authorization. The previous boat was heading to Trinidad and Tobago and there has yet to be ANY evidence of imminent danger requiring a lethal strike. Virtually no fentanyl or opioids travel by this route.

I think we should take them at their word. "We're going to use every resource we have at the DOJ, Homeland Security & throughout this govt to dismantle & destroy these networks" "We're going after NGOs" "Terrorist sympathizers...Soros' OSF & the Ford Foundation" www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09...

Great resource posted today by @Just_Security regarding DOJ‘s conduct in litigation during the second Trump administration.  www.justsecurity.org/120547/presu...

BREAKING: After some back and forth, a protective order has been entered in the case regarding the people the Trump admin has sent to Ghana. Only the attorneys involved can view it. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... Also: Judge Chutkan sets new TRO deadlines for 6:30p and 8:30p tonight:

President Trump has been on the winning side of several emergency rulings by the Supreme Court. University of Michigan Law School Assistant Law Professor @leahlitman.bsky.social explains some of these rulings, including a controversial immigration decision. www.msnbc.com/weekends-wit...

JUST IN: Judge Chutkan orders the government to file a declaration that sets forth the efforts it has taken thus far to keep the plaintiffs in Ghana “from being removed to their countries of origin or other countries where they fear persecution or torture”

timeline cleanse

New suit accuses DHS of using Ghana as an intermediary to send migrants back to their countries of origin, despite orders barring such removal. One plaintiff is a bisexual man who had been granted deferral of removal to The Gambia. DHS deported him to Ghana, which then sent him back to The Gambia.

I'll be at CROOKED CON on November 7 in Washington, DC! Get your tickets now: crookedcon.com

And now sharing a draft of my Frankel Lecture: COVID and the Great Retrenchment. Not a happy story. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

I've been thinking a lot about Judge Sutton's decision in Thomas Moore v Obama in connection with what the district courts are faced with today. He was right then to follow what the law was, and the district judges are right now. See below for a good take: www.dorfonlaw.org/2025/09/what...

Political violence is bad. It usually begets more political violence. Celebrating political violence is bad. It usually encourages more political violence, against various targets. Campus shootings are bad. They make everyone on campus less safe. It's bad that what I wrote here is controversial.

Thanks to @gregsargent.bsky.social for including my thoughts (alongside @sifill.bsky.social's) on this piece about how the facts are (or aren't mattering) in litigation in the district courts (versus the Supreme Court): newrepublic.com/article/2002...

"Obedience must of course be secured for the command of a court. . . . But courts should be explicit and precise in their commands and should only then be strict in exacting compliance. To be both strict and indefinite is a kind of judicial tyranny." #SCOTUS Justice Felix Frankfurter, February 1949

Northern Ireland man from Lisburn kidnapped by Trump’s Ice raids because he “looked like a Mexican”. He had the correct visa, all his documents. He’s never been in trouble with police. Held in terrible conditions. A fellow captive couldn’t get his medication and dropped dead of a heart attack

Judge Cobb prevents the removal of Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve, holding that removal for cause only covers in-office conduct. She also holds that Cook has a constitutionally protected property interest in her position and therefore a right to a hearing. ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...

They could have done something like this in the Trump immunity case and given a chance for the special counsel to take Trump's federal election subversion charges to trial. Expediting cases is a choice

BREAKING - U.S. Supreme Court agrees to decide the legality of Trump's sweeping, global tariffs; places cases on fast track. Arguments set for November.

BREAKING: John Roberts issues another "administrative stay," this time blocking Judge Ali's preliminary injunction in the foreign aid funding case while the Supreme Court considers DOJ's request (which was denied by the DC Circuit).

2 pm: @leahlitman.bsky.social on the corrupt Supreme Court going all in for racial profiling 3pm: @ariberman.bsky.social on how Trump is trying to rig the 2026 midterm elections 4 pm: @levparnas.bsky.social & @zevshalev.bsky.social on how the GOP can't spin Epstein thelefthook.substack.com

The quote points out only on aspect of the Supreme Court’s corruption. @leahlitman.bsky.social does a fine job in ‘Lawless’ detailing how their chipping away affects all of us, and how we got here. Thanks, @motherjones.com, for a still great magazine.

Crooked Con lineup just dropped! We’re excited to announce the incredible lineup you see here! Pretty exciting, right? And we’ll have even MORE to share as we get closer to Crooked Con! Also, by popular demand, we’ve added more tickets. They’ve been going fast, so don’t miss out! 🎟️: crookedcon.com

BREAKING: Feds indict LGBTQ org lawyer for testimony in long-running Alabama "judge-shopping" investigation. In an indictment unsealed Monday, Lambda Legal counsel Carl Charles faces a felony charge of making a false declaration to the investigating judicial panel back in 2022. New, at Law Dork:

One thing worth exploring about those like Justice Barrett who say the Supreme Court is ruling on “the presidency” as opposed to “President Trump” is that there are multiple things Trump has done — endorsed by the court via the shadow docket — that no other president has even tried to do.

A quick Strict Scrutiny @strictscrutiny.bsky.social Crooked Media @crooked.com rapid response YouTube video to today's SCOTUS BS: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFZ_...

Doomerism is thick today, so let me note that Trump just sustained *three* big losses in court: Harvard, tariffs, Alien Enemies Act. Yes, SCOTUS could corruptly undo all this. But as @leahlitman.bsky.social explains well on the pod this is heartening, for now anyway: newrepublic.com/article/2001...