Back in the 1950s, law schools apparently received inquiries (from potential applicants, I assume?) that sometimes included a lot of questions. Here, Dean Prosser of UC Berkeley imagines a reply. jle.aals.org/home/vol10/i...

State Dept of Revenue issues warrant to search for and seize any property of value of suspect for failure to pay taxes on profits from selling meth. Searching her residence, officers find meth. NC Court of Appeals: Can't get a warrant for this under the 4A. Meth suppressed.

Officers try to shoot hostage taker, accidentally shoot and kill hostage. This did not "seize" the hostage under Torres v. Madrid, CA9 rules, as the intent to restrain was lacking; they were trying to free the hostage, not restrain him.

Here's a law professor lamenting the fads in legal theory popular among law professors that become popular for a decade or two and then fade away— written in 1950. Specifically, it's Roscoe Pound, reflecting on trends since he became a lawyer in 1890. jle.aals.org/cgi/viewcont...

I agree with Paul Horwitz on this: Although I greatly value respect when dissenting, it seems silly to care whether there's an included statement describing one's own dissent as respectful. It's like a law review article that describes its claims as novel; that's not up to the author to decide.

Avoiding the larger split on whether the Takings Clause applies to law enforcement damage to property, CA9 holds that at least there's no taking when officers act reasonably in the necessary defense of public safety. cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...

Interesting opinions from Judge Bumatay and Judge VanDyke, dissenting from denial of rehearing en banc, on criminal prosecutions for violating agency regulations—and what the limits there are for such prosecutions under the nondelegation doctrine. cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...

For writing on note pads, I've long liked notepads with the vertical line a few inches from the left side. TIL this is called "Pitman Ruled" paper, as it was created for use with a shorthand system created by Isaac Pitman in 1837.

Interesting. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals— the state's highest court for criminal cases—rules that drug detection dog's unprompted entry of his nose into suspect's car through open window was a Fourth Amendment search. search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia....

Mary Halvorson, "Night Shift," from Amaryllis (2021), with Halvorn (g), Patricia Brennan (v), Nick Dunston (b), Tomas Fujiwara (d), Jacob Garchik (trombone), and Adam O’Farrill (tr). On the avant-garde side, maybe, but it's Saturday night—push yourself. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rPx...

As I argue in my new book, "The Digital 4th Amendment," I think it's wrong to say—as the court here does—that probable cause to search a computer for evidence of a crime involving one victim does not extend to the identical offense with other victims. #N caselaw.findlaw.com/court/or-cou...

A good amount of this is easy to tell from the outside, but there are some interesting insider insights here, I think. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/31/u...

I’m crying www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

In 1997, the Michigan Law Review published a parody of bad post-modern legal writing. It was 231 pages long. repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcont...

A lot of law review articles could be a lot shorter than they are, which would make them easier to read and more likely to be read.

I will concede that a nearly 5-hour Wagner opera can be something of an acquired taste. Still, what a magnificent performance of Parsifal at the San Francisco Opera tonight.

DOJ continues to argue that Terms of Service of Internet accounts can eliminate 4th Amendment rights online—here, in a pending 7th Circuit case involving a Dropbox acount. United States v. Blocker, No. 25-1536.

A few years ago, I did a podcast on law teaching that might be of interest for those thinking of becoming law professors—or who are law professors already. You can listen to the 16 episodes of the podcast, "The Legal Academy," here. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

For those teaching Computer Crime Law in this coming spring semester, I'm pleased to say that the new 6th edition of my Computer Crime Law casebook will be published and available in December. The latest stuff added, including new statutes, new issues related to AI, etc.

Saddened to hear of of the passing of one of jazz's great drummers, Jack DeJohnette. I was just listening to some of his work yesterday. RIP. dejohnettepublishing.com/blog/f/jack-...

Really looking forward to the Ken Burns special on the American Revolution. It premieres in three weeks, on 11/16. www.pbs.org/kenburns/the...

Newly-available live version of the Horace Silver Quintet playing Silver's classic "Song for My Father," live in Seattle in 1965, less than a year after the original studio recording—with solos by Silver on piano and the great Joe Henderson on tenor. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yBF...

CA10: Officer's lifting a bus passenger's bag and holding it up for 30 seconds to see if it's unusually heavy and if it has unusual odors is not a "search." Squeezing is a search per Bond, but lifting isn't. (Q: How is that squared with AZ v. Hicks?) ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/f... #N

Today's announced indictment for rigging poker games reminds me of the old caselaw on theft liability for rigging card games I discussed in my 2008 article, "Criminal Law in Virtual Worlds." chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcont...

Bill Evans and Jim Hall, "All Across the City," from Intermodulation (1966), one of my all-time favorites. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYtc...

During a traffic stop, the officer could ask questions unrelated to the stop while the driver was looking for his insurance: The questions didn't add to the duration of the stop under Rodriguez, even if the driver paused a long time before answering. media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/unp...

Just putting out there that there’s probably a way to make university and law school accreditation a whole lot less resource-consuming while preserving 100% of the accountability.

Really interesting, from TT Arvind and Christian Burset. academic.oup.com/ojls/article...

"How Has Legal Academia Changed Since Posner on Meltzer?," I was reminded of this 2023 post recently and figured I re-up it. reason.com/volokh/2023/...

No QI for officers who knocked and announced their presence, saw resident open back door in response, and entered. It was clearly established that opening the door itself was not consent (here, resident was hard of hearing & thought it was his son returning). media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...

READ the John Bolton indictment storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

I know my shtick is to summarize these for ya'll, but I am speechless. Without speech. www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...

Oral argument audio in Case v. Montana: www.c-span.org/program/publ...

Virginia Court of Appeals: Querying city ALPR database to learn where suspect's car was driving was not a 4A "search." This was limited information, unlike in Carpenter. www.vacourts.gov/static/opini...

With the first Supreme Court oral argument in a Fourth Amendment case in years coming tomorrow, it's time to sing that family favorite Supreme Court argument song, "Take me out to the law game."

In the mail, AMK’s new book. www.amazon.com/Life-Law-Ear...

"Former Supreme Court Justice Kennedy's new memoir is unusually revealing," Nina Totenberg reports. www.npr.org/2025/10/13/n...

"Thoughts on Case v. Montana and the Standards for the Emergency Aid Exception," new from me at Volokh. A deep dive for the law nerds. (Or at least kinda deep.) reason.com/volokh/2025/...

Truly excellent: "His career narrowly missed being driven off course by a report from his biology teacher, placing him last in his year and dismissing his idea of becoming a scientist as a “sheer waste of time, both on his part, and of those who have to teach him.”

Does a Fourth Amendment search occur when a drug detection dog jumps unprompted into a suspect's car and then alerts? Here's why I think the answer is "yes." new from me at Volokh, a deep dive for the law nerds. reason.com/volokh/2025/...

Tenn SCT: Although a statement obtained in violation of Miranda was not admissible at trial, it could be still used to help generate probable cause to search under the Fourth Amendment. tncourts.gov/sites/defaul...

CT SCT: No 4A search occurs when police get trash collectors to bring suspect's trash to cops, find a belt in the trash and get DNA from it to ID suspect. www.jud.ct.gov/external/sup... Two Justices: this should be a search under the state Constitution. www.jud.ct.gov/external/sup...

Immigration Arrests in the Interior of the United States: A Primer Sharing this Congressional Research Service report on immigration arrests in case helpful: www.congress.gov/crs_external...

This Indiana Supreme Court case is a reminder that curtilage is not just a concept in Fourth Amendment law—here, it's used in a state constitutional provision on property taxes. public.courts.in.gov/Decisions/ap...

CA7: Under circuit precedent, homeowner can't sue under the Takings Clause for damage to house caused by execution of a search warrant there. media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/Opin... #N

There's an overwhelming amount of litigation surrounding the Trump administration so over at @lawfaremedia.org we have tried to make it easier to parse it. You can find district court, appellate level, and SCOTUS cases all in one place! Check it out ⬇️

"Hoover Fellow Program: Up-to-5-Year Paid In-Residence Position for Aspiring Academics (Including Aspiring Legal Academics)," via Eugene Volokh. reason.com/volokh/2025/...

Judge: That's what I'll do. Prohibit federalization or deployment of any NG troops into Oregon. For all reasons in prior opinion. Deployment of federalized military is ultra vires and contrary to law, violating Title 10, section 12406. I also find it's likely that defendants violate 10th Amendment.