As arguments begin in the transgender athletes cases, a few things to keep in mind:

I'm looking forward to this!

New year, new course! 👨🏽‍🏫⚖️ This spring, I’m launching a Comparative Constitutional Law course at Brooklyn Law School and also teaching U.S. Constitutional Law. I’m especially excited to place BLS students in conversation with an outstanding group of guest speakers:

1/ A few thoughts about @williambaude.bsky.social’s comment in yesterday’s NYT chat that, “It’s amazing how many of our problems today could be solved by a Congress that was willing and able to legislate in response to national problems.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/o...

In “Judicial Regrets,” I examine why judges sometimes come to regret their rulings—and how the legal system might respond. 👩🏾‍⚖️⚖️ The newest draft develops the practical and theoretical issues that follow from taking judicial regret seriously. Feedback most welcome! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Breaking: Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died. She was 111 years old

Today is Pauli Murray's 115th birthday. If you're a law student (or just a curious person) and don't know who they are, look them up! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauli_M... (And if you're in Durham, go check out @paulimurraycenter.bsky.social ! I had the privilege of visiting yesterday and it's great.)

“Don’t let the bastards grind you down. I love you all.”

Now on @ssrn.bsky.social, forthcoming in the Harvard Law Review. “Alas,” I think Akhil Amar’s new book, “Born Equal,” is not a success and I explain why at great length. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

In “The Law of Racial Resentment,” I critique how SCOTUS validated racial resentment in SFFA v. Harvard and argue we need stronger legal/structural responses to counter resentment—not appease it. Now in @uclalawreview.bsky.social papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Conservative legal groups are attempting to rely on Reconstruction-era legislation to prevent nonprofits and other privately organized orgs from engaging in race-conscious work. I explain why this is ahistorical and what we can do about it. scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/nulr/vol120/...

In “Infrastructure Equality,” Professor @deborahnarcher.bsky.social and I explore how racial inequality in the US is closely linked to unequal access to infrastructure—and how the legal system can help address it. Now published in Northwestern University Law Review papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Yay! So happy to see my wonderful colleague, Alice Abrokwa, on this list

This is how I know I’ve made it! I’m so excited to join this class run by the amazing @yuvrajjoshi.bsky.social, alongside such incredible scholars.

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

My latest article, on how organizers & lawyers in three cities sought to “flood the courts” to protect homeless people and renters facing eviction. law.stanford.edu/wp-content/u...

Over public dissents by Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch, #SCOTUS freezes Eighth Circuit ruling that had barred private enforcement of section 2 of the Voting Rights Act while the plaintiffs appeal that decision. Private suits to enforce § 2 of the VRA can go ahead for now.

Some news, as they say. (I am especially looking forward to working with Maria Goldverg during this final stretch, who seems like an absolute gem.)

Richard Fallon, In Memoriam, buff.ly/6WxLugJ - A tribute to the great scholar and dear friend.

Oh dear. RIP to one of the great ones, as a scholar and as a person.

Important to read this decision in the context of longer-term efforts by SCOTUS to chip away at private enforcement of civil rights & social welfare laws. I'll put a bunch of relevant background reading in the thread 🧵:

Thank you for featuring “Judicial Regrets” on the Law & Humanities Blog! This paper will be published in April 2026. I’d be grateful for opportunities to workshop it in the meantime. 🙏🏽🙏🏽 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Many of my very favorite academics are at Brooklyn

Law professor colleagues: We're hiring! 🗽 Brooklyn Law School is considering lateral hires in several areas, including constitutional law, civil procedure, criminal procedure, evidence, family law, and torts. If you're considering a move and have a special interest in joining us, please reach out!

I'm still digesting Skrmetti, and scrambling to write it up, but three thoughts worth sharing: 1) The decision is devastating for trans youth and their families who are trying to live and thrive under already bad circumstances

🚨By a 6–3 vote, the Supreme Court UPHOLDS Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, concluding that it does NOT discriminate on the basis of sex, is not subject to heightened scrutiny, and survives rational basis review. All three liberals dissent. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

The final version of my job market paper—about the strategies that have facilitated localized corporate domination at different points in our history—is now out. I'm so grateful to the SLR team and everyone else whose feedback has shaped this along the way! www.stanfordlawreview.org/print/articl...

Download of the Week: "Epistemic Appropriation, Critical Defanging, and Lessons for a Responsive New Reconstruction" by Butler, buff.ly/EOAYaZQ - The Download of the Week is Epistemic Appropriation, Critical Defanging, and Lessons for a Responsive New Reconstruction by Yvette Butler.

South Dakota Law Review is doing a joint symposium with the Native America Law Student Association on issues related to access to justice in Indian Country. Call for papers is open and the event will be in Vermillion on Sept 29. Please share widely. Details here: www.usd.edu/Academics/Co...

What happens to women when they are denied an abortion? Short run: their risk of death rises. A full 15 years later, they experience: more health issues, lower attainment, reduced labor-force participation, higher single motherhood, higher poverty, + greater government assistance

1st draft, Lawsky Entry-Level Hiring Report 2025 (law school faculty). So far, similar to recent yrs. As always, report is incomplete. It is certainly missing some hires. I will keep updating; please let me know of additional hires not reflected here. www.lawskyprojects.org/entry-level-... 1/2

Please join us this morning at #LSACHICAGO2025, 10 AM CT, Room Grand F!

✨ #LSA2025 Save the Date! ✨ On Saturday, May 24, 10:00 AM Chicago, please join our panel on racial equality scholarship. Featuring new work by Professors Jamelia Morgan, Ngozi Okidegbe, Daniel Harawa, Alexis Hoag-Fordjour, and yours truly, and commentary by Professors Susan Sturm and Fred Smith!

I’m deeply grateful to the LSA Article Prize Committee for recognizing “Racial Time,” and to the community of colleagues and scholars whose work and wisdom I’m privileged to learn from. www.brooklaw.edu/news-and-eve...

Beyond excited to be in community with these scholars and artists next year (and to finally finish this book manuscript)!

Law students and recent grads! Thinking about clerking? Don’t overlook state courts. State Court Report has a new resource w/ info and deadlines for 95 state supreme court justices. Check it out! @statecourtreport.bsky.social statecourtreport.org/state-judici...

✨ #LSA2025 Save the Date! ✨ On Saturday, May 24, 10:00 AM Chicago, please join our panel on racial equality scholarship. Featuring new work by Professors Jamelia Morgan, Ngozi Okidegbe, Daniel Harawa, Alexis Hoag-Fordjour, and yours truly, and commentary by Professors Susan Sturm and Fred Smith!

Jotwell Family: Albertina Antognini, Whose Liberty?, JOTWELL (May 8, 2025) (reviewing Laura Portuondo, Gendered Liberty, 113 Geo. L. J. __ (forthcoming), available at SSRN (Mar. 11, 2024)), family.jotwell.com/whose-liberty/.

My forthcoming article, "Contesting State Capture" (Cardozo L. Rev.), was reviewed in JOTWELL. My sincerest thanks to Rebecca Zietlow for her insightful and generous commentary!

💡 in case helpful for fellow junior profs:   As I’m answering student questions about the Con Law exam, I’m incorporating my responses into next year’s lecture notes—so FAQs on tricky areas are already covered in the materials.

Wrapped up Year 4 of professing law! 🤗 Grateful for Brooklyn Law students who brought kindness and good humor through a tough semester. What more could a professor ask for? Next up: grading 106 exams and assembling the tenure file! 🤞🏽🤞🏽

Grateful to welcome Professor Robert Chang of @korematsuctr.bsky.social @ucirvinelaw.bsky.social as the final Brooklyn Law and Inequality visitor! Students ❤️’d reading Bob’s piece with Professor Adrienne Davis, “Making Up Is Hard to Do: Race/Gender/Sexual Orientation in the Law School Classroom”

Surprised and honored to be voted Emerging Scholar of the Year by Yale Law Journal’s volume 134! It’s a hard time for trans people, hard time in higher ed, so this vote of confidence in the work ahead means a lot. www.yalelawjournal.org/news/announc...

Great big books-slash-current events double header show. @mjsdc.bsky.social and @leahlitman.bsky.social preview her incredible new book, Lawless. Then @maryrziegler.bsky.social and I catch up on abortion wars and personhood, tagged to her new book Personhood.

Gabrielle Dohmen, ’23, will clerk for Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in the 2025-2026 term. “What I've found most helpful in my clerkships so far … is that my time at UChicago Law gave me an instinct for how to drill down on a case until I really understood every aspect,” she said. buff.ly/1jSL7Kl

Thanks @nytimes.com for featuring Personhood in the list of recently published books to watch in today's print edition. "Ziegler, a leading historian of abortion, looks beyond Roe v. Wade to the future battleground for reproductive rights." You can pre-order here: buff.ly/V6YwuE

Happy publication week, @deborahnarcher.bsky.social!   Dividing Lines: How Transportation Infrastructure Reinforces Racial Inequality   👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Grateful to welcome Jin Hee Lee from @legaldefensefund.bsky.social as our final Brooklyn Constitutional Law speaker! Jin Hee will speak with 1L students about arguing Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard before the First Circuit, as well as the future of racial equality litigation and advocacy.

Thrilled to welcome Professor Tendayi Achiume from @stanfordlaw.bsky.social to @brooklynlawschool.bsky.social Faculty Workshop! Prof. Achiume will present her book project, “Corporate Border Imperialism,” which she’s pursuing as a Princeton and a MacArthur fellow.

Today, we'll welcome Professor Devon Carbado from @nyulaw.bsky.social to @brooklynlawschool.bsky.social Law and Inequality! He'll discuss his 🔥🔥 piece co-authored with Professor Russell Robinson, "SFFA: Bakke's Chickens Coming Home to Roost," forthcoming in the California Law Review.