My latest. open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...

Who you say you are, what you say you believe, your identity as a citizen of this country, are all on the table. “Are you prepared to stand and watch as Black political representation is erased? Do you not yet understand that this is also your fight if you have any hope of living in a democracy?”

Final version up! “The Post-Legitimacy Court,” with Ryan Doerfler @ryandoerfler.bsky.social. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

By gutting the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court is killing the Second Reconstruction. The first Reconstruction shows how Congress should respond. Me and Daphna Renan in the NYT on the tools we have to save democracy from a hostile Court.

"I dissent because Congress elected otherwise. I dissent because the Court betrays its duty to faithfully implement the great statute Congress wrote. I dissent because the Court’s decision will set back the foundational right Congress granted of racial equality in electoral opportunity. I dissent."

My review of Akhil Amar's "Born Equal" has been published by the Harvard Law Review. It is entitled "Alas," because... alas, I did not like it. Here's the opening: harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-13...

After years of research, Daphna Renan & I are thrilled to announce preorders of SUPREMACY. Why is US democracy so broken? One reason is we've wrongly accepted that 9 justices have the final say over the Constitution. This book traces how that happened—& how we can reclaim power to govern ourselves.

As Brooklyn Law School heads into spring break, I’m looking forward to traveling for talks at the Maryland, Yale, Tulane, and Indiana Law Schools. Especially excited for my first visit to New Orleans and grateful for these opportunities to discuss my work! ✈️ murphy.tulane.edu/events/cente...

Today my Brooklyn Law School colleagues voted to grant me tenure. I’m grateful to continue work that gives me an immense sense of purpose at a time when critical academic work carries particular responsibility. There is no greater gift. ❤️

Over at @lpeblog.bsky.social: My brilliant colleague @serenamayeri.bsky.social on "Writing a History of Marital Privilege in an Age of Retrenchment." #LegalHistory

This morning, I am looking forward to speaking about my new book, We the Men: How Forgetting Women’s Struggles for Equality Perpetuates Inequality, with constitutional law students at Brooklyn Law School. Thanks to @yuvrajjoshi.bsky.social for inviting me. #WeTheMen

@jillhasday.bsky.social was outstanding in ways that’ll lead me to teach Lochner differently! Thanks so much for joining us and sharing your brilliant book 🙏🏽🙏🏽

For years, @ksabeelrahman.bsky.social & I have been frustrated with what we call the Part IV Problem in legal scholarship, the expectation of neat & feasible prescriptions to end pieces. Our frustrations are heightened in this moment of authoritarianism, as we wrote today at @lpeblog.bsky.social:

My new piece is up! open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...

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.

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)!