How far we've fallen: "The people will not long tolerate politics or partisanship in the administration of justice ... . Congress and the people will swiftly and certainly punish those who tamper with or debase the integrity of this element of the American system." From what I've been told ...

Just when I was beginning to really like Elazar Sontag (check out his well-deserved rave for Seki!), he's now gone and made it impossible to get into one of our very favorite spots. Have you no mercy?! www.washingtonpost.com/food/2026/06...

Mystery to me why plaintiffs sued Stanford here. As Stanford explains in its brief opposing the TRO, the claims are dubious and an injunction could be counterproductive. Perhaps plaintiffs' reply brief later today will better explain their thinking. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

How Not to Practice Law and, How Not to Urge a Court Not to Impose Sanctions: "[The attorneys who signed the briefs] note that they have hired a licensed attorney to read all briefs prepared by the Brief Writers in future cases." cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...

Shameless.

A vivid reminder of how the Intelligence Community *ought* to be led, from Avril Haines, the finest and most effective public servant I've ever had the privilege of knowing. Fingers crossed we might one day restore the tradition she represents. www.execfunctions.org/p/what-exact...

This obviously unlawful & corrupt AG directive is unenforceable (and IRS officials might not even comply with it if they reasonably conclude it violates 26 U.S.C. 7217(a)). It ought to be easy as pie for the next administration's AG to rescind it before 12:05 p.m. on 01/20/29. @sbagen.bsky.social

It appears Senator Cornyn has already forgotten the Aesop frog/scorpion fable. Even though he has nothing left to lose, he's now capitulating to Trump again based upon a statement that the Administration will ... abide by a court order. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/06...

You know what still rips? The Buffy s2 opening credits sequence:

An important piece from @schwartzesque.bsky.social, about the destruction of DOJ norms in federal courts, and its costs. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/u...

The Yankees got eleven hits in their game against the A's yesterday--*all* of them in their 13-run third inning. www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore...

How great's the demand for Game 6 tickets at the Garden? Stubhub, et al., are describing $6000 for a nosebleed seat as an "Amazing" deal.

As horrifying as this campaign of premeditated murder is, what might be even more disturbing is the utter indifference of Congress, the public and our allies to such a shocking and unapologetic obliteration of the many laws and norms against targeting civilians. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/31/w...

Disappointing but, at this point, hardly surprising that the continuing degradation of OLC is part of this scandalous episode. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/30/u...

Worth keeping an eye on: Having rightly been enjoined by many courts from enforcing administrative subpoenas to hospitals for detailed personal records about gender-affirming care, the Trump Administration has now persuaded a grand jury in Ft. Worth--w/Judge Reed O'Connor presiding --... [1]

Highly recommended from @jamalgreene.bsky.social. knightcolumbia.org/blog/toward-...

It remains baffling to me that we have a clear constitutional requirement that the president can't enrich himself on the job, something we had no problem enforcing strictly for hundreds of years, and then this sweaty conman came by and the nation just sorta shrugged it off.

What's really astonishing is not the far right authoritarian party doing this, but the near-total lack of <loud public collective action> by university chancellors & presidents to oppose this existential crisis. Almost impossible to overstate how total a failure of leadership this is.

Too bad Cornyn is just now learning the lessons in Aesop's Fables. #hownottobeagulliblefrog

Perhaps it was just a matter where I was standing, but I've never before heard Gary W. Tallent mixed so high. (That's a good thing.)

The question at hand is whether statements made 19 years ago, about conduct that occurred 25 years ago, were tainted by torture inflicted 23 years ago. What an epic, catastrophic failure--not only for the defendants but also the families of those who were killed.[1] www.nytimes.com/2026/05/26/u...

And now they are all gone. RIP Sonny Rollins.

He was the reason I hesitated before writing on Saturday that Dylan (who turned 85 that day) was the greatest living American musician. Only saw him twice, but each time it was equal measures gorgeous and staggering.

According to Justice Thomas, "the Fourth Circuit strained to avoid dismissal of the case based on its belief that new political considerations changed the governing law." Regardless of whether the Fourth Circuit erred, the reference to "political considerations" is inaccurate and unfortunate. [1]

Note that the Court doesn't say that the so-called "party presentation principle" is an actual legal limitation on a federal court's power to resolve a case on the basis of an argument the parties didn't raise--because SCOTUS itself often does so. [1] www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...

The most astounding, most ineffable and most unfathomable presence in my life turns 85 today. Somehow, he conjured and recorded this when he was merely 26. www.youtube.com/watch?v=860h...

What are the odds Trump appoints Rubio as the Acting DNI? He hasn't had enough responsibility since his jobs as Acting Archivist and Acting USAID Director expired--merely Secretary of State and Acting National Security Adviser.

I don't think we in the legal community are giving sufficient attention to just how unlawful, corrupt and unenforceable this document is. It's so absurd--and was, until now, so unimaginable--that I wouldn't have even considered using it as a law school exam hypo. static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics...

Berkeley Law's new policy about student use of A.I. is remarkably comprehensive: It prohibits such use even for "aiding" in the "conceptualizing" of any submitted work. It *does,* however, allow use "for the limited purpose of identifying sources" for papers. [1] www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content/u...

There are two dozen judges in DDC. Yet Judge Leon has been assigned what appears to be two-thirds of the major cases challenging the Trump Administration.

Fairly confident "belied its bare-knuckled audacity" has never before appeared in a @nytimes.com story. #DOJdegradation www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/u...

I agree (as usual) with all of what Jamal writes. And that's not all. For some reason Will frames his analysis as equivocal ("my view on the legal issues is more mixed"), but even on his account, the "bad" and the "ugly" far outweigh the so-called "good." And that "good" ... [1]

Alex. Caruso.

It's absurd how many great defenders are on the court at any given time with Spurs and Thunder.

It's interesting to see just what the breaking point is for various Trump Administration lawyers. This one comes just seven months after his confirmation. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/b...

Today just might be a good day for you to read pp. 24-26 (at a minimum) of this new @sbagen.bsky.social article. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... #capitolriotfunding #judgmentfund

Really looking forward to reading this, on a higher-ed topic of particular importance these days. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Highly recommended: Mark Tushnet and Robert Post reflecting upon their own, and one another's, remarkable Holmes Devise volumes on the Hughes and Taft Courts. Not sure I entirely understand every aspect of their disagreements, but there's much of value to chew on here ... jach.law.wisc.edu

Justice Thomas is wrong: Federal law doesn't make it illegal to mail mifepristone to a woman w/o knowledge that she plans to use it unlawfully. www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/... Note, also, how Thomas & Alito would rule for LA regardless of whether the state has standing or is right on the merits.

I've been saying this from the start: Judge Ho's employment-based retaliation against schools based upon those schools' First Amendment activities is unconstitutional, per Vullo. news.bloomberglaw.com/legal-exchan...

The Jalen Duren thing is inexplicable. Did Wendell Carter permanently spook him or something? Unrecognizable.

DOJ has figured out a keen new way to circumvent court of appeals page limits! Just have OLC issue a 41-page opinion rejecting the district court view on the (literal) eve of oral argument, and then ... www.justice.gov/olc/media/14...

The distinction some sources are at pains to draw here--between the CIA giving Mexican officials intelligence & planning help w/r/t killing drug operatives, on the one hand, and the CIA being "on the ground" for the operation, on the other-- ... www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/w... @justsecurity.org

For some reason I can't shake this, from Kevin Morby with Amelia Heath. (His tour starts tomorrow night.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yJi...

"LLMs are approaching (or may already have reached) the knowledge needed to create and release [biological weapons] end-to-end, [which] could cause millions of deaths if a determined effort was made to release them for maximum spread." [1] www.darioamodei.com/essay/the-ad...

Adam Unikowsky on the many, many reasons why the SCOTUS should, before 5:00 today--I'd say unanimously, but perhaps that's expecting too much--stay the Fifth Circuit's purported "stay" of the FDA's 2023 mifepristone REMS. adamunikowsky.substack.com/p/rationalit...

Our unlawful campaign of murdering civilians is closing in on 200 individuals. And no one in Congress appears to care at all. Nor do most (perhaps all) of our allies. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/u...

It's why this is the most indefensible of the Court's recent decisions. A faux "stay" that cost thousands of people their lives on the basis of a frivolous legal argument that DOJ itself--and Judges Katsas and Henderson--had disclaimed weeks earlier. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...