Recent posts by Legal Academics on Bluesky

Donald Trump takes things that people love and destroys them. If the thing you love hasn't been destroyed yet, dont worry. There is time and it is coming.

New cert petition asks the Supreme Court to rule that the border search exception does not allow the search of a citizen's cell phone without a warrant. reason.com/wp-content/u... (I make this argument in my 2005 book chapter here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....)

I used AI intentionally for the first time today. I needed a first draft of a document. It delivered one that’s entirely serviceable. Not a final product by any means. It even said right in the document and the responses that I should consult a lawyer before using this. Lucky thing I am one.

Turns out the old lady was just consuming the only things not on the FDA recall list.

Big deal. My ERA is 0.00 over the same time span.

I propose a law that says if any individual or group spends more than $1 million to support a candidate or initiative, the state funds the opponents the same amount, dollar for dollar. Elon Musk may have a constitutional right to try to buy elections, but we could make it uneconomic for him to try

Faculty member running into the first day of classes after writing all summer.

I solved the daily #CluesBySam, Aug 21st 2026 (Tricky), in less than 7 minutes 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 cluesbysam.com

Feel more disillusioned with this place than I have in a while. Don’t think I’m taking a break but maybe I should.

not the weirdest harp story I've heard today

Don't think that another season of Ted Lasso was necessary. They're certainly not doing the positivity thing the first three seasons did.

UT Women's soccer - Villarreal is a wonder. I hope someone else can help her out.

I was irrationally disappointed when the Marvin musical was not martian in nature

So basically what you're saying is that a Strange New Worlds showrunner saw that old Twitter chestnut about recasting a movie with all Muppets and one human and said yeah, ok, now we're talking.

The entire English language press is embarrassing itself by sowing misinformation about LARGE NOMINAL NUMBERS and meaningless "milestones" about US government debt. Please do better. bsky.app/profile/mcop...

CORRECTION: not top 4: 3 of the top 4 on the list. Senate refusing SCOTUS nominees is very much constitutional hardball. Adding SCOTUS seats or states, or the NPV, are absolutely not:

“We are terrified that given distance and a proper education, you will begin to see us for what we are and hold us in contempt.”

These pair have some hallmarks of intimate partner abuse. The desperate repeated apologies. Asking him to correct her if it does happen again. Telling him he's the most important person in her life. The desperation is distressing. Does she not have any friends?

Also, the top 4 things on this list are not “constitutional hardball” & should not be lumped in with the wildly illegal & unconstitutional things below them. Reforming our institutions legally is literally the most pro-democracy & traditional thing in American history: bsky.app/profile/mcop...

This is true, except I've run into a small set of people in my life who *love* being in litigation as the litigant. They're like Cookie Monster in a field of cookies.

On vacation till end of August. For court coverage please follow my terrific colleagues @annabower.bsky.social , @ericcolumbus.bsky.social & @mollyroberts.bsky.social !

Van Zandt's great contribution to the cowboy compelled to wander song canon.

Nancy Kissinger has died. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/20/u...

I was about to read that Harp letter. But I'm going to bed and I don't need that crazy shit in my mind when I'm trying to sleep.

She has absolutely no clue what South Carolinians talk about. Absolutely none. She's lying.

48% of Republicans think so. A large proportion of that 48% probably tries to rationalize it.

Watching AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR with my 15 year old, this movie still totally slaps

Basides the awesome Carol Kane muppet and one funny sight gag, that was bad. The ending softens the blow, but, ultimately, makes the episode pointless. Oh well.

These are frankly disastrous numbers for the future of 🇺🇸 democracy. We cannot be a full democracy w/o major SCOTUS reform & addressing the egregious malapportionment of the Senate & EC. Democrats, & democrats, have a ton of hard work ahead to convince voters of the necessity of the top 4 reforms 👇

I just watched Days of Wine and Roses. Great movie. Although it's well-known and a classic, it's arguably underrated. A harrowing movie. Ahead of its time.

Plaintiffs in the Kennedy Center litigation have filed an emergency motion for an injunction to block the Trump-aligned Board from refastening Trump's name to the marble exterior (twice!) and rename the grounds for him too. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Remember when the President of the United States refused to reaffirm his oath to uphold the Constitution and legacy media leaders shrugged? 👇

What in the heck www.thedailybeast.com/why-i-decide...

the show is called reacher because I reached for something to throw at the tv when I saw what they claimed was the tasker morris station

On the one hand, this is the genre/gimmick of the week nonsense I was talking about. On the other, I love muppets. About to watch. I hope Cookie Monster makes an appearance.

Natalie Harp’s Intimate Letters to Trump Revealed in Full https://politicalwire.com/2026/08/20/natalie-harps-intimate-letters-to-trump-revealed-in-full/

I meant over a period of say 5 to 10 years, we can have faster growth, as we did in the 90s

Investigators Seek Mar-a-Lago Search Interviews https://politicalwire.com/2026/08/20/investigators-seek-mar-a-lago-search-interviews/

agree, best to pay less. We should tax the rich and spend less on the military. I'm just saying it doesn't warrant the hysterics we're seeing

The Message Behind Trump’s Threats of ‘Economic Warfare’ https://politicalwire.com/2026/08/20/the-message-behind-trumps-threats-of-economic-warfare/

No Better Than a Coin Flip https://politicalwire.com/2026/08/20/no-better-than-a-coin-flip/

Trump Appears on Michael Cohen’s Podcast https://politicalwire.com/2026/08/20/trump-appears-on-podcast-of-michael-cohen/

Aisha Wahab Wins Race to Fill Eric Swalwell’s Seat https://politicalwire.com/2026/08/20/aisha-wahab-wins-race-to-fill-eric-swalwells-seat/

I assume it’s a revival of the weird 17th/18th century thing where everyone decided English capitalization should work like German for a while, then abruptly stopped.

"You are all that matters to me. I don't ever want to let you down. Thank you for being my Guardian and Protector in this Life." "With all my heart," -a cultist Also refers to the July 2025 Scotland trip as a "Coming of Age." She was 33 or 34 years old at the time. Creeeeeepy.

Thread with an update tonight on Jose Mejia Hernandez's condition.

UPDATE from Mr. Jose Mejia Hernandez's attorney: Today, he was unable to eat because of the significant pain in his mouth, particularly around the area where he required seven stitches following the injuries he sustained... he went to see his dentist who noted signs of infection. More in thread.

The man is focused on spectacles. The national interest, not so much. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Got all the way to the sixth paragraph before a quote from a Third Way dude hit

Random trials is the one to do.

If you've been following the Kennedy Center litigation, DOJ erroneously filed the wrong resolution as passed by the Board at the August 13 meeting. They filed the corrected version tonight. Also, plaintiffs' motion for relief is due by today. Keepin an eye out for that.

What is the political instinct to come out against taco trucks in Los Angeles? Baffling

For my birthday dinner I requested one of Steve’s fish soups, and this might have been the most delicious yet. It has 3 kinds of fish, shrimp, saffron, tomato, white pepper, potatoes, fennel and its chopped tops, white wine, and orange peel, based on a shrimp-shell stock. So good. #CookSky #FoodSky

Meanwhile, Texas is giving mixed messages.

I am both proud and ashamed to get this reference @bradmossesq.bsky.social

Just want to say that the @masnick.com thread is good.

Great. I can't even eat eyedrops now. www.scrippsnews.com/life/recalls...

Love to see it. Make the relevant members of Congress own this illegal war and their refusal to exercise their constitutional responsibilities.

The debt is not impoverishing the country. How does that work, who gets the interest? How much is interest. If the economy grows 5 percent more, but we pay another 1 PP of GDP in interest, who gives a damn?

There are an infinite number of ways we can make the world better for our children. The debt is not a measure of one. If we had zero debt, but wrecked the environment, it would not be better. If we had zero debt because we sold off trillions in patent monopolies, it would not be better.

The usual political programming is interrupted to share that Maude just responded to hearing the phrase “perfect creature.”

The CFTC is supposed to be made up of five commissioners, "appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to serve staggered five-year terms." No more than three of them may be from the same political party. Right now, it's just one guy.

The CFTC is supposed to be made up of five commissioners, "appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to serve staggered five-year terms." No more than three of them may be from the same party. Right now, it's just one guy.

Reading the wisdom of the ancient tonight www.intechopen.com/chapters/56761

Pope Leo meets Lebanese president as Vatican cites concerns over Israel-Lebanon deal www.ncronline.org/vatican/vati...

Reading this article and grinding my teeth at the disgraceful role of the State Department in this man’s persecution. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

NV Secy Aguilar to me last week: “Their ability to tell the truth and be trustworthy doesn’t exist so we have to assume that they’re going to do the craziness that they’re going to do. They’re very reactive, they’re very emotional and that is because they are trying to appease one individual.”

Ghost hunters are occasionally entertaining and mostly socially harmless.

I still have no idea what the entire "spreadsheet people" controversy is about. But, I will continue to joke about it, in ignorance.

I prefer my sheets folded, not spread.

Has any president's inner circle treated their VP as badly as Biden's inner circle treats @kamalaharris.com? They're truly shameless. A fifth-rate political operation from the three-county state of Delaware. Always so worried that the Harris Maserati is going to upstage the Biden Oldsmobile.

Humid and hot, but the sound of falling rain is soothing

As I've said numerous times, Hunter Biden is a total and complete loser. A repugnant human being who traded on his family's name. The one good thing about Biden not being president was supposed to be that we'd never hear from Hunter Biden again. But he's yapping his gums everywhere.

Does reading the plot on the wiki page for The Purge rom-com count as one?

Will the super-early hiring of 1Ls for 2L summer jobs lead to a new hiring season for 3Ls? This interview with Sullivan & Cromwell's director of the hiring process indicates yes, that's already happening (start at 23:00). www.youtube.com/watch?v=JieC...

Everyone should watch this video. It reinforces everything some of us have been saying about the DSA. Their ignorance, especially about anything that happened before their generation. The focus on blaming the US for Castro's brutality. The praise for Castro. They're as clueless as Darline Graham.

It’s true. They managed to launch a war even more self-harming, unnecessary, and illegal than Bush’s Iraq fiasco. Amazing accomplishment.

White Leftist Amanda Litman, who lives in Brooklyn (of course!) seems to look down her nose at Florida and the South.

In the neverending war between Stata and R (and Python), where do the spreadsheet people fit?

It's data were, kids behind this account. Data were.

We should never name anything after anyone until at least 50 years after their death, with only the most minimal exceptions (ex: Zampa Bridge) and never if they were politicians. It's everyone's infrastructure. We don't all agree on who we like. And may need time to decide how we feel about them.

@kamalaharris.com in their presidential debate. She defeated & humiliated him so badly he dejectedly walked off the stage at the end of it & refused to debate her again.

Not only does this dude DeWine support Trump & Vance's elimination of the Department of Education, he even flew to DC to attend Trump's signing of the executive order. But @ohiocapitaljournal.com wants you to believe he's some great champion of education. What a joke.

Every pedestrian that gets runover extinguishes far more than 50 minutes of human life, unless you had some precise way of knowing they had exactly 49 minutes left to live when they chose to cross the street.

we hand down a whole economy and society to our kids. If we skimped on education or the environment, so that we could lower our debt, we will not have done our kids a favor.

Did we all get in a time machine back to the 1960s-80s?

Bullsh*t. More like Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, whose main focus throughout his administration has been supporting Donald Trump & JD Vance.

IIRC there was an A-Team episode about stopping this sort of thing.

@aoc.bsky.social has one set of principles for non-leftist politicians and a completely different set of principles for leftist ones.

An important article on how Islamophobic Trump supporters are endangering Muslim residents of Dearborn, MI.

Pure unadulterated racism from one of the most racist administrations in American history.

Trump [picked] White House adviser Heidi Overton to lead FDA: A MAHA supporter with anti-vaccine credentials but little administrative or other relevant experience. www.statnews.com/2026/08/18/h... via @statnews.com @lizzylawrence.bsky.social @danielpayne.bsky.social

Huh, who knew that repeatedly insulting and tariffing all the people that could help you win a war would come back and bite you.

Four-year-old girl dies from suspected diphtheria after parents failed to vaccinate her. www.unionesarda.it/en/italy/fou... H/T @aboutpediatrics.bsky.social

They understand that scene at the start of Brazil was satire, right?

"President [] Trump has ordered a reduction in childhood vaccines — publicly faulting the shots for an increase in autism cases — even as [RFK Jr.], has failed to produce evidence linking vaccinations to the disorder." www.cspi.org/cspi-news/ke... via @kffhealthnews.org

Saoirse is indoor skydiving (the last unused experiential birthday present) and I am convinced that there is absolutely nothing this girl is afraid to do. And that's awesome.

2025-2026 school vaccination rates drop, exemptions rise: reminder: we are already seeing many children hospitalized and some dying, for example in the Kennedy/Trump measles and pertussis outbreak. This risks increasing that. www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalrap... via @skepticalraptor.bsky.social

Our latest episode just hit 2 on Apple Trending episodes in the Government category. Thanks to our terrific listeners and my brilliant co-host @johnfugelsang.bsky.social

The racial politics of this administration are so hard to decipher. www.cnn.com/2026/08/20/p...