Josh Blackman is a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston and the President of the Harlan Institute. Follow him @JoshMBlackman.
Josh Blackman
Latest from Josh Blackman
A Blue June?
June 2022 was one victory after another for conservatives. June 2024 seems just the opposite.
The Flipped Dynamics on Federal Criminal Law
A generation ago, the liberals would have written the majority in Snyder and the conservatives would have dissented.
Supreme Court Prematurely Releases DIG in Moyle
Bloomberg downloaded the file before it was removed.
The Two Edges of Tradition: "Adverse Possession" and "Use It Or Lose It"
If the government exercises a power it lacks for a long time, it can keep exercising that power. But if a government does not exercise a power it has, it loses that power.
Some Commentary From The Left On Rahimi
I find myself in agreement with Mike Dorf and Linda Greenhouse.
Two Braidswood Cases From The Fifth Circuit Are Bound For SCOTUS (Updated)
A RFRA defense to Title VII and a new Appointments Clause challenge.
The Three Trump Appointees In Rahimi
Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett are fracturing over originalism.
Is "Law Trapped In Amber"?
Lesson for Chief Justice Roberts from Jurassic Park.
NFIB and Rahimi: Is a surety a mandate to prevent dangerous people from possessing a gun or a tax on dangerous gun owners?
Trying to reconcile Chief Justice Roberts on the ACA and 922(g)(8).
Edited Version of Rahimi for the Barnett/Blackman Supplement
Read each of the opinions in only 33 pages.
There Have Been Three Justice Jacksons
Howell, Robert, and Ketanji.
SCOTUS Grants SG's Petition in Transgender-Minor Case
The Court did not grant petitions from the ACLU and Jenner Block. Will the Trump DOJ switch positions in January 2025?
Does The Principal Author Of A Per Curiam Opinion Announce It?
Chief Justice Roberts announced the Court's per curiam opinion in Gonzales v. Trevino.
Department of State v. Munoz: The Sleeper ConLaw Case of the Term
Justice Barrett's majority clarifies Glucksberg, Mandel, Din, and Knauff, but Justice Sotomayor's dissent really wants to talk about Loving, Obergefell, and Dobbs.
Tradition In Erlinger
Justice Jackson thinks Apprendi was wrongly decided, Justice Gorsuch chides Justice Kavanaugh's fixation on tradition.
With the Constitution, Deciding Less Is Moore
Justice Kavanaugh reaches out to resolve that a wealth tax is probably not constitutional.
Can an Amicus Ask the Supreme Court to Overrule a Case Where the Parties Don't?
The ACLU successfully asked the Court to reverse Wolf v. Colorado in Mapp v. Ohio.
Moore Money, More Problems
Justice Barrett once again places the burden on lawyers to make their case.
NFIB PTSD
I'm still not over Chief Justice Roberts's discussion of direct taxes.
The Sixteenth Amendment did not "Overrule" Pollock
Constitutional amendments change the organic law. They do not overrule a decision.
Handing Down The Final 19 (or 17) Opinions
With a Presidential Debate on June 27!
Counting The Votes In An Unusual Per Curiam Opinion in Gonzalez v. Trevino
We know the identity of four members of the majority, but who else joined?
New Reporting On Deliberations In Bruen
Justice Thomas's draft majority opinion had the "potential to outlaw many common gun-control measures."
On 12th Anniversary of DACA, President Biden To Announce New Executive Action For Spouses of U.S. Citizens
Parole in Place for Spouses -- Call it PIPS?
Justice Thomas Reverses President Trump's Executive Overreach in Cargill v. Garland
Justices Sotomayor, Jackson, and Kagan disregard ATF’s “about face.”
Justice Barrett's Concurrence in Vidal v. Elster Is a Repudiation of Bruen's "Tradition" Test
I expect Justice Barrett will exhibit her buyer’s remorse of Bruen in Rahimi.
The Ignored Aesthetic Standing Argument In FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine
The fauna that did not bark, the flora that did not bloom.
Alabama Law Review: A Tribute to Twenty Years on the Bench - Chief Judge William H. Pryor Jr.
With contributions by Justice Thomas, Attorney General Sessions, and many Pryor clerks/mentees who became judges.
Justice Kavanaugh Denies Standing For Docs Against Glocks
Doctors cannot claim an injury to challenge gun control laws because their patients may be affected by gun violence.
The Standing Analysis in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine
The Court ducks the conscience theory of standing based on the government's new position, "abandons" Haven's Realty, and starts the deadpool for associational standing
