Josh Blackman is a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and the President of the Harlan Institute. Follow him @JoshMBlackman.
Josh Blackman
Latest from Josh Blackman
No Offense, But It's Just A Prayer
Kennedy tells people to get over prayer in public unless there is direct coercion.
Why Didn't Kennedy Formally Overrule Lemon?
There were no Establishment Clause claims present, and Kennedy did not ask the Court to reverse Lemon.
Farewell to Footnote 3 of Trinity Lutheran
In Carson v. Makin, the Chief Justice stealthily eliminated the status/use distinction.
Forget Carson! Remember the Maine Human Rights Act.
Maine finds a way to undercut Carson v. Maikin.
Bruen Broke The Deal
A guest post from Prof. Robert Leider (GMU)
State of the Fifth Circuit Address
A study of the Fifth Circuit's en banc decisions over the past four years.
The Kavanaugh Concurrence Is The New Kennedy Concurrence
"I write separately to emphasize the narrowness of the issue before us." Who said it? Kennedy or Kavanaugh?
Chief Justice Roberts Lost His "Long Game"
The road from Citizens United to Dobbs was paved with saving constructions.
I Anticipated Chief Justice Roberts's Lonely, Failed Saving Construction of Roe
I held the essay in reserve, waiting to see what would happen in oral arguments, but decided not to use it.
Justice Thomas and Loving v. Virginia
He already addressed the ruling at length in his Obergefell dissent.
The "Judges of Wisdom" and the "Mystical Aphorisms of the Fortune Cookie"
The Dobbs dissenters should have quoted that other passage from Justice Scalia about Justice Kennedy.
Scalia's "Prophecy" in Lawrence And The Joint Dissent in Dobbs
That awkward moment when Justice Breyer joins an opinion that criticizes his join in Lawrence.
The Assignments and Timing in Dobbs
Who assigned the majority opinion to Justice Alito?
Bruen, Originalism, and Post-Enactment Practice
What role should liquidation play in originalism?
The Limits of Bruen
The Constitutionality of "Shall Issue" Regimes After Bruen.
Red Flag June Continues As Lemon Is Finally Interred
Justice Gorsuch stabs the final pencil into the Lemon Test.
Bruen's Originalist Analogical Reasoning Applies A Presumption of Liberty
A new framework for originalist judging.
Bruen Bids Farewell To The Two-Step Test
The Court abrogated a decade of circuit court precedent, and vitiated mountains of Second Amendment scholarship.
Edited Version of Dobbs for Barnett/Blackman 2022 Supplement
I distilled the 213-page decision down to about 50 pages.
The Decade From NFIB To Dobbs
A very unexpected path.
New Op-Ed: "On abortion, justices demonstrate courage under fire"
"Dobbs, which is a triumph for originalism and sound constitutional law, also signals that the court is infused with judicial fortitude."
From Bruen to Dobbs in Twenty-Four Hours
A whirlwind day.
From Blue June to Red Flag June
Bruen and Dobbs placed red flags on hundreds of precedents.
Edited Version of NYS Rifle & Pistol v. Bruen for Barnett/Blackman 2022 Supplement
I distilled the 132 decision down to about 40 pages. Dobbs is next.
Harlan Institute-Ashbrook Virtual Supreme Court Championship Round
The top two teams presented oral argument in NYS Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen at the Georgetown Supreme Court Institute