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
Chief Judge Srinivasan's Cursory Emoluments Clauses Analysis
After four years of contested litigation, the D.C. Circuit cursorily resolves the meaning of the Emoluments Clauses without any acknowledgment of contrary positions.
N.Y. Times Opinion: "If Only John Roberts Would Retire"
No, it wasn't my column.
Texas Sets Up Test Case For Arizona v. U.S.
Can the states detain an alien based on "reasonable suspicion of illegal entry or other immigration crime"?
The Most Fascinating ConLaw Decision of the Term: Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety
Red Flag June Comes For Alden v. Maine.
The Precedential Value of Shadow Docket Cases
West Virginia v. EPA included the COVID cases in the Major Questions Canon.
The Legality of DACA After West Virginia v. EPA
The long-standing deferred action policy fits many of the Chief Justice's criteria for majorness.
What's In A Name?
A doctrine by any other name would be just as major.
Nine Cases From OT 2021 Term For The Barnett/Blackman Supplement
Dobbs, Bruen, Kennedy, Carson, WV v. EPA, City of Austin, Shurtleff, Torres, and Vaello-Madero.
Justice Gorsuch Cancels Woodrow Wilson
The one President everyone agrees should be cancelled.
SCOTUS Eliminates the Lemon Defense, and Smokes Joints With Play
A revolution in Establishment Clause jurisprudence from three Free Exercise and Free Speech cases.
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.
