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
From the FBI's Secret SCOTUS Files about Larry Flynt
Flynt gave Justice O'Connor a complimentary subscription to Hustler magazine. Her secretary asked Flynt to remove her subscription. Flynt replied, "I’ll take you off Hustler’s subscription list when you resign from the court.”
The Atlantic Profiles Justice Kavanaugh. No he is not out for revenge. No, he is not a mystery. He is who we always knew he was.
"But squint again at the story of Kavanaugh's rise, and a different picture might come into view: a credential-obsessed meritocrat who's spent his life sweatily striving for power without any grounding in conviction or principle."
The Eleventh Rule of Court Packing Is Hold a 90-Minute Public "Meeting" Over Zoom
There should be just enough time to give a 2.5 minute introduction for each of the 36 members.
A Tribute to Judge Judy Boggs
"Judy has lived her life in the trenches of the regulatory state, giving everything she has to help government work wherever she has served."
SDOH Finds That Tax Mandate of American Rescue Plan Act Likely Unconstitutional
The Court declined to enter a preliminary injunction, but set an expedited briefing schedule for a permanent injunction.
Deans Should Not Solicit Signatures For Statements On Matters Of Public Concern
Faculty--especially untenured and adjunct members--will be pressured to join.
Cancelling Citations
Will law review editors ask authors to remove citations to controversial sources?
Pre-Writing Justice Breyer's Obituary
It is a surreal experience to talk to a reporter who is pre-writing a Supreme Court Justice's obituary.
The Per Curiam Facebook Oversight Board
Opinions are unsigned, and members of the "minority" are unnumbered.
Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Barrett Ask Deputy SG Feigin About Switch in Position for Terry v. U.S.
Roberts: "I wondered what standard your office applies in deciding when to take that step. Is it just that you think the position is wrong and you would have reached a different one?"
Subscribe to David Lat's "Original Jurisdiction" Substack
Relive the glory days of Above the Law excellence for only $50/year.
Justice Thomas still wants to overrule the Feres Doctrine. Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett apparently do not.
Wiping out a Justice Jackson opinion may be too much to bear.
SCOTUS Appoints Gail A. Curly as Marshal of the Court
Curly will replace Marshal Pamela Talkin.
SCOTUS Denies Cert in Maryland Shall Issue v. Hogan
This case brought a takings challenge to Maryland's prohibition on bump stocks
A Refreshingly Boring First 100 Days
From a legal perspective, the last three months have been pleasantly predictable.
The 2020 Harlan Institute-Ashbrook Virtual Supreme Court Elite 8 Round
The top 8 teams argued Torres v. Madrid.
New Article: What Happens if the Biden Administration Prosecutes and Convicts Donald Trump of Violating 18 U.S.C. § 2383?
Seth Barrett Tillman and I published in the Illinois Law Review's Symposium on President Biden's First 100 Days
Making More Sense of the Limited Cert Grant in NYS Rifle & Pistol Association v. Corlett
Perhaps the Court can consolidate the New York Case with Young v. Hawaii
The Supreme Court's Libertarian Wing Squares The Corner
Justices Gorsuch, Thomas, and Barrett won't "endow the Executive Branch with maximum bureaucratic flexibility."
Leaving the COVID Bubble and Re-Entering Civil Society
How do we emerge from a self-imposed state of exile?
SCOTUS GVRs South Bay III in light of Tandon v. Newsom
There is (I think) only one more COVID-19 case on the docket.
Can California and Texas now resolve their disputes "by self-help measures"?
We all know who would win that conflict.
SCOTUS Denies Cert in Richard Epstein v. Barack Obama
No, that is not the real name of the case, but you get the idea.
Making Sense of the Limited Cert Grant in NYS Rifle & Pistol Association v. Corlett
Why did the Court rewrite the question presented in this Second Amendment case?
