Assistant Professor
@NYULaw
| Legal History, Administrative State, New York State Courts | “agenda-driven naysayer whose head instantiates academic ethers”
Thrilled to share my latest article, now live in the Journal of American Constitutional History, about my current obsession: James Bryce.
It uses his American Commonwealth, once the most important text on American government, to understand the modern presidency. (1/4)
I have been suspicious of the “Judge Cannon is undermining the rule of law to protect Donald Trump” line of argument, mostly because of the extreme rhetoric. I hadn’t been following the case closely though.
Now I feel very naive. This is bonkers. She is just making things up.
I won't do a full thread on the fall of Chevron right now, but two things about the majority opinion that irk me:
First, it traffics in an imagined reality. Roberts says it is hard to imagine that anyone, including Congress, could treat Chevron (1/4)
I don’t know this guy and I’ve been told he’s an attorney, but for what it’s worth this is almost the textbook example I use when I’m teaching folks who *don’t* understand how the First Amendment actually works. (1/6)
I can’t with the
@nytimes
headline this morning. California voters did not “send a message to the Democrats and the nation.” Rather, about 35K people more voted to recall Boudin than voted to retain him, in a recall process that all have acknowledged is structurally flawed. 1/4
Go into administrative law they said. The doctrine is sleepy they said. You won’t have to spend every summer updating all your course materials they said.
Second, the opinion has an almost mystical understanding of statutory interpretation. It seems to believe that statutes have a single best interpretation, which is knowable by judges because of their specialized expertise. This is mystification. (3/4)
as a stable background rule. In fact, we know from empirical studies that Chevron was one of the few judicial conventions of statutory interpretation that Congressional staffers knew and relied on! (2/4)
TLDR: don’t listen to this Cain guy; he’s clearly not serious and will get you in trouble. You can still lie in politics as much as you want! Just don’t do it as an element of another crime — like, say, participating in a conspiracy to defraud people of their right to vote. (6/6)
This stuff drives me crazy. The
@nytimes
is a center-right paper pretending to be neutral but coded by much of US as liberal. We really need a mainstream left newspaper. Until then
@nytimes
can you give us a less rightwing interpretation and more news? 4/4
We don't need to be legal realists to recognize that judicial construction of statutes is an institutional arrangement. The "rule of 5" is not law-as-integrity or whatever.
This opinion's "justifying presumption[s]," more even than Chevron's, are strange "fiction[s]." (4/4)
Breaking: Supreme Court strikes down reconciliation package 6-3, holding GOP had a substantial reliance interest in Manchin voting no and Senate had a long established tradition of not legislating. Thomas concurs, stating government can never act to address social problems.
It’s not *the speech* that’s criminal. It’s what the speech *does*: constitute an element of another crime.
Here, Trump is charged with conspiracy. But the lies he made about the election are part of showing his knowing fraud — an element of a crime. (5/6)
The only difference between these two acts is the fact of agreement, which is expressed in speech, although needn’t be. The crime is conspiracy: agreement to commit a crime plus a step towards its accomplishment. (4/6)
(2) I call my buddy
@AnthonyMKreis
and say: “Let’s go buy crowbars and use them to deprive people of their right to vote.” He says: “I agree! Let’s conspire to do this thing together!”
I walk to the store and buy a crowbar. Bad news: Crime! Life is bad. 😢 (3/6)
The First Amendment protects the right to free speech. But does that mean you can say whatever you want without facing criminal liability? Not at all!
Consider the following two scenarios:
(1) I walk to the store and buy and a crowbar. No crime! Life is good. 🤓 (2/6)
Casually sending an email to my committee with subject line “dissertation attached” as if it isn’t the summation of 12 years of my life and the penultimate act in a 36 year quest to win my mother’s approval.
As we head into this committee meeting tomorrow, I am struck by what a complete and utter mess Hochul has made of things. This is a Democratic governor with a Democratic super majority in the Senate. She came in with all wishes for her success and so much post-Cuomo hope! (1/5)
Meanwhile, the
@nytimes
’ misleading headline isn’t just an honest mistake or a necessary framing device. It is taking a position in a political fight. It is the reading that *one group of political actors wants* to give to this outcome. And the
@nytimes
presents it as a fact. 3/4
Just to add my voice to the chorus: it’s remarkable that we now wait every June to see how 6 unaccountable movement conservatives beholden to increasingly few checks decide to remake American government, and most people, institutions, and political actors treat it as normal (1/2)
The big racial redistricting case that 6 GOP Justices decided for the GOP today with the 3 Dem Justices dissenting, wasn’t even on the list below. That’s how big this term is. Also,
#notacourt
I’m no expert on California politics but the idea that this is some kind of grand national communiqué is laughable. Even compared to the off-cycle 2019 election that brought Boudin in, there were fewer votes to recall him than were won by his opponent then. 2/4
As a law professor, I contend that majoring in history is *the best* preparation you could have for several core law school courses, including especially constitutional law, and among the best preparation you could have for most of the others.
In the last few days, several students have approached me about majoring in history; several others discussed this with me earlier in the term. At a time when they are often encouraged to make other choices, I am thrilled every time a student reaches out about the history major.
This is the kind of straightforward reporting on the judiciary we need. The lawyer’s instinct is to say: “It’s more complicated; this is reductive; you can’t make blanket categorizations like this.” But it’s the lawyers who are missing the point. (1/3)
We looked at every NC Supreme Court case with an injured person on one side and a corporation or employer on the other. GOP justices tend to favor corporations, while Democrats favor injured workers or consumers.
#ncpol
In a matter of weeks, she has angered unions, alienated repro groups, all but accused her own supporters of being racist, and had a Black parishioner removed from her own church on MLK weekend. (2/5)
I was on the picket line yesterday. I did not see any instances of physically harassment — certainly not by New York street standards. It feels like these are scripted by union-busting lawyers in advance and emailed out regardless.
@Columbia
, just cut this nonsense out.
Hearing from more and more lawyers who object to LaSalle but can’t speak out because they practice in front of him at 2nd Appellate Department and would be in front of him if he were confirmed.
If you’re still on the fence: look at his record and his allies. (1/3)
I am simply in awe of the people who have decided to make this fight their own. In awe of the senators who are standing up and leading. And just bewildered that Hochul is making enemies of folks who would be her allies.
Whatever happens tomorrow, New York is changing. (5/5)
With 11 Dem senators opposed to LaSalle, it’s time to start talking endgame. There is a meaningful difference between having this nomination voted down vs. having it withdrawn. (1/6)
We can’t do congestion pricing because then rich people who drive into the city and don’t live there will stop commuting so instead let’s raise taxes on working-class NYC residents?
By law, $3 billion of the congestion pricing revenues must go to the commuter railroads.
So, if the program -- as currently constructed -- is financed by an exclusive NYC tax, it'd be a pretty massive transfer from city employers to the suburbs.
I am genuinely shocked anyone would tolerate this behavior by a public servant.
@NYCMayor
is this ethical? Is this professional? Does this reflect the kind of service you expect from your administration? What kind of institutional culture does this reflect and tone does it set?
Apparently the judiciary is powerful enough to construe and apply the definitely real and not made up unwritten separation of powers principles in the Constitution and also do case-by-case analysis of official vs unofficial acts but not in fact rule on the legality of a coup.
This is a real David and Goliath story. Hochul has everything on her side: her own TV program, paid staffers and consultants, media connections, establishment allies, and more! And against, it’s a bunch of regular New Yorkers with full time jobs doing other stuff. (3/5)
The
@nytimes
endorsement in NY-10 is so bad, it should be embarrassing to the paper. I strongly encourage you to read it and then remember who the actual candidates in the race are. (1/6)
Lawmakers, academics, and advocates have already discussed why LaSalle is the wrong choice for New York on labor, repro rights, and criminal legal reform. I want to draw attention to another worrying aspect of his record: ethics and transparency (1/11).
And this was completely avoidable! All the information that has spurred this fight was publicly available. A little more work on Hochul’s part and she would have known it. A little consultation with her allies and she would have been ahead of things. (4/5)
I know Twitter is for snark, but just to take this comment seriously: I teach ConLaw and Legislation and the Regulatory State. Both classes have seen several major precedents overturned in the last five years that affect core doctrines and even the structure of the law: (1/6)
Hochul was on CNBC this morning. On whether congestion pricing will come back after the November elections:
"I will say right now: $15 is not the right price. That does not mean it's gone forever, but let's just be reasonable."
I believe in careful statutory interpretation and parsing the meaning of words. But when we deprive ATF of the ability to regulate mass-killing machines because of the difference between flexing a finger and keeping a finger flexed, it feels like we’ve lost the plot?
The president has now sent out an email seeking to defend her decision to call in the NYPD. Speaking as a member of the
@nyuniversity
faculty, the letter leaves a lot to be desired. There is, again, a disconnect between the harms identified and the actions taken. (1/7)
This is incredibly disappointing — and galling to learn from the police, rather than
@nyuniversity
. I hope the administration has more of an explanation for its decision than the non-specific facts referenced in the letter below.
I find Hochul's statement really galling. Why does she think criminal legal reformers opposed LaSalle? Why does she think they are advocating for ending qualified immunity?
She is not standing in solidarity with those demanding better. She is actually standing in their way.
My heart breaks for the Nichols family & Memphis community. I'm outraged to see yet another life taken by police brutality in this country.
This system is deeply in need of repair & I stand in solidarity with those demanding better as we work to build a more just nation for all.
This is incredibly disappointing — and galling to learn from the police, rather than
@nyuniversity
. I hope the administration has more of an explanation for its decision than the non-specific facts referenced in the letter below.
#HAPPENINGNOW
:
@NYU
has requested our assistance to disperse the illegal encampment on their property. As per their request, we are on site and our officers will be assisting with the unparalleled professionalism embodied by our police officers.
@NYPDnews
@NYPDChiefPatrol
If you’re a Dem senator, and are privately opposed, now is the time to say so publicly, to make clear to the gov that she needs to withdraw this nomination. If your plan is to wait and vote no instead, you may accidentally set New York courts on an uncertain path. (6/6)
Today, a truly remarkable document has been published by retired Justices -- a letter that purports to be in support of LaSalle but that inadvertently reveals some of the very problems that have led professors like me to call for reform. (1/10)
This touched on a really important point I emphasize in my Constitutional Law class. It’s not an accident that the 14th amendment is hard to reconcile with the original constitution. (1/5)
My reason for thinking the ratification of the 14th amendment violates the spirit of the constitution is because the verbiage completely shifted state jurisdiction to create federal overlap. This violates the power structure of the limited federal govt the framers intended. 8/8
This feels striking to me — Biden saying (1) SCOTUS was wrong, (2) the GOP did this to us, and (3) I’m going to pursue the same goal under HEA.
This is a very direct confrontation with the Court — much more so than after Dobbs. Wild stuff.
The debate about protest at Supreme Court justices' homes and the recent death of the great legal historian John Phillip Reid (along with the scurrilous attacks on
@joshchafetz
) have me thinking again about Reid's great essay on the legality of the mob in US legal history. (1/6)
This is a remarkable opinion. Bravo to Judge Reeves for writing so plainly about the mess the Supreme Court’s “new historicist” jurisprudence has created.
As
@ascoseriakatz
and I noted in our
@HarvLRev
piece, in language Reeves cites, it is bad for both law and history. (1/2)
Judge Carlton Reeves has issued his decision in the felon-in-possession case. He rules that, under Bruen, permanently disarming people convicted of felonies violates the Second Amendment. The 77-page decision is absolutely fascinating.
One of the most striking things about this whole process, to me, is what it has revealed about Hochul’s approach to governance. No one wanted this fight. Everyone I know was trying to work collaboratively. ASC offered — and continues to offer — many off ramps. (1/7)
Cuomo-style tactics without Cuomo-style leverage. Cuomo had a weaker GOP legislature for most of his tenure and decades of Albany experience under his belt. Hochul is going to have a very hard time recreating that.
I’m in
@TheAtlantic
this morning with a warning about Jarkesy, a case the Supreme Court is hearing on Wednesday — the latest judicial attack on functional government.
Flattered by all the new followers — but you should know this account is mostly legal history and the administrative state.
Come for the New York judiciary, stay for next week’s introduction to textualist theories of statutory interpretation?
This is a scandal. The local news should be all over it. The cops and bigwigs cheat on the tolls and dodge tickets, sticking the little guys with the bill. And a local Good Samaritan, who tries to set things right, gets attacked by the very system supposed to deliver justice.
Got arrested Friday and charged with Crim Mischief for removing a piece of plastic obscuring plate number meanwhile cops refused to issue ticket to this guy despite obscuring front and back plates
@defacedplateNYC
@NYCMayor
One of my law profs said you have to remember every case you read involves two crazies because reasonable people don’t go to court only the vicious and I think I would never do that and then I have to deal with an apartment broker and I don’t care what it costs I’m suing the mfer
Not all mass protests are the same. But loud, angry demonstrations against government officials in the name of vindicating fundamental rights when other avenues of democratic change have been rendered ineffectual is "deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition." (5/6)
With the
@nytimes
writing a news article about
#NoOnLaSalle
and some shady coalition paying for advertisements (!) on behalf of LaSalle, I am reminded of the major power imbalance in this fight. (1/5)
I respect Tish James and Jonathan Lippman a ton, but they have to appear before LaSalle as litigants. Asking their opinion is like interviewing my students for their opinion of me, right now, while they know I’m about to grade their final papers. (3/3)
I could not be more excited to share that I’ll be joining the faculty at NYU Law, starting next week. And truly humbled to do so as part of such a wonderful, impressive cohort. What a dream come true.
On May 24, Dean Trevor Morrison announced that four new faculty members will take up positions at the Law School this summer: Maggie Blackhawk; César Rodríguez-Garavito; Noah Rosenblum; and Vincent Southerland:
You wouldn’t know it from reading the editorial, but there’s at least one candidate in the race (coughcough
@yuhline
cough) who has already convinced large numbers of lower income and middle class New Yorkers she can represent them, because she does! (3/6)
If it reads like the Southern, pro-slavery, states-rights tradition of the original Constitution is missing there, that’s on purpose. The 14th is the product of victory. If you read the whole 14th, it is essentially part of the terms of Southern surrender and readmission. (3/5)
Happy to share news of a very exciting job vacancy: Chief Judge of New York.
Required qualifications: New York State residency; 10 years of New York Bar membership.
Look to the Commission on Judicial Nominations for more info on how to apply, soon.
The statements in defense of LaSalle are becoming increasingly unhinged. They accuse his critics of being anti-Latinx, when the first senators to criticize him were Latinx! They accuse his critics of misinformation, when they spread factual falsehoods! (1/2)
My beef isn’t that the court is “political”; it’s that we don’t have a political culture that knows how to handle the court’s politics. I’m not sure what the right way to handle it is — the law/politics distinction is vexed, etc. — but this sure isn’t it. (2/2)
This is so rich on so many levels.
Justice Bradley’s conservative majority was complicit in disenfranchising Wisconsin’s majority. A minority of Republicans elects a *supramajority* of the legislature with Bradley’s ok. The new court majority is just bringing democracy back.
Big words from someone who literally favorably cited Ben Shapiro’s “How to Debate Leftists and Destroy Them: 11 Rules for Winning the Argument” in an opinion.
This is (a) funny and (b) probably a violation of the D.C. Human Rights Act, which bars discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of “family responsibilities,” including having children. (Which means you can’t give special treatment to people without children.)
Today, we mark the anniversary of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Thanksgiving should really be today and, like Passover, we should retell the story every year — and feel as if we ourselves, today, had taken on anew the burden of defeating the Confederacy
The editorial and news teams at
@nytimes
have ignored our calls for coverage of New York courts for *years.* Now they wade in and interview several institutional pro-LaSalle figures and *none* opposed. I wonder who put them up to that piece? (2/5)
Judging shapes the society we live in. It inexorably involves values, which color even how the same facts are interpreted. Different judges have different values. Many judges on the bench do not share the values of the communities they are supposed to serve. (2/3)
The 14th amendment is part of what Eric Foner’s new book rightly calls The Second Founding. It is a rejection, rewriting, and renovation of the Constitution, and it is deeply indebted to radical and Black abolitionist thought. (2/5)
I doubt any of us quoted in
@thehill
article think revising our curriculums is really a big deal. But if you teach ConLaw or AdLaw and *didn’t* have to revise, then I genuinely want to know what you were teaching before. Were you just not teaching doctrine? (6/6)
Thank you Senator!
@GovKathyHochul
there is no shame in recognizing that you misread the political moment, and there is still time to change course without embarrassment. LaSalle would have been a largely uncontroversial nominee even just three years ago. (1/4)
What are Drs. Allen and Rice doctors of? Are they historians? I am genuinely curious. I have been trying to find their CVs online but without luck. (The only “Frances Presley Rice” I can find online doesn’t haven any doctoral degrees listed on her linked in at all.)
Want the truth on Florida’s African American History Standards? See statement below from experts who crafted them.
“Any attempt to reduce slaves to just victims of oppression fails to recognize their strength, courage and resiliency during a difficult time in American history.”
I wonder who the 11th senator to come out publicly against LaSalle will be. It will take courage, since that’s the decisive number. But I have no doubt others will immediately follow. And court watchers will remember their bravery.
Maybe two senators want to announce together?
If LaSalle withdraws or his nomination is pulled, rather than voted down, then I think it’s as if the governor had not made any nomination at all, so she goes back to the existing shortlist. Under the circumstances, this is probably the best outcome for New Yorkers. (5/6)
This piece by
@FAIRmediawatch
, on the press coverage of the LaSalle confirmation fight, is fantastic. It documents how legacy media has repeatedly accepted a false framing pushed by a small number of insider, establishment figures.
The decline in the quality of this platform in the last month has been striking.
If you’re part of the legal academy, whether a student or a professor, and have not yet come to the other place, I encourage you to make the jump. There is a significant community there already.
One irony for me in this fight over LaSalle’s record: LaSalle’s critics have engaged in careful analysis of his record, while his defenders have resorted to invective. You have to analyze his record to understand his values. But you actually have to *analyze* it. (1/4)
Absolutely delighted to share my latest article, coauthored with
@LevMenand
and Ash Ahmed, just live in the
@HarvLRev
, on the growth of presidential administrative legal authority in the second half of the twentieth-century. (1/7)
A small thought about the immunity case. Ordinarily when a government agent acts beyond their legal authority, they can be held to account in some form in a court of law. This is an old principle of the law of officers that has survived, in spirit, into modern admin law (1/3)
Some people seem to think that forms of mass protest that make elites uncomfortable have no place in our democracy. This, of course, was the Tory position in the lead up to the Revolution. They lost. (2/6)
Consider: every Republican Justice on the Supreme Court had a confirmation hearing in which they led *GOP Senators* to believe they would not overturn Roe v. Wade. And then they all voted to overturn Roe v. Wade! Was the hearing a good guide to their philosophy? (8/10)
When it comes to his endorsers, how many are disinterested? How many are New York State courts specialists? How many are actually engaging with his record? (2/3)
The idea that we can know Judge LaSalle's jurisprudence better from a confirmation hearing than his actual record is sheer mystification. We've all seen confirmation hearings. The only incentive a judge has there is to tell the powerful what they want. It's not binding. (7/10)
The alternative -- that they genuinely believe that they are not responsible for the memorandum opinions they join and that they do not in fact reflect their considered judgment of the law -- is simply too upsetting to contemplate seriously. (10/10).
Reporting like this — and by other outfits like
@scrutinize_org
— helps show what that means in practice. The problem they are documenting is so much bigger than just a couple of bad decisions or a couple of outlier judges. (Although of course that’s a problem too.) (3/3)
I’m supporting
@yuhline
for reasons I already explained and that
@srfeld
elegantly reiterated this morning. I have friends I admire supporting other people for good reasons. But the
@nytimes
shows again that it is out of touch with its own community and actual politics in NY.
Like many of you, I’ll be supporting
@yuhline
for Congress in CD-10. She has a demonstrated commitment to working for the most vulnerable, a record of accomplishment, and remains embedded in movements for change. Thats why she’s endorsed by
@WorkingFamilies
and others I admire.
This coordinated defense of LaSalle is a PR stunt. They have access to institutional media, money, and connections.
On the other side is his record, labor, civil society, and New Yorkers. I am furious — and grateful to the political leaders who see through this. (5/5)
The
@nytimes
endorses a candidate of vast wealth and little political connection to the district. And then says: well you know he’ll have to spend his time in office convincing his constituents he can represent them. This is absurd. (2/6)
Thrilled to share that my forthcoming article on The Antifascist Roots of Presidential Administration will appear in the next volume of the
@ColumLRev
! The latest draft is up
@SSRN
(1/7)