Adam Davidson
@sonofdavid.bsky.social
Assistant Professor at UChicago Law. Researching police, prisons, abolition, and the 13th amendment. Views, for better or worse, are my own. Things I wrote: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=4329951 Background by Oscar Joyo
Between this and Justice Jackson explicitly claiming the Reconstruction Amendments as anti-subordination tools, the liberals seem pretty much done playing ball with conservative constitutionalism.
Sarah Burnes@sarahburnes.bsky.social · 2w ago“The whole project” of originalism, she added, “is kind of misconceived, and it’s not a very good match with the Constitution we have.” Yooooooooo @audrelawdamercy.blacksky.app! www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/u...
I think it's important to point out that SCOTUS has two ways to decide this case. One of them answers a surprisingly difficult question about what the baseline is for proving that a policy that doesn't mention race is discriminatory. The second, which Leah points out, is white supremacy.
Leah Litman@leahlitman.bsky.social · 2w agoIf SCOTUS says, in this case, a race-neutral policy to enhance diversity is racial discrimination, it would mean (a) racial hierarchies that exclude Black & brown students are required because (b) schools can't try to prevent Black & brown students from being excluded. It's white supremacy.
Cis people do not understand how much trans people's rights have regressed in just 5 years. 5 years ago, there were none of these restrictions. 19 states banned legal recognition 21 states have bathroom bans 8 states ban gender marker changes on DLs 25 ban gender affirming care for trans youth
In @statecourtreport.org today discussing state pushes to go beyond the 13th amendment to ban slavery and involuntary servitude with no exceptions and what needs to happen to turn those rights on paper into on-the-ground change. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...
Transforming the Modern Push to Abolish Slavery and Involuntary Servitude
Nine states have amended their constitutions to eliminate or narrow the use of slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. The exception exists in the federal 13th Amendment.
statecourtreport.org
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: state constitutions provide resources & affordances for progressive politics that have yet to be fully exploited. They're all easier to change than the federal one & many have been updated to reflect emerging problems...y'know, like a democracy should.
Jenn@jennburrill.bsky.social · 2mo agoHuge step by Arizona to get money out of politics 💸 Arizona Supreme Court "parted ways with the U.S. Supreme Court’s analysis in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, concluding that corporate campaign contributions are not a form of protected expression under the state constitution"
It's 5 4 in that there are 4 votes that the constitution does not mandate birthright citizenship.
Joshua G. Schraiber@jgschraiber.bsky.social · 4mo agoHoly fuck the fact that it's only 6-3 is as sure as a sign as anything that the court is broken
Ilhan Omar represents the best of what America can be.
Ilhan Omar@ilhanmn.bsky.social · 4mo agoI assimilated all the way to Congress and this idiot still tells me to go back where I came from.
My colleague Nora Freeman Engstrom has put together a guide for bringing tort suits against ICE law.stanford.edu/wp-content/u...
law.stanford.edu
Every time I think I’ve seen the worst qualified immunity decision I can imagine, the federal courts release some new, fresh hell on my psyche.
Gabriel Malor@gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 6mo agoThe highlighted portion was when I stood up and walked away from my desk for a minute. Sometimes, man. www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf...
![During intake, Griswold needed assistance walking and refused to answer questions. He appeared lethargic. Once in the cell, he vomited one time, with some of the vomit landing on himself and the rest on the floor. Griswold briefly cleaned his face and mouth but did not ask for assistance and [HIGHLIGHT BEGINS] remained sitting in his vomit for nearly 13 hours. Beyond that, however, Griswold exhibited no signs of distress. [HIGHLIGHT ENDS] He largely remained in the same position, mostly seated against the wall, though he adjusted into a semi-lying position in the morning hours. Throughout the night and morning, defendants conducted numerous cell checks. Throughout the evening and morning, Griswold can be seen either moving his arms, legs, or head, occasionally readjusting his legs, folding or unfolding his arms, touching his face with his hands, or fixing his shirt.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:24vva42nxim6zbcmnozegoef/bafkreihikfli6nsmtdqjb7f3y4ae5qwuefbt422rymgrcr3vm3xjwv5fbi)
Hi. There is some drama over on LawyerThreads. There’s a lawyer (who is also very active on Facebook) who is out in the world saying that the law is neutral. Just want to chime in as a career public defender and say THE LAW IS NOT AND NEVER HAS BEEN FUCKING NEUTRAL. 🧵
There is *a lot* to unpack here but I have to go meet with students so I'll just say: not enough "yikes" in the world.
Steve Vladeck@stevevladeck.bsky.social · 6mo agoSecond (and last) #SCOTUS ruling is the big one, Louisiana v. Callais. For a 6-3 majority (Rs v. Ds), Justice Alito purports to narrow the ability of states to draw majority-minority districts as a remedy for race-based vote dilution, but, per Kagan's dissent, comes pretty close to gutting the VRA:
there is something genuinely clarifying and useful about this kind of stuff. they are totally hoods off and proud of it, which means we should not hesitate to describe them accordingly
I really wish these people had no power so that I could enjoy how hilarious this is instead of being terrified for what it means about how they’re going to further destroy our public health system.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 6mo agoRFK Jr: "A Democratic senator claimed it's mathematically impossible to have a drug drop by 600%. I said, 'Well, if the drug was $100 and it raises to $600, that would be a 600% rise. If it drops from $600 to $100, that's a 600% savings.'" Trump: "Right"
Donald Trump 🫱🏻🫲🏽 Terrence Howard Making up fake ways to do math that make no damn sense.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 7mo agoRFK Jr: "President Trump has a different way of calculating percentages. If you have a $600 drug and you reduce it to $10, that's a 600% reduction."
i think it is cool that the president of the united states routinely slurs black people as biological inferior
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 7mo agoTrump refers to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as "that new, Low IQ person"
Interested in becoming a law professor focusing on privacy and AI? Apply as soon as possible to GW Law’s VAP in Privacy & Technology Law. We start reviewing applications soon: www.law.gwu.edu/privacy-and-...
Privacy and Technology Law Fellowship | GW Law | The George Washington University
The Privacy and Technology Law Fellowship is designed to assist attorneys who are interested in pursuing a legal academic career in an area of privacy and technology law.
law.gwu.edu
This is now so quaint that I saw the “Secretary of Education Omarosa” joke in the corner and my first thought was that she seems way too qualified and reasonable to be appointed now.
Niko Bowie@nikobowie.bsky.social · 7mo agoTen years ago today, in April 2016, the Boston Globe printed a satirical front page imagining a future Trump administration. The page was called "alarmist," "hyperbolic," "dystopian." But we’ve put up with so much since then it now looks like . . . a slow Thursday?
By my count, there are now over 50 House Democrats, along with two Senate Democrats, who have called for Trump to be impeached or removed via the 25th Amendment for his post on Iran. More here: www.axios.com/2026/04/07/t...
Andrew Solender@andrewsolender.bsky.social · 7mo agoGrowing list of Dems calling for Trump's impeachment/25th Amendment: Ansari Omar Pocan Tlaib DeGette Thanedar Stansbury Khanna Frost Julie Johnson Olszewski Ramirez Nikema Williams Moulton Pressley Summer Lee Magaziner McBride McCollum More here @axios.com: www.axios.com/2026/04/07/t...
If you find yourself plotting political violence online, best case scenario you are talking to a Fed. Worst case scenario is you are involved in a Pooh Shiesty wearing an ankle monitor to the robbery stupid-level plot that could get people—including you—hurt for no good reason. Don’t do it.
I Travel Like Sound Dog@chadstanton.blacksky.app · 7mo agoThe feds are going to be like “look at this weird motherfucker” and throw your picture up along with the plans you made with a definite federal agent to bomb something.
Right after they finish with trans youth, their moving on to target youth with ADHD and autism to satisfy their austerity driven eugenics project. They don't even dignify us with new talking points.
Despite coming out on April 1, this is not an April Fool’s joke.
Anna Bower@annabower.bsky.social · 7mo agoYou gotta be kidding me
I guess I’ll join the chorus of lawyers explaining that SCOTUS didn’t strike down CO’s law yesterday, they said courts have to more closely interrogate it before upholding it. This, to be clear, is BAD for anyone who thinks CO’s ban is good and legal. But the fight in the courts is not over.
Drop Site@dropsitenews.com · 7mo ago🗞️ Supreme Court strikes down CO conversion therapy ban SCOTUS ruled Tue. against CO's law banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ minors, w/ an 8-1 majority finding the measure violates the 1st Am.'s free speech protections. Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the court & joined by liberal justices...
When they granted cert, I thought they were either seriously considering limiting birthright citizenship, or wanted to tell a Brown v. Board, 9-0 unity story with a politically salient, but legally slam dunk case.
Don't get me wrong: I'm relieved that this case is shaping up as either 8-1 or 7-2 against the Trump executive order. But the case is a gift to the Supreme Court. By rejecting an outlandish position, it will earn credibility as apolitical, even as the Overton window moves far to the right.
A related fact people are surprised by: I’m part of the first generation of my family to be an equal citizen of this country. I was born in 1989.
TankFu (Gamer)@tankfu.bsky.social · 7mo agoMy school was about 50% black kids & I went to a HBCU in the same town for a couple semesters in the 90s. In all that time I’ve never heard a black friend mention how many generations of their family had been born free. Folks should do that more & publicly. Thank you for this new perspective.
BREAKING: The PA Supreme Court holds that mandatory life without parole sentences for all "felony murder" convictions -- a sentence more than 1,000 people in PA are serving -- violates the state constitution's "cruel" punishment ban. This is GROUNDBREAKING: www.pacourts.us/assets/opini...
