I'm giving a paper in Les Hamptons this weekend, what a fancy fella I've become!
Historian1661
@historian1661.bsky.social
Independent scholar. I'm not in academia. Comparativist. Former staff member, Princeton U. Library.
On this day in Canadian parliamentary history - August 4, 1960: The House of Commons passes the legislation to establish the Canadian Bill of Rights 186-0 (it would receive royal assent six days later following a Senate vote).
Honestly, it's fairly straightforward. Ideological zealot who is convinced that she has the solution to save Japan and is isolated from more reality-based sources of information. open.substack.com/pub/observin...
The lady's not for turning
Taking Takaichi seriously on fiscal policy
open.substack.com
Once again renewing my call to make graduate history coursework a graduation requirement at law schools.
Aparna Nair@disabilitystor1.bsky.social · yesterday"History involves sorting and organizing hundreds of thousands of facts" I remain astounded by how loud and wrong people are about what history actually is.
First argument of the term: "Whether federal law precludes state-law claims seeking relief for injuries allegedly caused by the effects of interstate and international greenhouse-gas emissions on the global climate."
Chris Geidner@chrisgeidner.bsky.social · yesterdayNEW: We have an October SCOTUS argument calendar. www.supremecourt.gov/oral_argumen...
NEW: Judge Allison Burroughs in Massachusetts is *pissed* at DOJ. She does not hold back, calling out DOJ's bad-faith litigating in the TPS cases, in addition to the overarching "shameful cruelty" of what the Trump administration is doing. From her latest order in the Somalia TPS case:
![Leaving aside the shameful cruelty inherent in eschewing a “wind down period” for
people under threat of deportation, many of whom are productive members of our communities
who have lived here for years, built a life here, worked here and raised their families here, the
Court is mindful of both the Supreme Court ruling and the recent First Circuit judgment in this
case. That said, the Court will also not abdicate its responsibility to make thoughtful, wellreasoned decisions after affording all parties a full and fair opportunity to be heard. It is
therefore ORDERED that Plaintiffs respond to Defendants’ motion to lift the stay, [ECF No.
97], by 5:00 p.m. on August 5, 2026. The Court further amends the scheduling order on
supplemental briefing, [ECF No. 82]. Pursuant to the amended schedule, Defendants’ brief is
also due by 5:00 p.m. on August 5, 2026, and any reply brief by Plaintiffs will be due by
5:00 p.m. on August 6, 2026. The Court anticipates a decision on Defendants’ motion, which
will be accompanied by a decision on Plaintiffs’ emergency motion if the Court decides to lift
the administrative stay, early next week. Should Defendants return to the First Circuit prior to
that as they threaten in their motion, the Court will assume that it has lost jurisdiction, which will
delay its rulings.
SO ORDERED.
August 4, 2026 /s/ Allison D. Burroughs
ALLISON D. BURROUGHS
U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:36eqtmzysqf7wsslczw4uxcd/bafkreidyjkwygfgvpjd52dgdyfqvi4w5f66on3whxjfukc2ug2ufdv5nem)
BREAKING: 35 frm. fed judges filed to keep sanctions against Trump in his case against the IRS in place He sued the IRS in bad faith, got sanctioned & wants a pause while he appeals @democracydefendersaction.org reps w/ Platkin LLP, Susman Godfrey & Rivero Mestre Sanctions aren't a suggestion -TN
DOJ loses for the 19th time in efforts to obtain state voter rolls, this time in Colorado, courtsey of Judge Philip Brimmer, a George W. Bush appointee: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
the department of education today issued a 'national call to action' - which, in plain english, is a call for capitulation to trump administration's assault on higher ed. www.ed.gov/media/docume... note how this doc deploys recent yale & vanderbilt reports
Well that's a story www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/u...
How a Top Law Firm Went From Standing Up to Trump to Bending the Knee (Gift Article)
Paul Weiss was a progressive stalwart for decades and led the legal resistance against President Trump in his first term. Then it surrendered without a fight. This is the inside story of its transform...
nytimes.com
Pierre Charles L’Enfant was born in Paris OTD in 1754. After serving the American cause in the Revolutionary War, he worked as a New York architect. In 1791, President George Washington appointed L’Enfant to design the new federal city that became Washington, D.C. Image: Library of Congress.
I’ve seen in two culture /higher ed magazines recently the claim that the printing press engendered a crisis of authority at universities bc anyone could publish what they wanted and people could learn things without universities. This is not true.
A longer post in this weekly series - a tribute to Carlo Ginzburg, and his approach of the historian as a detective, with a particular focus on his important essay 'Clues'. "The Historian as Detective – Carlo Ginzburg and the Search for ‘Clues’" progressivegeographies.com/2026/08/02/t...
The Historian as Detective – Carlo Ginzburg and the Search for ‘Clues’
A few years ago, after one of the presentations I’d given on reconstructing Émile Benveniste’s movements during the Second World War through various archives, one audience member said to another: “…
progressivegeographies.com
“Well, it’s going well so far”. #OTDIH 2 August 1870. The French capture (briefly) Saarbrücken. French troops for the attack were told they “should take something to eat, as it is not known at what time they will return to camp in the evening.” #Warof1870 #FrancoPrussianWar
![Capture of Saarbrucken by the French, 2 August 1870. Print published by Pellerin & Cie, Imagerie D’Epinal, late 19th century. [source: Wikipedia]
The French Emperor, Napoleon III, and the Crown Prince are depicted seeing the troops off into action.
An important moment in the war as the French advanced across the frontier but, in reality, opposition was light and afterwards the French had no clear plan of what to do next.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:erhawmh3gdw5rqkf37uxjcvt/bafkreigjr563doocvnntxxbt5muc6bvjszuymjbrvtb2kpzkxxti4k44j4)
FLASH: Justice Dept seeks to dismiss Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool criminal case against former Olympian David Hearn Trump Admin acknowledges: "Damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor"
This is in the American Bar Association's lawsuit against the Trump admin for what the ABA identifies as the Trump admin's "Law Firm Intimidation Policy." Judge Amir Ali has the case, Susman Godfrey's Stephen Shackelford is representing the ABA, and James Wen is representing the government.
Chris Geidner@chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 5d agoOn an hour-long (so far) discovery call that started at 10a on a Friday in the summer. Congrats to the lawyers who drew this straw (and the judge).
BREAKING: The 9th Circuit has rejected ICE's unprecedented mass detention policy — the 5th striaght appellate loss for the Trump administration and perhaps the most significant, covering California, Arizona, Nevada and Washington, among others. cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
9th Cir., 2-1, joins the 2d, 6th, 10th, and 11th Cirs. in holding that DHS cannot detain unadmitted noncitizens found living inside the United States without the possibility of bond while their removal proceedings are pending. Circuits split with 5th and 8th. cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
Routledge has just listed my book as forthcoming: www.routledge.com/Parliament-a...
Parliament and the Invention of Legislative Power: England, 1100-1330
How did the English parliament become a legislature—an assembly that deliberates, makes law, and represents a nation? In this wide-ranging and carefully argued reinterpretation, Matthew Steilen retrac...
routledge.com
It seems like this could be effected in a regular immigration court. The ARTC will be slower and triggers more legal process protections. (Which is good, I'm just saying that for their purposes and for this profile of person it makes no sense.) I bet they saw "secret court" and didn't read the rest
Jose Pagliery@josepagliery.bsky.social · 7d agoBreaking news: we now know the identity of the person the Trump DOJ is trying to deport with a never-before-used "Alien Terrorist Removal Court." It's Nazira Haji Zada, the mother of one of the Afghan men who were convicted of plotting an ISIS-inspired mass shooting on Election Day 2024.
The William and Mary Quarterly forum on the recently discovered John Dickinson documents, revealing his previously unknown secret attempt to prevent the American Revolution, is now available online! The WMQ has generously made the issue open access for the next month. muse.jhu.edu/issue/57168
ALERT: Senate Judicary Committee postpones tomorrow’s vote on Todd Blanche Troubling sign for nomination
The Russians keep whining because they can't get their goods out of the warehouses, and the warehouses just keep burning.
JUST IN: A judge in New Jersey just became the latest to reject DOJ’s demand for state voter rolls. He acknowledges the latest flap over noncitizen registrants but says it’s not relevant to this particular legal dispute. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
🇩🇿 Meet Khalida Boufedech, the first woman to lead Algeria’s parliament Khalida Boufedech became Algeria’s first woman parliament speaker and the highest-ranking woman to hold constitutional office in the country’s history. www.al-monitor.com/originals/20...
Meet Khalida Boufedech, the first woman to lead Algeria’s parliament
Khalida Boufedech became Algeria’s first woman parliament speaker and the highest-ranking woman to hold constitutional office in the country’s history.
al-monitor.com
The Harvard College Writing Center will no longer operate as a standalone unit after its director was laid off and its functions were consolidated, prompting backlash from current and former tutors. Abigail S. Gerstein and Amann S. Mahajan report. www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...
Harvard College Lays Off Writing Center Director, Consolidates Center | News | The Harvard Crimson
The Harvard College Writing Center will no longer operate as a standalone unit after its director was laid off and its functions were consolidated as part of a restructuring in the Faculty of Arts…
thecrimson.com
Earlier this month, a New York Times journalist was watching “The Sheep Detectives” when FBI agents showed up at his door with a subpoena. Last week, a judge had some questions. It didn’t go well for the Justice Department. My dispatch from the NYT hearing: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
The Subpoena Detective: A Dispatch from the Times Hearing
On jets, journalism, and a judge
lawfaremedia.org