Tracy Thomas
@proftracythomas.bsky.social
Law professor and scholar at The Center for Constitutional Law at Akron. Author of “The First Woman Judge: The Life & Legacy of Florence Allen” out 9/29. https://linktr.ee/ProfTThomas (personal page)
Nine court decisions have addressed the constitutionality of various abortion restrictions under recently passed reproductive freedom amendments, writes @uclarepropolicy.bsky.social's @cathrencohen.bsky.social.
How Are Advocates Using State Reproductive Freedom Amendments?
Voters approved state constitutional protections for reproductive rights. Now, courts are interpreting what they mean — and not just in cases about abortion.
statecourtreport.org
Over at his personal blog, Emory Law Professor @matthewsag.bsky.social offers some very interesting thoughts on structuring law school exams in an era of AI and common extra-time accommodations. matthewsag.com/ai-accommoda...
AI, Accommodations, and Assessment Integrity – Matthew Sag
matthewsag.com
Brake adds, “I’ve been surprised about a lot of what’s been happening in the last year and a half on discrimination law and gender. Things that we thought were long settled, this administration has been trying to completely turn back the clock—not years, but decades.”
Mother Jones@motherjones.com · 2w agoThe Heritage Foundation only wanted to protect women's sports when it was about trans athletes
Worth reading in its entirety. www.law.uchicago.edu/news/ai-stra...
Rethinking Legal Education in the AI Era | University of Chicago Law School
OverviewArtificial Intelligence is already impacting higher education and the legal profession, and the pace of change appears only to be accelerating. It is thus critical for us to use this moment to...
law.uchicago.edu
“It was a challenging case, and it’s important for academic freedom that it came out the way it did. But it’s not a slam dunk. Academic-freedom advocates shouldn’t be overly optimistic about what’s going to happen in the next round of this kind of litigation.”
Chronicle of Higher Education@chronicle.com · 4w agoFlorida's "Stop WOKE Act" lost in federal court. Will similar "divisive content" restrictions in states like Alabama, Texas, and North Carolina meet the same fate? https://chroni.cl/44Sr9vx
It's here! Don't miss our Stat Pack for the 2025-26 term.
The 2025-26 term by the numbers
scotusblog.com
SCOTUS in WV v BPJ adopts a new toothless intermediate scrutiny that weakens the heightened inquiry for all sex-based discrimination. And inexplicably gets 9 votes for no Title IX issue.
This is my take as well—like other constitutional scholars immersed in the gender discrimination law—seeing the beginnings of a big doctrinal shift to doing away with heightened scrutiny for all sex-based discrimination.
Mother Jones@motherjones.com · last mo.The ruling has broad implications, making it far easier for states to justify treating men and women differently. “He’s not only creating a bad precedent for trans people, he’s significantly lowering the protection all women get under equal protection.”
I continue to be frustrated by the ineffective dissent in the transgender sports case. The “needs more facts in the district court” approach fails to underscore the doctrinal threat the opinion raises to intermediate scrutiny generally for all sex-based cases.
RBG must be turning in her grave. For Kavanaugh cites & resurrects Nguyen. A case RBG thought she overruled in her swan song of Morales-Santana.
Tracy Thomas@proftracythomas.bsky.social · last mo.SCOTUS in the transgender sports case quotes the VMI case that “the physical differences between men and women are enduring.” But of course RBG & 7J held that was NOT a basis to discriminate & separate.
With so many others I'm relieved that SCOTUS upheld birthright citizenship. And yes, it shouldn't have been this close. Please, everyone, read Justice Jackson, who gives a particularly forthright account of the relevant history and emphasizes the stakes for this country.
The lineup in the birthright citizenship case follows research I’m doing on the alignment of women SCOTUS Js in cases where all the women, or all women + one man, join together. The women’s coalition seems to frame the problem differently upfront, empathizing with different underlying equities.
This is a good time to re-up our call for papers on the big SCOTUS cases. Expedited publishing in 4-6 wks time & faculty edited.
Tracy Thomas@proftracythomas.bsky.social · 3mo agoCFP The Center for Constitutional Law at Akron for our faculty edited journal ConLawNOW. Written symposium "SCOTUS Blockbuster Cases 2026." Share your insights & key takeaways on the big cases of the term in this annual summer symposium. Essays 5k words. Deadline 8/28.
SCOTUS in the transgender sports case quotes the VMI case that “the physical differences between men and women are enduring.” But of course RBG & 7J held that was NOT a basis to discriminate & separate.
I’m glad to be a part of this new initiative with my entry on the history of women in the courts.
Gautham Rao (pronounced: Knicks in 5)@gauthamrao.bsky.social · last mo.My nine years editing my favorite journal, Law and History Review (@lawandhistrev.bsky.social), are coming to an end this summer. What's next? I'm thrilled to share my new multi-year initiative with Oxford University Press: Oxford Bibliographies in Legal History academic.oup.com/reference/62...
My nine years editing my favorite journal, Law and History Review (@lawandhistrev.bsky.social), are coming to an end this summer. What's next? I'm thrilled to share my new multi-year initiative with Oxford University Press: Oxford Bibliographies in Legal History academic.oup.com/reference/62...
Oxford Bibliographies in Legal History
Abstract. Once the purview of lawyers and exclusively focused on courts and legal doctrine, legal history has become a vibrant, dynamic field that encompas
academic.oup.com
Pedro & Steinman on Aggregation and the Universal Injunction Portia Pedro (Boston University School of Law) & Adam Steinman (Texas A&M University School of Law) have posted…...
Pedro & Steinman on Aggregation and the Universal Injunction
Portia Pedro (Boston University School of Law) & Adam Steinman (Texas A&M University School of Law) have posted Aggregation and the “Universal” Injunction, 139 Harvard Law Review 1791 (2026) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In this Essay, we begin with a brief summary of the CASA decision’s holding regarding the availability of “universal” injunctions. Part II discusses the relationship between remedies and judicial review and the important role that such injunctions play in that regard.
legaltheoryblog.com
Sohoni on Rethinking Remedy Skepticism Mila Sohoni (Stanford Law School) has posted Rethinking Remedy Skepticism, 139 Harvard Law Review 1880 (2026) on SSRN....
Sohoni on Rethinking Remedy Skepticism
Mila Sohoni (Stanford Law School) has posted Rethinking Remedy Skepticism, 139 Harvard Law Review 1880 (2026) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In a time of “constitutional crisis,” scholars are asking how federal courts can preserve a basic “imperative” of constitutional structure: “[A] system of constitutional remedies adequate to keep government generally within the bounds of law.” But that system has been in jeopardy for decades at the Court’s own hands.
legaltheoryblog.com
All from the efforts of Florence Allen, who drafted the new legislation, advocated in endless city hearings & then defended in constitutional litigation at the OHSCt. She became the first woman judge in 1920 & the first fed cir judge in 1934, as I detail in my new book.
Jill Hasday@jillhasday.bsky.social · 2mo agoOn this day in 1916, East Cleveland became the 1st city east of the Mississippi River to empower women to vote in municipal elections. After the measure passed (936-508), suffragists gathered to celebrate. “There were shouts and songs and much laughing and exchanging of congratulations.” #WeTheMen
Twelve professors and faculty members write about how A.I. is changing their work. Attitudes range from cautious optimism to abject despair. www.newyorker.com/news/fault-l...
The Despair of the Professor in the Age of A.I.
“Was it always the case that half of our students would cheat if it were easy enough?”
newyorker.com
“Was it always the case that half of our students would cheat if it were easy enough?” www.newyorker.com/news/fault-l...
The Despair of the Professor in the Age of A.I.
“Was it always the case that half of our students would cheat if it were easy enough?”
newyorker.com
Plaintiffs' argument that Title IX protects professors & coaches at educational institutions agst sex discrimination was one made by women's rights advocates in 1970s women's rights litigation by the Women's Law Fund--the subject of my new book project. Statute says "no person," not student.
SCOTUSblog@scotusblog.com · 3mo agoCourt agrees to hear case on ability of employees to bring certain suits for sex discrimination, turns down child pornography reporting suit against X
CFP The Center for Constitutional Law at Akron for our faculty edited journal ConLawNOW. Written symposium "SCOTUS Blockbuster Cases 2026." Share your insights & key takeaways on the big cases of the term in this annual summer symposium. Essays 5k words. Deadline 8/28.
At #MPSA2026? Don't miss a special event with David Campbell and Christina Wolbrect to discuss See Jane Run, the definitive analysis of how the presence of women politicians affects young people, today at 4:45pm. Learn more about the book here: bit.ly/UCPEXMPSA
Akron Law is the national finalist in ABA Moot Court Competition. www.linkedin.com/posts/the-un...
The University of Akron School of Law’s moot court team finished as the national finalist at the American Bar Association's (ABA) National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC), held April 11 in… ...
The University of Akron School of Law’s moot court team finished as the national finalist at the American Bar Association's (ABA) National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC), held April 11 in Chica...
linkedin.com
I offer some thoughts here on possible constitutional challenges to the SAVE Act. www.newsfromthestates.com/article/how-...
How Trump’s SAVE America Act could make it harder for married women to vote
Millions of women could face new challenges to voting under President Donald Trump’s SAVE America Act, which would require voters to prove their citizenship before casting a ballot.The federal legislation would mandate that most Americans show a birth certificate or passport to register to vote. But people with names that don’t match their birth certificate in some instances could have to produce additional documents like a marriage certificate or divorce decree linking their past and current identities.
newsfromthestates.com
Y’all, the preorder links for The Political Supreme Court are here! Direct from UNC Press: uncpress.org/978146969713... Bookshop: bookshop.org/p/books/the-... Amazon: a.co/d/08lXOMa7 Barnes & Noble: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-politi...
The Political Supreme Court
Today’s Supreme Court justices bristle at the label “politicians in robes,” insisting that they operate above the fray of partisan politics. But for th...
uncpress.org
Not sure whether this is apt or terrible timing but here’s the official cover of my book due out with @uncpress.bsky.social W. Hodding Carter III imprint this fall. 🎉
