Richard Primus
@richardprimus.bsky.social
Professor, University of Michigan Law School. Senior Editorial Adviser, Journal of American Constitutional History. I study the constitutional past and try to do my part for the rule of law in the present.
I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. And also the monkeys and tigers and bees. You’re wiping them out. You’re doing great harm. But your weapon ain’t data. Your weapon is farm. I know I’m off message. I’m sorry to nag. But if you want more forests you’ll have to shrink ag.
Jay Kuo@nycjayjay.bsky.social · yesterdayTake a moment.
Just discovered this podcast called Unlikely Partners, about Israelis and Palestinians who work together. I hope it’s good. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
Storytelling and Bridge-Building - with Nuseir Yassin and Ayelet Weissman
Podcast Episode · Unlikely Partners · July 26 · 34m
podcasts.apple.com
The diag on UM’s central campus. Wheelchairs? Baby strollers? Ambulances? If so: bicycles? #HLAHartRidesAgain
Prepping next week's Torah reading. One verse begins with the Hebrew word "Ve-heyseer," meaning "And he will ward off." My phone keeps interrupting to ask what I want.
Always read @sbagen.bsky.social.
Sam Bagenstos@sbagen.bsky.social · 2w agoI'm excited at the release of my white paper, "Entrenching Incumbent Power: Medicare Advantage, Part D, and the Politics of Health Reform" www.democracyempowered.org/documents/Ba... -- one of a new set of papers issued by the Empowerig Democracy Initiative: www.democracyempowered.org/reports.html.
Good post from @rickhills.bsky.social: Cook v. Trump and the Banks of the United States as a Case Study in Judicial Amnesia: How Judges Selectively Forget Dissensus in Minting New Political Precedents prawfsblawg.com/cook-v-trump...
Cook v. Trump and the Banks of the United States as a Case Study in Judicial Amnesia: How Judges Selectively Forget Dissensus in Minting New Political Precedents
The SCOTUS has lately been going long on the idea that post-enactment political precedents can settle constitutional controversies. Their latest investment in this principle is Trump v. Cook’s idea…
prawfsblawg.com
Jack Smith has a ton of courage. And he’s also correct here.
Lee West@whodat35.bsky.social · last mo.Smith said DOJ has jettisoned expertise & that losing people who know how to protect nat security will have consequences for national security. That's not a political claim. That's an operational warning from an expert who relied on DOJ institutional knowledge to run sensitive investigations.
Just read Slaughter/Cook. Gotta say: Barrett and Thomas are right re the flimsiness of saving the Fed by saying it’s like the 1st&2d Banks. And Gorsuch is right about how powerful this all leaves the POTUS. This is all so unnecessary. A functional government imperiled by a couple of bad ideas.
I know many smart, sincere people who are unitarians on executive power. My view: It is hard to think of many occasions in the history of law when an abstract idea as flawed as unitary executive theory converged as unfortunately with political and institutional circumstances as has now occurred.
I think often about (a) what it means that Graham said this when he did, and (b) what it means that his prediction about what would happen to the R Party turned out to be wrong.
George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸@gtconway.bsky.social · last mo.
More than 2300 years ago, Aristotle wrote that the richest people make bad rulers--especially if they are rich from birth--because they are too accustomed to getting what they want.
Among much else, note the disconnect between paragraph A and paragraph C. No basis for Blanche to issue this! He doesn’t even try try to articulate one that makes any sense! We discuss it (amid much else) here: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
The President Who Sued Himself
The Trump administration settles Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS with $1.776 billion for his allies and blanket immunity from government suits for the Trumps.
lawfaremedia.org
I don't think we in the legal community are giving sufficient attention to just how unlawful, corrupt and unenforceable this document is. It's so absurd--and was, until now, so unimaginable--that I wouldn't have even considered using it as a law school exam hypo. static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics...
static01.nyt.com
On Tuesday I said DJT’s $1.8 billion to pay J6ers and other Trumpists might be the most corrupt act in US gov’t history & also one of the most dangerous. I’ve had threedays to think. On sober consideration: it might be the most corrupt act in US gov’t history & also one of the most dangerous.
DJT’s $1.7+ billion slush fund to pay January 6 insurrectionists & others whose unlawful (or potentially unlawful) activities on his behalf drew attention from law enforcement might be the most corrupt act U.S. government history. It is also one of the most dangerous for the rule of law. (1/4)
On Tuesday I said DJT’s $1.8 billion to pay J6ers and other Trumpists might be the most corrupt act in US gov’t history & also one of the most dangerous. I’ve had two days to think. On sober consideration: it might be the most corrupt act in US gov’t history & also one of the most dangerous.
DJT’s $1.7+ billion slush fund to pay January 6 insurrectionists & others whose unlawful (or potentially unlawful) activities on his behalf drew attention from law enforcement might be the most corrupt act U.S. government history. It is also one of the most dangerous for the rule of law. (1/4)
This is good for students, good for education, and good for America. Respect. www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...
70% of Faculty Vote to Overhaul Harvard Grading With A Cap | News | The Harvard Crimson
Harvard faculty voted to impose a roughly 20 percent cap on A grades beginning in fall 2027, approving the College’s most aggressive attempt to reverse grade inflation and reshape academic standards.
thecrimson.com
Barney Frank wasn’t just the funniest and most intellectually formidable member of Congress in his day; he was also the most exacting of the press, never hesitating to say (including to yours truly), "That is THE dumbest question I've ever heard" if we came unprepared or asked something vague.
⚖ The State Bar of Michigan's United States Courts Committee gathered last night for its annual Bench-Bar Dinner at the Hall of Justice. Special thanks to @richardprimus.bsky.social for his remarks on constitutional enumeration and federal power.
Yesterday I said DJT’s $1.8 billion to pay J6ers and other Trumpists might be the most corrupt act in US gov’t history & also one of the most dangerous. I’ve had a day to think it over. On sober consideration: it might be the most corrupt act in US gov’t history & also one of the most dangerous.
DJT’s $1.7+ billion slush fund to pay January 6 insurrectionists & others whose unlawful (or potentially unlawful) activities on his behalf drew attention from law enforcement might be the most corrupt act U.S. government history. It is also one of the most dangerous for the rule of law. (1/4)
DJT’s $1.7+ billion slush fund to pay January 6 insurrectionists & others whose unlawful (or potentially unlawful) activities on his behalf drew attention from law enforcement might be the most corrupt act U.S. government history. It is also one of the most dangerous for the rule of law. (1/4)
I'm on this week's episode of The Oral Talmud, talking about legal interpretation. Episodes (including this one) were recorded back during the pandemic when the podcast hosts did a public virtual study session (hevruta-style) each week. www.judaismunbound.com/oral-talmud-...
The Oral Talmud Episode 48: The Myth of Interpretation with Richard Primus — Judaism Unbound
judaismunbound.com
The Draft Volume of the APSA AI Task Force, cochaired by Josh Tucker and me, is now available. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, POLITICS, AND POLITICAL SCIENCE will be published by Cambridge Press later this year, but the draft chapters are available today: apsanet.org/wp-content/u...
Because @mikegrunwald.bsky.social convinced me two years ago to get an EV, I haven’t pumped gas in a while. But I just did, for someone else’s car. Two observations. (1) The pump is way more screen-tech than before. (2) Gas is super-expensive. Do people know about that? #ThanksGrunwald
The Black population of Louisiana is about 1.5 million. Next year, roughly 90% of voters in that group will have 0 people for whom they voted in either house of Congress. The population of Wyoming is about 600,000 and about 1% Black. Next year, that group will have a Representative & 2 Senators.
On behalf of a bipartisan group of former FCC leaders & @rtdna.bsky.social we’re asking the court to force the FCC to respond to a petition requesting the news distortion policy be repealed. Chairman Carr has repeatedly used the policy to chill free speech in the press, and must answer for it ⬇️
Former FCC officials & broadcast journalists ask court to compel FCC response to News Distortion Policy petition
The filing asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to order the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to decide whether to repeal the News Distortion Policy.
protectdemocracy.org
The Department of Justice has indicted a critic of the President (Jim Comey) for a nonviolent act of political expression (and a pretty tame one). Got that?
