theintercept.com/2025/08/27/b... Get yours at bookshop dot org!! bookshop.org/p/books/lawl...
Michigan Law Prof. Co-host, Strict Scrutiny Podcast Author, NYT Bestseller “LAWLESS: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, & Bad Vibes” https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Lawless/Leah-Litman/9781668054628
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theintercept.com/2025/08/27/b... Get yours at bookshop dot org!! bookshop.org/p/books/lawl...
Honored that LAWLESS is on The Intercept's "What We're Reading This Summer" list!!!! Thanks, @shawnmusgrave.bsky.social!!! theintercept.com/2025/08/27/b...
Just an astonishing, powerful op-ed that drives home what we are losing and what's already been lost. We are so incredibly fortunate to live with the advances modern medicine and health science. Destroying and stymieing it is just unforgivable. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
BREAKING: A federal judge has *blocked* the Trump administration from abruptly deporting 600 unaccompanied Guatemalan children — perhaps within a matter of hours — granting an emergency restraining order after advocates called the plan illegal + dangerous. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Issue 6 of Volume 123, our Book Review Issue, is now live on our website! Make sure to check out these incredible reviews at michiganlawreview.org/archive/?_vo....
5th Cir., 2-1, holds that Texas' ban on compensating people who assist voters with mail-in ballots is not preempted by the Voting Rights Act. Held: federal law does not really mean what it says. www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...
BREAKING: A unanimous Ninth Circuit three-judge panel upholds a lower court's order that blocked Sec. Noem's effort to cancel TPS status for Venezuelans. (B/c of a prior SCOTUS order staying most of the district court order pending appeals, though, this basically just sets up a SCOTUS appeal.)
*no ~good~ reason
incredible. 10/10 no notes. Emil Bove continued to work at DOJ - for the administration- after he was confirmed as a judge. Almost as if he doesn’t think his role, defending stuff Trump did, changed once he became a judge! (sure he wasn’t sworn in but AYFKM???) www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/u...
i find this image so fascinating. it is both a literal example of authoritarianism but also a second-hand reproduction of the aesthetics of other authoritarian states. it's like a simulacra of authoritarianism whose purpose is to attempt to make the simulacra real.
And here's a write up from me on Crooked @crooked.com substack quickly explaining how SCOTUS enabled this (while purporting to differentiate the Fed): substack.com/home/post/p-...
Here's an interview Kate Shaw @kateshaw.bsky.social did with Lev Menand, the expert on the Fed (the headline does not capture the substance of the piece): www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/o...
Here's a write up of the legal issues By Mike Dorf @dorfonlaw.bsky.social: www.dorfonlaw.org/2025/08/can-... And Marty Lederman @martylederman.bsky.social: balkin.blogspot.com/2025/08/what...
I talked about these Qs - and some of the sub-questions they raise (how much deference to the President's determination of cause, etc.) in this short @strictscrutiny.bsky.social @crooked.com video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gkrq...
The suit argues: (1) Trump didn't have cause for firing Cook (as required by the Federal Reserve Act); (2) Cook didn't get notice & a hearing (as required by the Federal Reserve Act); & (3) Cook didn't get notice & a hearing (as required by the Due Process Clause).
BREAKING: Federal Reserve Board Member fired by Trump, Lisa Cook, files suit against Trump & Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. Doc: www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
NEW at SCOTUS: Louisiana has done an about-face and is no longer defending its redrawn congressional map that complied with §2 of the Voting Rights Act by adding a second majority-Black district. Now it says its map is unconstitutional. Filed yesterday: www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24...
Thanks!!
If you’d like some education on how it got this far, this is a MUST read/listen!! @leahlitman.bsky.social www.audible.com/pd/B0DLCDYFS...
Thank you so much!!!
My library just got the audio book of @leahlitman.bsky.social's Lawless mfers!
Yay!
@stevevladeck.bsky.social says DOJ isn't playing it straight in its latest emergency application to #SCOTUS, about grants for development aid abroad. www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-174-... Earlier: www.politico.com/news/2025/08...
Quick video on Trump’s purported firing of Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook m.youtube.com/watch?v=Gkrq...
Attention legal writing profs and folks interested in teaching legal writing—we are hiring! careers.umich.edu/job_detail/2...
THE UNITARY EXECUTIVE
Taylor Swift is engaged
A quick post from me on Crooked's substack @crooked.com on how the Republican appointees on the Supreme Court enabled Donald Trump's attack on the independence of the Federal Reserve Board. crookedmedia.substack.com/p/the-suprem...
my takes often provoke that reaction (ugh) 🫠
“It’s never just Donald Trump or Trump blowing through the guardrails. It’s the fact that people - and institutions like the Republican-controlled Supreme Court - enabled him, often by eliminating or weakening the guardrails before he bulldozed right through them.” @leahlitman.bsky.social
“The Federal Reserve is a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States.” LOL. That sentence doesn’t remotely approximate law; it’s garbled, incoherent word salad. Always read @leahlitman.bsky.social
Thanks, Kai!!
A quick post from me on Crooked's substack @crooked.com on how the Republican appointees on the Supreme Court enabled Donald Trump's attack on the independence of the Federal Reserve Board. crookedmedia.substack.com/p/the-suprem...
Reading an article titled "Why didn't Brazilian democracy die?" and a key part of the story is a Supreme Court that actually did its job
Was great to join @leahlitman.bsky.social on the @strictscrutiny.bsky.social podcast this week! Give it a listen…to hear us talk marriage equality, BUT ALSO to catch up on the latest SCOTUS insanity, and to (improbably) hear me talk about Doja Cat.
And internal emails released by whistleblower revealed top DHS officials internally debating the urgent need to "find" evidence that Abrego was a violent MS-13 member. "I have not found anything," said one, "but I'll keep looking." They never found anything. 4/ newrepublic.com/article/1977...
thread!
Let's not forget, as @leahlitman.bsky.social says, that this coercion has been enabled by the Supreme Court allowing deportations to third countries to go forward. SCOTUS has enabled this "campaign of terror" against Abrego to go forward, Litman writes. /9 crookedmedia.substack.com/p/the-suprem...
Every bit as good - and alarming - as people are saying. Read it!!
It was ... so nice to be all back together to talk the legal shenanigans of the last week - there were a lot. That NIH order is ... PHEW. +I got to talk with Eli Savit about what can be done to protect LGBT equality - and the role that state AGs play! + hear about Serena Mayeri's MARITAL PRIVILEGE
I totally agree they didn't block - and didn't mean to suggest otherwise (character limits force all kinds of things!); I use "limited" in this post to try to convey, in more plain English, what the lower court did! crookedmedia.substack.com/p/the-suprem...
The Supreme Court's early intervention aside, here's a great post putting today's arrest of Kilmar Ábrego García in the context of other lawlessness the justices have enabled in the intervening months: bsky.app/profile/leah...
Please read @leahlitman.bsky.social important piece 👇
“[W]hatever happens to him, people should not lose sight of the fact that the [SCOTUS], rather than reining in some of the administration’s most galling conduct, has enabled it. The Court is also responsible for the campaign of terror that the administration is subjecting Abrego Garcia to.”
This was 11 weeks ago:
I've got a post up at Crooked Media @crooked.com's new Substack explaining how the Supreme Court is responsible for the government's campaign to terrorize Kilmar Abrego Garcia: crookedmedia.substack.com/p/the-suprem...
The Supreme Court made possible the administration's threats to send Mr Abrego Garcia to Uganda -- because the Court blocked the lower court decisions that had restricted the gov'ts ability to send noncitizens to far-flung places they've never been & where they could face violence, torture, & death.
A great piece from Jen Rubin @jenrubin.bsky.social at The Contrarian @contrariannews.org on why SCOTUS needs to be part of the systemic reforms that will be required to get us out of this mess. (Also, that Jen is in front of Dem leadership on this....🤦) contrarian.substack.com/p/two-cases-...
JUST IN: Kilmar Abrego Garcia has filed a new federal lawsuit in Maryland. Since it's a habeas corpus case, the petition isn't public now, but his lawyer said it challenges the Trump admin's scheme to send him to Uganda. www.allrisenews.com/p/kilmar-abr...
Breaking: Kilmar Abrego García has just been detained by ICE after arriving at the agency's Baltimore field office as part of a required check-in, according to his attorney. "The only reason to take him into detention was to punish him."
Will be interesting to see how partisan gerrymandering plays out in state court. If courts in "blue" states strike down partisan gerrymanders, but courts in "red" states do not, gerrymandering could become even more asymmetric than it already is.
JUST IN: Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s lawyers say the Trump administration is trying to coerce him to plead guilty to the charges he is facing by promising to deport him to Costa Rica — and threatening to deport him to Uganda if he doesn’t. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Guess who gets The Last Word tonight? THIS GIRL! I'm subbing for @lawrenceodonnell.msnbc.com tonight on @lastword.msnbc.com on @msnbc! Tune in!
YUP
If you're interested in reading (much) more on this - we hope to post a shorter, updated draft soon! - here is the paper: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Making it more difficult for plaintiffs to challenge administrative actions, and to obtain full relief when they do so - here by requiring claim splitting in different fora - reduces the risk of unfavorable rulings that impose serious compliance asks of the government.
3. The decision exemplifies one mechanism for what Dan Deacon @dtdeacon.bsky.social & I call Legalistic Noncompliance in a forthcoming Duke Law Journal article: The Court ratchets up the obstacles to plaintiffs seeking to challenge the administration's actions....
SCOTUS is asking lower courts to fill in the blanks to its orders - and just extrapolate where the Court might want them to apply. It's nuts. No sane way to run a judicial system.
2. The decision exemplifies the chaos of the shadow docket: SCOTUS treats its ~barely reasoned!~ stay order in the Dept of Ed case as resolving this case even though they're different kinds of grants, agencies, & cases (plaintiffs sought different relief)!
1. The irreparable injury analysis makes no sense. SCOTUS focuses on how the government might not be able to get back any money it pays out that it could have lawfully withheld (dubious). Completing ignores irreparable injury to grant recipients of delayed funding! Can't fund lab, employees, etc
A quick 🧵 on this ruling, which as Steve notes, effectively requires grant recipients challenging grant freezes/cancellations in two fora - Federal Claims to recoup wrongfully withheld grants, and District Court to challenge the policy/basis on which the admin is illegally withholding grants ...
BREAKING: #SCOTUS, 5-4, allows admin to proceed with termination of NIH grants under Trump DEI/gender policies. But also 5-4 vote to leave in place ruling voiding the NIH memos enforcing the Trump policies. Roberts w/libs. Barrett swings. Doc: www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
MICHIGAN PEEPS: I'm co-hosting a fundraiser for Eli Savit (who's running for Attorney General of MI) on *September 6th* at 4:30 PM at Casa Dominick's. Come join us! Link is here: secure.actblue.com/donate/savit...
From US Dep't of Agriculture v. Moreno (1973) - "[A] purpose to discriminate against hippies cannot, in and of itself ... justify" the challenged law
I agree with Leah: this is an exceptional opportunity. I’ve had the chance to help moot a few oral arguments for ACIC clinic fellows, and I’ve always been super impressed. One the best appellate-career launchpads I know of.
And (hopefully!) the next AG of Michigan!! www.eliformichigan.com
Rep. Nicole Collier files a state court application for a writ of habeas corpus concerning her detention in the Texas State Capitol. www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/u...
Georgetown Law’s Appellate Courts Immersion Clinic is hiring for its fellowship/staff attorney position for 2026-2028. This is an INCREDIBLE opportunity to work with amazing lawyers on great cases. Here's the announcement: perma.cc/CX9E-NSEJ
ICYMI: It's our annual STATE OF THE UTERUS episode - with some wonderful guests, Alexis McGill Johnson of Planned Parenthood Federation & Lisa Beattie Frelinghuyson of Clutchkit! AND I got to speak with David Cohen & Carol Joffe about their book AFTER DOBBS: How SCOTUS Ended Roe But Not Abortion
Georgetown Law’s Appellate Courts Immersion Clinic is hiring for its fellowship/staff attorney position for 2026-2028. This is an INCREDIBLE opportunity to work with amazing lawyers on great cases. Here's the announcement: perma.cc/CX9E-NSEJ
Hi all, I am on the legal academic job market this year. My job talk paper focuses on pronatalism in tort law, and the complexity of claims seeking recourse for deprivation of abortion in light of Dobbs. Happy to send it upon request, feedback is always welcome! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
A little less than 15 mos. after the bike accident / broken elbow / elbow reconstruction surgery, I did the Swim To The Moon 10k - in less than 3 hours. Finishing it felt … amazing - and a way to mark a recovery and how much work went into it. Pictured w/(part of) the elbow scar.
having a normal one
Thank you!
Grateful for this extremely kind review of LAWLESS in the LA Review of Books!! lareviewofbooks.org/article/why-... "As Litman writes, 'It’s time to call their bluff.' And it’s time to read this book!" So get on it! bookshop.org/p/books/lawl...
This is a good book. Recommended.
Wow thank you so much!!
Thank you so much!!
I loved this about “Lawless”: impeccable analysis, irreverent wit, & contemporary cultural references are an ingenious combination — a way to understand the ethical & intellectual collapse of the SCOTUS without despairing.
What's especially amazing about Hagerty's attempt to say the quiet part out loud here is that it's brilliantly self-defeating: If the Constitution had to specify (in an odious way) how to count *even enslaved people* in the Census, that's only that much more evidence that *everybody* gets counted.
Over at the Notice and Comment blog, today's Ad Law Reading Room entry is "Loper Bright's Disingenuity," by @cary-coglianese.bsky.social and @dfroomkin.bsky.social. Check it out! www.yalejreg.com/nc/ad-law-re...
NEW: Judge Reyes has called a 2pm hearing on D.C.'s emergency bid to reclaim control of its police department. A restraining order could be in place within hours. w Nicole Markus www.politico.com/news/2025/08...
Thank you!!!!!!!
Same lineup as the decision granting mandamus relief w/r/t Chief Judge Boasberg's probable-cause-for-contempt order. Katsas & Rao (both appointed by Trump) in the majority; Pillard (appointed by Obama) in dissent.
And here is the Book Haul link to all of the select hardcovers on sale! www.barnesandnoble.com/b/book-haul-...
Barnes & Noble is running their annual Book Haul promotion - get select hardcovers for 50% off!! So ... a great time to pick up LAWLESS: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, & Bad Vibes! Before the new term starts! www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lawless-le...
CA5 affirms lower court finding that Louisiana's maps violated the Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The panel (Clinton/Normie GWB/Biden) also rejects args that VRA2 is unconstitutional. SCOTUS has already teed up another LA case to say otherwise. www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...
To what extent should law school classes be focused on the law on the ground as compared to the law on the books? Today’s bonus issue of “One First” looks at this age-old pedagogical question—and how it’s taken on special significance (& importance) in the fraught moment in which we find ourselves:
What is a normal number of group chats/text chains to have going about Taylor Swift?
Thank you so much!!!
Pleased to announce that my new article, “Voting Rights and Private Rights of Action: An Empirical Study of Litigation Under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, 1982-2024” is forthcoming in the Florida State University Law Review and available on SSRN here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Thanks - I'm a fast talker; can't help myself!!
Constitutional law's substance has changed considerably since I first taught it 33 years ago, but the challenge now is less about teaching new doctrine than about integrating traditional coverage into the current authoritarian context. On the blog, I explain my plans for the coming semester.👇
Outstanding podcast episode and highly recommended if you’re interested in the goals of #HealOurCulture & #ResistAndHeal cc #podcastrecc
Excited that "Legalistic Noncompliance," with @leahlitman.bsky.social, is now forthcoming in the Duke Law Journal. Check it out here! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
I can't single-handedly drive the US economy, Marty. (Though if it would get me special tickets, Tree, I'll try!!!)
Facts
