open.substack.com/pub/lessig/p...
Law professor; activist; not convinced we have time; acting as if we do.
15,688 followers 111 following 146 posts
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open.substack.com/pub/lessig/p...
open.substack.com/pub/lessig/p...
The ghost of a (much dumber) Nixon returns. Criticize the President, suffer an FBI search at your home. buff.ly/ScN6SAC
Super-interesting essay by one of my favorite legal historians about the 1872 story of a child born to enemy alien parents deemed a US citizen, even though the child left the US almost immediately. #ImagineIfOriginalismAppliedConsistently.
After repeatedly failing to render a cartoon correctly, ChatGPT offered this advice. Got to admire the honesty (also, saves server cycles).
This is not difficult. EVERY Democrat in the 117th Congress voted for a bill that would have ended partisan gerrymandering, and EVERY Republican voted against it. The GOP didn't want to disarm; this is the consequence of their decision. youtube.com/shorts/-8QgG...
open.substack.com/pub/lessig/p...
On settling with an extortionist: open.substack.com/pub/lessig/p...
Fine to include links from those who pay. Not fine to auction truth to the highest bidder. At a minimum, we need transparency about whether an LLM is selling results to the highest bidder. ChatGPT tells me it isn't, but can't promise me it won't. buff.ly/HHduMxi
And thus does the end begin? AI companies need to commit firmly not to permit truth to be bought. "Joe's Tavern seems to be the most liked restaurant in Anytown" should not be a function of whether Joe's Tavern pays an LLM. buff.ly/1Dvw59h
Truth. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/o...
Ah yes, shoot the messenger. Trump removes official overseeing jobs data after dismal employment report buff.ly/eoFfMRr
The First Amendment in the 21st Century — from the Your Undivided Attention podcast.
Really happy to have the chance to discuss AI and the First Amendment with Meetali Jain and Tristan Harris on the Center for Humane Technology's podcast, Your Undivided Attention: buff.ly/fJ69pba
Extraordinarily great speech by @ossoff.bsky.social on #corruption. buff.ly/Xb6Oxc7
Read it here: buff.ly/za1lXlk
buff.ly/upKRyNg
The anti-corruption fight in Jon Ossoff is extraordinary. buff.ly/3u94tE3
In a recent article, Lawrence Lessig comments on Tuesday’s federal court ruling against a 2024 law to regulate super PACs in Maine. Read more here ⤵️ mainemorningstar.com/2025/07/16/a...
Lawrence Lessig discusses campaign finance reform, outlining a legal strategy to challenge super PACs. Learn more here ⤵️ www.iheart.com/podcast/552-...
Here's what Lessig said to me that I found so troubling: ttps://open.substack.com/pub/ciaratorresspelliscy/p/democracy-and-destiny-with-ciara?r=nggi&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
As Trump amends the constitutional power of the President, what's a court to do? buff.ly/l6dRSXs
#Colbert2028 buff.ly/rLpwZrL
We lost in the district court, but with an opinion that will show the court of appeals why SuperPACs are not compelled by Citizens United. Even in looney times, like Looney Tunes cartoons, eventually, gravity returns. buff.ly/mYBDJ8R
The foundation to the doctrine that gave us SuperPACs is gone! buff.ly/mYBDJ8R
About to fly back after 10 days in China. The cars are amazing, no doubt. But this is about much more than cars. nyti.ms/45ZXItp
In China, they have "proxy drivers." When you've driven to an event and then drink, you can use an Uber-like app to order a "proxy driver." The driver rides a foldable bike to you, puts his/her bike in your car, drives you home, then rides away on the bike. #supercool
Very proud of the anti-corruption work my congressman, @repauchincloss.bsky.social, presses here against RFK Jr. Jake represents the district where RFK's uncle was born. buff.ly/DRyr4S0
Because America does need another party that bends to the whim of billionaires. buff.ly/0dRXY7H
My next episode of “Democracy & Destiny” includes my interview with Harvard Law Professor @lessig.bsky.social. It airs on @wbai.org on 1 pm Saturday. And then the podcast will be out on Sunday on Apple Podcasts & SoundCloud. Things Lessig said about AI & democracy have haunted me. Tune in. 💵🗳️⚖️🎧💻
#PPP2025 I think you’ll appreciate this podcast I did interviewing Professor Larry Lessig podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
I wonder which prominent naturalized Americans this could be applied to? (if one is willing to lose advertisers for free speech, what about one's citizenship?)
In the words of Nelson Mandela: it always seems impossible until it’s done. My friends, it is done. And you are the ones who did it. I am honored to be your Democratic nominee for the Mayor of New York City.
@chrismurphyct.bsky.social is dead on right about the corruption. Here too about America's perpetual thirst for war. Lawless domestically, lawless internationally. buff.ly/HWCqRIE
The money we used to spend on USAID making new friends we shall now spend making new enemies
This 10-year moratorium on AI regulation brings #TedCruzStupidity to a new level of insanity. The most consequential new technology in a generation is not, and will not be, regulated for a decade. What could possibly go wrong? buff.ly/TBFjhu9
Depressing time to be a law professor whose entire job hinges on law existing and being meaningful in some way
Celebrate agreement with those who worked hardest to make Trump President: War with Iran would be a catastrophic mistake.
While we're waiting to learn whether Americans will die in a war on Iran, let's not forget the Americans who are going to die from our war on science. buff.ly/ZegI0Md
In societies that have a reasonably free press, a persuadable bloc of citizens and free and fair elections, the evidence shows that movements are most effective when they remain nonviolent and build broad coalitions. (@owasow.bsky.social and @robbwiller.bsky.social) www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/o...
It is impossible not to read this in conjunction with the Supreme Court's heartrbreaking, awful decision in Skrmetti allowing states to deny transgender teens the health care they need.
Get the federal troops out of L.A. Now.
Tonight, I'll go home and sleep in my bed. I have a lawyer, I'll get due process. But Edgardo, whose arm was ripped from mine by ICE agents, has none of those things. That's why I'll keep coming back to court, week after week, to make sure that people's rights are protected.
Yet another example of Trump "tak[ing] care that the laws be faithfully executed." buff.ly/S49D4MS
The Minnesota shooter apparently used data broker websites to find the home addresses of the people he shot and murdered. Congress has had years to do something about data brokers and they've sided with the tech lobby over and over again. Their inaction is deadly.
Now she has been admitted to the prestigious screenwriting program at Ireland's national film school. She needs to secure the last few EUs to demonstrate independence for the visa. If you can help, the debt the democracy movement owes her will be lessened, if only slightly. buff.ly/sVGvvZP
I first met Kerry Ann more than 12 years ago. Since then, she's had an extraordinary transition — from a life as a liberal activist in Texas through becoming a coder and anti-corruption warrior, through a literal identity transition, from ____ to Kerry Ann, with a side-gig as a stand-up comedian.
This is a great piece about TikTok's ability to be used to change America's perception about the ICE deportations. But here's a prediction: Just at the moment it becomes significant, Trump is going to remember the law that bans TikTok which he has promised not to enforce.... buff.ly/QL5Lqy4
Citizens Assemblies could legally constrain delegates at an Article V (some say "constitutional") convention, building democratic accountability into the amending process. So incredibly happy this truth is finally breaking through. Excellent article in the Fulcrum. buff.ly/xuqihGo
Oral dissents are worse, as they're usually grandstanding to try to get media attention on an issue. I can see why the media would appreciate that, and I can see it might be a hit on X/Bluesky/Tiktok, etc. But I don't think it helps to encourage that.
Should corporations be able to weaponize your personal data to rip you off? Well, they may already be doing that thanks to a shady tactic called “surveillance pricing.” Former FTC Chair Lina Khan explains what we can do about it. youtu.be/-cbtUYshYM8?...
Kyiv is under air attack again… Putin can’t win on the battlefield, so he tries to kill civilians and hit civilian objects. The barbarian tactic of the army that pretends to be strong, but it is weak and can fight only with families and children.
When they think no one is looking. *Cops damaging their own cars?
More on the maximalist theory of the unitary executive: buff.ly/4sbbmRl
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Super-smart essay by former (Bush-appointed) judge Michael McConnell: If the Court allows Trump this power over tariffs, the Court will have radically remade the Executive Power.
Here's the picture of democratic incoherence, courtesy of GROUND NEWS (and no, I'm not sponsored by them): ground.news/article/trum...
This is brilliant. Watch this and ask yourself, is there a risk of quid pro quo corruption created by SuperPACs? youtube.com/shorts/REHO3...
Reposting this in honor of the Republican Senators who have allowed Trump to usurp Congress's right to determine tariffs www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
One of the worst parts of this whole ongoing ~thing~ has been watching the very few members of our media-political-intellectual-economic-etc elite who do actually care about the collapse of the constitutional order discover how few of their colleagues agree with them.
The legal authority that is the foundation for the Trump Administration's war against the universities — Title VI — likely gives it no legal claim against the universities. New article by Benjamin Eidelson & Deborah Hellman: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Exactly the point: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/26/o...
Lessig on how Veritas, truth, is the only way forward in fixing the mess that is today’s political situation in the US, and spreading.
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The economic stupidity in this statement is astounding. It is the equivalent of telling people to inject bleach to cure COVID. (And, sorry, no, neither statement was a "joke.") www.youtube.com/shorts/J-i8Q...
The alleged "corruption" of the Bidens was "corruption" because it was hidden. Trump's corruption is not "corruption" because it is "out in the open." Yea, that totally makes sense. That's why the Emoluments Clause says "secret Emoluments"... youtube.com/shorts/tv-zE...
#IssueOne on the the defense of Maine's Question 1, which @nealkatyal.bsky.social and the ME AG will argue May 22. thereformcompass.substack.com/p/when-are-b...
I'm excited to share that the latest episode of Revolutionary Optimism—Professor Lawrence Lessig! Can we rescue American democracy before it’s too late? Lessig offers clarity, urgency, and an inspiring vision for revolutionary reform of the Constitution. youtu.be/zCcHxHJCRHg
Ah, life in a fact free universe. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/09/u...
Lawrence Lessig @lessig.bsky.social, Professor at Harvard Law School @hls.harvard.edu, draws on a career in legal scholarship, institutional leadership, and judicial clerkships to shape debates on law and society. https://dighum.wien/speaker/lawrence-lessig #DigHum2025
Fantastic news. OpenAI will retain non-profit "control." Now let's make sure that control is real. www.cnbc.com/2025/05/05/o...
Republicans in Congress are responsible for this stupidity. We must hold them to account. #COWARDSdidthis www.theguardian.com/film/2025/ma...
Hey #rightwingmedia, don't your readers deserve to know this? Ground.news reports ZERO conservative outlets report most see Trump as a "dangerous dictator." #somuchfreespeech! ground.news/article/shoc...
What's the best evidence that free speech is dying in America? That a US Attorney could do this: archive.is/202504271714...
Trump channels Marie Antoinette: bit.ly/4d32CHK
Declaring a national emergency has become a way for the executive to bypass checks and balances. Congress must reform emergency powers to prevent abuse, @lizagoitein.bsky.social told CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS. www.cnn.com/2025/04/27/p...
My wife and I visited the African-American Museum in D.C. a year ago. It was overwhelming — and unforgettable. We left knowing we’d be back. If Trump succeeds in deleting our history from the museum, there’ll be nothing left. This is what erasure looks like —and it’s happening right in front of us.
From The Free Press: open.substack.com/pub/lessig/p...
Maybe now you'll see the pattern in these so-called "defenses": Every one of them was an effort to focus responsibility where responsibility should actually rest: the admins of MIT & Hvd.
WATCH: Is Trump Breaking the Law? A Conversation with Jed Rubenfeld, Lawrence Lessig, and Jonatha... https://www.thefp.com/p/is-trump-breaking-the-law-symposium Result Details
Now the nonprofit controls how AI is developed, who controls AGI, and to whom profits from AGI accrue, on behalf of all humanity. If the restructuring takes place, unclear which of these, if any, would remain. We're urging the AGs to protect the public & stop this. NotForPrivateGain.org (2/2)
I’ve signed on to a new letter to @AGRobBonta & @DE_DOJ asking them to halt the restructuring, restore proper governance, and hold OpenAI accountable. (1/2)
WATCH LIVE: Join a Subscriber-Only Q&A Today on Trump and the Law With Jed Rubenfeld, Lawrence Lessig, and Jonathan Adler www.thefp.com/p/watch-live...
Alan Garber's extraordinary letter of principle and courage. This will be costly, but nothing as compared with giving in to illegal and unconstitutional demands. www.harvard.edu/president/ne...
Relieved that Harvard will do the right thing: FIGHT INJUSTICE! www.harvard.edu/research-fun...
12 ex-OpenAI employees just filed an amicus brief on the Elon Musk lawsuit attempting to block OpenAI from shedding nonprofit control. The brief was filed by Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig, who also reps OpenAI whistleblowers. Here are the highlights 🧵
Very proud that Harvard will fight. #veritas www.harvard.edu/research-fun...
I have enormous respect for this act of courage, by those with the most to lose. #courage www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrX7...
MAGA uses the word “defiance” as if it is a bad thing. What fricking country are they from, ‘cause it sure isn’t America. Federal judge orders USDA to unfreeze funds to Maine
Remember when boring was boring? #46
This is what courage — and noncomplicity — looks like.
America, v2025.
Brilliant and true and a challenge: Which side will you stand on (law firms, universities, anyone).
What Harvard must do now: Complicity, v2 bit.ly/4ljWD4V
Remember when Elon Musk waged war against gov't efforts to suppress Hunter's dick pics and slow the spread of COVID misinformation? Now the government would destroy institutions not sufficiently politically correct, and crickets from the free speech warrior.
Engage f2f, p2p: Who is responsible here. open.substack.com/pub/lessig/p...
Where we go from here: Engage f2f, p2p: