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Robert L. Tsai

@robertltsai.bsky.social

15K followers 600 following 2.5K posts

Author of DEMAND THE IMPOSSIBLE: ONE LAWYER’S PURSUIT OF EQUAL JUSTICE FOR ALL (2024) amzn.to/45LFzNg | Professor & Harry Elwood Warren Scholar, Boston University | constitutional law & politics, legal history, democracy | https://linktr.ee/roberttsai .. more

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · Dec 15

Just a photo of me with my 2024 spring child

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Reposted by Anna O. Law, Anthony Burke, Robert L. Tsai

Lawrence Solum @lsolum.bsky.social · 20h

Please help me get the word out about the new websites for Legal Theory Blog and the Legal Theory Lexicon. Reposting here and on other social media sites is great. It would be especially helpful if law school faculty members could send an email to their colleagues with the new addresses.

Legal Theory Blog

Discover our latest articles and updates. Stay informed with recent posts that cover a variety of topics you care about!

legaltheoryblog.com

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 23h

“A macabre joke circulated among staffers: certain elderly justices had gotten fed up with being awakened in the middle of the night by prisoners trying to halt their execution.”

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 1d

“In 1989, [Justice] Powell's committee produced a set of recommendations [to restrict habeas corpus], which Senator Strom Thurmond introduced as legislation … Aides on Capitol Hill had a nickname for the project: ‘Fry Them Faster.’” amzn.to/45LFzNg

Demand the Impossible: One Lawyer's Pursuit of Equal Justice for All

amzn.to

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 1d

don’t you just love anonymous cop pouts

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 1d

lmao

NYPD Cops: ‘I Will Quit If Zohran Is Elected’

Morale among New York City police is sagging, the number of officers has shrunk, and leading mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani now wants to slash their overtime, writes Olivia Reingold.

www.thefp.com

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 3d

Deep in the Fairy Pools of Scotland

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 3d

Once you accept that the Supreme Court behaves as a constitutional policymaking body, you won’t be surprised that originalism is used situationally and strategically—just like every other interpretive approach.

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 4d

What is the point of the Trump compact? @fishkin.bsky.social: “It is about control. Specifically it is about turning existing federal law, over which the administration has limited control, into terms of a ‘deal’ that offers the government much more control.”

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 5d

I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.

It's especially for journalists covering this story!

Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.

Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal

A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics

balkin.blogspot.com

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 4d

Your point about managerial governance is right but I’d say that both parties believe in elite control—just over different things. I’m with @samuelmoyn.bsky.social that gerontocracy ails the Dem party more than the GOP. There’s some talent but they can’t gain influence fast enough.

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 4d

spot on

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 4d

The Dems are not (yet) a true opposition party

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 5d

Importantly, the judge in Portland found that the president’s assertion that federal officers could not enforce federal law without the help of the National Guard was “simply untethered to the facts.” storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

storage.courtlistener.com

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 5d

Our view is that pro-democracy politics can be mobilized around this type of litigation. bit.ly/46CzS73

Can Judicial Resistance Last?

The law can protect democracy—but only up to a certain point. After that, it’s up to the people. And there’s the challenge.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Kim L. Scheppele, Lisa W. Fazio , and 24 more Stephen M. Walt, Kim L. Scheppele, Lisa W. Fazio, Norbert Schwarz, Nancy Kanwisher, Brendan Nyhan, Joshua S. Weitz, Tom Clark, Scott L. Greer, Steven S. Smith, Martin Paul Eve, Charles West, Elaine Treharne, Bonnie Honig, James Grimmelmann, Robert C. Richards, David R. Miller, Jacob T. Levy, Margot C. Finn, Michael Jones‐Correa, Kate Starbird, Josh Pasek, Georg Weizsäcker, Robert L. Tsai, Charles T. Mathewes, Adam Sacarny, Kimberly A. Clausing

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 5d

Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal

A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics

balkin.blogspot.com

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 5d

Even so, the bottom line:

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 5d

We identify a few areas where the risks of litigation (win or lose) might push the pro-democracy conversation in a positive direction. But we think that flooding the zone with lawsuits, which happened during Trump’s first term, is unlikely to be productive.

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 5d

On balance, we think pessimists have the better argument, but we present a middle ground by identifying two things that judges can—if the stars align—do to help democracy. But: risky because historically litigation has produced a lot of terrible decisions and reinforced anti-democratic practices.

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 5d

We point out that commentators can be classified as “judicial optimists” or “judicial pessimists,” each position with great insight but also some flaws.

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 5d

“The more important question, and one to which we do not yet know the answer, is how Trump’s disputes with judges will play out in the Supreme Court or where it matters the most—with the electorate as a whole.”

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Reposted by Jacob T. Levy, Samantha Brennan

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 5d

My new essay (with Bojan Bugaric): “How long can judicial resistance last when it is to come from unelected lower court judges, if it comes at all? We believe that the momentary flurry of judicial activity is fool’s gold.”

Can Judicial Resistance Last?

The law can protect democracy—but only up to a certain point. After that, it’s up to the people. And there’s the challenge.

democracyjournal.org

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 6d

Any university that tries to punish members of its community for words that “belittle and even spark violence against conservative ideas”—a vague standard—no longer deserves to be called a university.

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Reposted by Robert L. Tsai, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

NPR @npr.org · 8d

Pope Leo XIV weighed in on U.S. politics, saying Catholic politicians must be judged on the full range of their policy positions and suggesting the country's immigration policy is "inhuman."

Pope Leo XIV says 'inhuman treatment of immigrants' in the U.S. isn't 'pro-life'

Pope Leo XIV weighed in on U.S. politics, saying that Catholic politicians must be judged on the full range of their policy positions and suggesting that the country's immigration policy is "inhuman."

n.pr

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 8d

True enough!

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 8d

Front page of Globe today: “Judge gives foreign students a victory”

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 9d

“Young wrote that the Trump administration officials ‘acted in concert to misuse the sweeping powers of their respective offices to target noncitizen pro-Palestinians for deportation primarily on account of their First Amendment protected political speech.’”

In blistering ruling, judge finds Trump administration illegally targeted international students over pro-Palestinian activism - The Boston Globe

In his ruling, US District Judge William Young wrote that the members of the Trump administration coordinated between departments to “intentionally to chill the rights to freedom of speech.”

www.bostonglobe.com

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 9d

I spoke to the Boston Globe about Judge Young’s decision that the Trump administration’s practice of deporting noncitizens who protest Israel’s conduct in Gaza chills the free speech rights of other noncitizens.

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 9d

Here’s the ruling: www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Opinion in 25-cv-10685-WGY

US District Court Massachusetts

www.documentcloud.org

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