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Steve Vladeck

@stevevladeck.bsky.social

240K followers 1K following 2.1K posts

@ksvesq.bsky.social’s husband; father of daughters; professor @georgetownlaw.bsky.social; #SCOTUS nerd @CNN.com Bio: www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/stephen-i-vladeck "One First" Supreme Court newsletter: stevevladeck.com Book: tinyurl.com/shadowdocketpb .. more

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Stephen Isaiah Vladeck is an American legal scholar. He is a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he specializes in the federal courts, constitutional law, national security law, and military justice, especially with relation to the prosecution of war crimes. Vladeck has commented on the legality of the United States' use of extrajudicial detention and torture, and is a regular contributor to CNN. .. more

Political science 64%

Law 14%

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · Apr 4

I’m really excited about this — and about the chance to work with Allison Lorentzen and the entire @vikingbooks.bsky.social team!

KSV @ksvesq.bsky.social · Apr 4

The best guy I know just sold his (second) book and I COULD NOT BE MORE PROUD!

“The Court We Need” — scheduled for Fall 2026 release. More important than ever.

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Reposted by Joseph Schafer, Stephen I. Vladeck

Jay Young @impactofficer.bsky.social · 17h

A good read (as usual) from @stevevladeck.bsky.social on the lack of deterrence:

"[A] federal officer today faces almost no meaningful specter of losing a damages lawsuit even for actions that violate clearly established constitutional rights."

www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-182-...

Bonus 182: Damages as a (Missing) Deterrent

It's worth reflecting on how different things might look right now if federal officers—or the federal government itself—faced a meaningful specter of monetary liability for constitutional violations.

www.stevevladeck.com

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 19h

The problem, as the piece notes, is state immunity doctrines—which would bar relief under the FTCA if comparable claims against state officers would be subject to such a defense.

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 21h

“A more robust and effective damages regime obviously would not prevent unconstitutional conduct by government officers. But it sure would be an easy way to reduce its frequency—and it would also be a remarkably easy statute to write.”

Me in today’s bonus issue of “One First”:

Bonus 182: Damages as a (Missing) Deterrent

www.stevevladeck.com

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Reposted by Timothy Snyder, James Grimmelmann, Stephen I. Vladeck

Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 2d

Very nice piece from my colleague @stevevladeck.bsky.social in today's Times on the illegality of Trump's troop deployments to American cities. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/o...

Opinion | No, Trump Can’t Deploy Troops to Wherever He Wants

www.nytimes.com

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 2d

Some of us were not "very comfortable with this," and have been warning about these powers for years.

The reason why Congress delegated this power was the fact that Congress was *out of session* for more than two-thirds of every year, and wasn't in a position to respond immediately to emergencies.

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 2d

I know it's tiresome to play the "imagine if the parties were reversed" game, but thinking about how Republicans (and right-wing media) would be reacting if a Democratic-controlled House was refusing to swear in a newly elected *Republican* member may be the apotheosis of this particular meme.

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 2d

1) I didn't write the headline.

2) The article itself rather specifically discusses this.

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Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, Linda J. Skitka, Gerald Friedman , and 1 more Dorothy Bishop, Linda J. Skitka, Gerald Friedman, Stephen I. Vladeck

Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 2d

Cartoon by @ivan-ehlers.bsky.social.

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Reposted by Anna O. Law, David R. Miller

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 2d

The federal government does and should have the authority to deploy troops into our cities—even without local consent—*when the circumstances actually warrant it.*

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com, me on why the real issue in Portland, Chicago, and elsewhere is the missing / contrived factual predicate:

Opinion | No, Trump Can’t Deploy Troops to Wherever He Wants

www.nytimes.com

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 3d

The first #SCOTUS ruling on an emergency application during the October 2025 Term is a denial, over no public dissents, of Google's application to pause the effect of the Ninth Circuit's latest ruling in its long-running dispute with Epic Games over the Android app store.

More details here:

Google Asks Supreme Court to Intervene in Dispute With Fortnite Creator

www.nytimes.com

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 3d

With the new #SCOTUS term officially beginning today, this week’s “regular” issue of One First looks at the final data on emergency applications from the October 2024 Term—one in which the justices set all kinds of records, almost all of which are positively unhealthy for the Court and the country:

181. Closing the Book on OT2024

As the October 2025 Term officially begins, it's worth taking a moment to highlight the record-setting—and revealing—final statistics for how the justices handled emergency applications during OT2024.

www.stevevladeck.com

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Reposted by Stephen I. Vladeck

Shelley English @shelleyenglish.bsky.social · 4d

Don't obey in advance.

www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-180-... @stevevladeck.bsky.social

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 4d

It has to be from the Court region of France. Otherwise, it’s called something else.

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 4d

Thanks. Me too.

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 4d

It *was* repealed, as the links in my initial thread and this post explain.

They also explain why that doesn’t help him.

www.stevevladeck.com/p/181-courts...

181. Courts and Domestic Use of the Military

In response to adverse judicial rulings, the President's advisers and supporters are claiming courts lack the power to halt domestic use of the military. A critical early precedent is to the contrary.

www.stevevladeck.com

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 4d

So the argument is that Congress giving *judges* this power ≠ Congress giving *courts* this power?

Umm…

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 4d

Indeed; I was referring to a specific tweet.

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 4d

Not least because of the current state of the law regarding such damages suits.

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 4d

Of course!

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 4d

No, this is a specific reference to tweets.

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Reposted by Anna O. Law, John Morijn, Michael Plaxton

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 4d

Tweet less; research more.

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 4d

Here’s the longer version of this thread:

www.stevevladeck.com/p/181-courts...

181. Courts and Domestic Use of the Military

www.stevevladeck.com

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Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, Robert C. Richards

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 4d

In light of Judge Immergut's ruling, there's a lot of noise today coming from the President's advisers and supporters about courts not having the power to provide prospective relief against domestic uses of the military.

Via "One First," me on the rather significant early precedent to the contrary:

181. Courts and Domestic Use of the Military

www.stevevladeck.com

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 4d

The specific provision is section 2 of the Calling Forth Act of 1792:

www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...

For more background on the judicial review provision, and on how President Washington expressly relied upon it in putting down the Whiskey Rebellion, see:

www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/427_pa9s...

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 4d

The very first statute authorizing domestic use of the military during domestic emergencies, enacted in 1792 by a Congress full of the same folks who wrote and ratified the Constitution, expressly provided for judicial review in certain circumstances *before* the President could even send troops.

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 5d

Yes: www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

www.supremecourt.gov

Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, Mark A. Lemley

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 5d

From Friday's #SCOTUS ruling in the Venezuela TPS case: "Although the posture of the case has changed, the parties’ legal arguments and relative harms generally have not. The same result that we reached in May is appropriate here."

One problem: the May ruling didn't *analyze* those arguments/harms:

A screenshot of page 1 of the Supreme Court's October 3 grant of a stay in the Venezuela TPS case, the only analysis of which provides that "Although the posture of the case has changed, the parties’ legal arguments and relative harms generally have not. The same result
that we reached in May is appropriate here."

A screenshot of the Supreme Court's May 19 order in the Venezuela TPS case, which includes no analysis whatsoever. The boilerplate language reads as follows:

The application for stay presented to Justice Kagan and by her referred to the Court is granted. The March 31, 2025 order entered by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, case No. 3:25-cv-1766, is stayed pending the disposition of the appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari, if such a writ is timely sought. Should certiorari be denied, this stay shall terminate automatically. In the event certiorari is granted, the stay shall terminate upon the sending down of the judgment of this Court.

This order is without prejudice to any challenge to Secretary Noem's February 3, 2025 vacatur notice insofar as it purports to invalidate EADs, Forms I-797, Notices of Action, and Forms I-94 issued with October 2, 2026 expiration dates. See 8 U. S. C. §1254a(d)(3).

Justice Jackson would deny the application.

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards, Michael Jones‐Correa

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 6d

Important context from @genevievelakier.bsky.social:

Genevieve Lakier @genevievelakier.bsky.social · 6d

The Trump Administration’s “Compact of Excellence” for Universities is... far from excellent! Indeed, it’s unconstitutional. In this post, let me count the ways.

blog.dividedargument.com/p/the-uncons...

The Unconstitutional Conditions Doctrine and the Compact for Excellence

Members of the Trump administration love to say that federal funding is a privilege not a right and therefore something that can be granted or withheld based on changing administrative priorities.

blog.dividedargument.com

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Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, Brendan Nyhan, Jacob T. Levy , and 2 more Nancy Kanwisher, Brendan Nyhan, Jacob T. Levy, Samantha Brennan, Stephen I. Vladeck

Genevieve Lakier @genevievelakier.bsky.social · 6d

The Unconstitutional Conditions Doctrine and the Compact for Excellence

Members of the Trump administration love to say that federal funding is a privilege not a right and therefore something that can be granted or withheld based on changing administrative priorities.

blog.dividedargument.com

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards, Mark Rice

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 6d

Another Friday afternoon, another #SCOTUS grant of emergency relief to the Trump administration—this time to allow it to continue eliminating Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelan migrants.

The three Democratic appointees all dissent:

www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

www.supremecourt.gov

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