Brian DeLay
@briandelay.bsky.social
Berkeley Historian. Author of War of a Thousand Deserts. For Norton, finishing Aim at Empire: An international History of American Revolutions, through the Barrel of a Gun. Also 2nd Amendment cases. Birds, too. https://history.berkeley.edu/brian-delay
Pinned
Brian DeLay
@briandelay.bsky.social
· Mar 17
The Myth of Continuity in American Gun Culture — California Law Review
The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen elevated history, text, and tradition as the sole criteria for assessing the constitutionality of firearms...
www.californialawreview.org
I'm thrilled that "The Myth of Continuity in American Gun Culture," a long (79-p.) article that I spent most of a year working on, has just been published in the California Law Review www.californialawreview.org/print/gun-co...
Reposted by Brian DeLay
In Monrovia, California, protesters are purchasing 17¢ ICE scrapers from Home Depot and immediately returning them to create long lines and slow down the entire store. Their aim is to disrupt sales and convey a message opposing ICE raids occurring in their neighborhood.
November 23, 2025 at 11:37 AM
In Monrovia, California, protesters are purchasing 17¢ ICE scrapers from Home Depot and immediately returning them to create long lines and slow down the entire store. Their aim is to disrupt sales and convey a message opposing ICE raids occurring in their neighborhood.
Inspired by and grateful for the brilliant colleagues who have been fighting this case
A huge district court victory for the University of California.
District courts find facts. This one found "overwhelming evidence" that the Trump administration has pervasively violated the First Amendment in its efforts to coerce and intimidate the University of California.
News story here—
District courts find facts. This one found "overwhelming evidence" that the Trump administration has pervasively violated the First Amendment in its efforts to coerce and intimidate the University of California.
News story here—
‘Unlawful coercion’: Trump can’t withhold funds or demand payment from UC, federal judge rules
A federal judge ruled Donald Trump cannot demand that UCLA pay a $1.2 billion settlement that would have restricted academic freedoms.
calmatters.org
November 15, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Inspired by and grateful for the brilliant colleagues who have been fighting this case
Reposted by Brian DeLay
This Day in Labor History: November 12, 1928. Workers for United Fruit in Ciénega, Colombia went on strike over the horrible conditions of their work and life. The response from United Fruit? Kill them.
November 12, 2025 at 2:24 PM
This Day in Labor History: November 12, 1928. Workers for United Fruit in Ciénega, Colombia went on strike over the horrible conditions of their work and life. The response from United Fruit? Kill them.
CFP: "AMERICAN REVOLUTION INTERNATIONAL" - Huntington Library, Nov. 6-7, 2006. With generous support from the Early Modern Studies Institute at USC, my co-conspirators & I look forward to two days of generative conversation. Travel & lodging included! Proposals due 1/10. Please spread the word! 🙏
November 12, 2025 at 1:42 PM
CFP: "AMERICAN REVOLUTION INTERNATIONAL" - Huntington Library, Nov. 6-7, 2006. With generous support from the Early Modern Studies Institute at USC, my co-conspirators & I look forward to two days of generative conversation. Travel & lodging included! Proposals due 1/10. Please spread the word! 🙏
Early America Job!
There's a job opportunity in my department at the University of Arkansas - Asst. Professor of Early American History jobs.h-net.org/jobs/69108
UA still experiencing enrollment growth each year. Our chancellor & vice provost are history dept. faculty members. And Fayetteville is a great place to live
UA still experiencing enrollment growth each year. Our chancellor & vice provost are history dept. faculty members. And Fayetteville is a great place to live
November 8, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Early America Job!
Reposted by Brian DeLay
Well over 150 UC law faculty have just made public this open letter to the UC Regents arguing, point by specific point, for why the Regents should not accept any of the major demands the Trump administration has made of UCLA.
We argue it's not a genuine settlement offer, but a form of extortion.
We argue it's not a genuine settlement offer, but a form of extortion.
Home
UC Law Faculty to Regents: Resist the Unlawful Demands
sites.google.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Well over 150 UC law faculty have just made public this open letter to the UC Regents arguing, point by specific point, for why the Regents should not accept any of the major demands the Trump administration has made of UCLA.
We argue it's not a genuine settlement offer, but a form of extortion.
We argue it's not a genuine settlement offer, but a form of extortion.
Reposted by Brian DeLay
I helped make a film, out this week, called “Rovina’s Choice,” about the deaths this man without conscience or accountability has caused — already 600,000, ⅔ of them children.
November 6, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I helped make a film, out this week, called “Rovina’s Choice,” about the deaths this man without conscience or accountability has caused — already 600,000, ⅔ of them children.
Reposted by Brian DeLay
Such a fundamental question of governmental power.
Control over tariffs (“duties, imposts & excises”) is explicitly granted—in article 1 section 8 of the US Constitution—to Congress. So happy to have contributed to this amicus brief for the Supreme Court
constitution.congress.gov/browse/artic...
Control over tariffs (“duties, imposts & excises”) is explicitly granted—in article 1 section 8 of the US Constitution—to Congress. So happy to have contributed to this amicus brief for the Supreme Court
constitution.congress.gov/browse/artic...
November 5, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Such a fundamental question of governmental power.
Control over tariffs (“duties, imposts & excises”) is explicitly granted—in article 1 section 8 of the US Constitution—to Congress. So happy to have contributed to this amicus brief for the Supreme Court
constitution.congress.gov/browse/artic...
Control over tariffs (“duties, imposts & excises”) is explicitly granted—in article 1 section 8 of the US Constitution—to Congress. So happy to have contributed to this amicus brief for the Supreme Court
constitution.congress.gov/browse/artic...
Reposted by Brian DeLay
The White House just issued a sweeping federal directive transforming how dissent might be policed in the US—here’s why civil liberties groups are so alarmed.
October 24, 2025 at 9:09 PM
The White House just issued a sweeping federal directive transforming how dissent might be policed in the US—here’s why civil liberties groups are so alarmed.
Reposted by Brian DeLay
ICE is stockpiling arms, including chemical weapons, guided missile warheads and explosive components. The spending dwarfs anything we've ever seen in the agency - a 700% increase.
The President is building an army to attack his own country.
The President is building an army to attack his own country.
October 21, 2025 at 2:45 PM
ICE is stockpiling arms, including chemical weapons, guided missile warheads and explosive components. The spending dwarfs anything we've ever seen in the agency - a 700% increase.
The President is building an army to attack his own country.
The President is building an army to attack his own country.
"Above all, I ask those who are watching this case unfold to retain faith in our judicial system for just a little longer."
Divided Ninth Circuit panel stays injunction against President Trump’s federalization of National Guard troops in Portland:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Judge Graber, who is no firebrand, wrote quite a dissent—encouraging en banc review and some patience on the part of the public:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Judge Graber, who is no firebrand, wrote quite a dissent—encouraging en banc review and some patience on the part of the public:
October 21, 2025 at 7:20 PM
"Above all, I ask those who are watching this case unfold to retain faith in our judicial system for just a little longer."
Reposted by Brian DeLay
Welp, this is the *second* Second Amendment case the Supreme Court will hear this term—after previously ruling on only 4 major cases about the scope of the amendment in its 234 year existence.
The Supreme Court granted review in three new cases this morning, including a big case over the constitutionality of the federal law barring gun possession by a person who “is
an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance,”
The other cases address arbitration and bankruptcy law.
an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance,”
The other cases address arbitration and bankruptcy law.
October 20, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Welp, this is the *second* Second Amendment case the Supreme Court will hear this term—after previously ruling on only 4 major cases about the scope of the amendment in its 234 year existence.
Reposted by Brian DeLay
Student media rules. They are lapping a lot of the spineless media orgs this year and showing how solidarity is the way.
October 18, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Student media rules. They are lapping a lot of the spineless media orgs this year and showing how solidarity is the way.
Garret Graff making lots of sense as usual
Three reasons I have hope for America, even after a very dark week: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/why-i-have...
Why I Have Hope for America
This weekend's "No Kings" rallies stand as an important corrective amid a dark moment
www.doomsdayscenario.co
October 17, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Garret Graff making lots of sense as usual
@arielron.bsky.social has it out for Eli Whitney in this terrific Commonplace Article
How Eli Whitney Single-handedly Started the Civil War . . . and Why That’s Not True - Commonplace
The real Whitney story is less grand than the legend, but more interesting and, ultimately, more edifying.
commonplace.online
October 15, 2025 at 12:23 AM
@arielron.bsky.social has it out for Eli Whitney in this terrific Commonplace Article
Reposted by Brian DeLay
Share of population enrolled in Obamacare plans and change in enrollment from 2020 to 2025.
October 14, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Share of population enrolled in Obamacare plans and change in enrollment from 2020 to 2025.
Reposted by Brian DeLay
Congratulations to @ievajusionyte.bsky.social and her incredible work on borders and how they affect cultures on both “sides” of a boundary line ❤️❤️💪 www.macfound.org/videos/2025-...
Ieva Jusionyte - 2025 MacArthur Fellow
www.macfound.org
October 8, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Congratulations to @ievajusionyte.bsky.social and her incredible work on borders and how they affect cultures on both “sides” of a boundary line ❤️❤️💪 www.macfound.org/videos/2025-...
Reposted by Brian DeLay
I'm really honored to have Captive Cosmopolitans join the long line of fantastic books which have won the Warren Dean Memorial prize. Thanks so much to the committee members, who have authored many books that I've been inspired by, for this recognition:
Congratulations to Mary Hicks (@maryhicks.bsky.social) for winning the Warren Dean Prize for her book, Captive Cosmopolitans: Black Mariners and the World of South Atlantic Slavery (@oieahc.bsky.social & @uncpress.bsky.social).
October 7, 2025 at 2:18 PM
I'm really honored to have Captive Cosmopolitans join the long line of fantastic books which have won the Warren Dean Memorial prize. Thanks so much to the committee members, who have authored many books that I've been inspired by, for this recognition:
Reposted by Brian DeLay
Reposted by Brian DeLay
"It is not hyperbole to say that the future of higher education in America requires that every university reject it. If any schools capitulate, the pressure will be enormous on all to fold. The only solution is solidarity & collective action against this effort at federal control over higher ed."
Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion
www.nytimes.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:21 PM
"It is not hyperbole to say that the future of higher education in America requires that every university reject it. If any schools capitulate, the pressure will be enormous on all to fold. The only solution is solidarity & collective action against this effort at federal control over higher ed."
Read this incandescent opinion - a landmark in the Trump-era fight to retain freedom of speech in the United States. Judge William Young, a Reagan appointee, ends with a quote and a challenge to all Americans today (1/4)
BREAKING: Judge William Young, a Reagan appointee, delivers the most scathing legal rebuke of the Trump era, ruling that Trump and his cabinet illegally targeted pro-Palestinian students for deportation to "strike fear" into First Amendment protesters. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
September 30, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Read this incandescent opinion - a landmark in the Trump-era fight to retain freedom of speech in the United States. Judge William Young, a Reagan appointee, ends with a quote and a challenge to all Americans today (1/4)
Reposted by Brian DeLay
BREAKING: Judge William Young, a Reagan appointee, delivers the most scathing legal rebuke of the Trump era, ruling that Trump and his cabinet illegally targeted pro-Palestinian students for deportation to "strike fear" into First Amendment protesters. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
September 30, 2025 at 5:03 PM
BREAKING: Judge William Young, a Reagan appointee, delivers the most scathing legal rebuke of the Trump era, ruling that Trump and his cabinet illegally targeted pro-Palestinian students for deportation to "strike fear" into First Amendment protesters. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Brian DeLay
Only an administration intent on committing war crimes in the present and future would stoop to calling Wounded Knee a "battle" rather than what it truly was: a massacre of over 250 Lakotas, mainly women, children, and the elderly. 1/
September 26, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Only an administration intent on committing war crimes in the present and future would stoop to calling Wounded Knee a "battle" rather than what it truly was: a massacre of over 250 Lakotas, mainly women, children, and the elderly. 1/
Reposted by Brian DeLay
1. This piece by Roge Karma is absolutely worth reading - www.theatlantic.com/economy/arch... . If the Supreme Court allows Trump to fire Lisa Cook, the consequences are likely to be disastrous. key points:
Trump Is Getting Closer to Having an ‘Infinite Money Pit’
If the president takes over the Federal Reserve, he will have extraordinary power to reward his friends and destroy his enemies.
www.theatlantic.com
September 25, 2025 at 3:59 PM
1. This piece by Roge Karma is absolutely worth reading - www.theatlantic.com/economy/arch... . If the Supreme Court allows Trump to fire Lisa Cook, the consequences are likely to be disastrous. key points: