Jason Pierceson
@jpier.bsky.social
Professor of Political Science, University of Illinois Springfield. Author of Before Bostock, LGBTQ Americans in the U.S. Political System, and Sexual Minorities and Politics.
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
it reveals pretty plainly that "merit-based hiring" means "you belong to the correct class and hold the right set of identities"
Odd how when people like Bari Weiss go on about 'merit-based hiring', what they mean is hiring nice-looking white boys from elite schools regardless of their experience.
Here's CBS's new Ukraine correspondent. Graduated college less than a year ago. Yale Rugby. Only job: 7 months freelancing. 1/
Here's CBS's new Ukraine correspondent. Graduated college less than a year ago. Yale Rugby. Only job: 7 months freelancing. 1/
January 27, 2026 at 9:43 PM
it reveals pretty plainly that "merit-based hiring" means "you belong to the correct class and hold the right set of identities"
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
So, I've spent most of my professional life on what Bluesky would surely consider "the right," and I think what's going on here is that so much of the action there is top-down and ultimately donor-driven that some of these folks genuinely can't wrap their heads around...
The rest of it is even funnier
January 26, 2026 at 7:43 PM
So, I've spent most of my professional life on what Bluesky would surely consider "the right," and I think what's going on here is that so much of the action there is top-down and ultimately donor-driven that some of these folks genuinely can't wrap their heads around...
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
I think this is a tactic, and I do not like it. I’ve experienced it with Adrian Vermeule, and this is that. He‘ll be nice to you and engage so long as you’re suitably deferential. If you don’t defer, he’ll engage in the most childish shit imaginable until you remember your place.
January 26, 2026 at 6:11 PM
I think this is a tactic, and I do not like it. I’ve experienced it with Adrian Vermeule, and this is that. He‘ll be nice to you and engage so long as you’re suitably deferential. If you don’t defer, he’ll engage in the most childish shit imaginable until you remember your place.
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
A wild thing about stays is that, yes, this is usually how it works. No explanation need be given for rendering ineffectual a district judge's extensively reasoned opinion finding that absent an injunction, lawless things will likely happen.
8th circuit gives ICE go ahead to use force against peaceful demonstrators, a decision which will immediately lead to injury.
US appeals court pauses lower court order restraining immigration agents' use of force against Minnesota protesters
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals paused a lower court's order on Wednesday that had restrained federal immigration agents' use of force against peaceful protesters.
www.reuters.com
January 21, 2026 at 8:33 PM
A wild thing about stays is that, yes, this is usually how it works. No explanation need be given for rendering ineffectual a district judge's extensively reasoned opinion finding that absent an injunction, lawless things will likely happen.
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
Politico:
"We've got the world's most credulous reporter here to tell you that a university sponsored by billionaires whose anti-trans faculty are at the cutting edge of 18th-century race science wasn't a hard-right project."
Jesus Christ.
"We've got the world's most credulous reporter here to tell you that a university sponsored by billionaires whose anti-trans faculty are at the cutting edge of 18th-century race science wasn't a hard-right project."
Jesus Christ.
January 16, 2026 at 8:24 PM
Politico:
"We've got the world's most credulous reporter here to tell you that a university sponsored by billionaires whose anti-trans faculty are at the cutting edge of 18th-century race science wasn't a hard-right project."
Jesus Christ.
"We've got the world's most credulous reporter here to tell you that a university sponsored by billionaires whose anti-trans faculty are at the cutting edge of 18th-century race science wasn't a hard-right project."
Jesus Christ.
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
When Richard Epstein can explain how he underestimated the number of American covid deaths by 1.2 million people, I'll listen to him about legal history.
January 16, 2026 at 4:26 PM
When Richard Epstein can explain how he underestimated the number of American covid deaths by 1.2 million people, I'll listen to him about legal history.
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
There's a rising faction of the legal academy that stays quiet when their MAGAdemic colleagues produce fraudulent psuedo-scholarship in service to the cruelest aspects of Trump's agenda ... then leap in to police the discourse when their progressive colleagues criticize those MAGAdemics too bluntly.
January 5, 2026 at 3:43 PM
There's a rising faction of the legal academy that stays quiet when their MAGAdemic colleagues produce fraudulent psuedo-scholarship in service to the cruelest aspects of Trump's agenda ... then leap in to police the discourse when their progressive colleagues criticize those MAGAdemics too bluntly.
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
Weird how The Free Press was able to publish all of these without comment from the Washigton University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital.
December 22, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Weird how The Free Press was able to publish all of these without comment from the Washigton University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital.
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
The extreme attack on transgender youth we are witnessing from a governmental stage was enabled by The Atlantic and The New York Times.
December 18, 2025 at 5:26 PM
The extreme attack on transgender youth we are witnessing from a governmental stage was enabled by The Atlantic and The New York Times.
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
Congratulations, those of you who decided to platform fringe voices and create a climate of fear and hate out of ignorance because those voices insisted a non-problem was a problem. They're now on an HHS stage trying to ruin children's lives. You will live with the harm you have done forever.
December 18, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Congratulations, those of you who decided to platform fringe voices and create a climate of fear and hate out of ignorance because those voices insisted a non-problem was a problem. They're now on an HHS stage trying to ruin children's lives. You will live with the harm you have done forever.
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
1/ A few thoughts about @williambaude.bsky.social’s comment in yesterday’s NYT chat that, “It’s amazing how many of our problems today could be solved by a Congress that was willing and able to legislate in response to national problems.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/o...
Opinion | At the Supreme Court, Scenes From a Judicial Backlash
www.nytimes.com
December 10, 2025 at 9:44 AM
1/ A few thoughts about @williambaude.bsky.social’s comment in yesterday’s NYT chat that, “It’s amazing how many of our problems today could be solved by a Congress that was willing and able to legislate in response to national problems.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/o...
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
Harry Enten is same guy who gave us "Soaring Eagle" and "Steady Eddie" (just a couple of weeks ago!) to describe Trump's approval ratings. What a performing clown
Enten: "Trump is doing absolutely awful in the minds of the American people. We're talking about new lows. CNBC, -13 net approval on the economy. It's -19 among Quinnipiac ... He's not just beating himself with record lows -- this is the lowest for any president ever."
October 23, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Harry Enten is same guy who gave us "Soaring Eagle" and "Steady Eddie" (just a couple of weeks ago!) to describe Trump's approval ratings. What a performing clown
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
🚨WOW. A unanimous per curiam (meaning no named author) panel of the 7th Circuit, made up of a Bush appointee, an Obama appointee, and a Trump appointee, decline to step in and block a lower court order barring the deployment of the National Guard in Chicago!
#BREAKING The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refuses to undo an order blocking deployment of National Guard troops within Illinois.
"We conclude that the district court's factual findings … were not clearly erroneous, and that the facts do not justify the President's actions in Illinois."
"We conclude that the district court's factual findings … were not clearly erroneous, and that the facts do not justify the President's actions in Illinois."
October 16, 2025 at 7:38 PM
🚨WOW. A unanimous per curiam (meaning no named author) panel of the 7th Circuit, made up of a Bush appointee, an Obama appointee, and a Trump appointee, decline to step in and block a lower court order barring the deployment of the National Guard in Chicago!
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
New study finds Democrats represent public opinion better than Republicans: "the quality of statehouse democracy, here meaning the dynamic relationship between opinion and policy, is substantially weakened by Republican Party control of state government."
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
October 13, 2025 at 11:30 AM
New study finds Democrats represent public opinion better than Republicans: "the quality of statehouse democracy, here meaning the dynamic relationship between opinion and policy, is substantially weakened by Republican Party control of state government."
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
ICE is doing a hell of a lot of harm in the Chicago area *right now.* I don’t mean to trivialize the national guard stuff, it absolutely is an irresponsible escalation, but the guard-centric convo around this really does understate what’s going on without any guardsmen.
October 6, 2025 at 12:45 PM
ICE is doing a hell of a lot of harm in the Chicago area *right now.* I don’t mean to trivialize the national guard stuff, it absolutely is an irresponsible escalation, but the guard-centric convo around this really does understate what’s going on without any guardsmen.
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
1/ So many thoughts about this whole, pathetic episode. But two stand out.
www.texastribune.org/2025/09/19/t...
www.texastribune.org/2025/09/19/t...
How a secret recording of a gender identity lecture upended Texas A&M
Officials have struggled to detail the exact reasons for the A&M professor’s termination, citing a technical issue with her course description. Faculty say the move was politically motivated.
www.texastribune.org
September 23, 2025 at 5:04 PM
1/ So many thoughts about this whole, pathetic episode. But two stand out.
www.texastribune.org/2025/09/19/t...
www.texastribune.org/2025/09/19/t...
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
Vance’s vision of blood-based citizenship isn’t new and isn’t interesting. You either believe that the Declaration of Independence should mean what it says in our political life, or you don’t. He doesn’t. Great stuff from @jamellebouie.net
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...
Opinion | JD Vance Claims One of Our Worst Traditions as His Own
www.nytimes.com
July 23, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Vance’s vision of blood-based citizenship isn’t new and isn’t interesting. You either believe that the Declaration of Independence should mean what it says in our political life, or you don’t. He doesn’t. Great stuff from @jamellebouie.net
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
1) Read the blog "Before Bostock and the Continuous Fight for Transgender Rights" by @jpier.bsky.social here: kansaspress.ku.edu/blog/2025/06...
2) Pick up Before Bostock and get 50% off with discount code 24SUMMER25: kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700633142/.
2) Pick up Before Bostock and get 50% off with discount code 24SUMMER25: kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700633142/.
June 27, 2025 at 5:44 PM
1) Read the blog "Before Bostock and the Continuous Fight for Transgender Rights" by @jpier.bsky.social here: kansaspress.ku.edu/blog/2025/06...
2) Pick up Before Bostock and get 50% off with discount code 24SUMMER25: kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700633142/.
2) Pick up Before Bostock and get 50% off with discount code 24SUMMER25: kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700633142/.
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
The reasoning in Skrmetti is just repackaged “every race is punished equally, so nothing to see here” logic that Loving v. Virginia emphatically rejected.
June 18, 2025 at 3:19 PM
The reasoning in Skrmetti is just repackaged “every race is punished equally, so nothing to see here” logic that Loving v. Virginia emphatically rejected.
You can take the judge out of the Blackstone fellowship, but you can't take the Blackstone fellowship out of the judge.
June 18, 2025 at 4:18 PM
You can take the judge out of the Blackstone fellowship, but you can't take the Blackstone fellowship out of the judge.
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
For anyone still maintaining hope that Justice Barrett wasn't a "real conservative" or whatever, today closes the door on such wishful thinking. She argues today that a minority group's history of suffering societal discrimination is irrelevant to whether they receive constitutional protection.
![UNITED STATES, PETITIONER v. JONATHAN SKRMETTI, ATTORNEY GENERAL AND REPORTER FOR TENNESSEE, ET AL. ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT [June 18, 2025] JUSTICE BARRETT, with whom JUSTICE THOMAS joins, concurring. Because the Court concludes that Tennessee’s Senate Bill 1 does not classify on the basis of transgender status, it does not resolve whether transgender status constitutes a suspect class. Ante, at 16–18; see Geduldig v. Aiello, 417 U. S. 484, 496 (1974). I write separately to explain why, in my view, it does not.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wovz3whdkughp6decczypkqq/bafkreibd7nqvzowdekx75kytzt4qq6h2yrernzrj3qeyjhxd27g73sr4oy@jpeg)
June 18, 2025 at 2:43 PM
For anyone still maintaining hope that Justice Barrett wasn't a "real conservative" or whatever, today closes the door on such wishful thinking. She argues today that a minority group's history of suffering societal discrimination is irrelevant to whether they receive constitutional protection.
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
one thing i think people should ask the court conservatives given this ruling is what, specifically, was wrong with plessy?
🚨By a 6–3 vote, the Supreme Court UPHOLDS Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, concluding that it does NOT discriminate on the basis of sex, is not subject to heightened scrutiny, and survives rational basis review. All three liberals dissent. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
June 18, 2025 at 2:45 PM
one thing i think people should ask the court conservatives given this ruling is what, specifically, was wrong with plessy?
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
Look at how much work the Court's abortion cases do here. The majority cites Dobbs to say that regulating a medical condition/procedure isn't sex discrimination, and another abortion case, Gonzales v. Carhart, to suggest that legislatures deserve discretion when there is scientific uncertainty.
BREAKING: Supreme Court upholds Tennessee ban on transgender youth medical care
www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...
Supreme Court upholds Tennessee ban on transgender youth medical care
The ruling is a major setback for transgender rights, with more than 20 states enacting laws similar to Tennessee’s.
www.nbcnews.com
June 18, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Look at how much work the Court's abortion cases do here. The majority cites Dobbs to say that regulating a medical condition/procedure isn't sex discrimination, and another abortion case, Gonzales v. Carhart, to suggest that legislatures deserve discretion when there is scientific uncertainty.
Reposted by Jason Pierceson
🚨By a 6–3 vote, the Supreme Court UPHOLDS Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, concluding that it does NOT discriminate on the basis of sex, is not subject to heightened scrutiny, and survives rational basis review. All three liberals dissent. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
June 18, 2025 at 2:15 PM
🚨By a 6–3 vote, the Supreme Court UPHOLDS Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, concluding that it does NOT discriminate on the basis of sex, is not subject to heightened scrutiny, and survives rational basis review. All three liberals dissent. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...