Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
Emeritus professor of constitutional law, including free expression and comparative constitutional law. Still trying to stay intellectually active.
Mark Victor Tushnet is an American legal scholar. He specializes in constitutional law and theory, including comparative constitutional law, and is currently the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Tushnet is identified with the critical legal studies movement. .. more
Political science
50%
Law
32%
Trump on tariffs fits the definition of chutzpah (“I killed my parents, have mercy on me, an orphan”): I collected so much money illegally that giving it back would be a disaster. (More formally, the fact that giving it back would be a disaster is a reason for saying it wasn’t collected illegally.)
What I’ve been reading: Ian McEwan, What We Can Know—astonishingly beautifully written though I can’t explain how. It looks like (in part) a novel of ideas, but the ideas are as much characters as the characters are—fully realized, as critics like to say, but existing (only) in imagination.
2/ Mostly seeming successes that turned out to fail, but at least 1 seeming failure that turned out OK. Despite the editor’s hopes, no generalizations whatever seem available—except maybe that outsiders don’t do much help even when well-motivated, which they aren’t always.
1/ Wisdom of Chou En-lai (“What do you think of the events in France? Too soon to tell”): Read a 2010 book w/ 19 case studies of constitution making from 1978-2005. As of today probably 1/2 are completely out of date. ...
Interpreting jury nullification in Sandwich Man case: Jury q. to judge re bodily injury/harm suggests they were looking 4 some linguistic hook that wd let them say elements weren't satisfied b/c officer wasn’t really “hurt.” So, not a pure “give me a break this is a ridiculous prosecution” verdict.
Judicial Vacancies: Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom - UK Supreme Court
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Justice of the Supreme Court
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www.supremecourt.uk
Ah, Great Britain—the home of liberty, where you—yes, you (or at least a lot of you)—can apply to be appointed to the Supreme Court: www.supremecourt.uk/about-the-co...
My favorite cross-tabs factoid: In VA, of those who thought that Jay Jones’s texts were disqualifying 9% voted for him. Cue Inigo Montoya: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
Reposted by Rebecca Tushnet
Conversation with Richard Re | Supreme Betrayal: How the Supreme Court and Constitutional Law Have Failed America
Our conversation with Richard Re focuses on his Foreword to the Harvard Law Review’s annual Supreme Court Review. The Foreword argues that the Roberts Court today is a conservative version of the Warr...
supreme-betrayal-how-the-supreme-court-and-constitutional.simplecast.com
New Supreme Betrayal episode: A conversation with Richard Re about why he describes the Roberts Court as a conservative Warren Court, and a dialogue about critical legal studies and his analysis: supreme-betrayal-how-the-supreme-court-and-constitutional.simplecast.com/episodes/con...
Reposted by Rebecca Tushnet
Constitutionalism After Trump Part One | Supreme Betrayal: How the Supreme Court and Constitutional Law Have Failed America
If we manage to extricate ourselves from our current constitutional plight, what might things look like? Or, alternatively, what sorts of constitutionally inflected policies should Democrats offer as ...
supreme-betrayal-how-the-supreme-court-and-constitutional.simplecast.com
New episode of Supreme Betrayal: Constitutionalism After Trump Part One—against restorationism/Schumerism, some suggestions for institutional reform going forward. supreme-betrayal-how-the-supreme-court-and-constitutional.simplecast.com/episodes/con...
Must be missing something abt Johnson's refusal to swear in "Rep" Grijalva to avoid discharge vote on Epstein Transparency ACT. Even if passed by the House and Senate, it would be subject to a presidential veto. Is the thought that any vote against Trump will be like the dam breaking a la Watergate?
Reposted by Rebecca Tushnet
The Jimmy Kimmel Kerfuffle and How to Think About It | Supreme Betrayal: How the Supreme Court and Constitutional Law Have Failed America
We talk about the Jimmy Kimmel episode, a small victory in the fight against Trumpism. We range more widely, though, in identifying no fewer than five groups who have competing First Amendment interes...
supreme-betrayal-how-the-supreme-court-and-constitutional.simplecast.com
Learn how to think (in constitutional terms) about the Jimmy Kimmel kerfuffle in the latest episode of Supreme Betrayal: supreme-betrayal-how-the-supreme-court-and-constitutional.simplecast.com/episodes/the...
creators.spotify.com/pod/show/2ao...
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Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
· Oct 7
In a forthcoming episode of Supreme Betrayal (to be recorded next week, we hope), we offer our take--less detailed but in the same ballpark--on these issues.
Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
· Oct 5
Judge Immergut was appointed to the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court by CJ Roberts.
Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
· Oct 4
Birthright Citizenship | Supreme Betrayal: How the Supreme Court and Constitutional Law Have Failed America
Why are the birthright citizenship cases both not such a big deal and a big deal? After going through the arguments for the Trump administration’s position in some detail (the arguments against it are...
supreme-betrayal-how-the-supreme-court-and-constitutional.simplecast.com
Why are the birthright citizenship cases not such a big deal and a big deal? Find out why in supreme-betrayal-how-the-supreme-court-and-constitutional.simplecast.com/episodes/bir...
open.spotify.com/episode/0eTv...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...
open.spotify.com/episode/0eTv...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...
Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
· Sep 27
A Conversation with Will Baude | Supreme Betrayal: How the Supreme Court and Constitutional Law Have Failed America
Our conversation with Will Baude covers his ideas about originalism as "our law" and the implications of his position for a constitution--ours, perhaps--that isn't normatively attractive overall.
supreme-betrayal-how-the-supreme-court-and-constitutional.simplecast.com
Reposted by Rebecca Tushnet
Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
· Sep 27
Spotify – Web Player
open.spotify.com
1/ Latest episode of Supreme Betrayal dropped--conversation with Will Baude about originalism as "our law" and the implications if the constitution is, as ours might be, unattractive: open.spotify.com/episode/1BLi...
Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
· Sep 27
4/ "would deny ... the attorney for the Government the reasonable time necessary for effective preparation, taking into account the exercise of due diligence." (You can snarkily imagine what such a motion would say about the time Halligan needs to prepare.)
Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
· Sep 27
3/ and disputes about admissibility of evidence) suspend the clock. & the gov't can move for a continuance once trial is scheduled by showing (in a simple case) that failing to grant the continuance ...
Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
· Sep 27
2/ appears (at the low end of the annual statistics) to be about 10 months. FWIW, time to trial for the Florida attempt on Trump was just under a year. Comey's entitled to insist on a trial w/in 30 days but consideration of pretrial motions, if any (like vindictive prosecution...
Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
· Sep 27
1/ A note on a term that's likely to bandied about misleadingly: The ED VA has what's known as a rocket docket but the term was invented to describe time to trial for civil cases, not criminal ones. (Use your favorite search engine to confirm that.) Average time to trial for criminal cases ...
Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
· Sep 23
I wonder whether Homan declared the $50k as 2024 income last April. (Still has time to amend the return, I suppose.)
Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
· Sep 22
Only time will tell whether John Roberts is a modern Roger Taney (endorsed an evil regime & contributed to causing a literal civil war) or a modern Melville Fuller (Who? precisely; let the Gilded Era's domination by wealth go unchecked but followed by Progressive Era).
Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
· Sep 22
Now let's see what's on the menu for TACO Tuesday.
Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
· Sep 22
I feel vindicated, having told folks that I'd bet (with narrow odds) on Kimmel's reinstatement relatively quickly. (Waited to post this until I saw it on the NYT website.)
Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
· Sep 22
Listening to excerpts from Leavitt's briefing today I had this flash: These people don't believe that they have immortal souls that can be endangered by lying. The crosses many of them wear must stand for some other beliefs.
Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
· Sep 21
As an experiment I asked Perplexity for a 250 word biographical statement and it produced a perfectly serviceable one. I did a little editing and now might use it rather than the somewhat longer one I've been using.
Mark Tushnet
@marktushnet.bsky.social
· Sep 18
To quote DJT, I am designating ICE & leaders Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem a major terrorist organization. His & my designations have exactly the same legal effect though his is likely to have a larger practical effect than mine (though given that Antifa doesn't exist, maybe not that much larger)..