Katie Eyer
@katieeyer.bsky.social
Rutgers Law Prof writing about equality law, statutes, and the constitution. Academic writing at: http://ssrn.com/author=879928
Had the pleasure of attending today’s No Kings rally with my 85 year old mom and 51 year old sister. The family that protests together?
October 18, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Had the pleasure of attending today’s No Kings rally with my 85 year old mom and 51 year old sister. The family that protests together?
Gratitude to you all for all of the kind messages. It really does help to hear that all dogs go to heaven and that he will have doggo friends waiting for him on the other side ❤️ A photo from the little memorial my son (who was bitten but also bonded to Geno) and I did for him tonight.
July 22, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Gratitude to you all for all of the kind messages. It really does help to hear that all dogs go to heaven and that he will have doggo friends waiting for him on the other side ❤️ A photo from the little memorial my son (who was bitten but also bonded to Geno) and I did for him tonight.
This is a weird sad thing to post on social media but I was hoping some of you dog lovers out there could say a prayer for our poor foster dog Geno, who through a series of terrible events (involving escalating possessiveness of me & aggression to others) wound up having to be euthanized last week.
July 22, 2025 at 12:40 AM
This is a weird sad thing to post on social media but I was hoping some of you dog lovers out there could say a prayer for our poor foster dog Geno, who through a series of terrible events (involving escalating possessiveness of me & aggression to others) wound up having to be euthanized last week.
8/X A full abstract is below. Many thanks to the many scholars who contributed to my thinking, including @williambaude.bsky.social @jessicaclarke.bsky.social @almadiamond.bsky.social @mlorey.bsky.social @fpeterson.bsky.social @lsolum.bsky.social @deborahwidiss.bsky.social and others not on Bluesky!
![Does textualism promote or protect equality? Several prominent textualist scholars and jurists have raised the possibility that textualism may serve equality values. And yet the role of textualism in protecting equality remains largely unexplored. This Article takes seriously the claim that textualism may promote equality: either as an absolute matter, or in comparison to other statutory interpretation methods. It asks, can textualism be conceptualized as an equality practice, i.e., an interpretive practice that protects or promotes equality?
This Article answers this question with a qualified “yes.” Textualism can promote equality before the law, a thin form of equality often associated with the rule of law. Moreover, this thin form of equality can help to promote thicker forms of equality, by preventing the gerrymandering of disfavored groups out of rights protections, and of favored groups out of burdensome laws. This thin form of legal equality can also further substantive equality by preventing the judicial hobbling of legislative gains secured especially by or for historically marginalized groups (such as civil rights laws, social welfare law, and laws protecting Native Nations’ sovereignty).
But this Article also cautions that the equality-promoting potential of textualism is qualified. Only certain forms of textualism—what other scholars have referred to as “formalistic” textualism—are likely to be sufficiently constraining to create meaningful protections for equality. Moreover, even applying formalistic textualism, there will surely be circumstances where textualism confronts true indeterminacy or even cuts against substantively equality-promoting results. Finally, legal realism poses a genuine challenge to claims that any interpretive theory can meaningfully constrain judicial preferences, and thus to any theory’s claims of equality-promoting potential.
[Final paragraph too long to include in alt text -- see SSRN link!]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vk5ogh7jzsbal4hqbfuwauu2/bafkreicyplbelmw2dx2iazbroshrne5opdosd4tw2cu3ddbdqgfrhpapda@jpeg)
February 20, 2025 at 1:44 PM
8/X A full abstract is below. Many thanks to the many scholars who contributed to my thinking, including @williambaude.bsky.social @jessicaclarke.bsky.social @almadiamond.bsky.social @mlorey.bsky.social @fpeterson.bsky.social @lsolum.bsky.social @deborahwidiss.bsky.social and others not on Bluesky!
For those interested in further reading on this topic, a number of scholars (including @richardprimus.bsky.social, Kim Forde-Mazrui & Sonja Starr) have written important pieces addressing it e.g., ssrn.com/abstract=435...; ssrn.com/abstract=198...; ssrn.com/abstract=149...
February 18, 2025 at 12:52 PM
For those interested in further reading on this topic, a number of scholars (including @richardprimus.bsky.social, Kim Forde-Mazrui & Sonja Starr) have written important pieces addressing it e.g., ssrn.com/abstract=435...; ssrn.com/abstract=198...; ssrn.com/abstract=149...
2/X There are lots of bad parts of this EO, but I want to focus here on one that is both far-reaching & likely unclear to most ppl. Sec 5 is targeted at weaponizing existing civil rights law to "ensure the freedom to express the binary nature of sex and the right to single-sex spaces."
January 24, 2025 at 1:52 PM
2/X There are lots of bad parts of this EO, but I want to focus here on one that is both far-reaching & likely unclear to most ppl. Sec 5 is targeted at weaponizing existing civil rights law to "ensure the freedom to express the binary nature of sex and the right to single-sex spaces."
I got to take out this very good girl from the Philly shelter yesterday. Serenity was affectionate sweet and calm and charmed everyone we met all day long. If you live in the Philly area, and want to adopt a dog, she is still looking for her forever home! acctphilly.org/available-do...
December 22, 2024 at 12:34 PM
I got to take out this very good girl from the Philly shelter yesterday. Serenity was affectionate sweet and calm and charmed everyone we met all day long. If you live in the Philly area, and want to adopt a dog, she is still looking for her forever home! acctphilly.org/available-do...
As promised (or forewarned) I will sometimes deviate from legal analysis to share foster animal content. I got to take this very good boy from the Philly shelter on a day trip today. He was a delight and managed to get himself adopted as soon as we brought him back to the shelter!
December 16, 2024 at 1:59 AM
As promised (or forewarned) I will sometimes deviate from legal analysis to share foster animal content. I got to take this very good boy from the Philly shelter on a day trip today. He was a delight and managed to get himself adopted as soon as we brought him back to the shelter!
1/3 I've just posted a new draft of my most recent article, Title IX in the Age of Textualism: ssrn.com/abstract=494.... The new draft discusses the possibility of the Trump administration attempting to use the Title IX administrative apparatus to enforce affirmatively anti-trans positions.
November 24, 2024 at 10:26 PM
1/3 I've just posted a new draft of my most recent article, Title IX in the Age of Textualism: ssrn.com/abstract=494.... The new draft discusses the possibility of the Trump administration attempting to use the Title IX administrative apparatus to enforce affirmatively anti-trans positions.
I am not a frequent poster, but try to do an accessible explainer when there is a major legal development in LGBTQ or disability rights. I also use this account to share my scholarship -- and for occasional pics of my foster dogs & kittens (because who couldn't use extra dopamine in these times?)
November 24, 2024 at 10:17 PM
I am not a frequent poster, but try to do an accessible explainer when there is a major legal development in LGBTQ or disability rights. I also use this account to share my scholarship -- and for occasional pics of my foster dogs & kittens (because who couldn't use extra dopamine in these times?)
1/7 A draft of my most recent article, Anti-Transgender Constitutional Law (forthcoming in the Vanderbilt Law Review), is now up on SSRN: ssrn.com/abstract=462.... In the piece, I document the rise of a new phenomenon: constitutional claims in opposition to transgender rights.
November 8, 2023 at 8:53 PM
1/7 A draft of my most recent article, Anti-Transgender Constitutional Law (forthcoming in the Vanderbilt Law Review), is now up on SSRN: ssrn.com/abstract=462.... In the piece, I document the rise of a new phenomenon: constitutional claims in opposition to transgender rights.
Arrived today for my visit at U Chicago Law. So excited to join this intellectual community for the fall quarter and for this new adventure! (Pictured is my makeshift wall of family photos in my Chicago studio apartment!)
September 19, 2023 at 1:29 AM
Arrived today for my visit at U Chicago Law. So excited to join this intellectual community for the fall quarter and for this new adventure! (Pictured is my makeshift wall of family photos in my Chicago studio apartment!)
Delighted to share that my current WIP, Anti-Transgender Constitutional Law will be published by @VandLRev. In the piece I do a deep dive on constitutional (and RFRA) arguments targeting transgender equality measures. Not yet posted on SSRN, but happy to share a draft upon request!
September 8, 2023 at 9:14 PM
Delighted to share that my current WIP, Anti-Transgender Constitutional Law will be published by @VandLRev. In the piece I do a deep dive on constitutional (and RFRA) arguments targeting transgender equality measures. Not yet posted on SSRN, but happy to share a draft upon request!
1/4 My latest on as-applied Equal Protection claims is now up on SSRN: ssrn.com/abstract=456.... As I discuss, open questions regarding such as-applied Equal Protection claims have gained new importance due to recent transgender rights cases.
September 8, 2023 at 9:05 PM
1/4 My latest on as-applied Equal Protection claims is now up on SSRN: ssrn.com/abstract=456.... As I discuss, open questions regarding such as-applied Equal Protection claims have gained new importance due to recent transgender rights cases.