Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Nathaniel Donahue

Jotwell @jotwell.bsky.social · 10h

Jotwell ConLaw:
Andrea Katz, Falsifying the Unitary Executive: Popperian Empiricism and History’s Uses and Misuses, JOTWELL (October 8, 2025), conlaw.jotwell.com/falsifying-t....

1 2

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · 1d

Aww, thanks Maggie!

1

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · 3d

Gotcha

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · 4d

I’m curious what you mean here. That the big privately funded schools turn out to be vulnerable to the feds (because they happen also to be the big winners for federal funding too)? Or is there something about the private funding that makes them vulnerable to the feds?

1

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · 6d

Anthropic settlement website is live!

Authors (including academics): look your book up and get paid!

secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/?_gl=...

Submit a Claim

secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · 7d

I haven’t been this excited to hear about the disposition of a million dollars in prewar America since Bringing Up Baby!

John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 7d

1

Reposted by Nathaniel Donahue

William Baude @williambaude.bsky.social · 9d

Bombshell! - Caleb Nelson, one of the most respected originalist scholars in the country, comes out against the unitary executive interpretation of Article II democracyproject.org/posts/must-a...

1 25 46

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · 22d

Thanks Dan!

Dan Deacon @dtdeacon.bsky.social · 22d

Over at the Notice and Comment blog, today's Ad Law Reading Room entry is "Officers at Common Law," forthcoming in the @yalelawjournal.bsky.social, by @nwdonahue.bsky.social. Check it out! www.yalejreg.com/nc/ad-law-re...

Ad Law Reading Room: "Officers at Common Law," by Nathaniel Donahue - Yale Journal on Regulation

Today’s Ad Law Reading Room entry is “Officers at Common Law,” by Nathaniel Donahue, which is forthcoming in the Yale Law Journal. Here is the abstract: The Framers of the federal Constitution said al...

www.yalejreg.com

1

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · 25d

Hear hear!

Mark Graber @mgraber1.bsky.social · 25d

A terrific post by a terrific young scholar who ought to be on the short list of all appointments committees. harvardlawreview.org/blog/2025/09...

State Enforcement of Section Three Disqualification:What McConnell Gets Right on Trump v. Anderson and Why He’s Still Wrong - Harvard Law Review

Leading originalist Professor Michael McConnell has written a thoughtful dissection of the Supreme Court’s pivotal decision last term in Trump v. Anderson, which...

harvardlawreview.org

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · 28d

That’s why they called him tail gunner joe!

1 2

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · Sep 4

Otoh maybe it would stop him from dismantling them?

1 1

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · Sep 3

When I taught 1Ls about the structure of American courts, I literally did a virgin/chad meme with federal/state courts.

1 1

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · Sep 3

Have yall read Ed Purcell’s book on Erie Doctrine? It’s been a minute but hes got a great account of the various interests it’s served over time and even between different constituencies on the court, iirc.

www.amazon.com/Brandeis-Pro...

Brandeis and the Progressive Constitution: Erie, the Judicial Power, and the Politics of the Federal Courts in Twentieth-Century America

During the twentieth century, and particularly between the 1930s and 1950s, ideas about the nature of constitutional government, the legitimacy of judicial lawmaking, and the proper role of the federa...

www.amazon.com

2 2

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · Sep 3

Okay but “the politicized bloodsport of state courts” rules

1 2

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · Sep 2

Thanks Quinn!

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · Sep 2

Thanks! As for your other question, I tease out the implications for QI a little bit in Section I.D.4, thought it’s mostly in the footnotes

1 1

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · Sep 2

All comments are welcome

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · Sep 2

Thanks!

1

Reposted by Nathaniel Donahue

Oren Tamir @orentaoren.bsky.social · Sep 2

Call for papers for the best constitutional law conference every year is now out! Please circulate widely & consider sending us your paper/lightning round proposals. Tucson is incredible this time of the year, and we have amazing confirmed commentators already lined up 🌵🌵

1 9 15

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · Sep 2

Here's a link to the paper: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... (12/12)

Officers at Common Law

<p><i>The Framers of the federal Constitution said almost nothing about how subordinate officers would be held accountable. This Article provides one overlooked

papers.ssrn.com

2

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · Sep 2

If you’ve enjoyed this paper, look out for my future work on juries, compulsory service, and other weird elements of early American governance! And if you’re looking to hire a law professor, I teach torts, admin, con law, property, legal history, and a few other classes; and I love new places! (11/

1 1 5

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · Sep 2

The rise of UET over the 19th century corresponded with a decline in the law of officers, as judges and lawmakers created new immunities and systems of collective liability to protect the operation of a hierarchical administrative state (10/

1 3

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · Sep 2

Institutionally, the fact that officers faced liability actions and made independent decisions made it difficult for early Presidents to direct them. You can see this in the case of Little v. Barreme, where a ship captain was held liable for following Presidential orders (9/

1 5

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · Sep 2

By contrast, UET envisions that the president’s election confers legitimacy on the administrative state. The president uses tools of bureaucratic management (hiring, firing, & instruction) to implement her vision. But early Am. officers follow the law, not the President! (8/

1 4

Nathaniel Donahue @nwdonahue.bsky.social · Sep 2

So what does this have to do with UET? Well, the law of officers is conceptually in tension with UET. The constitutional power to create officers gives Congress the power to charge folks w/independent obligations to the law & therefore obligations to resist superiors’ orders. (7/

1 4