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Sam J. Merchant

@sammerchant.bsky.social

750 followers 330 following 290 posts

Law Prof: Con Law, Crim Pro, Sentencing, Habeas at Minnesota Law

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Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · Nov 13

Plug for my book, Revolution in Redline! (February 2025) In it I trace the ideas that led to the Founding Documents, then show drafts of those documents in "redline" and show the drafters debates over the documents. It's a concise and accessible way for students and scholars to explore the Founding.

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Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · 8h

Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · 1d

Federal judges (really, their law clerks) using AI, resulting in fake citations. I’d support guidance from the Judicial Conference: At least right now, no sentence, phrase, or word should be AI generated in a court order or opinion.

news.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw...

Bloomberg Law

news.bloomberglaw.com

Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · 3d

I analyze the Sean "Diddy" Combs federal sentencing proceeding.
crimprof.blog/explained-se...

Explained: Sean “Diddy” Combs Sentenced to 50 Months in Prison – Crimprof Blog

crimprof.blog

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Reposted by Sam J. Merchant

Minnesota Law @umnlawschool.bsky.social · 6d

Prof. Sam Merchant was quoted by @nytimes.com about the length of sentence that rapper Sean Combs will receive at a hearing this Friday, saying that while guidelines often act as an “anchor” in sentencing, judges have significant leeway when deciding a defendant’s ultimate punishment.
z.umn.edu/ar8c

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Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · 7d

I hope the Court backs away from the goofy obsession with founding-era analogs and at most focuses on founding-era principles (analogs being some potential indicia of principles but are not at all dispositive).

Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · 8d

"Wake up, babe, new @nicholasbednar.bsky.social article just dropped." [Genuinely me this morning.]

Lawfare @lawfaremedia.org · 9d

Unless the Senate acts, the government will shut down midnight on Wednesday.

@nicholasbednar.bsky.social evaluates OMB Director Russ Vought's plan to use this shutdown as a springboard for permanent federal workforce cuts.

Reductions in Force During Shutdowns

The Trump administration plans to use the pending shutdown as justification for additional RIFs.

www.lawfaremedia.org

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Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · 14d

Yep, something is up.

Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · 22d

I’ve been wanting to write this exact piece (a common feeling I have with Tani’s work).

Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · 23d

Oh, no I just meant in general. I haven’t seen that kind of takedown on this, I think for fear of extrajudicial killing, it being 2025. “He was with Venezuelan drug dealers.”

Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · 23d

Alex O’Connor is in the ballpark (though much younger).

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Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · Aug 27

Our drift from Thomas Paine:
“The word ‘republic’ means the public good, or the good of the whole, in contradistinction to the despotic form, which makes the good of the sovereign, or of one man, the only object of the government.”

Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · Aug 26

Interesting but it doesn’t capture the reality that Platonists (I think?) actually seek objective truths in good faith. Not sure that maps onto how many judges use originalism…

Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · Aug 26

I was recently thinking about a piece on AI at sentencing and was pondering a footnote describing my exact use and offering the one or two deep research reports to anyone who asked. AI really hasn’t been that helpful to me other than occasionally identifying a relevant book or article.

Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · Aug 23

avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century...

www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/spee...

Avalon Project - Journals of the Coninental Congress - The Articles of Association; October 20, 1774

avalon.law.yale.edu

Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · Aug 23

It reminds of the Articles of Association (1774) (which Lincoln credits in his First Inaugural as "forming" the "Union").
Clause 8: "We will . . . encourage frugality, economy, and industry . . and will discountenance and discourage every species of extravagance and dissipation."

David Mack @davidmackau.bsky.social · Aug 8

no but this is crazy

before and after of the Oval Office covered in tacky gold

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Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · Aug 20

Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · Aug 19

“Come make $35k per year, with 80 students per class. Free Bible* included!”

*Trump Bible.

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Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · Aug 18

Honored to be appointed to the U.S. Sentencing Commission‘s Advisory Group on Research and Data Practices. This group combines sentencing scholars with experts from other fields to inform criminal sentencing policies and practices.

www.ussc.gov/about/news/p...

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Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · Aug 14

I made an off the cuff comment recently about it being a class on Legal Poli Sci.

Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · Aug 4

That generation lived through multiple immediate existential threats (wars included) and knew that some basic level of competency was important. We, luxuriously, really haven’t.

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Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · Aug 3

I could also see this court dragging its feet for 3.5 years (no standing; remand to apply this test; etc.) and just waiting until the next president inevitably unwinds the tariffs. The Trump Avoidance Doctrine.

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Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · Aug 3

The courts’ delays lead to normalization/rationalization, then SCOTUS will be reluctant to unwind all of this.
(Same theory for a lot of this Admin’s policies.)

Jack Rakove @jrakove.bsky.social · Aug 3

What kind of "news analysis" (I use the word advisedly) would fail to note that these tariffs have been imposed unconstitutionally, a few days after the hearings in the Federal Circuit Court strongly conveyed the same conclusion?

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/b...

Trump’s Tariffs Are Making Money. That May Make Them Hard to Quit.

www.nytimes.com

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Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · Jul 31

🤨

Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · Jul 19

The fact remains that recidivism like this is very rare. (Totally different nature of these offenses.) Unless he has a history of DV and hasn’t been caught.
Hopefully this event doesn’t overshadow the data, but unfortunately the notoriety he’s built probably means that it will.

Sam J. Merchant @sammerchant.bsky.social · Jul 2

Wow.