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Bonus 174: Playing the Justices for Fools
President Trump's latest emergency application rests on a contrived procedural emergency and a forfeited substantive claim—apparently banking on the…
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Steve Vladeck
15
174. Justice Gorsuch's Attack on Lower Courts
Just like the earlier rulings that Justice Gorsuch claims lower courts are defying, his concurrence in the NIH grant cutoffs case would be a lot more…
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Steve Vladeck
53
Bonus 173: The Election of 1864
At the lowest moment of his presidency (if not the Civil War), Abraham Lincoln was committed to protecting the people's right to vote him out in favor…
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Steve Vladeck
22
173. Justice Kavanaugh and the Equities
Thursday's ruling in the NetChoice case appears to suggest that one of the key justices is either being inconsistent or completely hypocritical in how…
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Steve Vladeck
27
Bonus 172: Legal Pedagogy and the Dual State
The beginning of the new academic year raises an acute version of an age-old question: how much should law professors teach the law on the ground versus…
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Steve Vladeck
45
172. "Federalizing" D.C.
Like any federal enclave, the federal government has plenary power over the District of Columbia. But Congress has delegated most of that power to local…
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Steve Vladeck
49
Bonus 171: Circuit Riding and the Antebellum Court
Having the justices spend much of the year out in the country was an important means by which Congress brought the nascent Supreme Court to the…
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Steve Vladeck
19
171. Partisan Gerrymandering After Rucho
The Supreme Court isn't responsible for partisan gerrymandering. But current events in Texas underscore how much its 2019 ruling in Rucho has left…
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Steve Vladeck
60

July 2025

Bonus 170: Whose Judicial Overreach?
Debunking the unpersuasive (and also rather unprovable) claim that the Supreme Court's behavior on Trump-related emergency applications is largely a…
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Steve Vladeck
25
170. DOJ's (Ridiculous) Misconduct Complaint Against Chief Judge Boasberg
DOJ's complaint that Chief Judge Boasberg engaged in "misconduct" would be laughably stupid if it didn't reflect such a transparently obvious and…
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Steve Vladeck
74
169. Emergency Orders as Precedents
Wednesday's ruling in Boyle isn't the first time the Court has given precedential effect to an unsigned order, but it's the first time it tried to…
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Steve Vladeck
51
Bonus 168: Appointing (and Removing) U.S. Attorneys
A quick primer on the overlapping authorities for appointing and removing U.S. Attorneys—and the chaos unfolding in New York and New Jersey as the Trump…
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Steve Vladeck
18
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