Steve Vladeck

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Last Notes

2026-10-30 18:52:21 UTC

Divided Ninth Circuit panel *denies* DOJ's request for emergency relief in the California voters case:
[storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca9.d906b021-93d2-446e-bb3b-e3705f517169/gov.uscourts.ca9.d906b021-93d2-446e-bb3b-e3705f517169.46.0.pdf )
I have a hard time believing that even *this* #SCOTUS will have any interest in intervening this close to Tuesday, but that doesn't mean DOJ won't *ask.*

2026-10-29 11:31:12 UTC

Texas sued DOJ in Wichita Falls entirely so that Judge Reed O’Connor could sign off on a collusive settlement between the parties depriving immigration judges nationwide of the power to “administratively close” removal proceedings.
On Tuesday, #SCOTUS let them get away with it.
More @ “One First”:
[Bonus 259: City of Baltimore v...](https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-259-city-of-baltimore-v-texas )

2026-10-23 19:37:04 UTC

This (ugly) ruling only raises the stakes of the (already massively important) Barbosa da Cunha case #SCOTUS will hear this term. Now, if the justices side with the government on the statutory question presented there, they’ll have to also take up and resolve the due process question presented here.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:36eqtmzysqf7wsslczw4uxcd/post/3mykvrerq5225

2026-10-18 17:26:07 UTC

Just in case you were worried about tomorrow’s hearing before Judge Reyes in the East Potomac Golf Links case being uninteresting, President Trump has decided to … prove the plaintiffs’ claims about why the trees are being removed?
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreihhgndim3ry5ivxs3cz2rp2zkddrtt4hh6a4sk6fob2otcnucqnie

2026-10-18 17:15:47 UTC

Yeah, the problem with the tweet *wasn’t* that it violated “CBS News standards.”
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreia3xrcdr6s3ubshu5qnjq76s4lmsv5puv6htk7ny3j7542vzdfbmi

2026-10-09 00:15:17 UTC

Umm, *I was the “somebody”!
[www.c-span.org/clip/house-c...](https://www.c-span.org/clip/house-committee/user-clip-rogers-vladeck-disagree-what-privacy-means/4474036 )
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3mxfnj4ceqt2c

2026-10-06 11:28:14 UTC

Justice Alito devotes an entire chapter of his new book to the emergency docket—and to responding to people like me (“the most prolific academic critic of the emergency docket”).
As I explain over at “One First,” it … didn’t go well:
[www.stevevladeck.com/p/256-so-une...](https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/256-so-unexplained-justice-alitos?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web )
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2026-09-25 21:55:59 UTC

#BREAKING: #SCOTUS once again freezes the lower federal courts’ rulings in the Missouri redistricting case—and affirms that, as the Missouri Supreme Court held earlier this month, Missouri will use the 2022 map in the November elections.
There were no public dissents.

2026-09-25 17:33:53 UTC

This was the 28th time #SCOTUS has granted emergency relief to the Trump administration since 1/20/25.
That matches the total number of grants during the entirety of the first Trump administration. And both of those totals dwarf the *four* grants of relief (two each) during the Bush & Obama admins.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv/post/3mwe3wijbe22g
#note1rrl…5f7m

2026-09-25 15:35:55 UTC

#BREAKING: In non-Missouri emergency docket news, #SCOTUS *grants* the Trump administration's request for a stay in the SAVE case, allowing DHS to have access to certain Social Security information.
The three Democratic appointees dissent.

2026-09-21 21:35:10 UTC

The Eighth Circuit has ordered the district court to reinstate Missouri’s 2025 congressional map.
But before folks freak out, it also ordered that court to pause such a ruling for long enough that the challengers can (and will) seek further review from #SCOTUS:
[s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28...](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28662713/ca8-mo.pdf )
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreifnrpcohufk3fc23siiybpjygruwq3hd22xafykeqg62ahofqnmgq

2026-09-15 12:45:39 UTC

What did we learn from the Supreme Court's three-sentence Monday night ruling leaving on hold the Trump administration's effort to interfere with mail-in voting?
Quite a lot, as it turns out—and at least some of it is good:
[www.stevevladeck.com/p/250-what-w...](https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/250-what-we-learned-from-usps-v-california )
[250. What We Learned from USPS...](https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/250-what-we-learned-from-usps-v-california )

2026-09-14 23:32:02 UTC

#BREAKING: Over public dissents from Justices Thomas and Alito, #SCOTUS *denies* the Trump administration’s request for a stay in the mail-in ballots case.
The USPS Rule will remain blocked—almost certainly through the midterms.

2026-09-10 14:33:02 UTC

This ought to make the contempt hearing against Missouri Secretary of State Hoskins in the Missouri Supreme Court (which starts in 27 minutes) that much … spicier.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv/post/3mv6arrbh722v
#note12f2…2ugh

2026-09-10 14:21:35 UTC

#BREAKING: Over *no* public dissents, #SCOTUS *stays* the federal district court’s TRO in the Missouri redistricting case, effectively restoring the Missouri Supreme Court ruling from last week (and the 2022 map that it requires the state to use in November).
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreig43owba4n3naz7npwy4g64tpviybgxcw6ktpbvqvtvwfjs2ijwii

2026-09-10 12:19:22 UTC

The horrifying thing here is the number of "serious conservative lawyers" who have publicly defended, and who continue to publicly defend, Percival's behavior toward district judges.
Because repeatedly stoking public anger against a judge for not having information DOJ failed to provide is ... ok?
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5masqigebv6augvgz62uko5i/post/3mv5zhlapcs2o

2026-09-10 11:26:16 UTC

“No matter what they do later today or tomorrow, the justices in Washington bear at least some of the responsibility for how we got here in the first place.”
Me on Missouri’s mess—and the conflicting injunctions simultaneously *barring* the state from using its 2025 map and *requiring* it to do so:
[Bonus 248: Missouri’s Massive ...](https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-248-missouris-massive-midterm?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web )

2026-09-08 21:30:02 UTC

Acting by himself (as Circuit Justice for the Eighth Circuit), Justice Kavanaugh has *denied* Missouri's (fairly ridiculous) emergency application asking #SCOTUS to put back into effect its 2026 gerrymander.
The Missouri Supreme Court's ruling that reverted back to the 2022 map will stand.

2026-08-27 17:51:17 UTC

A reporter should hold up a map of the Great Lakes with numbers on them and ask Trump which one he's just purported to rename.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:jmte4w4x7ukciit6lci6ziau/post/3mu3ethgfuk25

2026-08-21 17:56:52 UTC

To those asking what/when/how I think #SCOTUS will rule on the mail-in ballot + ballroom emergency applications:
The central problem with the Court's recent behavior on the emergency docket is that the justices basically do whatever they want, whenever they want—and only sometimes tell us why.

2026-07-20 19:31:11 UTC

A&M may be generating most of the anti-academic freedom headlines, but this is a pretty bleak sign of how things are going at my old employer, too:
[www.statesman.com/news/educati...](https://www.statesman.com/news/education/article/ut-border-surveillance-scholar-tenure-denial-22343342.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3RhdGVzbWFuLmNvbS9uZXdzL2VkdWNhdGlvbi9hcnRpY2xlL3V0LWJvcmRlci1zdXJ2ZWlsbGFuY2Utc2Nob2xhci10ZW51cmUtZGVuaWFsLTIyMzQzMzQyLnBocA%3D%3D&time=MTc4NDU3NTgzNDkwMg%3D%3D&rid=NTRkZWRjN2UtNGE3MS00ZWVhLTkzMjgtNWYzZjgxMmExZDgz&sharecount=MA%3D%3D )
[UT border surveillance scholar...](https://www.statesman.com/news/education/article/ut-border-surveillance-scholar-tenure-denial-22343342.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3RhdGVzbWFuLmNvbS9uZXdzL2VkdWNhdGlvbi9hcnRpY2xlL3V0LWJvcmRlci1zdXJ2ZWlsbGFuY2Utc2Nob2xhci10ZW51cmUtZGVuaWFsLTIyMzQzMzQyLnBocA%3D%3D&time=MTc4NDU3NTgzNDkwMg%3D%3D&rid=NTRkZWRjN2UtNGE3MS00ZWVhLTkzMjgtNWYzZjgxMmExZDgz&sharecount=MA%3D%3D )

2026-06-25 14:34:44 UTC

With seven decisions with the *same* 6-3 lineup over the last three days, I really can't wait for all of the hot takes from the folks who keep insisting that #SCOTUS *isn't* defined by its ideological division.

2026-06-17 12:19:03 UTC

Yesterday, #SCOTUS “rescheduled” President Trump’s cert. petition in one of the civil cases he lost to E. Jean Carroll for the *fifteenth* time.
Today’s bonus issue of “One First” explains how we got here—and why one or more of the justices may be purposefully trying to delay the Court’s review:
[Bonus 233: The (Two) E. Jean C...](https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-233-the-two-e-jean-carroll )

2026-05-11 21:40:18 UTC

#BREAKING: Over dissents from the three Democratic appointees, #SCOTUS issues “GVRs” in the Alabama cases—vacating district court injunctions & remanding for further proceedings in light of Callais.
In practice, this means Alabama can now redraw its congressional districts in time for the midterms:
[supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-243_f20h.pdf )

2026-05-04 15:14:20 UTC

One of the most amusingly petty things Justice Alito does is to put deadlines on administrative stays *only* when he is deeply *unsympathetic* to the applicants.
He did it in the 2023 mife case and the 2024 SB4 immigration case; and he did it today.
In all other cases, his stays are indefinite:
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreicerkd4inm6lscptxr6c4fmfsp7fihyzfj2fk26njvnmbum6xencu
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2026-04-29 14:15:50 UTC

"I dissent because Congress elected otherwise. I dissent because the Court betrays its duty to faithfully implement the great statute Congress wrote. I dissent because the Court’s decision will set back the foundational right Congress granted of racial equality in electoral opportunity. I dissent."
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv/post/3mknborr7lc2w
#note1gkm…uaqy

2026-04-29 14:10:37 UTC

Second (and last) #SCOTUS ruling is the big one, Louisiana v. Callais.
For a 6-3 majority (Rs v. Ds), Justice Alito purports to narrow the ability of states to draw majority-minority districts as a remedy for race-based vote dilution, but, per Kagan's dissent, comes pretty close to gutting the VRA:
[supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-109_21o3.pdf )

2026-04-29 14:04:09 UTC

First (but *not* last) #SCOTUS ruling is in First Choice.
For a unanimous Court, Justice Gorsuch holds that a religious non-profit has standing to challenge the constitutionality of an investigative subpoena for a list of its financial supporters:
[www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-781_pok0.pdf )
[supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-781_pok0.pdf )

2026-03-23 13:35:20 UTC

Today's #SCOTUS Order List includes a 6-3 summary reversal, in which the Republican appointees all vote, contra the Second Circuit, that qualifed immunity insulates a police officer from damages for using a rear wristlock against a nonviolent protestor.
The Democratic appointees all dissent:
[supremecourt.gov/orders/courtor...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/032326zor_7mio.pdf#page=11 )

2026-03-02 23:17:40 UTC

Here’s the #SCOTUS ruling in the Malliotakis cases:
[www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25a914_1p24.pdf )
[supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25a914_1p24.pdf )

2026-03-02 23:05:11 UTC

#SCOTUS just granted emergency relief in *both* the California teachers case (putting back on hold, at least in this case, California’s law barring teachers from outing transgender students to their parents) *and* the Malliotakis redistricting cases.
The Democratic appointees dissented in both.

2026-02-28 12:03:10 UTC

“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.

2026-02-03 01:06:19 UTC

Even if you don't have time to read all 83 pages of Judge Reyes's opinion barring the Trump administration from rescinding Temporary Protected Status for 350,000+ Haitians, please at least check out the four-page introduction.
It's a tour de force:
[storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.283214/gov.uscourts.dcd.283214.124.0_1.pdf )
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreicrroq5taft777rmau2ffjlsphbcatlxnwwigf2yekoke533yycim
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2026-01-28 13:41:23 UTC

In Printz v. United States, #SCOTUS held that the Constitution bars the federal government from forcing or otherwise compelling local or state governments to enforce federal law.
The liberal squish who wrote the majority opinion in that case? Justice Antonin Scalia:
[tile.loc.gov/storage-serv...](https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep521/usrep521898/usrep521898.pdf )
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreigklwtzoj63srjgujs67uyvgabbo2rp52b6vjk7qsaaxvpj6s44we

2026-01-26 02:00:47 UTC

This morning, I recorded a video on TikTok about why DHS’s arguments for the power to enter homes without judicial warrants in immigration cases are bunk.
Nine hours later, TikTok still says my video is “under review,” and can’t be shared.
Well, here’s a link:
[georgetown.box.com/v/Vladeck-IC...](https://georgetown.box.com/v/Vladeck-ICE-4A )
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreih362ezm3eliu5ayzx4c4rldqvp7vsqvcnezp5xk4thmzswczlbym

2026-01-24 16:25:11 UTC

You did not bear the shame.
You resisted.
You bestowed the eternally vigilant symbol of change by sacrificing your impassioned lives for freedom, justice and honour.
— The German Resistance Memorial in Berlin
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreielhxavkctdjyiygyrmxoh2zql2w6uhqo5zug2sydalnetpvzpdoe

2026-01-22 12:32:20 UTC

“DOJ’s ‘Notice of Corrections’ ought to give the justices real pause … about substituting their judgment for that of district courts at least where preliminary relief has been based upon an impoverished (or non-existant) record.”
Today’s “One First” on developments in the DOGE/Social Security case:
[Bonus 203: Correcting the Reco...](https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-203-correcting-the-record-in )

2026-01-18 14:22:47 UTC

Ah yes, the new, “free markets and liberties”-focused Washington Post:
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreietlp4q6nqacmo3mvi6rgho4ubwgxr6r4j3mrphxnjurw6cpiik3e

2026-01-17 02:07:42 UTC

Folks are about to learn a lot about the Eighth Circuit (the federal appeals court the jurisdiction of which includes Minnesota).
It has 11 active judges; 10 appointed by Republican presidents (including four by Trump). And the one senior judge still hearing cases is also a Republican appointee.

2026-01-12 22:56:09 UTC

It would take a two-word amendment to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to subject ICE agents and other federal law enforcement officers to the same liability for constitutional violations that local and state officers currently face.
If Congress actually cared about what it's seeing, it could pass that overnight.

2025-11-22 01:39:19 UTC

If you had told me Mamdani and MTG would both be in the news today, and gave me eleventy thousand guesses as to why, I’d … still be guessing.

2025-11-22 00:42:44 UTC

#BREAKING: Just hours after Texas asked #SCOTUS to pause Tuesday’s ruling that had blocked its new House congressional district maps, Justice Alito has issued a temporary “administrative” stay pausing that ruling (and putting the new maps back into place) while the full Court considers next steps:
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreicgytldjpxulbftwg2x5v27abivj3darx6ctqxmpoib2gkszusmqm

2025-11-18 00:52:22 UTC

The Federalist Society has apparently taken down the video of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's "Fireside Chat" at the National Lawyers Convention on November 7 (the one where he said that he and the Justice Department are at "war" against federal district courts):
I wonder why...
[2025 National Lawyers Conventi...](https://fedsoc.org/conferences/2025-national-lawyers-convention#agenda-item-fireside-chat-6 )

2025-11-11 23:07:54 UTC

#BREAKING: Over a public dissent from Justice Jackson, #SCOTUS *extends* the temporary pause of the district court’s order that had mandated full SNAP payments for November—keeping that ruling (and those payments) on hold through the end of the day this Thursday:
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreie57ikekngq62gkeexuwdgvrpe5kmvc7f2x3ohhuzownq7okrfpvu

2025-11-08 02:25:17 UTC

#BREAKING: Justice Jackson has issued an "administrative" stay, temporarily pausing a district court order that would've required the USDA to continue using contingency funds to pay SNAP benefits.
The stay expires 48 hours after the First Circuit rules on USDA's request for a stay pending appeal.
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreifp4mxbc5wboje7eeq47j3imquxdgo4fuvpaiots3ugkk4nabgvyi
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreigbjc37v6cmybsfs56zsu2fs6q7dxy3xcdkm6bl3bjjyd7rdnvftu

2025-11-07 23:46:35 UTC

#BREAKING: The Trump administration is asking #SCOTUS for an immediate “administrative” stay of a Rhode Island district judge’s order that is otherwise requiring it to resume the distribution of SNAP benefits from other funding sources no later than the end of today.

2025-11-06 20:18:24 UTC

#BREAKING: #SCOTUS grants yet another stay to the Trump administration, putting back into place a new State Department policy requiring passports to display their bearers' biological sex at birth.
Justice Jackson (joined by Justices Sotomayor and Kagan) once again dissents.
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreievwdoaj22wqnin73goexis4ox32ho4rn763ayuwcpji22izf5m6q
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreifytduqkuiofgg4tvhd4jhzhrdjtmfnc6m4b54kfkvlkbevx3jifi

2025-11-05 03:05:20 UTC

Really looking forward to the Speaker of the House claiming to be unaware of the election results.

2025-10-29 13:20:46 UTC

New paper from me offering a holistic assessment of [#SCOTUS's](https://bsky.app/search?q=%23SCOTUS%27s ) behavior on Trump-related emergency applications thus far:
[papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5661011 )
TL;DR: The ultimate theme of the decisions is a majority bent on preserving *their* supremacy, as such—which is likely to only be self-defeating.
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreibqqbpptj34jxlrefribx5ey7krdbk6situ23k3fw5ktrnxs4w3te

2025-10-17 20:07:08 UTC

The Trump administration is seeking emergency relief at #SCOTUS again—this time in the Chicago / National Guard federalization case.
This is the 29th application the administration has filed since January 20.
It’s No. 25A443, and should be up on the website shortly.

2025-10-05 14:58:04 UTC

The very first statute authorizing domestic use of the military during domestic emergencies, enacted in 1792 by a Congress full of the same folks who wrote and ratified the Constitution, expressly provided for judicial review in certain circumstances *before* the President could even send troops.
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreiafmu7chmxum77cnx7miqnd574zjyjahxkayoxcc5k4eatbuw2654

2025-09-30 02:25:05 UTC

Just a reminder that the Commander-in-Chief of the Louisiana National Guard, who can call them out all by himself if they were actually needed, is … Governor Landry.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3lzzf4zuor62a

2025-09-29 11:30:56 UTC

“Is it that the Chief Justice doesn’t accept that the Court is losing credibility on a daily basis; that he thinks the Court doesn’t need that credibility in order to fulfill its intended role in our constitutional system; or that he doesn’t care?”
Me on John Roberts as his Court turns 20 today:
[180. The Roberts Court Turns 2...](https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/180-the-roberts-court-turns-20 )

2025-09-22 19:15:06 UTC

#BREAKING: Over dissents from Justices Sotomayor, Kagan & Jackson, #SCOTUS grants a stay in the Slaughter case (allowing President Trump to remove the last Dem member of the FTC), *and* grants certiorari "before judgment" to decide whether to formally overrule its 1935 ruling in Humphrey's Executor.

2025-09-19 20:29:33 UTC

4:30 p.m. on a Friday, and there are *5* emergency applications from the Trump administration pending at #SCOTUS:
1) Slaughter (FTC removal);
2) Global Health Council (pocket rescissions);
3) Cook (Fed Board removal for "cause");
4) Orr (gender identity on passports); and
5) Noem (Venezuela TPS).

2025-09-12 22:57:50 UTC

I know these “interviews” with Justice Barrett are carefully scripted. But if she’s going to keeping urging Americans to “read the opinions,” and not just commentary, it sure would be nice if someone would ask her what we should do when—as is so often the case these days—there’s no opinion to read…

2025-09-10 20:09:13 UTC

Over public dissents from Justices Thomas, Alito, & Gorsuch, #SCOTUS leaves in place 4th Cir. injunction requiring a South Carolina public high school to allow a single transgender student to use the bathroom corresponding with their gender identity—stressing that it's "not a ruling on the merits."
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreicbw2ert35kaomoldtfkhitzufmhrpwh2esppmsoa3kdc3wksgkoi

2025-09-08 15:02:00 UTC

Chief Justice Roberts has issued an “administrative” stay allowing President Trump to remove the last Democratic member of Federal Trade Commission while the full Court decides whether to freeze lower-court rulings that had held that her firing was unlawful:
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreibkeyph4cdgei44vgw6wvpetmmepigtx2fhiq2sobc5tnoxyx77qa

2025-09-03 02:28:48 UTC

#BREAKING: Fifth Circuit (Southwick & Ramirez, JJ.) holds that President Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act against Tren de Aragua is unlawful, and blocks AEA removals in the Northern District of Texas (over a lengthy dissent from Judge Oldham):
[www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...](https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/25/25-10534-CV1.pdf )
[ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/2...](https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/25/25-10534-CV1.pdf )

2025-08-29 21:48:28 UTC

By a 7-4 vote, the full Federal Circuit has *affirmed* a lower-court ruling holding that many of President Trump’s tariffs exceed his statutory authority.
The ruling won’t go into effect until October 14, though—which gives the Trump administration plenty of time to seek intervention from #SCOTUS:
[storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco...](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cafc.23105/gov.uscourts.cafc.23105.159.0_1.pdf )

2025-08-22 00:30:44 UTC

“Then they came for Cracker Barrel…”

2025-08-21 20:49:33 UTC

TL;DR: 5 justices say Trump doesn't have to immediately restore the funding, but 5 *also* signal that the underlying directives are unlawful.
That sends a fairly strong (if mixed) message that Trump will lose these cases *eventually,* but only once they're brought in the Court of Federal Claims.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv/post/3lwwsjdupd22l
#note1vc6…4w5x

2025-08-21 20:41:54 UTC

Splitting 5-4 (with Chief Justice Roberts joining the three Democratic appointees in dissent), #SCOTUS grants *partial* stay to Trump administration in NIH funding case; holds that challenges to grant terminations (but *not* the underlying guidance) need to be filed in the Court of Federal Claims:
[supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/25a103_kh7p.pdf )

2025-08-15 19:49:26 UTC

The latest example of an important lower-court ruling adverse to Trump that the administration *isn’t* appealing is last Saturday’s D.C. Circuit decision about restoring public access to data on how the executive branch is (or isn’t) spending appropriated funds.
That ruling goes into effect today:
[Opinion (DC circuit)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26046812-opinion-dc-circuit/ )

2025-08-15 14:38:09 UTC

My own view is that it was *really* smart of D.C. to wait for the Trump admin. to overplay its hand before suing.
It's one thing to invoke the emergency police support provision of the Home Rule Act in specific cases; it's something else entirely to claim it allows the feds to *take over* the MPD.

2025-08-11 15:32:09 UTC

Two things can be true:
1) The President has legal authority over the D.C. police and the D.C. National Guard that he doesn't have *anywhere else* in the country; &
2) Even if this doesn't set a legal precedent, it sets an ominous *political* precedent for pretextually overriding local government.

2025-08-11 02:22:49 UTC

Someone forgot to take down this webpage:
[www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/v...](https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/violent-crime-dc-hits-30-year-low )
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreiflwmnajqtqww3ququffkanfy5zgywffbfmj2i5qoafy6xahkqsxm

2025-07-14 20:45:54 UTC

My quick take on Monday afternoon's unexplained #SCOTUS ruling in the Department of Education downsizing case—and how the justices' inconsistent treatment of the (similarly postured) student loan cases during the Biden administration illustrates in technicolor why the Court needs to explain itself:
[167. The Inconsistent Court St...](https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/167-the-inconsistent-court-strikes )

2025-07-14 19:38:43 UTC

Since April 4, #SCOTUS has issued 15 rulings on 17 emergency applications filed by Trump (three birthright citizenship apps were consolidated).
It has granted relief to Trump ... in all 15 rulings.
It has written majority opinions in only 3.
Today's order is the 7th with no explanation *at all.*
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv/post/3ltx4sgsu7k2q
#note1tk9…ngfl

2025-07-14 19:30:21 UTC

Here we go again: Over an acerbic dissenting opinion by Justice Sotomayor (joined in full by Justices Kagan and Jackson), #SCOTUS, with no explanation, grants a stay in the Department of Education RIFs case—effectively clearing the way for the Trump administration to dismantle much of the agency:
[supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a1203_pol1.pdf )

2025-07-03 20:30:54 UTC

Over dissents from Justices Sotomayor & Jackson (and a rare concurrence from Justice Kagan), #SCOTUS "clarifies" that its 6/23 ruling staying a district court's injunction against third-country removals *also* applies to the district court's later order requiring a remedy for those already removed:
[supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a1153_2co3.pdf )

2025-06-27 15:14:32 UTC

Fifth ruling from #SCOTUS is in the Texas porn age-verification case.
For a 6-3 majority (with the three Democratic appointees dissenting), Justice Thomas *upholds* Texas's age-verification scheme for porn websites against a First Amendment challenge:
[www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1122_3e04.pdf )
[supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1122_3e04.pdf )

2025-06-27 14:49:22 UTC

Fourth #SCOTUS ruling is in Mahmoud.
For a 6-3 majority (with the three Dem. appointees dissenting), Justice Alito sides with parents in challenge to school board's introduction of the “LGBTQ+-inclusive” storybooks, along with its decision to withhold opt outs:
[www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-297_4f14.pdf )
[supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-297_4f14.pdf )

2025-06-27 14:40:53 UTC

Third #SCOTUS ruling is in the universal service fund (non-delegation) case.
For a 6-3 majority (with Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch dissenting), Justice Kagan *rejects* non-delegation challenge; upholds universal service fund structure and authority:
[www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-354_0861.pdf )
[supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-354_0861.pdf )

2025-06-26 14:18:49 UTC

Fourth (and *last*) ruling from #SCOTUS today is in Riley v. Bondi.
For a messy, fractured 5-4 majority (with Justice Gorsuch joining the three Democratic appointees in dissent) narrows judicial review in a small category of complicated immigration appeals:
[www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1270_6j37.pdf )
[supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1270_6j37.pdf )

2025-06-26 11:56:31 UTC

The Supreme Court’s unexplained order on Monday in the third-country removals case, and the continuing controversy over what it does and doesn’t mean, is Exhibit A for why the justices need to provide an explanation at least when they *grant* emergency relief.
More in today’s bonus “One First”:
[Bonus 161: Why the Court Needs...](https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-161-why-the-court-needs-to )

2025-06-23 21:59:29 UTC

Today’s unsigned, unexplained #SCOTUS ruling clearing the way for removals of migrants to third countries without any additional process is a disaster—not just on the merits, but because of the government misbehavior that it not only refuses to punish, but effectively rewards.
Me, via “One First”:
[161. The Court's Disastrous Ru...](https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/161-the-courts-disastrous-ruling )

2025-06-08 02:12:48 UTC

Here’s the “Presidential Memorandum”:
[www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/department-of-defense-security-for-the-protection-of-department-of-homeland-security-functions/ )
There’s no Insurrection Act invocation; Trump is federalizing 2000 CA Nat’l Guard personnel only to “protect federal functions.”
*Without* invoking the Insurrection Act, anything more would violate the Posse Comitatus Act.
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreicwoikrcr3uazh34pth6x73as65qohim3hgdw5xzomofanhcyy2u4

2025-06-08 01:44:42 UTC

There are two pathways to what Trump is doing:
1) He is federalizing 2000 National Guard troops; or
2) He is deploying 2000 members of another state’s National Guard with the permission of *that* state’s governor.
These posts walk through the relevant authorities—and the questions they raise:
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv/post/3lr2mrq2klk22
#note1zzc…xcep

2025-06-08 00:38:41 UTC

Re-upping this “One First” post from April asking—and trying to answer—five questions about the domestic use of the military:
[142. Five Questions About Dome...](https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/142-five-questions-about-domestic )

2025-06-07 00:03:04 UTC

It’ll be interesting how the Trump administration’s remarkable ability to magically bring Abrego García back to the United States will bear on its arguments in other cases about how it really has no ability to influence the detention of others at CECOT.

2025-06-06 20:24:17 UTC

#BREAKING: #SCOTUS grants Trump administration stay in DOGE/Social Security case (restoring DOGE’s access to SSA data) over public dissents from three Democratic appointees.

2025-05-30 14:19:34 UTC

#BREAKING: #SCOTUS grants Trump administration application for stay in CHNV humanitarian parole immigration case; lets government deport those previously granted parole.
Justice Jackson, joined by Justice Sotomayor, filed an eight-page dissenting opinion.
Link to come shortly.

2025-05-22 14:09:14 UTC

#BREAKING: In Oklahoma religious charter school case, #SCOTUS splits 4-4 (with Justice Barrett recused), which means the lower-court ruling (barring the religious charter school) stands without a (precedential) opinion:
[www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-394_9p6b.pdf )
[supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf...](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-394_9p6b.pdf )

2025-05-22 12:12:31 UTC

Today’s bonus issue of “One First” takes a closer look at Judge Ho’s galling concurring opinion on remand in the A.A.R.P. Alien Enemies Act case—which accused #SCOTUS of showing “disrespect” to the district judge and President Trump by … protecting due process:
[www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-152-...](https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-152-judge-ho-due-process-and )
[Bonus 152: Judge Ho, Due Proce...](https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-152-judge-ho-due-process-and )

2025-05-21 00:26:53 UTC

I keep thinking he can’t stoop any lower—and then he does:
[reason.com/volokh/2025/...](https://reason.com/volokh/2025/05/20/the-supreme-court-unfairly-attacked-a-careful-district-court-judge-who-faithfully-discharged-his-office-under-pressure/ )
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreigjlec7xp54nubgujvqrsn23mw4zwsq44v24tfelxq5lly2hk4au4

2025-05-05 20:53:58 UTC

Even *if* you accept Stephen Miller’s (textually, historically, and morally indefensible) claim that undocumented immigrants are not entitled to due process, you’d *still* need due process to ensure that the individuals at issue are, in fact, undocumented.
His argument fails even on its own terms.

2025-04-23 02:43:35 UTC

When it’s impossible to distinguish between your blog posts and the claims that Stephen Miller is making, it might be time to just stop writing:
[reason.com/volokh/2025/...](https://reason.com/volokh/2025/04/22/a-tale-of-two-shadow-dockets/ )
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreie4xlob3rodm52xn5igzdoo7d2euwxwptvvtbn4766nt744ocb7wq
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2025-04-21 12:29:33 UTC

Sir, this is a Wendy’s.
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreicdu7o2x5rirkmuu4thahrmuvxxiatn7y6b4nzmdjl65my5cc55fm

2025-04-19 15:49:04 UTC

One point that's going to get lost in the discussion of [#SCOTUS's](https://bsky.app/search?q=%23SCOTUS%27s ) intervention in the Alien Enemy Act case:
This is the *value* of nationwide injunctions. Without them, you have to go district by district, and the government can try to play games by moving people to districts without relief (yet).

2025-04-18 15:57:12 UTC

I don't really care what the "political consequences" are of fighting for the proposition that *everyone* is entitled to due process before they are removed from the United States and sent to a Salvadoran prison.
It's not really a principle if you only adhere to it when it's politically expedient.

2025-04-15 12:00:11 UTC

Either the U.S. government *is* able to exert monetary and diplomatic pressure on El Salvador sufficient to produce Abrego Garcia’s release, or it isn’t.
The latter would be either a bald-faced lie or a pretty stunning concession of our national impotence. The Vice President should pick one.
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreibmpr2yjriwntqgisffzzepnmxej3blgrb43ygueimi564ascf63q

2025-04-14 17:54:19 UTC

If the U.S. government is going to take the position that, once removed from the United States, folks can’t be brought back, then it sure seems to me that federal courts should be reflexively and categorically barring *all* removals until they’re 100 percent certain that the removals are lawful.

2025-04-11 20:23:13 UTC

Before folks overreact to headlines about the judge’s ruling in the Khalil case, please note that (1) it was an immigration judge (IJ), not a federal district court; and (2) the IJ had no power to consider Khalil’s constitutional objections.
This particular decision was a fait accompli.

2025-04-10 23:11:47 UTC

The problem with this ruling is the presumption of regularity. In any other administration, a remand with instructions to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return would lead to honest representations about what is—and isn’t—possible.
In this administration, there’s no reason to expect straight answers.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv/post/3lmilc3rwr227
#note1k53…h9zv

2025-04-10 22:43:21 UTC

#BREAKING: Supreme Court holds that Trump administration must attempt to “facilitate” the return of Wilmer Armando Abrego García from El Salvador, but remands to the district court to sort out exactly what the administration can and must do going forward:
[s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25...](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25894464/24a949-order.pdf )
[s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2589...](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25894464/24a949-order.pdf )

2025-04-04 22:51:32 UTC

The question isn’t whether a federal court can order the Salvadoran government to release Garcia; it can’t.
It’s whether the U.S. government has the ability to secure Garcia’s release. If so, then it can be ordered to do so, because then Garcia is in the “constructive” custody of the United States.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:t4x2ruk2qmob2b2cx55h4v7r/post/3llzhu2xmys2u

2025-04-02 11:23:09 UTC

The last day on which a majority of the Supreme Court’s justices had been appointed by Democratic presidents was May 14, 1969.
One of the things we do in the legal academy is support our claims with facts.
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreig7dffgfyqqbawuqed2krjef2swyh4hsf3eymi7p2psrxbjk5nmnq

2025-03-31 11:26:41 UTC

"If this many different judges in this many different courts appointed by this many different presidents are blocking this many policies promulgated by the same president, we ought to be able to agree that the problem is the policies—not the judges."
[www.stevevladeck.com/p/136-settin...](https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/136-setting-the-record-straight-on )
[136. Setting the Record Straig...](https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/136-setting-the-record-straight-on )

2025-03-30 13:15:45 UTC

As of Friday, there have been 46 cases in which federal judges have blocked Trump policies.
The rulings in those cases have come from 39 different judges appointed by 5 different presidents (of both parties) to 11 different district courts across 7 different circuits.
Maybe it's not the judges?