As a blockbuster docket comes to a close, we ought to remind ourselves of the importance of understanding our legal institutions, norms, and practices. I frequent a running trail repurposed from an abandoned railroad corridor. The tracks, given way to marathoner footprints and horseshoe spoors, were built in 1969 to connect tobacco fields to processing ..read more

What does Nobel laureate Toni Morrison’s only short story say about the intersection of liberal democracy and privacy? Privacy is foundational to America’s past, a constant in its legal practices, a tacit promise that weaves through the ethos of its people and their institutions. Physical privacy and the “home is the castle” maxim, recognized as ..read more

Today’s post considers legal theory, social epistemology, and the role of the state in American political life in conversation with a piece of canonical literature. The philosophical canon has been enamored with the individual for centuries. Egoism, existentialism, hedonism, libertinism, solipsism – all are meat picked off the academic bones of the self. Economic theories ..read more

As I finish a comprehensive piece regarding the North Carolina gerrymandering case the Court put on its docket this term, Moore v. Harper, here is a piece assessing the political courage of Former Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank, written in the same spirit as President Kennedy’s famous 1956 book. On May 23, 1987, the Boston Globe ..read more

Apologies if this post reads more didactic than it does argumentative. And remember: we shouldn’t have to politicize bad legal logic. Comprehensive analysis of the independent state legislature (ISL) theory first requires an understanding of the political background and procedural history of the North Carolina gerrymandering case that invoked it, Moore v. Harper. Following the ..read more

Was 1937’s West Coast Hotel v. Parrish really that unprecedented? Among the moments in American history that witnessed a shift towards stronger federal executive power, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration invariably comes to mind. In response to the economic crisis of the Great Depression, FDR introduced his “New Deal,” an unprecedented expansion of regulatory executive ..read more

Hello! I have recently gotten my op-ed on data privacy published. It can be found here ..read more

On an afternoon in the heart of Colonial Williamsburg, tourists file into a grassy dugout. We are waiting for a speaker to take the stage, one whose importance in the development of American precedent cannot be overstated. Suddenly a purposed murmur breaks out in the assemblage. People sit upright, ready to be soothed by the ..read more

It’s time to debunk the misconception. Edited August 15, 2022. When the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization last month – overturning 1973’s Roe v. Wade, which established a federal constitutional right to an abortion – paranoia ensued. Pro-choice politicians, understandably, smeared the Court as a right-wing institution tearing ..read more

The state first needs the constitutional authority to carry out its compelling interest before the Court can decide if it’s narrowly tailored. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a per curiam opinion on November 6 stating that there are “grave statutory and constitutional issues with the Mandate” that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ..read more