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Dan Farbman

@danfarbman.bsky.social
8.6K followers 788 following 541 posts

Law Professor at BC Law, Historian of social movements and local government. Writing a book about Abolitionist Lawyering.

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Reposted by Dan Farbman
Niko Bowie @nikobowie.bsky.social · 7h
I'm grateful to Radcliffe and the Schlesinger Library for ensuring that my mom's work will be accessible to her many students, past and future
hls.harvard.edu
Lani Guinier’s legacy, in her own words - Harvard Law School
Schlesinger Library collection offers scholars a closer look at Lani Guinier's work on voting rights, race, education, and equality.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 7h
Periodic reminder that @hashtagblevin.bsky.social and I occasionally "blog" when the dyspepsia becomes too great to contain. Here, I'm dyspeptic about what passes for pragmatism--though optimistic that a better pragmatism might do us some good. postcardsofthehanging.substack.com/p/radical-pr...
postcardsofthehanging.substack.com
Radical Pragmatism
Geniuses with Backpacks
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 15h
This is very interesting and very well reported. It rhymes with this thing I just wrote about reclaiming pragmatism from reactionary centrists. postcardsofthehanging.substack.com/p/radical-pr...
postcardsofthehanging.substack.com
Radical Pragmatism
Geniuses with Backpacks
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Come for the Kissinger joke. Stay for some pragmatism about "pragmatic moderation." postcardsofthehanging.substack.com/p/radical-pr...
postcardsofthehanging.substack.com
Radical Pragmatism
Geniuses with Backpacks
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Took my children to see Olivia Rodrigo. It was entirely fantastic.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This is bleak and funny at the same time. But I admit that my first thought upon seeing the picture was: why have they charred all of the Caps For Sale man's caps?
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Honestly, Trump’s predilection for sleeping in public is one the most relatable things about him.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Back when America was great, Boss Tweed was honest about buying elections and Bull Connor was honest about only letting the "right" people vote. MAGA, etc.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Every time someone posts an Elon Musk tweet on here it’s like I’m being haunted by the ghost of Alexander Stephens and Louis Aggasiz’s love child.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The most bizarre part of this post is the claim that “few Republicans in 1865 would refute this.” It seems obviously wrong to me, unless you are only looking at moderates. But worse, it conflates the Republican Party with abolition, which is also obviously wrong.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
This is an amazing project. Read it now!
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Post your faculty lounge
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Currently writing about political realignment in the 1840s and 50s. And boy does this ever feel familiar.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
This chart is so satisfying. Cherry on top of these last two months of unexpectedly amazing Boston baseball pleasure.
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Reposted by Dan Farbman
Corinne Blalock @corinneblalock.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
new thing i am excited about
Richard Schragger’s book City Power
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Sox have won 15 in a row. Insane.
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Reposted by Dan Farbman
ArtButMakeItSports @artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
At the Moulin Rouge, The Dance, by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1890
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Took our 13 year old to her first proper fancy restaurant tonight. (Mooncusser in Boston—it’s so good). It was magical. Kids are the best. (And they also frequently suck.)
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Reposted by Dan Farbman
Philippe Auclair @philippeauclair.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
A stellar piece by @brianphillips.lol for The Ringer.
theringer.com
The Worst Ending to the Best U.S. Men’s World Cup Ever
The vibes had been immaculate. Suddenly, they sucked.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
The most naive thing about US soccer culture is the assertion that sport is not political. It’s politics all the way down.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
The abolitionists were super patriotic. And super mad about the stuff their country did.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Happy Loving Critique of Our Flawed Nation State Day. nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stor...
nmaahc.si.edu
A Nation's Story: “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”
In July of 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered a speech titled “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?,” a call for the promise of liberty be applied equally to all Americans. Douglass’s speech empha...
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
The offsides rule makes sense. The “one hair touching magic AI ball” makes less sense.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
It’s never great when Justices pull a Bradwell and start talking about “the nature of things.” Tends to age poorly.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
If you think for a second, it's pretty wild that we all agree to be governed by a Court where everything turns on what Lyman Trumbull said or how Calvin's Case was decided. Originialism insists that we quibble over the dead hands rather than govern with our own. open.substack.com/pub/postcard...
open.substack.com
An Originalist Relation to the Universe
An Emersonian Polemic
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Jackson's concurrence is really excellent both in substance and style. She's become a heroic voice amdist our modern Six Horsemen SCOTUS.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Very excited to be part of putting this together. Let us know if you want to come to Banff to talk about the history/theory of radical legal advocacy. (Space is limited, but we’ll do our best to include as many as are interested.)
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
I mean, Bolling is clearly wrong as a matter of originalism. But that says more about originalism…
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Governance by Skynard.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Just to be very clear, SFFA did not overrule the line of cases that allow for policies like this or the 10% plan in Texas. The DOJ is free to argue whatever it wants, and god knows that SCOTUS could well accept DOJ's arguments. But this interpretation of SFFA is entrepenurial (and also very bad).
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
It's not real until it's on the blog of record. legalhistoryblog.blogspot.com/2026/06/farb...
legalhistoryblog.blogspot.com
Farbman, "Towns or Counties"
Daniel Farbman (Boston College Law) has posted " Towns or Counties ." The article appears in Volume 59, no. 3, of the Indiana Law Review . T...
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Watching the OG tip in highlights is bringing this very painful moment into my brain a lot. youtube.com/shorts/Wewro...
youtube.com
Most Painful Memory in Knicks History (1993.06.02) #shorts
YouTube video by MJ23 His Airness Forever
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Having loved the Knicks as a kid, and having fallen hard out of love with them since the departure of Anthony Mason, I was seduced and started watching in game 3. At halftime yesterday I became convinced that me watching was the problem so I went to bed. Seems I was right.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
It's become common for (Parents Involved, SFFA) the conservative justices wax sanctimonious about how colorblindness is the true meaning of Brown...and how their opponents are making segregationist arguments. And yet, the actual neo-segregationists keep winning. Whoops?
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
"Political parties are colorblind" is a wild thing to say (and a wilder thing to believe) in the context of...all of American history.
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Reposted by Dan Farbman
benjamin levin @hashtagblevin.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Towns and Counties Great stuff from @danfarbman.bsky.social bit.ly/43u6ld9
open.substack.com
Towns and Counties
Shameless Self Promotion
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
If you want to read about the difference between town and county visions of localism check out my latest: Towns or Counties, hot of the pdf press at the Indiana Law Review. Come for the cool old maps, stay for the local government law history. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Towns or Counties
The United States is a nation of counties with a latent romance for towns. The development of American local government law from the arrival of the first Europe
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Everything is so crazy, but when I read the NYT article about Ahmadinejad, my first thought was this video. Which made me smile. youtu.be/zoS8DrrlnTQ?...
youtu.be
Iran So Far - SNL Digital Short
YouTube video by Saturday Night Live
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Robert Cover told us that judges and legal elites were "priests not prophets." This remains depressingly true. open.substack.com/pub/postcard...
open.substack.com
Priests, Not Prophets
Judicial Resistance, Conservatism, and the Question of Solidarity
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
MAKE TAXATION THEFT AGAIN!!!
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Great TV. youtu.be/eBKWKu2Rqxc?...
youtu.be
Wanton Destruction Of CBS Property - Letterman & Colbert Toss Stuff Off The Roof Of The Ed Sullivan
YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Very strong Redemption vibes from the former Confederacy...day by day. www.newspapers.com/article/the-...
newspapers.com
Article clipped from The Raleigh News
Clipping found in The Raleigh News published in Raleigh, North Carolina on 10/9/1875.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Redemption Localism. Example #29875 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Redemption Localism
In the decades after the end of the Civil War, avowed white supremacists across the South sought to “redeem” their state and county governments from the clutche
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Friendly reminder that white supremacy was itself a partisan political strategy wielded opportunistically by the former planter “Bourbon” elite during Redemption to consolidate political power against the multiracial coalition created by Reconstruction.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
"The difference between yes and no votes is less than .000000001% of the number of plankton in the Indian Ocean...so, MATH!"
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Town meeting democracy at its finest.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
One reason Roberts might think the Court is not “political” is that SCOTUS has been dominated by conservatives for so long, that most of the decisive interpretive battles have been intra-conservative battles. These are still political! But it’s a special kind of echo chamber/ivory tower.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
MAKE JEROME FRANK GREAT AGAIN!!!
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
I think he believes in this cult of neutrality fantasy that he's peddling. In a way I wish he were just a cynic. At least that would mean he was self-aware. The self-deception makes the politics harder to stomach. And the preachiness in service of the self-deception is both sad and infuriating.
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Dan Farbman @danfarbman.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Always read @hashtagblevin.bsky.social. Especially on our very occasional joint newsletter. substack.com/@benjaminlev...
substack.com
Precrime, Thought Crime, or Just Normal Crime
Some brief reflections on the Comey indictment
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