Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Many thanks to @lsolum.bsky.social for "highly recommending" my new article, Legality Canons. 021
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 18/09/2026We were just there over the summer and had a great time. For dinner, Zum weißen Rauchfangkehrer is excellent. Brezl Gwölb is a great lunch spot. Club Porgy & Bess is a fun jazz club for an evening out. 130
Reposted by Joel JohnsonJoel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Vanderbilt Law Review will be publishing my latest, “Legality Canons.” It argues for a new way to understand many of the so-called substantive canons that the Supreme Court now employs. 🔗 👇🏻 21910
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Many thanks to @richardre.bsky.social, @aaronbruhl.bsky.social, @beidelson.bsky.social, @kannonshanmugam.bsky.social, and others for providing very helpful comments on earlier drafts. 010
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Vanderbilt Law Review will be publishing my latest, “Legality Canons.” It argues for a new way to understand many of the so-called substantive canons that the Supreme Court now employs. 🔗 👇🏻 21910
Reposted by Joel JohnsonTommy Bennett @tommybennett.com · 08/09/2026I'm happy to announce a new resource for Supreme Court watchers: supremecourt.report. Read on for more 🧵supremecourt.reportSupreme Court ReportEvery case the Supreme Court is asked to hear, what it asks, and the odds it is granted — rebuilt three times a day from the Court's own docket. 27430
Reposted by Joel JohnsonLaura Abelson @lauragabelson.bsky.social · 03/09/2026I have a new essay forthcoming in the Texas Law Review about chatbots and privacy, this time with respect to the Fourth Amendment. In it, I argue that chatbot data deserves protection equal to location data after Chatrie v. US. The full draft will be up soon, but for now here is the abstract: 041
Reposted by Joel JohnsonAndrew Jennings @andrewkjennings.com · 12/08/2026I've been thinking about how to connect legal scholars with practitioners. So, I'm starting a monthly digest for law-firm/bar-association CLE/training managers to identify profs who're available to speak on practice-relevant topics. More info at PracticalScholarship.com. Feel free to share/repost!practicalscholarship.comPracticalScholarship.comA free monthly email digest connecting CLE managers with legal scholars available to present their research. No login or registration required. 0149
Reposted by Joel JohnsonJake Charles @jacobdcharles.bsky.social · 03/08/2026NEW: 5th Cir. 2nd Am decision on the felon prohibitor shows the problems w/ Bruen. The circuit precedent is confusing, inconsistent & unpredictable. @joeljohnson13.bsky.social & I are working on a project about the rule-of-law problems w/ these kinds of cases. www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub... 2113
Reposted by Joel JohnsonShalev Gad Roisman @shalevroisman.bsky.social · 29/07/2026New draft paper on SSRN: "Fact Avoidance," forthcoming in the Harvard Law Review Supreme Court Issue. This Essay identifies a recurring feature where the Court decides presidential power cases entirely on legal grounds without engaging at all with the facts /1 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....papers.ssrn.comFact Avoidance<p><i><span>The legality of the President’s exercise of statutory power depends on questions of both law and fact. Yet courts often focus exclusively on the for 49544
Reposted by Joel JohnsonJoe Dudek @joedudekjd.bsky.social · 29/07/2026Anybody want one of the coolest appellate jobs in Maryland?mdagcareers.ttcportals.comAssistant Attorney General, Office of the Solicitor General, Criminal Appeals Unit in Baltimore, MD, United StatesAssistant Attorney General, Office of the Solicitor General, Criminal Appeals Unit in Baltimore, MD, United States 0149
Reposted by Joel JohnsonJake Charles @jacobdcharles.bsky.social · 28/07/2026Was great to be back on Doug Berman’s Drugs on the Docket podcast with my friend & colleague @joeljohnson13.bsky.social to break down the Hemani decision & the Supreme Court’s many Second Amendment failings. 👇 Full episode: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s... youtu.be/TfxIjlZFdNQ?...youtu.beU.S. v. Hemani Decision | S4 E3 Teaser | Drugs on the Docket #shorts #podcast #supremecourtYouTube video by The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law 042
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 27/07/2026Over the last few years, I’ve taken post-exam student surveys. Answers are not uniform, but the student consensus seems to be that closed book is viewed as fairer. 050
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 29/06/2026In retrospect, the CA4 panel majority (Richardson & Wilkinson) probably wishes it had affirmed on the GFE ground. Its more aggressive strategy may have been a calculated risk to settle CA4 geofence law in a 4A-restrictive manner; it likely didn't anticipate SCOTUS action. /end 000
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 29/06/2026And indeed that is what often happens in the lower federal courts. @mtoksoy.bsky.social and Michael Gentithes have done some great empirical work on this: law.georgetown.edu/georgetown-l... 4/law.georgetown.edu 100
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 29/06/2026But then the CA4 panel went out of its way to affirm on a different ground – that there was no search. (Then en banc CA4 affirmed in short per curium op.) The CA4 could have easily just affirmed (likely in a summary order) solely on a GFE rationale. 3/ 100
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 29/06/2026The ability of the Court to address the “search” question in Chatrie was really just a function of the CA4 panel’s odd decision to rest its decision on the merits. The district court had denied the motion to dismiss on the basis of the GFE. 2/ 100
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 29/06/2026In Chatrie, I found the discussion about whether reaching the "search" question was appropriate to be interesting. At the other place, @epps.bsky.social noted that he thought it was appropriate to allow law to evolve. I tend to agree. But it points to a larger issue in 4A litigation. 🧵1/ 100
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 22/06/2026My thoughts on Hemani: www.scotusblog.com/2026/06/a-vi...scotusblog.comA victory for the defendant in United States v. Hemani, but little guidance for the lower courts 010
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 12/06/2026We’re starting a space company. Fast tracking an IPO with an anticipated trillion-dollar valuation . Who wants in? 110
Reposted by Joel JohnsonSarah Lawsky @sarahlawsky.bsky.social · 28/05/2026Now in beta: explore all years of reported entry-level law school hiring data by doing your own slicing and dicing. www.lawskyprojects.org/explorelawskyprojects.orgLawsky Projects 153
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 20/05/2026podcast.osu.edu/drugsonthedo...podcast.osu.eduSeason 4 Episode 1 – United States v. Hemani: Oral Arguments with Jake Charles and Joel Johnson (Part 1 of 2) | Drugs on the Docket Podcast 000
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 20/05/2026It was so much fun to be a guest on the Drugs on the Docket podcast alongside my colleague, @jacobdcharles.bsky.social We discussed Hemani, the pending SCOTUS case involving a 2A challenge to the federal statute banning gun possession by unlawful drug users. 🔗👇🏻 121
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 01/05/2026REBUTTAL: You’re dead wrong. It is impossible to be a nuanced thinker and a Bluesky user at the same time—you have to pick a side. 030
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 29/04/2026I run my old exams through AI. I also encourage my students to upload their outline and any old exams I provide — and then ask AI to use those materials to generate practice questions or exams for them to use as study tools. An endless supply of practice exams. 020
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 17/04/2026It is an honor to receive this year’s Dean’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship. 160
Reposted by Joel JohnsonLaura Abelson @lauragabelson.bsky.social · 11/03/2026I’m excited to share that my latest article, “The Multidimensions of AI Chatbots as Evidence,” is now forthcoming in the U.C. Davis Law Review. The abstract is below, and I plan to have it up on SSRN soon. 1156
Reposted by Joel JohnsonJimmy Hoover @jimmyhoover.bsky.social · 10/03/2026SCOOP: Federal judiciary approves new Supreme Court defender office to help represent indigent defendants at #SCOTUS. Its full-time director will serve as a counterweight to the U.S. solicitor general in federal criminal cases. The first will be former Kagan clerk and SG atty Ashley Robertson. 51227265
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 10/03/2026Thanks to @rachelbarkow.bsky.social, @bellinj.bsky.social, @kovarsky.bsky.social, @profrgold.bsky.social, @cbhessick.bsky.social, @racheljkincaid.bsky.social, @erinmurphyslaw.bsky.social, @richardre.bsky.social, @kannonshanmugam.bsky.social, @meganstevenson.bsky.social, and many more! 060
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 10/03/2026I’m not quite ready to post the draft to SSRN, but happy to share it upon request. 100
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 10/03/2026Yale Law Journal (@yalelawjournal.bsky.social) will be publishing my latest, “The New Criminal Docket and the Clemency Court.” It explores how SCOTUS is no longer using its criminal merits docket for broad constitutional reform, opting instead for targeted relief for the fortunate few. 4365
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 02/03/2026If he retains assigning power, then he can assign it to the justice with the narrowest view (that he likes). 110
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 02/03/2026And don’t forget that the chief really likes to be in the majority so he can retain the opinion-assigning power. 110
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 02/03/2026I'll be live blogging this morning's oral argument in Hemani over at @scotusblog.com. Argument begins at 10 am ET. Join me there! www.scotusblog.com/2026/02/oral...scotusblog.comOral argument live blog for Monday, March 2On Monday, March 2, we will be live blogging as the court hears argument in United States v. Hemani, on whether a federal statute that prohibits gun possession by users […] 010
Reposted by Joel JohnsonJake Charles @jacobdcharles.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Check out my colleague @joeljohnson13.bsky.social’s fascinating post on how the Supreme Court’s analysis in the tariff’s case should impact the way Court decides the major Second Amendment case that will be argued next week 👇👇 open.substack.com/pub/divideda...open.substack.comGuest Post: The Learning Resources Roadmap for Hemaniby Joel S. Johnson 042
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 26/02/2026My thoughts on the Learning Resources and Hemani over at @dividedargument.bsky.social: blog.dividedargument.com/p/guest-post...blog.dividedargument.comGuest Post: The Learning Resources Roadmap for Hemaniby Joel S. Johnson 042
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 21/02/2026Yeah, that’s probably right. I think you could say something similar about a lot of the early Chevron cases too—trying to establish the framework itself as the proper mode of analysis, so that lower courts go and do likewise. 010
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 21/02/2026Isn’t this just an implication of any front-end clear-statement rule? IOW, sometimes evidence of the textual meaning will overcome a preponderance standard but won’t overcome the clear-statement standard . Other times (as here) the evidence would fail under either standard. 110
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 16/02/2026Thanks for the shoutout, @espinsegall.bsky.social! In addition to the amicus brief, I shared my views on Hemani here: bsky.app/profile/joel... 151
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 06/02/2026She was a nominee! (And also in town because judged the moot court final at Pepperdine two days earlier.) 010
Reposted by Joel JohnsonPatrick Bryant @patrickbryant.bsky.social · 05/02/2026Another! The District of Puerto Rico FPD Office is hiring an appellate attorney! Your wardrobe will include sandals for San Juan and a parka for oral argument trips to Boston! www.fd.org/sites/defaul... 2157
Reposted by Joel JohnsonScholastica Law Reviews @scholasticalr.bsky.social · 02/02/2026Pepperdine Law Review - Annual Volume is now open and accepting submissions on Scholastica! Submit your article here: pepperdine-law-review-essays.schola… #LRSubmissions 011
Reposted by Joel JohnsonRichard M Re @richardre.bsky.social · 27/01/2026www.scotusblog.com/2026/01/defe...scotusblog.comDefending the Fed: agency independence in three dimensionsControlling Opinions is a recurring series by Richard Re that explores the interaction of law, ideology, and discretion at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is creating a formidable presidential […... 011
Reposted by Joel JohnsonJake Charles @jacobdcharles.bsky.social · 26/01/2026Very excited that the Pepperdine Law Review will be hosting a symposium @pepperdine.bsky.social Caruso School of Law on 3/27, "The Second Amendment After Bruen & Rahimi: Revisiting History & Tradition"! We have a great lineup; register ⬇️ & stay tuned for updates. law.pepperdine.edu/law-review/s...law.pepperdine.eduPepperdine Law Review Symposium 2026 | Pepperdine Caruso School of LawThe Pepperdine Caruso Law Review hosts annual symposia on timely topics from politics and reform to national security law. This page contains information for this year's symposium, including featured ... 071
Joel Johnson @joeljohnson13.bsky.social · 16/01/2026Maybe there was less originalism-based elaboration in Case v. Montana than expected because the justices knew this case was coming down the pike? 000