iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 5h

A bunch of weirdos spent years eating handfuls of thumbtacks and are now complaining that their stomachs hurt. www.wsj.com/tech/ai/clau...

wsj.com

Now We’re All Starting to Talk Like AI Chatbots Too

In team meetings, group texts and over lattes, people are catching themselves using ‘prompt speak.’

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leon @leyawn.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

the year is 2065. across a barren wasteland, a gang of marauders are riding war buggies. hooting and hollering, they chase down the last remaining people on earth who have not heard “choosin’ texas” by ella langley

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

While I pride myself on my Oklahoma animal photos and updates, I'm still chasing after the lifestyle I enjoyed in Boise with my incredibly well-trained squirrels.

A squirrel standing in a doorway, photographed up close. It is playing a peanut in the shell like a flute.

Close up photo of a squirrel on a tree grabbing a peanut from a hand with its mouth

A squirrel in a doorway, reaching out for a falling pecan

Close up photo of a squirrel looking in the front door. Nuts are strewn about the ground.

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State Court Report @statecourtreport.org · 25/09/2026

@howard.edu's Robinson Woodward-Burns analyzed 1,528 state constitutional amendments proposed over the last two decades, charting differences across regions, types of provisions, and more.

statecourtreport.org

Evaluating 20 Years of State Constitutional Changes

The data on state constitutional amendments shows the broad range of rights affected and how reformers approach changes to the documents.

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

My article, "Criminal Reform and Originalism's Limits," is forthcoming in the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... This paper will be part of the 2026 Symposium on Originalism and Criminal Justice, which I attended a few weeks ago.

Criminal Reform and Originalism's Limits
25 Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law (forthcoming 2027)

42 Pages Posted:
Michael L. Smith
University of Oklahoma - College of Law

Date Written: September 24, 2026

Abstract
In the face of a harsh criminal legal system and unforgiving doctrine, some proponents of reform suggest that a turn to originalism may be warranted. Historical practices and founding-era understandings of the Constitution’s text, they argue, are inconsistent with modern treatment of those investigated, charged, and convicted. This Article argues that a turn to originalism is unlikely to make a substantial difference due to the Court’s selective application of originalism—a selectivity exacerbated in the criminal context by the Court’s focus on adjudicative considerations like federalism and deference to law enforcement. History also contains plenty of evidence supporting harsh treatment, and shifts focus away from immediate, profound harms current practices cause. While originalism may be a tool worth considering for advocates who must make every available argument, it may work best outside the courtroom to ground arguments for reform that might appeal to those otherwise inclined against change.

Keywords: originalism, criminal law, criminal procedure, criminal reform, constitutional law, constitutional interpretation, history, traditionalism, pluralism

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Guha Krishnamurthi @ggkrishnamoomoo.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Some thoughts about a tension between textualism and originalism. It seems like the way the "history and tradition" test is being applied is anti-textualist... 🧐 Thanks to @dorfonlaw.bsky.social as always

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Connor Ewing @cmewing.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Writing is fun. You endure hours of excruciating pain and self-doubt. But in the end, you’ve created something. And then you get to hate that thing.

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

This happened to me over the summer when I wrote too much.

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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Just as OU faculty must take First Amendment training, Oklahoma law mandates free speech training for students at the state's public colleges. I've posted an essay (forthcoming in the Oklahoma Bar Journal) that covers the non-campus-specific aspects of the training. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

papers.ssrn.com

Free Speech at Oklahoma's Public Colleges and Universities

This essay is a modified version of a free speech training for new students at Oklahoma's public colleges and universities. It covers the non-institution-

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Chestbursty @chestrovert.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Do things that bring joy to your heart and will outlast you. Write a book or eat a building

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Scattering food prevented the conflict that usually breaks out between these two.

Two skunks, side by side, enjoying catfood out on the front stoop

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Love to start my mandatory Free Speech training with a 40-minute video lecture by a professor who isn't at the law school anymore :-/

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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I'd like it if the FedSoc nuts that Trump installs on the judiciary would stop writing edgelord takes, and we as a society could just collectively ignore them

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

My essay, "The Absence of Original Meaning in Second Amendment Cases," is forthcoming in the Quinnipiac Law Review! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... I argue that the Court's Second Amendment cases from 2022 to last term indicate an increasing unwillingness to engage in historical, textual meaning.

The Absence of Original Meaning in Second Amendment Cases
45 Quinnipiac Law Review (Forthcoming 2027)

23 Pages Posted: Last revised: 21 Sep 2026
Michael L. Smith
University of Oklahoma - College of Law

Date Written: September 21, 2026

Abstract
In New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, the Supreme Court set forth a two-step analysis for adjudicating Second Amendment challenges. At step one, courts are to consider whether the behavior the challenged law restricts falls under the Second Amendment’s plain text. If it does, courts should proceed to step two, where the burden is on the government to demonstrate that the law is consistent with a historical tradition of analogous firearm restrictions. Proving such a tradition is difficult, and results remain unpredictable. Governments and courts hoping to avoid such a historical quagmire might be inclined to decide cases at the first step of the analysis by concluding that a case involves individuals, activities, or arms beyond the Second Amendment’s plain text. One might think that the Court would be receptive to such arguments, as it has emphasized the importance of the original meaning of the Second Amendment’s text in its early cases.

One would be wrong. The Court’s latest rulings in United States v. Hemani and Wolford v. Lopez render Bruen’s first step illusory. In Hemani, the Court bypassed the first step, concluding it had been conceded. More significantly, in Wolford, the Court relied on a prolonged hypothetical analysis of conduct the law at issue might burden, and limited consideration of historical evidence to the second step of the analysis where the burden is on the government to prove up a historical tradition that grounds the modern restriction. If such analysis is enough to overcome Bruen’s step one, just about anything will.

This development demonstrates the Court’s unwillingness to engage with original public meaning—an approach that Justices and scholars frequently proclaim to be…

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The evening regulars have arrived

A skunk walking and sniffing the front stoop, as another skunk approaches on a short brick wall.

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

State constitution craze has caught on in Oklahoma! (My op-ed us here: www.oklahoman.com/story/opinio.... A longer treatment is here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....)

Oklahoman opinion page with headline "Constitution Confusion" with three columns on state constitutional convention vote.

Close up of the page featuring my op ed!

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Anna E. Carpenter @annacarpenter.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

@uofoklahomalaw.bsky.social Professor @staceytovino.bsky.social gave an invited plenary address, "High Stakes Privacy: HIPAA, SUD, and Gambling Disorder," at the 2026 Appalachian Addiction and Prescription Drug Abuse Conference (AAPDAC), held in Morgantown, West Virginia.

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Jake Charles @jacobdcharles.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

NEW: I have a more staid, in-depth look at the Second Amendment assault weapon case the Supreme Court will hear in December in this piece over at the Society for the Rule of Law Institute. 📝 chkbal.substack.com/p/the-suprem...

chkbal.substack.com

The Supreme Court’s Coming Assault Weapon Stress Test

The justices will grapple with the brittleness of Bruen’s past-bound test in the face of vast change

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Brian L. Frye @brianlfrye.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Now that I’m settling in at Tulane, I’d like to do more Ipse Dixit interviews. If you’ve got a new paper or book you’d like to discuss, lmk.

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

With every notification that a former student has published a paper or passed the bar, my power grows. Soon it will be too late.

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

An update! "Stravinsky's National Anthem" will be published in the Pepperdine Law Review! The latest version is now live: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers..... Thanks to @jerryedwards.bsky.social and others for comments!

papers.ssrn.com

Stravinsky's National Anthem

<p><span>In January 1944, famed composer Igor Stravinsky was scheduled to conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra in performing his controversial arrangement of “

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Reading up on the important details of Oklahoma's early political figures.

the state With the inauguration over and Bob Williams in the gov- ernor's chair, he lost no time in attacking his many problems as chief executive and in trying to push through his program. During his entire term as governor he lived in a small room in the Lee-Huckins Hotel where he welcomed two pigeons who came in every night to be fed. His offices were in the

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Michael Smith's social media team here with an update that Michael was severely injured when his brain exploded after Judge Bibas suggested using AI to do originalism during this panel. Michael is expected to recover soon, but his scholarship will, somehow, be Even Worse.

Panel at the Originalism and Criminal Justice conference at THE! Ohio State University School of Law. Bunch of judges: Edmund Sargus, Eric Murphy, Benjamin Beatoj, and Stephanos Bibas. Judge Sutton is the moderator, but alas, no mention of state constitutional law was to be made.

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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I’m here at the James R. Browning Symposium at the University of Montana to talk and hear about state constitutions and criminal procedure. *I’m* here in person, but thankfully @msmith750.bsky.social can at least appear by Zoom to talk about the Montana Constitution’s punishment provisions.

Montana law review symposium, with Michael Smith rudely appearing by Zoom rather than in person

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

A truly incredible number of people listening to shit on phones without headphones on this plane. Wasn't planning on being the pro-carceral one in the room at this upcoming symposium, but I'm on that path!

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Elizabeth Hidalgo Reese @yunpovi.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

All U.S. courts have judicial review, (aka the supreme power to tell other parts of the government they are behaving unlawfully) right? Actually, no. Some tribal courts don't. Read my latest in UChicago Law Review for more.

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Bill Watson @billwatson-law.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Colleen Murphy and I just posted a new paper on the rule of law to SSRN: "When Does the Government Follow the Law?" The paper is forthcoming in the Journal of Law & Politics but remains a work in progress. Comments are welcome! papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=...

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

BREAKING: Rare tiny cat sighting.

Small grey and white cat crouched over catfood on the front steps. Impossibly cute.

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Charlie Oldfield @cworeds.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Long shot: Any profs with a background in cognitive science want to review an early draft of a paper that involves that science and legal writing? Just looking for high-level comments at this point: does the science sciences and does the organization and flow of the paper work? email cwo@uakron.edu

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Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

A student asked me for advice on DOJ Honors hiring this year. I have a lot of views on DOJ at this moment in history, but this post isn't about that. Poking around, I saw that DOJ at some point created the Gaye Tenoso Indian Country Fellowship. www.justice.gov/legal-career...

justice.gov

The Gaye L. Tenoso Indian Country Fellowship

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

My wife made a helpful chart for distinguishing between the black and white cats that visit us.

Images of three cats, with their names. Columbo is on the far left, looking thin and raggedy. Hugh is sitting on a wall in the middle looking proud, but solemn. Bruce is on the right, looking intense.

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

A couple weeks ago, Oklahoma's governor announced a vote on a constitutional convention. The state constitution mandates a vote every 20 years--but it's been 56 years since the last one. Critics say the legislature must call the vote, not the governor. My deep dive: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Oklahoma's Mandatory Constitutional Convention Referendum
59 Pages Posted:
Michael L. Smith
University of Oklahoma - College of Law

Date Written: September 07, 2026

Abstract
The Oklahoma Constitution requires that every twenty years, voters must decide whether to convene a convention to amend, revise, or replace the state constitution. But this mandate has been neglected for decades. The last vote over holding a convention took place in 1970. Oklahoma’s governor recently proclaimed that a vote over a convention will be held in early 2027, prompting debate over the meaning of Oklahoma’s convention referendum mandate and who has the authority to put the convention vote before the people—particularly when the legislature has refrained from authorizing such a vote well past the constitutional deadline.

Inspired by this turn of events, this article takes a deep dive into Oklahoma’s convention referendum mandate, exploring its text, its historical origins and application, and its context within the state constitution as a whole and among thirteen other state constitutions with similar provisions. Oklahoma’s convention referendum mandate is abstract and lacking in detail, which necessitates this complex interpretive exercise. This involved treatment also provides context and perspective for those hoping to better understand Oklahoma’s convention provision, how the provision fits within the broader structure and functions of the state constitution, and how the modern dispute over the state constitutional convention compares with similar debates in past decades.

Beyond informing immediate debates over calling a convention vote, this article suggests paths to reform. Thirteen other states mandate recurring convention votes, and most of their constitutional provisions contain details over who must call the vote, what the convention question must look like, and how the convention must be convened. These states offer models for constitutional or legislative reform that might…

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Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

"How Often Are Articles in Top Law Reviews Written In Part By AI?," by Julian Nyarko. The finding, based on Pangram AI detection software: Most 2026 articles in T14 journals have none, but a few have a decent amount, and one is majority AI-written. reason.com/volokh/2026/...

reason.com

How Often Are Articles in Top Law Reviews Written In Part By AI?

A guest post from Julian Nyarko.

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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Don't let my weekend animal posts fool you. Just finished the first draft of an article on this. Will post it soon--email or message if you want it sooner!

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