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Noah Chauvin

@noahchauvin.bsky.social
2.8K followers 873 following 620 posts

Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Studies free speech, surveillance, and the production of legal scholarship.

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Anna E. Carpenter @annacarpenter.bsky.social · 3h
@uofoklahomalaw.bsky.social Professor @staceytovino.bsky.social gave a CLE for the ABA Section on State, Local, and Tribal Government Law on "Government Use of Health Data: HIPAA, Oversight, and Responsible Data Governance.” Description here: learningcenter.americanbar.org/courses/332918
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
When I finally write my John Yoo biography (it's coming, post-tenure), I'm titling it "Of All People."
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Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This, by Nick Gillespie, is like Nikole Hannah-Jones' piece in that it's 1) frank and self-revelatory; 2) going to be like applying a cheese grater to many raw sensitivities.
reason.com
Like Nikole Hannah-Jones, my parents put ideology over pedagogy in sending me to Catholic school
When it comes to education, are parents always fighting the last war?
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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
It's time for the Supreme Court to use AI to decide what cases it will hear! "CertiorarAI," forthcoming in the Washburn Law Review (coauthored with @alexklein.bsky.social). papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
CertiorarAI
66 Washburn Law Journal (forthcoming 2027)

32 Pages Posted:
Alexandra L. Klein
Washington and Lee University - School of Law

Michael L. Smith
University of Oklahoma - College of Law

Date Written: October 01, 2026

Abstract
Each term, the Supreme Court must sift through thousands of petitions for certiorari and select those that are worthy of decisions on the merits. This process isn’t working terribly well. The number of cases the Court hears is low and continues to decline. It’s hard to tell how much time and effort the Court spends on these determinations—or how seriously it takes a process in which the default is denial—because its analysis and votes on case selection aren’t publicly available. We propose a solution: hand the selection of cases over to artificial intelligence to make these thousands of certiorari decisions in minutes. We call this new process CertiorarAI.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? No? You got us. We hate this proposal. It would entrench preexisting patterns of case selection through biased training data, it would make the certiorari process a black box, and it would outsource work requiring careful deliberation to an automated process. CertiorarAI: terrible in every way. 

Yet these same criticisms also apply to the Court’s existing procedures for case selection. The Court exhibits strategic patterns and preferences in its exercise of near-absolute docket discretion, its votes and deliberations over certiorari petitions aren’t public, and much of the work of sifting through and analyzing these petitions is outsourced to clerks. CertiorarAI (and its well-deserved criticism) illuminates these shortcomings and the need for meaningful scrutiny of the Court’s docket selection processes.
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
A question for folks who follow SCOTUS more closely than I do: How often does the government ask the Court to take up a case on the merits before a court of appeals has ruled on it as a replacement for a case that was mooted after the Court agreed to hear it? www.scotusblog.com/2026/09/trum...
scotusblog.com
Trump administration takes important immigration question back to the Supreme Court
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
while rereading Meyer v. Nebraska, I unearthed a small story that I don't recall reading about before. in fact, the limited coverage of this story that I've seen in secondary sources totally misunderstands what happened. so here it is: why was the foreign language bill an "emergency" bill?
CHAPTER 249.
(Senate File No. 24.)
[Introduced by Mr. Siman, Mr. Reed, Mr. Ainlay and Mr. F. G. Johnson.]

AN ACT relating to the teaching of foreign languages in the State of Nebraska

Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Nebraska:

Section 1. No person, individually or as a teacher, shall, in any private, denominational, parochial or public school, teach any subject to any person in any language other than the English language.

Sec. 2. Languages, other than the English language, may be taught as languages only after a pupil shall have attained and successfully passed the eighth grade as evidenced by a certificate of graduation issued by the county superintendent of the county in which the child resides.

Sec. 3. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be subject to a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25), nor more than one hundred dollars ($100) or be confined in the county jail for any period not exceeding thirty days for each offense.

Sec. 4. Whereas, an emergency exists, this act shall be in force from and after its passage and approval

Approved, April 9, 1919.
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
We had our first simulation in my national security lawyering class today. Next time, I'm going to have to bring a burn bag, because this is what the recycling bin looked like after class.
A recycling bin containing documents bearing classification markings.
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
this is very interesting, not least because Pangram only tagged it as 48% AI-generated! setting aside the metaphysical question of what it really means for something to be "AI-generated," that suggests a pretty big problem with the supposedly flawless AI detector.
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Anthony Michael Kreis @anthonymkreis.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Me to the FDA:
static.klipy.com
Do Something Meme
ALT: Do Something Meme
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I've been noodling on this for a couple of days, and I'm not sure I agree. I think the information value of judicial law review articles is probably worth it. (I feel the same way about judges posting on social media or writing op-eds.)
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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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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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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I can't even claim credit for this one; all credit to @toreydolan.bsky.social for the idea behind this masterpiece
Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Company, depicted by a modified image of Steven Crowder sitting at the table with a banner reading "change my mind," such that the Carbolic advertisement is superimposed over Crowder's stupid face and the text on the banner reads "use me and you won't get attacked by the flu, change my mind and I'll pay you 100 pounds"
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Corey Rayburn Yung @coreyryung.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
A free society cannot allow the government to disappear people in order to cutoff access to legal remedies.
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Disappearing detainees is unacceptable practice from a government subject to the rule of law. apnews.com/article/ice-...
apnews.com
AP Exclusive: ICE hides locations of thousands of detainees with final removal orders
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stopped publicly revealing where it is holding most detainees who are subject to final deportation orders, in a move that has made it harder for lawyers an...
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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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Jerry Edwards @jerryedwards.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
What a powerful, thought-provoking piece. I highly recommend you read it. I am still sitting with it. All I really have to say at present is we, as a nation, need to address educational inequality.
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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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LSM @slukemorgan.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
It popped into my head unbidden and ever since has taken every single ounce of willpower to not write that a question "falls between the couch cushions of existing scholarship"
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Noah Smith-Drelich @nsmithdrelich.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
"Highly Recommended!"
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Allowing the unwitting target of your investigation buy you coffee at what he thinks is a casual meeting is deeply messed up. magazine.uchicago.edu/1006/feature...
Screenshot from U Chicago alumni magazine profile of Keith Weissman

Weissman was, in fact, in serious trouble. Still unaware of the investigation closing in on him, he put off the agent’s request to meet right away in Boston and made an appointment for about a week-and-a-half later, after he returned to Washington. Over coffee—Weissman’s treat, as he recalls—he and two agents made small talk about baseball and discussed Defense Department Iran expert Lawrence A. Franklin. Twice in the previous month, Weissman and Franklin had met to discuss U.S. policy toward Iran, a shared area of expertise.
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I'm re-reading Conor Clarke's "Is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Really a Rubber Stamp?" as I prepare to teach about FISA tomorrow, and I think it may be the Platonic ideal of a law student paper. Just beautifully done. www.stanfordlawreview.org/wp-content/u...
stanfordlawreview.org
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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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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I'm strongly in favor of open government. But the rampant Epstein conspiracy theories have me rethinking my priors a bit. Donald Trump didn't rape and threaten to murder little girls. No sane person thinks he did. But because someone once alleged he did in an uncorroborated tip...
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
An interesting piece from Jack Goldsmith on the 25th anniversary of the 2001 AUMF, in which he argues that it is no longer important as a source of legal authority for counterterrorism operations. www.execfunctions.org/p/the-25th-a...
execfunctions.org
The 25th Anniversary of the 2001 AUMF
It’s not terribly important today
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I'm not positive I agree with Jeh Johnson that the best way to rebuild a department that is "outdated, reviled by many, and was flawed from the start" is to transfer most federal law enforcement authority to it. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/home...
lawfaremedia.org
Homeland Security 25 Years Later: Time to Rethink and Rebuild?
The DHS constructed by Congress in 2002 is now outdated, reviled by many, and was flawed from the start. Time to rethink and rebuild.
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
From an NYT article about students who drop out of college in the first couple of weeks: "Many of the videos, like Fleming’s, focus on the mental health impacts, saying they feel anxious and overwhelmed." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/09/s...
nytimes.com
Home From College, 2 Weeks Later (Gift Article)
Dozens of videos on social media feature freshmen moving out early in the first semester.
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
A great column from Chris Buccafusco and my colleague @jonleelawprof.bsky.social on the Washington Commanders’s recent sale of merch bearing their old name and logo. www.ms.now/opinion/wash...
ms.now
Opinion | The Washington Commanders mishandled the sale of T-shirts with their old name and logo
Chris Buccafusco and Jon J. Lee: This law makes teams keep their old racist names and logos in circulation. Congress should change it.
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Corey Rayburn Yung @coreyryung.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
In the last decade, I've gone from a largely libertarian view of gambling to that of the Women's Christian Temperance Union.
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ellie lockhart (she/they) @eleanor.lockhart.contact · 11/09/2026
this is a lie. I'm not gonna provoke this person and their followers, but it absolutely did happen, including at the same time as pushback against Islamophobia, some of said pushback coming from very high up. Both things happened but the shared bond was real and existed & it's wrong to deny
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
A good piece from Michael McConnell in City Journal: "The Emergency Presidency at Twenty-Five." www.city-journal.org/article/911-...
city-journal.org
The Emergency Presidency at Twenty-Five
September 11 launched an era of executive power that has only expanded in the years since.
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Today a student asked me, in all sincerity, if I was working in national security on 9/11. I was six on 9/11. ☠️ So anyway, taking skincare regime recommendations.
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Lynette Martins @lynettemartins.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
This is a wonderful paper by @noahchauvin.bsky.social highlighting a wonderful scholar and mentor (to me and countless others) @msmith750.bsky.social As the article professes, Michael is not only a prolific scholar but finds time to be generous with time and feedback. And all with a joke or two!
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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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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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Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
NEW ESSAY: "How to Excel on Law School Essay Exams: A Guide for Students" papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... I get this question a lot, and I have been meaning to write on it. I finally did, expanding an old blog post on this. Comments invited!
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
@propublica.org reports on the long wait times for many immigration detainees who have filed habeas petitions. Tens of thousands of immigration detainees have filed petitions. Some wait weeks for their cases to be resolved; others wait months. www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
propublica.org
These Judges Take Months to Decide If Immigrants Have Been Unlawfully Detained
Judges in some parts of the country have taken months to adjudicate immigrants’ claims of unlawful imprisonment, our analysis of 70,000 habeas petition cases found. Some detainees are asking to be dep...
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
@msmith750.bsky.social is furiously writing an article about Oklahoma's constitutional convention, and I too am having a productive day at the office.
The quote "well-behaved dogs rarely make history" attributed to Hermes & Apollo Chauvin.  The quotation marks are made of images of dogs.Two dogs laying next to one another.
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I'm very happy to announce that I'm hosting the THIRD Annual Democracy and Public Law Works-in-Progress Conference at Michigan State from April 2–3, 2027. The registration portal is below, where there's additional information about the schedule and timing. msu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
the entrance to the Michigan State University College of Law
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
A thoughtful and highly useful essay in @justsecurity.org by @mikeschmitt.bsky.social. "[T]he Israeli military justice system is, in its basic and overall architecture, sound. In important respects, it will be familiar to U.S. military lawyers." www.justsecurity.org/155012/exper...
justsecurity.org
Expert Backgrounder: Military Justice in the Israel Defense Forces
Expert analysis and background context for recent decisions made within the Israel Defense Forces' military justice system.
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Cinema report: Coyote v. Acme is very good. My lawyer spouse had this critique: “I can suspend my disbelief about the cartoon animals. But that the defense bore the burden of proof in court really took me out of it.” Still 👍👍 from me.
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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I'm quoted in the Oklahoman on Governor Stitt's announcement that there will be a vote over holding a state constitutional convention next year: www.oklahoman.com/story/news/p...
oklahoman.com
AG's office says Stitt can't call for constitutional convention vote
Attorney General Drummond's office says that Gov. Kevin Stitt's move to set an election for a constitutional convention outside his power.
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
A characteristically thoughtful paper from Emily Berman considering the ways in which the Supreme Court's decisions in Trump v. United States and Trump v. Slaughter may combine to make holding Presidents accountable extremely difficult. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
The Uninvestigable President: Executive Accountability after Trump V. United States and Trump V. Slaughter
<div>      Presidential accountability depends on information. Elections, impeachment, prosecution, and public judgment all require facts. And t
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I'm glad to have contributed to @statecourtreport.org's compilation of advice to students on how to write their comments on state constitutional law. I can't think of anything else like this—it's a great resource!
statecourtreport.org
For a Novel Student Note, Think State Constitutions
States provide opportunities to explore unresolved legal issues and are rich ground for advancing scholarship — and demonstrating your analytic skills.
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Really enjoyed "Against "(Citation Modified" by Luke Frisco. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Against "(Citation Modified)"
I critique the twenty-second edition of The Bluebook for its mandate requiring practitioners to use the parenthetical '(citation modified)' in place of the wide
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Noah Chauvin @noahchauvin.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Working through an upper respiratory infection.
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Anna E. Carpenter @annacarpenter.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Congratulations to @uofoklahomalaw.bsky.social Professor @staceytovino.bsky.social for having her article “Secrecy in Session” accepted for publication by the Texas A&M Law Review!
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Anna E. Carpenter @annacarpenter.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Congratulations to @uofoklahomalaw.bsky.social Professor @msmith750.bsky.social, whose article “A Holistic Approach to State Constitutional Punishment Provisions” will be published in Volume 55 of the Hofstra Law Review! Check it out: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
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Michael Smith @msmith750.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
The deadline for the Touro Law Review special issue on humor and the law is coming up! September 1! thefacultylounge.org/2026/03/call...
thefacultylounge.org
Call for Papers: Touro Law Review -- Special Issue on Legal Humor | The Faculty Lounge
Are you funny? Were you the life of the party in law school? Do you make your faculty colleagues or law firm partners laugh out loud? The Touro Law Review…
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Brittany Deitch @profdeitch.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
My co-author and I have been absolutely thrilled by the early buzz around this project! @jtowrice.bsky.social and I welcome comments (and offers to publish).
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