iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 9h

Signing books in the Ulysses S. Grant Room at Robert H. Jackson Center. @wwnorton.com

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 15h

I’m in a cafe and a cute little kid just pulled the fire alarm 🙃

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 16h

Sycophantic billionaires are the worst

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Reposted by Robert L. Tsai

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Was able to stand and teach an entire class today. Inspiration #CC1

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

First time since being laid low by Lyme disease 🦠 🦽

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Was able to stand and teach an entire class today. Inspiration #CC1

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Maybe those who warned that ICE was becoming the Gestapo had a point

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Judges can’t save democracy (only in part because SCOTUS won’t let them)

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

One bad decision to “advise and consent” is a mistake. Five represents a failure of civic virtue.

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

A form of originalism that “calls for bold action” by judges is no longer about judicial restraint, but instead committed to conservative transformation through the courts. Alito says as much: “shed this insecure mindset” and don’t worry about precedent and practical considerations

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Reposted by Robert L. Tsai

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Jack Goldsmith, who is no anything-goes leftist: “Alito has taken an unusual step for a sitting justice: He has become an active participant in the culture wars, opposing affirmative action, progressive campus orthodoxy, attacks on religious freedom, and hostility toward Judeo-Christian values.”

theatlantic.com

Zombie Originalism

Samuel Alito’s efforts to revamp the conservative legal philosophy reveal that a new movement is ascendant.

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Another way of looking at this evidence of rhetoric and actions: he had become a conservative movement judge. bit.ly/49uD8A7

bit.ly

Abortion Politics and the Rise of Movement Jurists | UC Davis Law Review

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

theatlantic.com

Zombie Originalism

Samuel Alito’s efforts to revamp the conservative legal philosophy reveal that a new movement is ascendant.

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Reposted by Robert L. Tsai

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

🚨🚨🚨

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Reposted by Robert L. Tsai

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

“Today the terms of citizenship itself are being contested again: who belongs, who can be removed, and how harshly. Americans are being tested once more, and we have to decide whether we are willing to pay the wages of the new nationalism”

wrfalp.com

Professor Robert Tsai To Speak On ‘Who Belongs In America?’ At Robert H. Jackson Center

The Robert H. Jackson Center’s next installment of its 25 Years of Asking Questions lecture series will focus on “Who Belongs in America?” The program will take place from 6:00 to 7:00 …

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Should progressives embrace originalism as the method for interpreting the Constitution? In 2019, three years before the Dobbs decision, I said no. @americanconstitutionsociety

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

FBI Director (and former podcaster) Kash Patel reportedly desperate to find some evidence to back President Trump’s outlandish claims of voter fraud before midterm elections

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Reposted by Robert L. Tsai

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The administration cheers a reduction in legal immigration, including the number of naturalizations, as well as “remigration”—a term appropriated from the transnational white nationalist movement. The people in charge have long wanted to repeal the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act.

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Reposted by Robert L. Tsai

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Bureaucratic slowdown, ignoring court orders, and trying to deport people with proper paperwork filed represents the next best thing: resistance through degradation of pathways to legal presence in this country.

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

“Any man's death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind” —John Donne

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Mass deportation 🤝 Mass indifference

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

“Any man's death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind” —John Donne

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

wrfalp.com

Professor Robert Tsai To Speak On ‘Who Belongs In America?’ At Robert H. Jackson Center

The Robert H. Jackson Center’s next installment of its 25 Years of Asking Questions lecture series will focus on “Who Belongs in America?” The program will take place from 6:00 to 7:00 …

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Reposted by Robert L. Tsai

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Judge Edelman dismisses the prosecution with prejudice: “Hearn faces the unique possibility that the government will revive this case—one that it has already announced to be meritless—based on political pressure brought by the President of the United States”

nbcnews.com

Judge bars U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro from charging ex-Olympian in Reflecting Pool case

The judge dismissed the case against David Hearn with prejudice, citing “exceptional circumstances” that included President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign on Pirro’s office.

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

A worthy ruling, close to to the facts, sets no broad precedent on fundamental principles, yet recognizes the particular problems this particular populist presidency poses. Consistent with what we sketch here: bit.ly/46CzS73

bit.ly

Can Judicial Resistance Last?

The law can protect democracy—but only up to a certain point. After that, it’s up to the people. And there’s the challenge.

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

nbcnews.com

Judge bars U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro from charging ex-Olympian in Reflecting Pool case

The judge dismissed the case against David Hearn with prejudice, citing “exceptional circumstances” that included President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign on Pirro’s office.

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It’s a start but 18 years is too long. I’d support anything beyond the two potential terms of the president who appointed them. Justice for life was not originally a thing—makes a few justices valuable to capture.

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Reposted by Robert L. Tsai

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

“Tsai says that America has entered a new age of nationalism, as charismatic figures backed by social movements seek to remake the world in their own image.” Lecture ‘Who Belongs in America?’ set for Oct. 8

observertoday.com

Lecture ‘Who Belongs in America?’ set for Oct. 8

JAMESTOWN — The Robert H. Jackson Center will host the next installment of its 25 Years of Asking Questions lecture series, “Who Belongs in America?,” on Thursday, Oct. 8, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Jack...

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Reposted by Robert L. Tsai

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

#BREAKING: Over dissents from the three Democratic appointees, #SCOTUS grants a stay in the third-country removals case; clears way for Trump admin. to continue removing non-citizens without a full chance to litigate the conditions in those countries (while also taking up the full merits appeal).

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Reposted by Robert L. Tsai

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The judge later asked a group of 15 minors without attorneys: “Is this your first time in immigration court?” They all answered, “Yes.” “Do any of you want voluntary departure?” the judge asked. No one raised their hand. Another child stretched her hands playfully toward the sky.

cnn.com

Inside a Texas immigration court where children fight to stay in the US | CNN Politics

Migrant children as young as 2 are showing up at immigration courts nationwide, many without attorneys, to try make their case to stay in the US and avoid deportation.

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Reposted by Robert L. Tsai

NER430 @ner430.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I am ashamed and will work to elect people who will end this disgraceful policy. Thank you for sharing, Robert L.Tsai.

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Sham proceedings before an ILJ under threat of firing if they anger a rightwing populist president

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

cnn.com

Inside a Texas immigration court where children fight to stay in the US | CNN Politics

Migrant children as young as 2 are showing up at immigration courts nationwide, many without attorneys, to try make their case to stay in the US and avoid deportation.

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I wanna put my feet in the red ground

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Reposted by Robert L. Tsai

Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

But there’s some things you can’t outrun It don’t matter how far you’ve come —Brandon Flowers, “Angel,” Boston, Sept. 23, 2026

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

“Questions we once thought were settled…are back at the center of our national conversation,” said Kristan McMahon, president of the Jackson Center. “Which is exactly why we need scholars like Robert Tsai to help us think through them clearly.”

post-journal.com

Jackson Center to present ‘Who Belongs in America? with constitutional scholar

The Robert H. Jackson Center will host the next installment of its 25 Years of Asking Questions lecture series, “Who Belongs in America?” on Thursday, Oct. 8, from 6 to 7 p.m. The program will feature...

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