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Steve Leben

@steveleben.bsky.social
200 followers 79 following 95 posts

Law professor at UMKC Law School in Kansas City, writing about procedural justice. Former Kansas state trial and appellate judge.

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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
I will concede that many—including justices, academics, media, and FedSoc—have mightily contributed to moving the Overton Window a long way.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
And … you are the man for that job!
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Leah Litman @leahlitman.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Every single word of this @joshtpm.bsky.social piece: talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-s... (I "grew up" as a lawyer in the Obamacare litigation, clerking on 2 courts, including SCOTUS, that heard the initial challenges. It forever shaped my perspective on courts, the law, & right-wing movements.)
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
The responsibility, here, is on the justices. If they are result-oriented and willing to ignore history, they will get there with or without an academic fig leaf. It’s a conundrum. And bad work by academics can play a role. But these justices are the ones with a solemn duty to the Constitution.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
This week, I presented an educational program to the Kansas Court of Appeals on how to use AI to get better written decisions and meet procedural-justice principles. I also got to enjoy being back with the court and its staff and the great view. #kscourts #ksleg #UMKCLaw
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
What I learned today: while having ChatGPT calculate readability scores on the opinions I wrote in 13 years as an appellate judge, I learned that . . . I wrote 1.88 million words. Now I’m tired.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
I’m left with two questions: 1. Who would buy this book? 2. Who would ever hire her again to do communications work? And I know, to quote something I just read, “I’m not the only person who feels this.”
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
Are there any slogans today that might still be remembered in 50 years?
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
I was thinking today about what makes a slogan memorable, and I was struck by my recollection of “Zenith: the quality goes in before the name goes on.” I first heard it in the ‘60s (though it predates that). If the brand were still around, I’d probably still buy one. www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhZ1...
youtube.com
Zenith Television 1970 TV commercial
YouTube video by robatsea2009
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
“What is to stop Trump from making comparably inflated claims about the situations on the ground in other American cities as a pretextual basis for deploying troops? And what’s to stop him from making those claims not tomorrow, but next November—on the eve of the midterms?” Me, via “One First”:
stevevladeck.com
184. The Massive Stakes of Trump v. Illinois
The Trump administration's 29th emergency application—to let it deploy federalized National Guard troops in Chicago on a profoundly dubious factual predicate—is a make-or-break moment for the Court.
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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
EXCLUSIVE: One Saturday afternoon in October, my phone lit up with a notification. I glanced down at the message. “Anna, Lindsey Halligan here,” it began. So began my text exchange with the woman who is prosecuting the president's perceived political enemies. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...
"Anna, Lindsey Halligan Here."
Anna Bower
Monday, October 20, 2025, 5:40 PM
Share On: f X inK My Signal exchange with the interim U.S. attorney about
the Letitia James grand jury.
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Noah Rosenblum @narosenblum.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
This is an infuriating and shameful scandal. The Roberts Court is condoning Trump’s law breaking, again, pure and simple. There is no serious path forward for democratic government without Supreme Court reform.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
His substack really is essential to anyone who wants a written source to understand the Supreme Court today. It’s hard to separate what’s important from what’s not. One First lays it out very clearly.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
Yay to smiling faces, a good cause for joy (ice cream!), and the contributions each of you make to our world!
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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Sheena is the must-follow to understand what Kennedy et al are doing to US vaccines (and other medicines)
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Last week, I was on a Missouri Bar conference panel to talk about current threats to the rule of law. Under FCC licensing threats, ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel the night before the presentation. It was a perfect (and transparent) example of a wider playbook. missouriindependent.com/2025/09/25/t...
missouriindependent.com
The Trump administration’s playbook of coercing speech comes into focus • Missouri Independent
By threatening ABC over a comedian’s on-air comments, FCC chairman Brendan Carr violated core First Amendment limits on the government.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
What are the Chiefs chances either way on this week’s game? I’d guess it’s more significant for them.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Last week, I was on a Missouri Bar conference panel to talk about current threats to the rule of law. Under FCC licensing threats, ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel the night before the presentation. It was a perfect (and transparent) example of a wider playbook. missouriindependent.com/2025/09/25/t...
missouriindependent.com
The Trump administration’s playbook of coercing speech comes into focus • Missouri Independent
By threatening ABC over a comedian’s on-air comments, FCC chairman Brendan Carr violated core First Amendment limits on the government.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
Today’s message of hope comes from a 1922 editorial by Pulitzer-Prize-winning Kansas newspaperman William Allen White. Still worth reading a century later.
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
In the NIH funding case, Justice Gorsuch (joined by Justice Kavanaugh) claimed that this was the third time in recent weeks that lower courts had "defied" a #SCOTUS ruling. As today's "One First" explains, that claim is not only nonsense; it's enabling a dangerous anti-court narrative on the right:
stevevladeck.com
174. Justice Gorsuch's Attack on Lower Courts
Just like the earlier rulings that Justice Gorsuch claims lower courts are defying, his concurrence in the NIH grant cutoffs case would be a lot more convincing if it showed more of its work.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Congratulations to Larkin Walsh, an excellent choice for the Kansas Supreme Court, chosen through merit selection. kansasreflector.com/2025/08/07/g...
kansasreflector.com
Gov. Laura Kelly selects Leawood attorney to fill vacancy on Kansas Supreme Court • Kansas Reflector
Gov. Laura Kelly picks an attorney in private practice to serve on Kansas Supreme Court, bypassing two district court judges also nominated for the post.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Congratulations to my colleague, Allen Rostron, on being named the Edward A. Smith/Missouri Chair in Law, the Constitution and Society at ⁦‪@UMKCLaw‬⁩. He is a great teacher and scholar—and so easy to work with. Congrats, Allen! www.umkc.edu/news/posts/2...
umkc.edu
Allen Rostron Named Edward A. Smith/Missouri Chair in Law, the Constitution and Society
School of Law professor honored for commitment to students and community
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Why did it happen to Liz???
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Anne Joseph O’Connell @ajosephoconnell.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Since @orinkerr.bsky.social asked, a thread, from limited information reported online, about how I see the US attorney mess in DNJ. 1. Trump picked Habba as interim US Attorney under 28 USC 546. Technically, the AG is supposed to pick, but whatever. She gets 120 days to serve.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Sorry, I’m not here daily. I will check on it.
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Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Have you read a law review article recently that you thought was particularly great and deserving of a wider readership? If so, leave a link to it as a reply, together with a quick take on what made it great.
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Anne Joseph O’Connell @ajosephoconnell.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Contra NY Times, there is not even an official acting FEMA head. Cameron Hamilton (pushed out) & now David Richardson don't qualify under the Vacancies Act, "leading" the agency through delegation as the "Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator." www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/c...
nytimes.com
In Flooded Texas, Questions About FEMA’s Role and Fate
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Joshua Clark Davis @joshuaclarkdavis.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
Jeff Bezos: "We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets." Today's Washington Post opinion page:
Kristi L. Noem
Harvard flouted the rules. Now, it’s getting a hard lesson.
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
October 2024 Term #SCOTUS rulings to date from which all three Democratic appointees dissented: On the merits docket: 3 On emergency applications: 9 That tells you quite a lot about where the most important action is...
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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
"SCOTUS allows Trump admin to deport people to random countries with no notice" Honestly still can't believe that I wrote this headline today, let alone that the U.S. Supreme Court's majority did so.
lawdork.com
SCOTUS allows Trump admin to deport people to random countries with no notice
Justice Sotomayor called the order a "gross ... abuse" of the court's authority. Also: Law Dork in the media.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
Did you ever see the movie That Darn Cat? 🤔
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
Oooh. 100%. Well, maybe 98%. Lots of the actors in The Americans did great work. But I would never substitute for Keri Russell.
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
Today’s unsigned, unexplained #SCOTUS ruling clearing the way for removals of migrants to third countries without any additional process is a disaster—not just on the merits, but because of the government misbehavior that it not only refuses to punish, but effectively rewards. Me, via “One First”:
stevevladeck.com
161. The Court's Disastrous Ruling in the Third-Country Removal Case
The majority did not just greenlight an especially odious immigration policy without any explanation; it did so in a case in which the government defied the district court—twice—with no consequence.
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Crooked Media @crooked.com · 24/06/2025
The “Third Country Removal Case” means thousands of people will be deported to extremely dangerous countries they’re not from with no due process.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
This decision represents something that should never happen in a justice system: the nation’s highest court has ruled on an issue affecting millions—without explanation. Courts don’t have absolute power; they should be following rules. Without an explanation, who knows?
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
RFK Jr. says his new vaccine panel has a GW University professor. The school says he doesn't work there www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/r...
nbcwashington.com
RFK Jr. says his new vaccine panel has a GW University professor. The school says he doesn't work there
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said one of his picks for a crucial vaccine advisory panel is a professor at George Washington University. But News4 found the doctor hasn’t w...
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
#SCOTUS has recently issued a slew of unanimous (or near-unanimous) rulings in argued cases. Today’s “One First” identifies at least four respects in which this is a mirage—and how one need look no further than the Trump emergency applications to see just how ideologically divided the justices are:
stevevladeck.com
158. The Court's Unanimity is Greatly Exaggerated
It's time for the annual influx of superficial (or otherwise overstated) claims about the justices' lack of division. There are at least four different reasons why such accounts fail to persuade.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
Ideally, citizens would be able to know their rights. But that’s hard when even experts who look at them closely, like Prof. Smith, have to spend considerable time to work through it. No easy solutions, and I’m not a scholar in this area. But I did run into these issues as a state appellate judge.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
We have the UCC because it’s too complicated for businesses and consumers to have non-uniform rules. On state constitutions, it makes sense that differences in wording would lead to different results. But there is confusion there too when rules on, say, search and seizure change at the state line.
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
I know there's a lot going on, but the Secretary of Homeland Security declaring that federal troops are in California and Los Angeles to "liberate" the state and city from its duly-elected leaders really is a fourteen-alarm fire.
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
With the tragic assassination of a Minnesota Democratic leader, I’m going to underline this point again.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
I found it this weekend at the @boulderbookstore.bsky.social. Pick it up at your favorite local bookstore.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
After you watch Michigan Law Prof. @leahlitman.bsky.social in this video explaining some of what has gone wrong with the US Supreme Court, get her book, Lawless, to read more.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Thanks for the response. Your points are well taken.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
I agree with you as to any talking heads who were dismissing it as a distraction. And no, I’m quite sure low-information voters represent all demographics. If we were chatting, I doubt we’d differ much. But I worry about a governing coalition whose mantra is flood the zone and divide attention.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
It seems to be a strategy to keep low-interest voters from focusing, and the counter-strategy to reach those people isn’t clear. I agree with you (and I haven’t watched any sanctimonious talking heads lately), but the messaging/focus problem seems real when thinking about low-information voters. 2/2
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
What you are saying can be true while it can also be true that this Administration tries to turn the front-page story to something else (usually immigration) when the current top story isn’t good for them (e.g., Hegseth messages, the Big Beautiful Bill, Trump/Musk). Right? 1/
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
The Supreme Court Nominating Commission reviewed applications, talked with references, and interviewed the candidates yesterday and today. 2/2 More info on the candidates and process from the Kansas Reflector: kansasreflector.com/2025/06/10/k...
kansasreflector.com
Kansas commission nominates two judges, private attorney for vacancy on Supreme Court • Kansas Reflector
A Kansas nonpartisan commission forwards three nominees to Gov. Laura Kelly to fill a vacancy on Kansas Supreme Court. Fifteen lawyers applied.
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Steve Leben @steveleben.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
The next Kansas Supreme Court Justice will be Larkin Walsh, Chris Jayaram, or Amy Hanley. Jayaram and Hanley have been trial judges since 2016 and 2021 respectively. Walsh is a former Kansas Supreme Court law clerk who has practiced law since 2004. 1/
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