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Quinn Yeargain

@yeargain.bsky.social
12K followers 631 following 4.5K posts

1855 Professor of the Law of Democracy at Michigan State. Contributor to The Downballot. I teach, write, and post about state constitutional law, institutional development, and criminal law. I write (infrequently) at guaranteedrepublics.substack.com.

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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 20h
apropos of this, I also gave Todd Achilles money and I strongly encourage you to watch his digital ad:
youtube.com
How to Not Start Foreign Wars
YouTube video by Todd Achilles for U.S. Senate
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post malone ergo propter malone @proptermalone.bsky.social · 20h
excuse me what
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Anthony Michael Kreis @anthonymkreis.bsky.social · 22h
Can’t do student loan relief. Can’t mandate vaccines. Can’t help home owners. Can commit human rights abuses.
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 22h
stopped reading at "A Staten Island judge . . ."
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Hannah Walser @hkpmw.bsky.social · 23h
If “irreparable harm” means anything, it means being sent to a country you’ve never seen, where you may well be imprisoned, tortured, or killed, under a policy that (the cert grant implicitly acknowledges!) may well be illegal
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 23h
literally the only irreparable harm here is to the people who are fucking getting sent to countries they have no connection to
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Donald Trump's stupid AI tool manages to clearly answer a question that has bedeviled his attorneys general and judicial nominees
Question on America.gov: Is Donald Trump eligible to seek a third term?

Response: No. Under the 22nd Amendment, no person may be elected President more than twice.

Donald Trump has already been elected twice, so the Constitution as it stands now bars another presidential election.

Full text and overview: Constitution Annotated (Congress.gov)
Amendment text: National Archives / 22nd Amendment
Changing that rule would require a new constitutional amendment. This is not legal advice.
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I've grown quite impatient with the utter refusal of some reporters to speak directly and the overreliance on weak, nondescript words like "odd" and "interesting"
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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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LSM @slukemorgan.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
"do we have jurisdiction here? shut up. how's that sound?"
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Mrs. Detective Pikajew, Esq. @clapifyoulikeme.favrd.social · 25/09/2026
“Did you not hear us? Why is this shit back?”
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
very interesting analysis:
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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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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I’m really tired of having to hear about the thoughts of rich and powerful people who are literally too stupid to fucking function
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
why is Jennifer thinking so much about school bathrooms
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
That's just fraud, my dude. Even if you use an AI agent. It's just fucking fraud.
Nikita Bier: Hello computer,

Find every Amazon purchase I ever made. 
Call the number of the manufacturer. 
Say you’re not satisfied.
Request a refund. 
If they decline, threaten to leave a bad review.
If they decline, find the CEO’s phone number and ask him for a refund.

Now, repeat the same process for items I never even purchased and see if you can get  them to send me money.

If they ask for a recipient, generate an image of one and send that.

Do not stop until you’ve collected $1 million in refunds.
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
as always, it's never ideal to hyper-fixate on a single poll. we take note of it and then we throw it in the average.
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I've repeatedly observed that many law reviews seem to have no real institutional knowledge. a colleague suggested that staffing reductions—i.e., administrative assistants who exclusively worked with law reviews—is a possible explanation. does anyone know how I might track such a thing over time?
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Strong and virtuous men deplore the colon. As with its homographic cousin, its overuse signals weakness. Punctuational colons bring "dependent" clauses; biological colons shed our hard-earned waste like Beta men shed their feelings. More men would know this if the schools still taught Plutarch.
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The Downballot @the-downballot.com · 22/09/2026
In primaries this year, Democratic turnout utterly dwarfed Republican turnout. But does it mean anything for November? It turns out the answer is very much yes. A new analysis from @donnermaps.bsky.social suggests that Dems are on track for a 13-point blowout in the House vote. Here's why.
the-downballot.com
Massive primary turnout points to biggest year for Democrats since Watergate
There’s a remarkably close correlation between the primary vote and the House popular vote
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
just say "all gun regulations are unconstitutional" and call it a day, my goodness.
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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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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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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I think we have enough evidence at this point to suggest that Florida is in reach. Of course, as a former Floridian and evergreen Florida optimist, I’ve been here before…
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David Nir @davidnir.com · 16/09/2026
Everything's falling into place
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State Court Report @statecourtreport.org · 17/09/2026
Happy Constitution Day to all 51 of our constitutions! Want to learn more about your state's constitution? Check out our Exploring State Constitutions essay series — we have 30+ states and counting.
statecourtreport.org
Series: Exploring State Constitutions
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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory self-regulated.
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Total number of substantive #SCOTUS rulings on Trump emergency applications since 1/20/25: 32 Rulings with dissents from 2+ Democratic appointees: 22 Rulings with dissents from 2+ Republican appointees: 5 The mail-in ballots ruling is a big one, but let's not lose sight of the denominator here.
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Mike Sacks @mikesacks.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
This is getting way out of hand www.ca1.uscourts.gov/sites/ca1/fi...
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
State Rep. Jon Rosenthal is the Democratic nominee against racist bigot Bo French for Texas Railroad Commission. Victory in Texas this year doesn't just mean winning the Senate seat and defeating Ken Paxton—it means rejecting bigotry up and down the ballot. Let's help raise some money for Rosenthal!
secure.actblue.com
Donate to Jon Rosenthal
Show your support with a contribution.
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
“Georgia’s Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff has a solid lead over Republican challenger Rep. Mike Collins, and may even be able to avoid a runoff.” THE DIPSHITS AT RASMUSSEN REPORTS DON’T KNOW THAT THERE ARE ONLY TWO CANDIDATES ON THE BALLOT IN GEORGIA AND A RUNOFF WON’T HAPPEN
rasmussenreports.com
Election 2026: Georgia Senate
Georgia’s Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff has a solid lead over Republican challenger Rep. Mike Collins, and may even be able to avoid a runoff.
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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.blacksky.app · 15/09/2026
Legal writers: don't do this shit Everyone else: don't fall for this shit
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
the asshole billionaire class could be doing this, but they're too busy trying to achieve technofascism
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
a thought motivated by my recent travels: hotels should be required by law to provide guests with an option to tip cleaning staff and valets digitally or by adding a tip to the bill
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
State Rep. Jon Rosenthal is the Democratic nominee against racist bigot Bo French for Texas Railroad Commission. Victory in Texas this year doesn't just mean winning the Senate seat and defeating Ken Paxton—it means rejecting bigotry up and down the ballot. Let's help raise some money for Rosenthal!
secure.actblue.com
Donate to Jon Rosenthal
Show your support with a contribution.
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Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 15/09/2026
Genuinely an insane paragraph from Sam Alito. “Voter fraud is real and scary and we have to stop it, so the fact that implementing Trump’s mail ballot rule will disenfranchise millions is legally irrelevant.” Brain melted. A right-wing podcaster in a robe. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
___, (slip op., at 9) (internal quotation marks omitted).
As for the equities, the Government has a strong interest
in enforcing the rule, and implementing it will also “en-
hance the visibility of Federal Ballot Mail” in order to better
detect election fraud. 91 Fed. Reg. 54972. On the other side
of the balance, the plaintiff States invoke the practical ef-
fects of implementing the rule close to the midterm elec-
tions. I take that problem very seriously, but it is not
enough to convince me to deny the application.
First, as the District Court acknowledged, the States dis-
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Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
America will not have a viable inclusive democracy if there is no accountability for this. ↘️
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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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State Democracy Research Initiative @uwlawdemocracy.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
@bgodar.bsky.social recaps the WI Supreme Court's 2025-26 term for @statebarofwi.bsky.social WI Lawyer magazine. The term unfolded largely outside the political spotlight and included cases on criminal procedure, immunities from suit, and race-conscious grant programs. www.wisbar.org/NewsPublicat...
wisbar.org
Wisconsin Lawyer: Wisconsin Supreme Court: 2025–26 Term Review and 2026–27 Preview:
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Missouri Supreme Court finds SoS Denny Hoskins was IN CONTEMPT of the court, but that Hoskins has since cured his contemptuous conduct by ordering local election authorities to use the 2022 map.
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
more of this energy, please
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Mrs. Detective Pikajew, Esq. @clapifyoulikeme.favrd.social · 10/09/2026
Goddammit I’m never going to not think of this now www.tumblr.com/dungeonmaste...
Tumblr post from user dungeonmastersconsortium: dungeonmasterscons...

Saw a comment that Elizabeth Holmes looks like a mouse wished to be able to commit wire fraud and now I can't unsee it

With a still of Elizabeth Holmes from the documentary
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
A vital report from the Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy at UCLA School of Law on California's Reproductive Freedom Amendment. This will be an incredibly valuable resource going forward:
law.ucla.edu
The California Reproductive Freedom Amendment: A New Constitutional Standard | UCLA Law
This report provides the first comprehensive legal analysis of California’s Reproductive Freedom Amendment and a constitutional framework for realizing its promise.
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
wow, it seems like the threat of sanctions and contempt proceedings can actually get results. I'm sure there are no lessons to draw from this.
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
That was fast: the Missouri Supreme Court is ordering SoS Denny Hoskins to appear at a 2:00 PM contempt hearing today. (h/t to @ablativmeatshld.bsky.social for flagging this!)
order from Missouri Supreme Court reading: "The Court hereby orders Respondent Denny Hoskins and counsel for parties to the contempt
proceeding to appear today, September 10, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. in the Division I courtroom."

link: https://www.courts.mo.gov/fv/c/Order.PDF?courtCode=SC&di=222979
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
“I went to a state school, but we seem to have a reading problem here” is a devastating line
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
the good news is that because he wears his little red jacket everywhere he goes, he'd be easy to spot leaving Jeff City
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court concluded the contempt proceeings against SoS Denny Hoskins by saying (I'm lightly paraphrasing): "Counsel, I would advise your client the Secretary of State not to venture far from Jefferson City until this contempt motion is resolved."
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This is a great thread. I’m following the livestream and the judges are so clearly pissed.
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
for interested parties, the Missouri Supreme Court livestreams its arguments, and the contempt hearing begins at the top of the hour: www.courts.mo.gov/page.jsp?id=...
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