Biskupic's Second Installment on Trump Immunity We learn very little new: Roberts made no efforts to appeal to the left, as he sought to reclaim his Court. Reason · Jul 30, 2024
New in Harvard JLPP Per Curiam: What We Did and Did Not Argue in United States v. Trump Seth Barrett TIllman and I write about our experience in Judge Cannon's court, before the decision yesterday. Reason · Jul 16, 2024
Justice Sotomayor Would Deny Immunity For Abuses of Power, Corrupt Purposes, and Personal Gain Justice Sotomayor's rhetoric in Trump v. United States mirrors the claims from Trump impeachment 1.0 Reason · Jul 5, 2024
Justice Thomas Explains Why The President, Vice President, Speaker and Senate President Pro Tempore Cannot Be "Officers of the United States" Justice Thomas demonstrates why Justice Scalia erred in his letter to Tillman. Reason · Jul 5, 2024
The President's Three Bodies After Trump v. United States Official, Individual, and Personal. Reason · Jul 4, 2024
What Does "Corruptly" Mean? The Justices Really Do Not Want To Tell Us Fischer and Snyder both ducked this issue. Reason · Jun 30, 2024
Oral Argument on the Constitutionality of the Special Counsel On June 21, Judge Cannon will hold oral argument on the Appointments Clause challenge to Special Counsel Jack Smith's prosecution of Donald Trump. The Court granted leave for three amici to argue. I will be presenting argument on behalf of Professor Seth Barrett Tillman and the Landmark Legal Foundation. The… Reason · Jun 6, 2024
Justice Thomas's Concurrence in Alexander v. SC NAACP I think Justice Thomas is setting up to find that the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional, at least with regard to redistricting. Reason · May 24, 2024
Presidential Bribery and the Clear Statement Rule in Trump v. United States: Revisiting Issues From The First Trump Impeachment and the Mueller Investigation Questions from Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch revisit unresolved issues from 2017-2020. Reason · Apr 25, 2024
The Kentucky Legislature Removed The Governor's Power To Temporarily Appoint A Senator Would the Governor's veto of the bill have even been effective? Reason · Apr 25, 2024
Special Counsel Jack Smith Responds to Blackman-Tillman No matter how you slice it, Smith cannot exercise the powers he purports to exercise. Reason · Apr 16, 2024
Tablet Magazine on Tillman: "A thinker whose mind hasn't been corrupted by politics." Tillman on most things: "There are multiple aspects of the standard narrative ... that just don’t make any sense and that people just have mindlessly repeated for almost two centuries now,” Reason · Mar 22, 2024
If Trump Prevails, How Will Section 3 Be Litigated On Or After January 20, 2025? Even under the Trump v. Anderson per curiam opinion, Section 3 can be raised as a defense without the need for federal implementing legislation. But the Supreme Court may still avoid ruling on the merits. Reason · Mar 5, 2024
Reason · Mar 3, 2024 Part II – A Response to Professor Jed Shugerman on Slate in 2017, and his most recent 2024 Tweet Thread(s), About The 1793 Hamilton Document! Professor Shugerman's argument that the 1793 Hamilton Document, that is, a list of "every person holding any civil office or employment under the United States, (except the judges)," was intended to ensure compliance with the Constitution's Sinecure Clause lacks support.
Reason · Feb 25, 2024 Part I—A Response to Professor Jed Shugerman on Slate in 2017, and his most recent 2024 Tweet Thread(s), About The 1793 Hamilton Document! Professor Shugerman's argument that the 1793 Hamilton Document, that is, a list of "every person holding any civil office or employment under the United States, (except the judges)," was intended to ensure compliance with the Constitution's Sinecure Clause lacks support.
Reason · Feb 20, 2024 A Response to John Mikhail on "Officers of the United States"—Part I The issues, arguments, and evidence raised by Mikhail has already been addressed by our scholarship. This evidence was not "ignored or overlooked."
Reason · Feb 13, 2024 Professor Mark Graber Lectures Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson About White Supremacy Mark Graber: “Instead, justices on both the left and right made deeply problematic historical assertions unaware of their foundations in the white supremacist commitments of the history profession for most of the twentieth century.”
Reason · Feb 9, 2024 Oral Arguments in Trump v. Anderson Part II: Justice Jackson Gets "Office under the United States" Justice Jackson explained that an ambiguous text should be interpreted in favor of expanding democracy. But Mitchell's concern about Foreign Emoluments Clause "boomerang" could have cut off a path of complete victory.
Reason · Feb 8, 2024 Attending Oral Argument in Trump v. Anderson Not exactly what I expected, but a very rewarding experience.
Reason · Feb 8, 2024 All Blackman-Tillman Articles, Presentations, Amicus Briefs, Commentary, and Blog posts on Section 3 and Insurrection We started thinking about the topic on January 6, 2021, and have been writing since.
Reason · Feb 7, 2024 Tillman in the Times: "A Legal Outsider, an Offbeat Theory and the Fate of the 2024 Election" "When the Supreme Court considers whether Donald J. Trump is barred from appearing on Colorado’s ballot, a professor’s scholarship, long relegated to the fringes, will take center stage."
Reason · Feb 4, 2024 In Trump v. Anderson, the Respondents' Theory Would Render Unconstitutional Every Speaker and President Pro Tempore Since 1789, as Well as President Grant's VP and Presidential Candidate George McGovern Justice Scalia erred because there are no “Officers of the United States” appointed outside Article II, Section II.
Reason · Jan 24, 2024 A Short Response to Roger Parloff and Others The Ineligibility or Sinecure Clause (Article I, Section 6, Clause 2) states: No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been…
Reason · Jan 19, 2024 Overview of Amicus Briefs Supporting Petitioner in Trump v. Griswold About 30 amicus briefs were filed to reverse the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling that disqualified President Trump from the ballot.