Emerson Wright

I cut my mouse clicking finger pretty badly last week so now trying to type is a REAL adventure.

Lyons, Remedies, and the Fourth Amendment in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo - NYU Law Review Recent Case: Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo, No. 25A169, 2025 WL 2585637 (U.S. Sep. 8, 2025) Sharon Brett0* Copyright © 2026 by Sharon Brett, Associate Professor of Law, University of Kansas School of Law. T...

My essay on the Kavanaugh concurrence in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo is now live with the @nyulawreview.bsky.social online. Many thanks to the incredible editors who helped bring this piece to completion (rage-writing it in one week meant we did a lot of work on it post-acceptance!).

I love today's class. I'm introducing persuasive statements of facts, and we see how a person's perception of facts are based on framing and priming. And we do it through a classic piece of exceptional American cinema: the music video for Reba McEntire's The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.

I took note of the reference to being unable to "rule out" noncriminal explanations. Typically not how probable cause determinations work!

I'm just a country law professor, but I didn't think it was the FBI's job to "rul[e] out non-criminal explanations for activities" when there's no evidence of criminality.

I for one am not excited about the confirmation hearings for Associate Justice nominee Kyle Duncan

This is extreme and horrifying.

One of the things I try to instill in my students is that "constitutional" and "unconstitutional" are not legal terms of art. It's OUR Constitution. We're empowered to have views on it, and to view government action or inaction as consistent with our country's norms, values, and traditions—or not.

It is a natural law of academia that when I have lots of things to work on, many students come to office hours. When I am caught up, they ghost me.

The cover of Justice Breyer's latest book: Reading the Constitution: Why I chose Pragmatism Not Textualism

Sunday at Stetson Law, we were honored by a visit from Justice Stephen Breyer. In a conversation with Dean Barros, Justice Breyer offered poignant advice on civility, persuasive advocacy, cultivating fulfillment, and shared values that make us American. He was also hilarious. Such a special event!

A reminder to law students who are interviewing for biglaw firms in the weeks ahead:

There are lots of firms out there you could work for. You should carefully consider which firms comport with your personal and professional values—and which ones don’t.

Catherine O'Hara is such a loss.

CORKY WE LOVE YOU WE WANT YOU TO LIVE

You're gonna show Winkie.

Herb Ertlinger's Fruit Wine

I use this clip in class every year to teach students to use case illustrations to show, rather than tell, the reader how the law applies.

I show this every year in research and writing to explain that case illustrations should show rather than tell the reader how the law works.

As someone who studies police misconduct and has investigated many police departments for misconduct that falls WAY short of what we’ve seen from CBP/ICE this year, this THIS is the “demand” for THIS moment? ….. I’m without words.

I'm not so sure about this. Most legal research and legal writing profs I know are working to instill a healthy skepticism into the AI research process. My sense is most students are very cautious about relying on AI results and see how bad they often are.

doing the REAL work. thank you.

I have my highest per capita rate of emphatic nodders in class this semester, and MAN am I thankful. As an emphatic nodder myself, I used to be self-conscious about it, but now I know how clutch those people are.

I've been informed that I've developed a wacky professor reputation because of my tendency to research and highlight papers while on the elliptical in the school gym. Can't stop won't stop.

It was a pleasure! Great work on the piece.

I spoke to Orion about my long, tortured relationship with tobacco use. The administration's attacks on public health disproportionately affect LGBTQ+ folks in more far-reaching ways than the overt homo- and transphobic attacks we've seen reveal.

I hardly ever start from scratch. I have a separate letter as a guide for how I write letters of a particular type, based on particular types of experiences with students, but I retype everything manually.

Law profs: how often and to what extent do you repurpose recommendation letters for different students/jobs? Do you start from scratch each time or use some form of template?

Musk’s Chatbot Flooded X With Millions of Sexualized Images in Days, New Estimates Show

We set out to determine how many images of women and girls Grok created during its nudifying spree. What we found was “industrial-scale abuse,” experts said. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/t...

I expressly prohibit my students from using Grok for anything in my course, even when AI use is permitted, and I feel better about that choice every day.

"we didn't ARREST that 5-year-old child, we just DETAINED him because we're deporting his father" is a shitty fucking defense and JD Vance is an embarrassing slimeball

Jim Jordan is the living embodiment of "I have more of a comment than a question."