Jeff Bellin

My first guest post on the new Crimprof Blog! crimprof.blog/faithless-pr...

Faithless Prosecution 58 Pages Posted: 7 Jan 2026 Last revised: 4 Feb 2026 Jeffrey Bellin Vanderbilt University - Vanderbilt Law School Date Written: January 02, 2026 Abstract In Fall 2025, Donald Trump publicly urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to initiate prosecutions of his political foes. This disturbing directive may signal the beginning of a new norm, rather than a temporary break in the old one. Trump’s interference with DOJ independence is inconsistent with the practices of Republican and Democratic administrations over the past fifty years. But the DOJ’s acquiescence models the “unitary executive,” a theory of constitutional law that has become popular with legal influencers, including Justices on the Supreme Court. Left unchecked, these developments are poised to add federal prosecutions to the toxic stew of American politics. And while Congress shows little interest in intervening, judges possess limited tools to do so. “Selective” and “vindictive” prosecution doctrines forbid a narrow set of prosecutions but these undertheorized doctrines, anchored in the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, only tangentially address the problem of a politicized DOJ. To counteract the politicization of federal prosecutions, this Article urges the Supreme Court to recognize a new doctrine anchored in a distinct constitutional provision. Article II, Section 3 states that the President “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” This provision is rarely invoked and somewhat obscure, but it offers one clear and enforceable command: when a President intervenes in individual law enforcement decisions, the President must act in good faith. Overruling career prosecutors to initiate cases against political enemies is the opposite of taking care that the laws are faithfully executed. It is “faithless prosecution,” and should be voidable in the courts.

My latest article "Faithless Prosecution" is now available on SSRN. Comments welcome via email.

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Vanderbilt Law Faculty Score High Marks in HeinOnline Scholarly Impact Ranking Ranking highlights the scholarly impact of ABA-approved law schools by identifying the most-cited authors within 25 major legal subject areas

law.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbilt-l...

me in front of roundtable announcement poster

Just wrapped up the 17th Criminal Justice Roundtable hosted by Chris Slobogin at Vanderbilt Law School w/ @rachelbarkow.bsky.social @richardre.bsky.social @erinmurphyslaw.bsky.social
@joeljohnson13.bsky.social @profrgold.bsky.social @meganstevenson.bsky.social and others not on Bsky

picture of about 10 scholars

The inaugural Evidence Roundtable at Vanderbilt Law School. We theorized "simplified evidence rules" for disputes that don't require the complexity of the federal rules with a group of wonderful scholars (pictured) and judges (not pictured). Stay tuned evidence world for future roundtables...

From Theories of Prosecution (p. 1223), available here: t.co/2rJHUCWXua

Putting the above-described standards together reveals a concrete evidentiary charging standard: a prosecutor should only charge a case when the prosecutor expects that the evidence introduced at trial will prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. I

Perhaps of interest.... While legal ethics codes and the U.S. Constitution require a prosecutor to have "probable cause" to support a charge, there is broad agreement that prosecutors should apply a stricter charging standard, although exactly what is less clear. I offer my take in a 2020 article:

Not hearsay if offered to prove he didn’t

Or is it

A riff on one of my favorite problems in @bellinj.bsky.social’s excellent casebook

Not a lot of mystery here. DC prosecutors traditionally didn't charge these cases as felonies. This is why.

pic of Amazon listing for Evidence casebook with tag "#1 Best Seller"

if you teach Evidence, the casebook landscape is shifting...

Amazon’s "Best Sellers in Law" offers an interesting snapshot of the otherwise non-transparent law school casebook market. www.amazon.com/best-sellers...

Used copy of book selling for $249.

A legitimate - I think - retailer selling used copies of my $35 casebook for $250. (I guess they just assume the retail price is $300 since it is a law school casebook.)

Correct Answer: A law school casebook doesn't have to have a boring red or blue cover!

picture that shows best selling evidence casebooks on amazon

A slice of Amazon's best selling evidence books. What do you notice?

This is one of the many - how have they not answered that yet? - cases in Fourth Amendment doctrine. Might also offer guidance on analyzing exigent circumstances that are safety- not crime-focused.

The heartbeat of the law is human connection This article is part of a series on the legacy and jurisprudence of the late Justice David Souter.  Allison Orr Larsen is the Alfred Wilson & Mary I.W. Lee Professor […]

Touching tribute to Justice Souter from my colleague Alli Larsen www.scotusblog.com/2025/05/the-...

Jeffrey Bellin, 'The Law of Evidence,' 2nd ed. (2025).

The library has *doubled* sales of @bellinj.bsky.social's 2nd edition of 'The Law of Evidence'! www.amazon.com/Law-Evidence...

TaxProf Blog: The High Cost Of Law School Casebooks Jeffrey Bellin (William & Mary; Google Scholar), The High Cost of Law School Casebooks: Commentators have forecasted the demise of high-priced commercial casebooks for two decades. Yet little has chan...

Thanks to Paul Caron and TaxProf Blog for the shoutout to my symposium essay about law school casebooks.

[Daubert Hearing omitted]

Race, the Academy, and <i>The Constitution of the War on Drugs</i> David Pozen’s new book chronicles the constitutional arguments that American litigants once deployed to protect a “right” to use drugs. This Review supplements and critiques Pozen’s important contribu...

It's live! Very proud of this piece I wrote with Jeffrey Bellin (@bellinj.bsky.social) for the Yale Law Journal. And thanks to Dave Pozen of Columbia Law School for writing such a provocative book for us to engage with!
www.yalelawjournal.org/review/race-...

The good news is there are high quality, low-cost alternatives in many fields (especially Evidence 😀). My take on the general question - "The High Cost of Law School Casebooks" - is available here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Picture of caption of Justice Alito's statement - full statement available at link.

👀 In separate statements today, Justices Gorsuch and Alito argue that the Confrontation Clause doctrine introduced by Justice Scalia in 2004 is flawed and needs to change. Alito suggests narrower protections for defendants and Gorsuch hints at broader ones. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...

The Law of Evidence The Law of Evidence [Bellin, Jeffrey] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Law of Evidence

For reviews of the first edition, see www.amazon.com/dp/B08C7GGMM2

The Federal Rules of Evidence: Including Advisory Committee Notes, Abridged Legislative History, and Editorial Commentary The Federal Rules of Evidence: Including Advisory Committee Notes, Abridged Legislative History, and Editorial Commentary [Bellin, Jeffrey] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Federal Rules of Evidence: Including Advisory Committee Notes, Abridged Legislative History, and Editorial Commentary

And the updated rules supplement is here: www.amazon.com/Federal-Rule...

The Law of Evidence The Law of Evidence [Bellin, Jeffrey] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Law of Evidence

The Second Edition of my low-cost Evidence casebook is now available for adoption in Summer or Fall 2025. Instructors can reach out by email for a review copy.
amazon.com/dp/B0F13TCCR7

A draft of my contribution to the @wmborj.bsky.social symposium on constitutional law casebooks is now available on @ssrn.bsky.social

My essay explores, "The High Cost of Law School Casebooks"

Vanderbilt Law School to establish 'innocence clinic' for the wrongfully convicted Vanderbilt Law School has announced a recent gift is being used to establish The Gail Anderson Cañizares Innocence Clinic.

Great news! "Vanderbilt Law School to establish 'innocence clinic' for the wrongfully convicted": fox17.com/news/local/v...

Rob Willey and Melanie Knapp, "The Top 100 Legal Scholars of 2024". W&M Law School's @bellinj.bsky.social at nos. 23 (Authors) and 15 (Co-authors): papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Book cover David Sklansky's Criminal Justice in Divided America

Just received my copy of David Sklansky's timely new book, "Criminal Justice in Divided America," can't wait to dig in. www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...

This is a concerning milestone. Bringing new investigations and prosecutions is different than just dismissing cases against allies.