Chris Yarrell

I had the opportunity this weekend to present my research at the annual AALS Sections on Education Law & Children and the Law Works-in-Progress Conference. A wonderful experience with a brilliant group of scholars!

"I am purposefully “belittling” a “conservative idea.” Or maybe I am not. I’m not really sure what the legal threshold of “belittling” is, and while I have a pretty good idea which ideas should be considered “conservative” ... I am pretty sure McMahon does not."

“Every aspect of it seeks to dictate decisions that have traditionally been left to each university — a degree of control over higher education that is characteristic of authoritarian countries.”

Redistricting School Systems Can Increase Funding Fairness and Decrease Segregation A new report and interactive data tool show how specific redistricting choices can create fairer school systems for our children.

I'm very proud to share a new, first-of-its-kind analysis and data tool from my team at @educationwork.newamerica.org.
Redrawing the Lines is a first-ever look at how, if states draw school district borders with equity as the goal, they can HUGELY reduce funding inequality and segregation. #edusky

Fothcoming (Idaho Law Review)

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

The Kavanaugh Stop

I’ve watched this clip several times today and still don’t have the words to fully capture what it stirred in me.

What I can say is how deeply grateful I am that it exists—and for the wisdom and presence of Bryan Stevenson.

So Much for Class-Based Affirmative Action The Trump administration considers even race-blind admissions policies illegal if they’re intended to achieve diversity.

Surprise! www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

The abuse of “equitable” balancing by this court is something to behold.

I feel fairly confident that you wouldn't even get to _be_ superintendent of a school district without ever, like, verifying that you lawfully reside and are eligible to be employed in the United States

I'm sure if a Democratic elected official mandated that a left-wing organization had to be given access to all of a state's public schools, they would be completely fine with it and would never ever call it "grooming" or "indoctrination" or anything.

The Supreme Court Is Making Schools Dangerous For Immigrant Families and Children The justices have opted not for restraint, but for complicity in the administration’s anti-immigrant agenda.

My latest on how last week’s SCOTUS decision greenlighting racial profiling is making schools unsafe for immigrant families—and why FERPA’s privacy protections are more critical than ever.

Grateful to @jaywillis.net for his thoughtful & generous feedback.

ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...

“I’m about to publish… a lengthy law journal article, arguing for overturning Everson v. Board of Education…& thereby ending the reign of the principle of separation of church & state…” - NatCon founder Yoram Hazony in July 2025. albertmohler.com/2025/07/21/i... (Now check out post 2.) … 1/

Ad for Crimson Global Academy, with the question: "Does your child style with anxiety at school?" Followed by the promise of "Education designed for students who need not than the traditional system."

The GOP's education playbook.

Step 1: Make public schooling as shitty and stressful as possible for kids and parents and teachers.

Step 2: Sell private schooling as the antidote to the stress and shittiness.

Step 3: Funnel public education money into private hands.

School Vouchers Were Supposed to Save Taxpayer Money. Instead They Blew a Massive Hole in Arizona’s Budget. Arizona, the model for voucher programs across the country, has spent so much money paying private schoolers’ tuition that it’s now facing hundreds of millions in budget cuts to critical state program...

Arizona, the model for voucher programs across the country, spent so much money paying private schoolers’ tuition that it faced hundreds of millions in budget cuts to critical state programs and projects last year.

(Published July 2024)

Screenshot of first page of "The Sovereignty of Personal Jurisdiction," which can be found at the SSRN link above.

A bit belated, but I’m very excited to share that my job market paper is now forthcoming in the Washington & Lee Law Review.

And I’m officially on the law faculty market for civ pro, int’l law, fed courts & related fields. I appreciate help spreading the word!

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

“Oklahoma to require schools to teach Trump's 2020 election conspiracy theories ***
The Republican-led state's new high school history curriculum says students must learn about Donald Trump's baseless claims of voting irregularities.” 5/22/25 … 1/ www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

Excited to share a piece @ariezra.bsky.social and I have written “The Evolution of Trust and Safety” papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

So, yeah, this is unconstitutional.
www.cnn.com/politics/pra...

Dear President Milliken, Regents, and Governor Newsom, As faculty members of University of California law schools, we endorse Governor Newsom's commitment to resist the Trump Administration's unlawful actions taken against the University of California, Los Angeles. The Governor is on firm legal ground. The Trump Administration's termination and suspension of federal funds has violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in numerous ways. Governor Newsom and the University of California Regents will protect the vital interests not only of Californians but of all Americans if they defend the University of California's rights. The U.S. Department of Justice notified UCLA on July 29, 2025, that it had found that UCLA had "violated its obligations under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964." Chancellor Frenk subsequently announced that "the federal government claims antisemitism and bias as the reasons" for federal grant terminations. UCLA faces losses of at least $584 million, funding that has supported vital research on matters ranging from treatments for pancreatic cancer to advances in online security. The Trump Administration has made no pretense of following the law. Title VI permits a federal agency to terminate funding only if it has found that the particular program receiving that funding has violated the law's non-discrimination provisions. Funding cannot disappear just because the agency's policy or political preferences differ from the institution's. Moreover, the agency can act only after following specific procedural steps. Importantly, Title VI requires a formal administrative hearing—a proceeding much like a trial-before the agency can terminate funding. At the hearing, the agency would have the burden of proving the university's alleged violations of Title VI before an impartial decision-maker. If the agency prevails at the hearing, the university or other interested persons could appea…

factually supported and consistent with civil rights laws. Without the steps Title VI requires, there is no protection against an administration alleging discrimination as a pretext to force compliance with its policy or partisan preferences. Title VI's procedures guarantee the constitutional due process requirement that no person can be deprived of liberty or property without fair notice and opportunity to be heard. They protect the university and its members' academic freedom, an endowment essential to scientific research, intellectual discovery, and open debate. We are deeply committed to the core principle of non-discrimination codified in Title VI and in the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause. The principle that no person may suffer discrimination because of race, color, or national origin protects equality and ensures fairness in political as well as social life. Allegations of discrimination deserve serious and careful consideration and, where established, effective redress. But this enforcement effort must follow the law. We urge Governor Newsom and the UC Regents to continue to stand up for the fundamental principles of the rule of law, due process, and equal protection. A defense of the University of California's rights in court will model respect for these bedrock principles of equality and fairness, and it will ensure that the government honors them. The Trump Administration's failure to abide by the law subverts these principles by denying the University of California a fair opportunity to contest the government's charges of unlawful discrimination before an impartial decisionmaker. It is precisely because we cherish the principles of the Civil Rights Act and the Constitution that we encourage Governor Newsom, the UC Regents, and the University of California to fight back. Through its grantmaking powers, the federal government wields vast influence over social and economic life. If not held to account by the procedural protections enacted by Congres…

🚨 150 University of California law professors (and counting) have now signed this open letter to the UC Regents and other officials, explaining the flagrant illegality of the Trump Administration’s UCLA funding cut offs, and urging the UC to fight back. sites.google.com/view/uclawfa...

Washington, DC Needs Stronger ‘Home Rule’ Most state constitutions allow municipal governments autonomy over local matters. Washington, DC’s policies, by contrast, must go to Congress for approval.

Wondering about DC's "home rule" rights? Meryl Chertoff wrote a great piece for @statecourtreport.org explaining the current legal framework and why it makes DC "particularly vulnerable to changing political climates." statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

The Supreme Court Is Encouraging Attacks On Teachers Like Me The justices’ decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor will empower parents not only to go after books, but also individual teachers.

"The right has made schools battlefields in the modern culture war. Teachers didn’t enlist to fight it, but we are on the front lines anyway."

To all my Bar takers you got this. I know this because I’ve seen your keen analytical and writing skills up close. Your conscientiousness knocks me over. Now you are doing so for your Bar examiners. YOU GOT THIS.

They had one thing right. There really isn’t any such thing as halfway crooks.

How Anti-Affirmative Action Crusaders Are Escalating Their War on Inclusive Democracy This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news...

Across the country, schools and universities are now getting sued not for using race—but for trying not to. talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/how-ant...

How Anti-Affirmative Action Crusaders Are Escalating Their War on Inclusive Democracy Challenges to school admissions policies in Baltimore and Boston show how conservative activists are transforming principles of equal protection into tools for preserving racial hierarchy.

Good post from @chrisyarrell.bsky.social on the absurdity of legal challenges to race-neutral admissions policies: If tuition assistance for low-income students "discriminates" against white people, charging tuition should also be suspect. Oddly, Stephen Miller types never make that argument.

COPAA and fellow advocacy groups file an amicus brief with Ninth Circuit urging affirmance of lower court’s correct ruling on IDEA statute of limitations.
🔗 cdn.ymaws.com/www.copaa.or...

really important to emphasize that roberts' view of the executive branch as comprising a single individual is literally contradicted by the text of the constitution itself

Screen grab of a Boston Globe article on a recent lawsuit filed by Pacific Legal Foundation against Boston’s specialized school admissions plan.

A similar “racial discrimination by proxy” suit was filed yesterday by Pacific Legal Foundation, albeit in the k12/exam school admissions context:

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/17/m...

We're in court today challenging an Arkansas law that forces public schools to display the Ten Commandments.

We've said it before and we'll say it again: Public schools aren't Sunday schools.