Brishen Rogers

I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.

It's especially for journalists covering this story!

Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.

The Hertie School mourns the passing of Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Claus Offe, Professor Emeritus of Political Sociology, an extraordinary scholar, teacher and colleague.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and all who had the privilege to know him.

Ouch SCOTUS

I’ll kinda defend this, bc for most of the summer DC weather tried to kill me. So, like, a nice day on 9.2 is a small miracle?

early reports suggested it had salami, not sure if those were ever verified

NEW—Earlier this evening agents from ICE/other fed agencies were outside Rhode Island Ave metro in DC asking people exiting the station for their IDs, per someone who experienced it. When the person presented their Real ID license, an agent said that wasn't sufficient. Luckily they had secondary ID.

NEW Andrés Castro Araújo, Nicolás Restrepo Ochoa, "How to Make a Functionalist Argument." sociologicalscience.com/articles-v12...

I am a bit of a broken record on this, but are local DAs going to let this continue indefinitely? The ICE agents didn't have any kind of warrant, didn't identify themselves, and then recklessly started firing. Let them argue federal immunity.

The alternative, democracy premised merely on the people’s right to collective governance, allows us to see that a single election or a particular law or policy being implemented is never the final word on any matter. Democracy is a never-ending series of contests for governing power. When a majority prevails, it sits alongside others just as legitimate—majorities that might grow or shrink or even dissipate, perhaps before reforming and reviving themselves.

Just picked up @ositanwanevu.com ‘s really good, accessible book on democracy. This passage, which is key to his argument, captures what’s wrong with strong versions of the unitary executive theory as well as some versions of abundance liberalism.

we need a loving term for papers that are like 50% brilliant and 50% batshit

The BLS is legit a national treasure. Or was until now.

COVID Contrarians Are Wrong About Sweden Trying to ‘let it rip’ in early 2020 was a disaster.

The conventional wisdom swing on non-pharmaceutical measures during COVID has tilted toward "doing nothing, like Sweden did, was good." @ryanlcooper.com puts this through the ringer: prospect.org/health/2025-...

i believe that at 18 every american should be entered into a draft, not for military service, but for one year of mandatory retail or restaurant work

CFP: Inaugural Association of Law and Political Economy Conference A forthcoming conference will launch the The Association of Law and Political Economy (ALPE): a membership organization with a regular annual conference, elected leadership, and an architecture for…

Have you heard the good news?

A forthcoming conference will launch the The Association of Law and Political Economy: a membership organization with a regular annual conference, elected leadership, and an architecture for open participation and collaboration.

Dick Fallon was my Con Law professor and set a standard of humility and generosity in the classroom and with students that I try to follow.

He was also deeply thoughtful about many things, including the public responsibilities of scholars, as in this essay.

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

RIP Dick Fallon. A devastating loss professionally and personally.

The majority may think: "We're not ruling on the legality of Trump's actions; it's just a stay." Bullshit. With the injunction stayed, Trump and McMahon will be able to effectuate their evisceration of the Department of Education and it will be impossible to put Humpty Dumpty back together.

As someone who has been on the business end of nationwide injunctions that I thought were improper, I find the question of what rules we should adopt for them to be genuinely hard. But yesterday's decision deserves massive criticism, for at least two reasons. (Thread.)

.@CBS8 in San Diego reports that due to Bishop Michael Pham’s presence in the courtroom, in effect, cases of migrants today were postponed.

The majority's contention that I reject "pure textualism' [a]s insuf-ficiently pliable to secure the result [I] seek," ante, at 10, stems from an unfortunate misunderstanding of the judicial role. Our interpretative task is not to seek our own desired results (whatever they may be). And, indeed, it is precisely because of this solemn duty that, in my view, it is imperative that we interpret statutes consistent with all relevant indicia of what Congress wanted, as best we can ascertain its intent. A methodology that includes consideration of Congress's aims does exactly that— and no more. By contrast, pure textualism's refusal to try to understand the text of a statute in the larger context of what Congress sought to achieve turns the interpretive task into a potent weapon for advancing judicial policy preferences. By "finding" answers in ambiguous text, and not bothering to consider whether those answers align with other sources of statutory meaning, pure textualists can easily disguise their own preferences as "textual" inevitabilities. So, really, far from being "insuffi-ciently pliable," I think pure textualism is incessantly malleable that's its primary problem-and, indeed, it is certainly somehow always flexible enough to secure the majority's desired outcome.

Thank you, Justice Jackson. Textualists claim their methodology constrains them. But it doesn't meaningfully do so.

The law in its infinite wisdom bans trans and cis people alike from being trans

Not sure what to make of the fact that the best account of law's role in class relations is the postscript to a study of 18th century rural England! Maybe Thompson was being presentist. Yet it reads prophetically, and has not been matched or topped by generations of legal scholars IMHO.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/10/o...

i personally do not think the administration is actually prepared for what happens if they are facing mass protests in every major city in the country

SEIU California President David Huerta Injured, Detained at ICE Raid in Los Angeles Los Angeles - David Huerta, President of SEIU California and SEIU- United Service Workers West was injured and detained at an ICE raid in Los Angeles today while exercising his First Amendment right to observe and document law enforcement activity. Tia Orr, Executive Director of SEIU California, made the following statement: "SEIU California members call for the immediate release of our President, David Huerta, who was injured and detained at the site of one of today's ICE raids in Los Angeles. He is now receiving medical attention while in custody. "We are proud of President Huerta's righteous participation as a community observer, in keeping with his long history of advocating for immigrant workers and with the highest values of our movement: standing up to injustice, regardless of personal risk or the power of those perpetrating it. "We call for an end to the cruel, destructive, and indiscriminate ICE raids that are tearing apart our communities, disrupting our economy, and hurting all working people. Immigrant workers are essential to our society: feeding our nation, caring for our elders, cleaning our workplaces, and building our homes."

BREAKING

The President of California’s largest union has been detained during an ICE raid.

Thank you for this. I was shocked by Immerwahr's piece, to the point that I'm now reassessing my view of his past work.

PS: funding for travel is available and we have great discussants lined up including organizers such as Suresh Naidu, Adam Reich, Kate Andrias, and @brishen.bsky.social - with more to come!