Richard Primus

🧵 In March 2003 I wrote a column explaining why the then-imminent attack on Iraq would violate international law but probably not violate US separation of powers because Bush had congressional authorization. Today's attack on Iran is equally a violation of int'l law but also the US Constitution. /1

FWIW, this is sec. 2(c) of the War Powers Resolution:

This is illegal. Like, straight-up, no nuance illegal.

It's hard at this point to imagine what would deter me from voting Democratic this year. But the incessant stream of spam text messages feels like someone's determined attempt.

…and (4) The Crisis of Appropriations Law

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

Nobody knows where this will all end. But nobody’s better positioned to do what thinking can now be done than @sbagen.bsky.social.

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3) Rethinking the Fund Termination Sanction

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

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2) COVID and the Great Retrenchment

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

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My colleague @sbagen.bsky.social is coming out with a battery of important papers assessing seismic changes in federal governance (one of them with Ellen Katz). I recommend…

1) The Dismantling of Civil Rights Protections and Thoughts on Rebuilding (with Katz)

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

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Unfortunately, I don't think so. It's in-person only.

I have a Substack. I don’t post regularly, but once in a while.

All of this.

I should perhaps add: Dicta can be useful. Guidance that helps people understand how future cases will be decided is useful. But here we had a lot that was just argument about who is right about things that don't decide the case. And since nobody persuaded anyone, the future is no more clear. (2)

Three days after reading the 170 pages of opinions in the tariffs case, I can’t help wondering whether (and how long) the Court delayed giving hugely important information to the world so that Justices could more extensively carp at each other, in dicta, about principles of statutory interpretation.

The proceedings are open to all members of the University of Michigan community.

@fpeterson.bsky.social @jgienapp.bsky.social @jdmortenson.bsky.social @jamalgreene.bsky.social @maggieblackhawk.bsky.social @nelsontebbe.bsky.social @umichlaw.bsky.social

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Public Schedule: The Oldest Constitutional Question The Oldest Constitutional Question Richard Primus's new book challenges orthodox thinking about federalism, constitutional history, and the nature of constitutional reasoning itself. Join us as four ...

…as well as four federal judges: Michael Farbiarz, Joan Larsen, Matthew Leitman, and Judith Levy.

Schedule, location, and other info here:

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

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…Jamal Greene (Columbia), John Harrison (Virginia), Alison LaCroix (Chicago), Sandy Levinson (Texas), Michael McConnell (Stanford), Trevor Morrison (NYU), Julian Mortenson (Michigan), Farah Peterson (Chicago), Gil Seinfeld (Michigan), Reva Siegel (Yale), and Nelson Tebbe (Cornell)…

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University of Michigan: On Friday, come participate in a day-long conference discussing/criticizing my new book *The Oldest Constitutional Question: Enumeration and Federal Power.*

With Profs. Jack Balkin (Yale), Maggie Blackhawk (NYU), Sam Erman (Michigan), Jonathan Gienapp (Stanford)…

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Opinion | The Bible Tells Us to Love Immigrants

From the rabbi who presided at my wedding:

The Bible Tells Us to Love Immigrants www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/o...

On tariffs: would I have liked 7-2? Yes, I would have.

Will I take 6-3? Yes. Yes, I will.

On a domestic airline flight. Lots of people (25-30%?) watching the women’s hockey gold medal game on their separate screens. When the winning shot went through, the plane burst into cheers and applause (to the surprise, of course, of passengers doing other things).

It was nice.

Trump: Too busy to be a defendant but plenty of time to sue​ Some targets of Trump's litigation are trying to use the president's claim of immunity against him.

“It’s like saying, ‘We’re going to play baseball and only I get to bat.'”

Professor @richardprimus.bsky.social quoted in @reuters.com

www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

Looking forward to the Texas A&M Law Review symposium on federalism this Fri., Feb. 20! Featuring discussions of recent books by Neil Siegel, Alison LaCroix & @richardprimus.bsky.social with an awesome group of scholars. Plus a keynote talk by SCOTX Justice Evan Young.

Just realizing that I have never heard the word “interstice” used in the singular.

#ImportantObservations

The “Please!” was in fact my favorite moment of the opinion. Good for Judge Leon.

And if he can speak this candidly about the over-the-top unlawfulness of this administration’s conduct, so can everyone else.

@mikegrunwald.bsky.social

On the law, this decision is totally right!

I'm an understater by disposition, likely to err on the side of non-exclamation. But these are no ordinary times.

(Btw: Judge Leon is a waaay right-of-center judge, in pre-DJT terms.)

Grand Jury Rebuffs Justice Dept. Attempt to Indict 6 Democrats in Congress

It turns out that lay juries can be useful and important in blocking the weaponization of law by tyrants. Who knew?

#PalladiumOfLiberty

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...

Remembering Norman Primus, who tried to tell us - SaportaReport Read Remembering Norman Primus, who tried to tell us by Tom Baxter for SaportaReport here.

Just became aware of this article about my grandfather:

saportareport.com/remembering-...

He was a good man.

I like the mule best.

I Tried to Be the Government. It Did Not Go Well. My five-month quest to monitor the weather, track inflation, and inspect milk for harmful microorganisms

Spot on, from @petridishes.bsky.social: "For a while...we, as a nation, thought to ourselves: Life is too short for everyone to inspect their own food. Let the government handle this. But then along came the Trump administration to wonder: What if we didn’t?"

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

At a conference on originalism. Smart people here, serious about what they do.

At the moment, I count 47 participants around the seminar tables. 44 white, and 43 men.

Not a criticism of the organizers. An observation about whom the subject engages.

#AnnualPost