Things to Read This Week (10/20)
The Supreme Court Prohibits ERISA, by Michael Doran. I enjoyed this critique of Cunningham v. Cornell, somewhat reminiscent of John Langbein, The Supreme Court Flunks Trusts.
Section 12 As A Guide To Private Rights Of Action And § 1983 Claims Under The Voting Rights Act, by Michael Morley. A tidy and precise theory of why (and when) the Voting Rights Act creates rights that are enforceable under Section 1983.
Originalism’s Difference? The Dunwoody lecture by Sherif Girgis. Interesting stuff, as Sherif always is, especially on the difference between “academic” and “chambers” originalism.
What Are We Living Through? by Jed Purdy and Dave Pozen in the Boston Review. A very learned attempt to parse whether the second Trump administration is an authoritarian crisis, more of the same, or a constitutional regime change. (I should note that I disagree with the authors’ claim that “Bipartisan ‘anti-authoritarian’ campaigning was tried in 2024, and failed” but that probably doesn’t matter since I doubt it will be tried in the future either.)
