April 2025
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“The emergency is here”
Ezra Klein sums it up pretty well and, as far as I can see, he's completely correct: The crisis is now. It is not six months away. It is not another Supreme Court ruling away from happening. It’s happening now. Perhaps not to you, not yet. But to others. Real people. We know their names.…
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Harvard Law’s Jack Goldsmith (former Office of Legal Counsel under GW Bush) on what has “surprised” him about Trump
Here: [S]everal things have surprised me. I wasn’t prepared for the extent of the onslaught. It’s really just remarkable how many things they’re doing, especially inside the executive branch, to try to bring complete control of the president. And I wasn’t expecting the extent of the loyalty tests and the insistence that the president gets…
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Blast from the past: what kind of background needed for graduate work in philosophy of physics?
Back in 2009, with reader discussion.
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Trump is so bad, even Thomas Friedman has to notice!
Good for him for using his big platform to say this: This whole Trump II administration is a cruel farce. Trump ran for another term not because he had any clue how to transform America for the 21st century. He ran in order to stay out of jail and to get revenge on those who,…
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Statement of the Columbia Philosophy Department on the federal kidnapping of their student
Here: It has come to the attention of members of the Department of Philosophy at Columbia University that one of our students, Mohsen Mahdawi, was detained in Vermont by agents of the Department of Homeland Security. We express our horror and dismay at the fact that a legal resident of the United States — someone…
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The case of the man wrongfully deported to El Salvador
The district court judge's patience is wearing thin: she's laying the foundation for holding the government lawyers in contempt and imposing sanctions. It's pretty clear, as the judge says, that nothing has been done to "facilitate" the return of the victim here. The depositions of government officials and lawyers will no doubt confirm this over…
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Three philosophers win 2025 Guggenheim Fellowships
They are: James Dwyer (William & Mary), Hannah Ginsborg (Berkeley), and Simon Hutteger (UC Irvine).
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Corporate Practice Commentator’s “top 10” corporate & securities articles for 2024
The selected articles are: Contract Production in M&A Markets, 171 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1881-1924 (2023), Choi, Stephen J; Gulati, Mitu; Jennejohn, Mathew; Scott, Robert E. Corporate Racial Responsibility, 124 Colum. L. Rev. 361-430 (2024), Fletcher, Gina-Gail S; Lovelace, H. Timothy Jr. Gender and the Social Structure of Exclusion in U.S. Corporate Law, 90 U.…
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Trump’s defiance of the courts continues
The Associated Press was still barred from a Trump press conference, despite a court order Just to be clear: if Trump does not obey the courts, the courts do have some options. But when those options are exhausted, then the rule of law is officially over, and the United States is officially a dictatorship. Courts…
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Another green card holder–a philosophy major at Columbia–kidnapped by federal agents…
…because of his lawful political speech. A court has already ordered the government to keep the victim in Vermont, where he was attending a citizenship interview. We will see how this court order fares. (Thanks to Ruchira Paul for the pointer.)
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Leading research universities sue Trump Department of Energy over unlawful withholding of monies
Complaint here. Plaintiffs include Brown, Caltech, Cornell, Michigan, MIT Illinois, Princeton, and others. Another hopeful sign, although only if the Trumpistas comply with adverse court decisions!
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Harvard Law School negotiation expert advises law firms: do *not* negotiate with Trump
Good advice for universities too.
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Some good news: Harvard will *not* capitulate
Harvard President Garber just sent out this message to the Harvard community: Late Friday night, the administration issued an updated and expanded list of demands, warning that Harvard must comply if we intend to “maintain [our] financial relationship with the federal government.” It makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to…
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The moment of truth has arrived: Trump Administration now openly defying a Supreme Court decision…
…regarding a man wrongfully deported to El Salvodor. The district judge handling this case needs to hold the lawyers in contempt, and then jail them and/or fine them personally until they comply. (The tinpot dictator of El Salvador is now just doing the bidding of the wannabe tinpot dictator of America. No one doubts that…
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Trump’s litany of tyrannical actions…
…so far, but a useful list.
Let us agree to disagree about Dennett. I still maintain that it really does matter that we try to understand…