Of Academic Interest
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New Arkansas Law Dean has offer rescinded…
…after threats from state legislators to cut funding to the school in Fayetteville. Why? The candidate, Professor Emily Suski, had signed an amicus brief on behalf of transgender athletes. Not a good look for Arkansas, and it raises a serious question about who would want the job given this?
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Babies have an innate sense for numbers
Philosophers Jake Beck and Sam Clarke discuss the evidence (with reference to Plato, of course).
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Texas ousts the ABA from any role in lawyer admissions
The Texas Supreme Court will create its own list of accredited law schools whose graduates may practice in the state. Admittedly, Texas has not in recent years been at the forefront of human progress, but in this case, they may be the canary in the coal mine. Perhaps this will encourage the ABA’s Council on…
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“The Lost Generation,” i.e., white guys who couldn’t get jobs they once might have gotten, starting around 2014
Several readers sent this article which clearly describes a real phenomenon, although I’m skeptical 2014 is the relevant start date, although the “Great Awokening” circa 2011 certainly accelerated an existing trend (2014 was also, perhaps not coincidentally, the year the online philosophy profession went crazy). But the article does adduce some striking numbers: White men…
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What we (i.e., University of Chicago Law faculty) are reading
Others may find this longstanding feature of interest.
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AI grades law school exams about as well as human law professors
Here. ADDENDUM: I joked with Professor Schwarcz (Minnnesota), one of the co-authors, that soon AI would be writing exam answers, and AI grading them! He replied, sensibly, as follows: The key difference is that students SHOULD not use AI to craft their exam answers. The purpose of a law school exam is to show their…
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The “academic community”: New York vs. London
Legal philosopher and public law theorist Alon Harel (Hebrew U/Jerusalem), who recently spent several months first in New York City, then in London, shared the following on Facebook and gave me permission to share it here: As I am old and retiring in a few months I can say the truth without fearing the consequences…
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A framework for preserving authorship and trust in the AI era
Philosopher Eli Alshanetsky has been writing about “how we might verify human authorship and accountability in AI-mediated work without shifting the burden onto already overstretched faculty.” A short version of his ideas are available at The Conversation. A longer version is here. Professor Alshanetsky welcomes comments, and intends to reply here. Be sure to at…
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Trump’s authority to issue random tariffs goes to the Supreme Court
Cornell law professor Michael Dorf reviews the issues.
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Are the latest “tariffs” on Canada legal? Of course not
Law professor Paul Horwitz comments.
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Donna Adelson gets life in prison for her role in the murder-for-hire of lawprof Dan Markel
Also convicted was her son, and those who actually killed Professor Markel. His ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, and his ex-father-in-law, Harvey Adelson have not been indicted. Professor Markel was murdered more than 11 years ago.
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It’s not every day that a law professor is on the front page of the NY Times…
…but it’s UVA’s Caleb Nelson’s turn. I don’t bet on his scholarship affecting the super-legislature, but one may hope!
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Illinois sues to enjoin Trump’s military deployment
The complaint.
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On AI and the Nobel Prize in Physics
Philosopher Peter Ludlow comments.
Carlos Alberto Sánchez’s A Sense of Brutality: Philosophy after Narco-Culture (Amherst College Press, 2020) is a finalist for the 2026…