Bethany Berger
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bethanyberger.bsky.social
Bethany Berger
@bethanyberger.bsky.social
570 followers 140 following 76 posts
Law Prof writing & teaching about Property, American Indian Law & Legal History at Iowa Law.
All statements & opinions are my own and not those of the University of Iowa.
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bethanyberger.bsky.social
Bethany Berger @bethanyberger.bsky.social · Apr 19
Trump & his lawyers rely on the 14th Amendment's treatment of Native people to redefine birthright citizenship. In our Essay coming out in the NYU Law Review Online, Greg Ablavsky & I show how wrong that argument is. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Subject to the Jurisdiction Thereof: The Indian Law Context
<p><span>Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are
papers.ssrn.com
Reposted by Bethany Berger
tommybennett.com
Fascinating takings clause petition granted today by the Supreme Court. No amicus briefs, no relists, counsel without any SCOTUS arguments to date, interesting issue. www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...
October 3, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
jazzreads.bsky.social
So exhausting..
September 28, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
monikaehrman.bsky.social
🌱 Native Nations in the Energy Transition
Join us Oct 2, 2025 | 2–5 pm ET at GW Law (DC) or online
💡Engage with Tribal energy & resource experts
💡Learn how to support Tribes
Hosted by @rff.org #SMU @uarizona.bsky.social
Thanks to @sloanfoundation.bsky.social
🔗 Register: www.rff.org/events/all-e...
September 23, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
heidikitrosser.bsky.social
Promises made, promises delivered! www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Screenshot of the top of an executive order dated January 20, 2025, entitled: "restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship"
September 17, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
heidikitrosser.bsky.social
Really enjoying this free speech presidency.
September 17, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
omrimarian.bsky.social
Today in the @jewishinsider.com: A person who blamed "Jewish dollars" for funding "Marxist culture" and decried Jewish control of Hollywood, nonprofits, and the media, to be remembered as bulwark against antisemitism.
September 12, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
annabower.bsky.social
As grim as this story may be, there's still much to be inspired by.

Look no further than this attorney for the children, who rushed to the airport to stop the planes. She stood near the tarmac, warning any officials she saw that they’d be complicit in violating a court order if the planes took off.
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-judicial-learning-curve Armed with Judge Sooknanan's restraining order, Flores arrived at the airport to search for A.R.M.D. and others. On the tarmac, she saw two ICE transport planes, their doors sealed shut. Nearby, she spotted a building and knocked on the door. Through the glass, she could see officers seated inside. Eventually, a young man answered the door. Flores explained that she had clients on one of the planes and a court order to stop it from leaving. While the young man disappeared inside the building to find his supervisor, Flores waited next to the door. She told anyone who entered or exited the building that they "were all complicit in violating a federal court order" if the plane left with her clients aboard. Eventually, when the young man returned, he told Flores that his supervisor was trying to contact ICE. But as Flores again tried to explain that she had a court order, another official stepped outside and "physically pulled the young man back into the building." Through the glass, she saw staff members "jeering and laughing." She repeated her earlier warning: If the plane carrying her clients took off, they were "all complicit in the violation of the judge's order."
September 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM
bethanyberger.bsky.social
Gorgeous post-sunset walk yesterday in Iowa City. On Iowa River, with UIowa’s Hancher Auditorium in the background. #SundaySunset
Dramatic post sunset clouds reflecting in Iowa River, with Hancher Auditorium in background
September 7, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
msmith750.bsky.social
Law school faculty entrance and parking lot evening wildlife thread. A single night's photos.

We begin with one of our regular visitors
Skunk running next to faculty and staff entrance sign.
September 3, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
llarisah.bsky.social
o noe the tiny dinosaurs are going to eat the car!
burrowingowl.bsky.social Wendy Miller @burrowingowl.bsky.social · Aug 30
Good morning from the burrowing owls!
August 30, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
burrowingowl.bsky.social
Mood.
Very obese round-tailed ground squirrel sitting on his haunches with his arms folded across his chest.
August 30, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
extinctmonsters.bsky.social
After the Age of Dinosaurs is open this week! Here’s a 🧵 about our weird, trippy show about the weird, trippy recovery period after the end-Cretaceous extinction.
Minimalist Coryphodon model on a pedestal with embedded replicas of skull and femur. Various illuminated mammals on the wall and a Diatryma skeleton in the background. Tree-shaped cut-out flats and overhead canopy cast forest-y shadows on the ground in museum gallery. Sign reads "A Thriving World" in front of green-hued museum gallery. Distant mural shows a lakeside group of animals. Illuminated illustration of bright green Titanoboa at life size.
August 27, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
ilyasomin.bsky.social
My thoughts on important new @pewresearch.org report on "How States and Cities Decimated Americans' Lowest-Cost Housing Option": reason.com/volokh/2025/...
New Pew Research Center Report on "How States and Cities Decimated Americans’ Lowest-Cost Housing Option"
They have done so banning or severely restricting low-cost "single-room occupancy" (SRO) housing.
reason.com
August 29, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
sbagen.bsky.social
I guess everybody['s political career] dies. thehill.com/homenews/cam...
thehill.com
August 29, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
design-law.bsky.social
"Plaintiff must address whether the constant filing of lawsuits to protect Grumpy Cat exceeds the value of the Grumpy Cat trademark itself, and thus whether it is a prudent use of societal resources." 👀
design-law.bsky.social Sarah Fackrell @design-law.bsky.social · Aug 29
Also from the Grumpy Cat case (right before the TRO):
MINUTE entry before the Honorable Steven C. Seeger: Plaintiff's motion for leave to file excess pages (Dckt. No. 14 ) is hereby granted. Plaintiff's motion for leave to file under seal (Dckt. No. 6 ) is granted. Plaintiff's motion for a temporary restraining order (Dckt. No. 15 ) is hereby granted in part. Temporary Restraining Order to follow. Plaintiff must effectuate service of process by October 7, 2022. Responses to the complaint are due by October 21, 2022. Motions for default and default judgment are due by October 24, 2022. Responses are due by October 27, 2022. The Court forewarns Plaintiff that it is not inclined to grant any extensions, including any extensions of the TRO, so Plaintiff must be prepared to comply. A failure to comply will lead to dismissal. The Court denies the request for an asset freeze because the Court sees no realistic likelihood that Plaintiff will seek an accounting of profits or comparable equitable relief, as opposed to statutory damages. By October 13, 2022, Plaintiff must file a list of all Schedule A cases filed by Grumpy Cat in the last five years. The spreadsheet must list each case name, case number, and date of filing. In that filing, Plaintiff must address whether the constant filing of lawsuits to protect Grumpy Cat exceeds the value of the Grumpy Cat trademark itself, and thus whether it is a prudent use of societal resources. Mailed notice. (jjr, ) (Entered: 10/04/2022)
August 29, 2025 at 5:43 PM
bethanyberger.bsky.social
74 years ago today, Iowa (mostly) united to fight racism against a Native veteran. I wrote about it here www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinio...
Sergeant John Rice in his uniform
August 29, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
taniel.bsky.social
More retirement news: Conservative Wisconsin justice Rebecca Bradley will NOT seek reelection next spring.

Liberals (as you all know now) have a 4-3 majority on this high-stakes supreme court. This is their shot to go up 5-2, in April.
August 29, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
annabower.bsky.social
I think this is the first time I’ve heard a federal judge say “Huzzah!” during a hearing

I like it. I’m pro-“huzzah!”
annabower.bsky.social Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · Aug 15
Before turning it over to the parties, Judge Reyes says:

Can we all agree that I'm fortunate enough to be the first person to rule on that section of the Home Rule Act? Huzzah!
August 16, 2025 at 4:03 PM
bethanyberger.bsky.social
If anyone wants cool-funny-political shirts, my BIL made this awesome store for his designs. His actual day job is as a musician (@gangstagrass.bsky.social) & he only gets a few dollars from these but I wanted to share bc they're really nice shirts. advanced-entropy-labs.dashery.com/products/756...
But I Liked Due Process by Advanced Entropy Labs
This pug misses Due Process
advanced-entropy-labs.dashery.com
August 16, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
annabower.bsky.social
COMING UP: Judge Charles Breyer is set to preside over a bench trial in Newsom v. Trump

The suit, brought by Governor Gavin Newsom, challenges Trump’s use of federal military forces to enforce immigration in California.

I plan to live-post for @lawfaremedia.org.

Follow along ⬇️🧵
Northern District for California District Court seal, featuring an eagle
August 11, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
rgoodlaw.bsky.social
3/ "A member of the public, appreciating that the Maxwell grand jury materials do not contribute anything to public knowledge, might conclude that the Government’s motion for their unsealing was aimed not at 'transparency' but at diversion—aimed not at full disclosure but at the illusion of such."
August 11, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
mjsdc.bsky.social
This week on Amicus: A fascinating conversation about the meaning of the Constitution as understood by Native nations in 1789—and whether squeezing their perspectives into an “originalist” framework risks legitimizing the government-led atrocities that followed. slate.com/podcasts/ami...
Conservative Judges Love to Tell a Certain Story About American History. It’s Dead Wrong.
The glaring omissions in originalists’ version of the country’s founding document.
slate.com
August 9, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
mayasen.bsky.social
If you were a bad foreign actor trying to destroy the long-standing institutions that make America a world leader, stirring deep racial resentment and conspiracy theories about universities be smart
August 11, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Reposted by Bethany Berger
evanbernick.bsky.social
ok one more beat on the Vance speech because this is just beyond anything.

“I visited the construction site for a presidential library dedicated to a rabid colonizer and we got lucky enough to see a buffalo and aren’t settlers great for creating civilization”
Yesterday, I visited the construction site for the Teddy Roosevelt presidential library. We went hiking in the badlands of North Dakota. My five-year-old so desperately wanted to see a buffalo, and he saw a dozen of them. My eight- year-old spotted a bald eagle perched on a low cliff. And my three-year-old brought me a dandelion. Her little lungs weren't strong enough to send the dandelion seeds over the hillside, and so she asked me to do it. Watching her face light up as she watched those seeds blow over the hills, I felt a profond sense of gratitude for this country. For its natural beauty, the settlers who carved a civilization out of the wilderness.
August 10, 2025 at 9:07 PM