Jake Charles
@jacobdcharles.bsky.social
Law prof, Pepperdine Law; Affiliated Scholar, Duke Center for Firearms Law. I write about constitutional law, especially the Second Amendment.
Bio: https://t.co/yVUcs14NoK
Papers: http://bit.ly/3HleQND
Bio: https://t.co/yVUcs14NoK
Papers: http://bit.ly/3HleQND
Pinned
Jake Charles
@jacobdcharles.bsky.social
· May 27
🧵 Exciting to have my new Penn Law Review piece on Ancillary Rights published! Many thanks to lots of people for feedback & criticism, esp. @danielrice.bsky.social for helping organize my thoughts.
The piece unpacks how & when rights extend to related conduct--
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
The piece unpacks how & when rights extend to related conduct--
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
True true - SCOTUS will just follow the plain text, applying what it has called the Second Amendment’s “unqualified command” without fear or favor.
I know where this is going
SCOTUS using this as vehicle to enact 2A right to machine gun possession
SCOTUS using this as vehicle to enact 2A right to machine gun possession
So much that's dumbfounding about this morning's news about abducting a foreign president but I'm focused on charging them with both Possession of Machineguns and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns.
x.com/i/status/200...
x.com/i/status/200...
January 3, 2026 at 5:25 PM
True true - SCOTUS will just follow the plain text, applying what it has called the Second Amendment’s “unqualified command” without fear or favor.
Two other noteworthy aspects that I didn't highlight in the thread: the majority spends a lot of time arguing that (1) this case is a "straightforward" kind that doesn't require use of analogies & (2) this fact pattern calls for a low level of generality in comparing the past. Both are wrong.
NEW: Creating a circuit split, a 9th Cir panel decrees that CA's ban on openly carrying firearms violates the Second Amendment.
The 2-1 panel decision is written by Trump-appointee Judge VanDyke, possibly the most extreme federal circuit judge in 2A cases.
fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldoc...
The 2-1 panel decision is written by Trump-appointee Judge VanDyke, possibly the most extreme federal circuit judge in 2A cases.
fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldoc...
January 3, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Two other noteworthy aspects that I didn't highlight in the thread: the majority spends a lot of time arguing that (1) this case is a "straightforward" kind that doesn't require use of analogies & (2) this fact pattern calls for a low level of generality in comparing the past. Both are wrong.
NEW: Creating a circuit split, a 9th Cir panel decrees that CA's ban on openly carrying firearms violates the Second Amendment.
The 2-1 panel decision is written by Trump-appointee Judge VanDyke, possibly the most extreme federal circuit judge in 2A cases.
fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldoc...
The 2-1 panel decision is written by Trump-appointee Judge VanDyke, possibly the most extreme federal circuit judge in 2A cases.
fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldoc...
January 2, 2026 at 11:34 PM
NEW: Creating a circuit split, a 9th Cir panel decrees that CA's ban on openly carrying firearms violates the Second Amendment.
The 2-1 panel decision is written by Trump-appointee Judge VanDyke, possibly the most extreme federal circuit judge in 2A cases.
fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldoc...
The 2-1 panel decision is written by Trump-appointee Judge VanDyke, possibly the most extreme federal circuit judge in 2A cases.
fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldoc...
Reposted by Jake Charles
Cover reveal. It's about how & why colonies/states controlled international & domestic migration until 1888, why in the late 19th c the feds took over, & what it was like for politically disfavored groups to live under that arrangement of power. You can't understand voluntary migration history 1/
January 2, 2026 at 1:01 PM
Cover reveal. It's about how & why colonies/states controlled international & domestic migration until 1888, why in the late 19th c the feds took over, & what it was like for politically disfavored groups to live under that arrangement of power. You can't understand voluntary migration history 1/
So far as I know, Ilan Wurman does not have a Bluesky account & I no longer have an X account, so I find it funny to think we both have friends sending us the posts talking about one another.
I don’t know him personally, but I sort of find it silly to deny his original post was framed - as one
I don’t know him personally, but I sort of find it silly to deny his original post was framed - as one
December 30, 2025 at 11:11 PM
So far as I know, Ilan Wurman does not have a Bluesky account & I no longer have an X account, so I find it funny to think we both have friends sending us the posts talking about one another.
I don’t know him personally, but I sort of find it silly to deny his original post was framed - as one
I don’t know him personally, but I sort of find it silly to deny his original post was framed - as one
Reposted by Jake Charles
This is con artist constitutionalism. One weird trick they don’t want you to know about. As if no one until now has ever considered whether Congress can fund highways
I regret to inform you there’s a new post telling us we’re rubes who’ve missed the obvious & clear meaning of the Const’n for a century.
This is the type of post you make when your goal is to juice engagement from those who want nothing more than to be told their policy goals are const’l commands.
This is the type of post you make when your goal is to juice engagement from those who want nothing more than to be told their policy goals are const’l commands.
December 30, 2025 at 2:51 PM
This is con artist constitutionalism. One weird trick they don’t want you to know about. As if no one until now has ever considered whether Congress can fund highways
I regret to inform you there’s a new post telling us we’re rubes who’ve missed the obvious & clear meaning of the Const’n for a century.
This is the type of post you make when your goal is to juice engagement from those who want nothing more than to be told their policy goals are const’l commands.
This is the type of post you make when your goal is to juice engagement from those who want nothing more than to be told their policy goals are const’l commands.
December 30, 2025 at 3:26 AM
I regret to inform you there’s a new post telling us we’re rubes who’ve missed the obvious & clear meaning of the Const’n for a century.
This is the type of post you make when your goal is to juice engagement from those who want nothing more than to be told their policy goals are const’l commands.
This is the type of post you make when your goal is to juice engagement from those who want nothing more than to be told their policy goals are const’l commands.
Saw Mike Lee’s execrable proposal a few days ago—it’s bad.
Sadly in line w/ the increasing momentum to expand private actors’ privilege to use violence. Darrell Miller & I wrote about this regrettable right-wing movement that we called “the new outlawry”
www.columbialawreview.org/content/the-...
Sadly in line w/ the increasing momentum to expand private actors’ privilege to use violence. Darrell Miller & I wrote about this regrettable right-wing movement that we called “the new outlawry”
www.columbialawreview.org/content/the-...
December 29, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Saw Mike Lee’s execrable proposal a few days ago—it’s bad.
Sadly in line w/ the increasing momentum to expand private actors’ privilege to use violence. Darrell Miller & I wrote about this regrettable right-wing movement that we called “the new outlawry”
www.columbialawreview.org/content/the-...
Sadly in line w/ the increasing momentum to expand private actors’ privilege to use violence. Darrell Miller & I wrote about this regrettable right-wing movement that we called “the new outlawry”
www.columbialawreview.org/content/the-...
This really is the culmination of the unitary executive theory — the entire cabinet must profess servile fealty to the personality of one man & forswear any notion that their office entails responsibilities to the American people or concern for the public good beyond servicing his whims
Ladies and gentlemen, the head of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division
December 29, 2025 at 3:51 PM
This really is the culmination of the unitary executive theory — the entire cabinet must profess servile fealty to the personality of one man & forswear any notion that their office entails responsibilities to the American people or concern for the public good beyond servicing his whims
It’s an interesting portrait of a whole other world. Gambling with gobsmacking sums of money. I especially like this statement, suggesting that a poker game for $26k would just be like meaningless couch change.
December 28, 2025 at 5:09 PM
It’s an interesting portrait of a whole other world. Gambling with gobsmacking sums of money. I especially like this statement, suggesting that a poker game for $26k would just be like meaningless couch change.
Just FYI if you’re a lawyer, taking on a representation like this probably violates your state’s ethics rules.
Corruption so pungent, it wafts right off the page:
Lobbyists who do pardon deals “say their going rate is $1 million. Pardon-seekers have offered some lobbyists close to the president success fees of as much as $6 million if they can close the deal.”
Gift link www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Lobbyists who do pardon deals “say their going rate is $1 million. Pardon-seekers have offered some lobbyists close to the president success fees of as much as $6 million if they can close the deal.”
Gift link www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Inside the New Fast Track to a Presidential Pardon
Even some of the president’s closest advisers have been surprised by a number of the recent series of pardons.
www.wsj.com
December 28, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Just FYI if you’re a lawyer, taking on a representation like this probably violates your state’s ethics rules.
Back to back in my feed. One abt younger generations literally losing brainpower by outsourcing thinking to AI & the other abt an older generation keeping their brains young by engaging in new learning. Hard to think of a greater gulf—really seems like the defining choice humans face abt the future.
December 26, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Back to back in my feed. One abt younger generations literally losing brainpower by outsourcing thinking to AI & the other abt an older generation keeping their brains young by engaging in new learning. Hard to think of a greater gulf—really seems like the defining choice humans face abt the future.
Judging by my stocking stuffer, Santa knows me well 🎅🎄
December 25, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Judging by my stocking stuffer, Santa knows me well 🎅🎄
Reposted by Jake Charles
fascinating new birthright citizenship research from Amanda Frost and Emily Eason — in a reconstruction period rife with eligibility challenges, nobody challenged 12 members of Congress who would fail Trump’s citizenship clause test
Paper here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Paper here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
December 24, 2025 at 3:02 AM
fascinating new birthright citizenship research from Amanda Frost and Emily Eason — in a reconstruction period rife with eligibility challenges, nobody challenged 12 members of Congress who would fail Trump’s citizenship clause test
Paper here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Paper here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Assembling one of my daughter’s big Christmas gifts & it took me about 20 minutes just to get all the pieces fully out of the box and unwrapped, so I’m preparing for this to be an all day project now. It’s that season 🌲 🌲 🌲
December 20, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Assembling one of my daughter’s big Christmas gifts & it took me about 20 minutes just to get all the pieces fully out of the box and unwrapped, so I’m preparing for this to be an all day project now. It’s that season 🌲 🌲 🌲
Grateful for the work of Gibson lawyers in helping to craft & filing our amicus brief in U.S. v. Hemani on behalf of 2nd Am scholars.
We argue that history shows legislatures had wide latitude to make categorical determinations that deserve judicial respect.
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24...
We argue that history shows legislatures had wide latitude to make categorical determinations that deserve judicial respect.
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24...
December 19, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Grateful for the work of Gibson lawyers in helping to craft & filing our amicus brief in U.S. v. Hemani on behalf of 2nd Am scholars.
We argue that history shows legislatures had wide latitude to make categorical determinations that deserve judicial respect.
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24...
We argue that history shows legislatures had wide latitude to make categorical determinations that deserve judicial respect.
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24...
I cannot imagine being even remotely familiar with universities & thinking—let alone writing under my own name!—that they are “among the places in the U.S. *most* hostile to disagreement and debate.” & @donmoyn.bsky.social is right, to say they bear chief blame for fomenting violence is bananas.
Yeah, here is the thing: Bari Weiss is fine with conspiracy theories that target her enemies. The biggest causes of political violence in America? Universities, which operate like madrassas.
That’s a conspiracy theory dressed up as respectable middle-of-the-road punditocracy. That’s what it is.
That’s a conspiracy theory dressed up as respectable middle-of-the-road punditocracy. That’s what it is.
December 19, 2025 at 3:50 AM
I cannot imagine being even remotely familiar with universities & thinking—let alone writing under my own name!—that they are “among the places in the U.S. *most* hostile to disagreement and debate.” & @donmoyn.bsky.social is right, to say they bear chief blame for fomenting violence is bananas.
Reposted by Jake Charles
My forthcoming book—
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.
Cover will be added soon.
The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.
Cover will be added soon.
The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery
The King's Slaves
A provocative account of how empire and absolutism institutionalized slavery in America
press.princeton.edu
December 18, 2025 at 11:14 PM
My forthcoming book—
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.
Cover will be added soon.
The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.
Cover will be added soon.
The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery
Check out the @scotusblog.com post from my brilliant colleague @joeljohnson13.bsky.social on the upcoming 2nd Am case! Altho the Court could clarify the statute (& vagueness doctrine), I think there's real need for SCOTUS to clarify (ahem, vague) 2nd Am doctrine.
www.scotusblog.com/2025/12/an-o...
www.scotusblog.com/2025/12/an-o...
An off-ramp for the court’s next big gun case
Please note that SCOTUS Outside Opinions constitute the views of outside contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SCOTUSblog or its staff. Last year, federal prosecutors obtained a ...
www.scotusblog.com
December 18, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Check out the @scotusblog.com post from my brilliant colleague @joeljohnson13.bsky.social on the upcoming 2nd Am case! Altho the Court could clarify the statute (& vagueness doctrine), I think there's real need for SCOTUS to clarify (ahem, vague) 2nd Am doctrine.
www.scotusblog.com/2025/12/an-o...
www.scotusblog.com/2025/12/an-o...
Reposted by Jake Charles
Trump marijuana EO is a big deal and, like all EOs, raises questions about "what's next" and "what has actually changed"? Here are some quick bullets about my understanding of where we are and where we are going.
December 18, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Trump marijuana EO is a big deal and, like all EOs, raises questions about "what's next" and "what has actually changed"? Here are some quick bullets about my understanding of where we are and where we are going.
Reposted by Jake Charles
Duuuuuuuuumb
Sorry for not offering better analysis
Sorry for not offering better analysis
In a first, many top law firms this year are recruiting summer associates during students' first semester. Some are dangling ‘jumbo offers’ and ‘loyalty’ bonuses for students who do two summer stints back-to-back, keeping them out of other firms' reach reut.rs/44U44cD
December 18, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Duuuuuuuuumb
Sorry for not offering better analysis
Sorry for not offering better analysis
Wonder if/how this might impact the case pending right now at the Supreme Court, in which the administration is defending the federal law barring marijuana users from owning guns against Second Amendment challenge.
BREAKING: Trump signs order to ease marijuana restrictions
Trump just ordered the biggest federal shift on marijuana in decades. Here's what changes.
It won't legalize weed, but it could reshape the industry.
trib.al
December 18, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Wonder if/how this might impact the case pending right now at the Supreme Court, in which the administration is defending the federal law barring marijuana users from owning guns against Second Amendment challenge.
Jurisprudence nerds - bat signal, bat signal!
If the people who control the website backend/ticketing etc change the name of the center, but the law says that's not the name of the center, what's its name?
It almost goes without saying, but this is illegal. The name "John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts" is established by law and the board doesn't have the power to change it. 20 USC 3 §§ 76h - 76s.
December 18, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Jurisprudence nerds - bat signal, bat signal!
Reposted by Jake Charles
The BEST part, though, is Judge Ho concurring in his own opinion to insist they had it right in Rahimi the first time, before the Supreme Court reversed. Judge Ho can’t fail; he can only be failed.
He quotes academics skewering that old decision to show it was right under Bruen 🙄
He quotes academics skewering that old decision to show it was right under Bruen 🙄
December 18, 2025 at 2:38 PM
The BEST part, though, is Judge Ho concurring in his own opinion to insist they had it right in Rahimi the first time, before the Supreme Court reversed. Judge Ho can’t fail; he can only be failed.
He quotes academics skewering that old decision to show it was right under Bruen 🙄
He quotes academics skewering that old decision to show it was right under Bruen 🙄
NEW: The 5th Cir holds that it violates the 2nd Am to permanently disarm someone who only has a conviction for failure to pay child support.
Judge Ho continues the silliness of suggesting that “hoplophobia” & not the desire to save lives drives gun policy 🙄
www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...
Judge Ho continues the silliness of suggesting that “hoplophobia” & not the desire to save lives drives gun policy 🙄
www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...
December 18, 2025 at 2:22 PM
NEW: The 5th Cir holds that it violates the 2nd Am to permanently disarm someone who only has a conviction for failure to pay child support.
Judge Ho continues the silliness of suggesting that “hoplophobia” & not the desire to save lives drives gun policy 🙄
www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...
Judge Ho continues the silliness of suggesting that “hoplophobia” & not the desire to save lives drives gun policy 🙄
www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...