Chad Oldfather
@oldfatherc.bsky.social
Marquette lawprof / State & fed con law, judicial process / Deeply Minnesotan / Out now: Judges, Judging, & Judgment (Cambridge U Press 2025) / Next: Glacial Morainebilly Elegy (placeholder title / about growing up rural in Tim Walz’s neck of the woods)
Pinned
Chad Oldfather
@oldfatherc.bsky.social
· Dec 15
Just a heads up that I plan to be annoying as hell when my book is published. At least if you’re following along closely.
(Have I mentioned that it’s available for preorder?)
(Have I mentioned that it’s available for preorder?)
Last night, elsewhere in Milwaukee, my wife & I showed up at a restaurant without a reservation. They took our number, said they’d call when a table became available.
No trouble, because the only question was whether we’d have to cross a street to find a place just like these.
We did not.
No trouble, because the only question was whether we’d have to cross a street to find a place just like these.
We did not.
These kinds of human scale, mixed-use Midwest dive bars are illegal to open and operate in most American neighborhoods.
February 2, 2026 at 3:35 AM
Last night, elsewhere in Milwaukee, my wife & I showed up at a restaurant without a reservation. They took our number, said they’d call when a table became available.
No trouble, because the only question was whether we’d have to cross a street to find a place just like these.
We did not.
No trouble, because the only question was whether we’d have to cross a street to find a place just like these.
We did not.
Shoutout to finding new music in the late 80s.
February 2, 2026 at 3:16 AM
Shoutout to finding new music in the late 80s.
Reposted by Chad Oldfather
To learn more about states’ powers in this moment, check out our checks on federal overreach pieces, including on state prosecutions of federal officials and on DOJ’s efforts to access state voter rolls (which Bondi raised in her MN letter yesterday) statedemocracy.law.wisc.edu/research-exp...
Exploring State Checks Against Federal Overreach
Published: August 8, 2025 Updated: January 21, 2026 States have many tools to help counter federal abuses of power. Facing a torrent of controversial federal government actions, states today are pursu...
statedemocracy.law.wisc.edu
January 25, 2026 at 7:16 PM
To learn more about states’ powers in this moment, check out our checks on federal overreach pieces, including on state prosecutions of federal officials and on DOJ’s efforts to access state voter rolls (which Bondi raised in her MN letter yesterday) statedemocracy.law.wisc.edu/research-exp...
Reposted by Chad Oldfather
Jesus Christ.
Multiple goons had a man on the ground but that wasn't enough brutality for them. One had to pull his gun and shoot someone who was prone on the sidewalk.
They're going to tell us the agent feared for his life and was justified.
Multiple goons had a man on the ground but that wasn't enough brutality for them. One had to pull his gun and shoot someone who was prone on the sidewalk.
They're going to tell us the agent feared for his life and was justified.
January 24, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Jesus Christ.
Multiple goons had a man on the ground but that wasn't enough brutality for them. One had to pull his gun and shoot someone who was prone on the sidewalk.
They're going to tell us the agent feared for his life and was justified.
Multiple goons had a man on the ground but that wasn't enough brutality for them. One had to pull his gun and shoot someone who was prone on the sidewalk.
They're going to tell us the agent feared for his life and was justified.
Reposted by Chad Oldfather
@nytimes.com look at what a *news*paper looks like
Tomorrow's front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 24, 2026
January 24, 2026 at 3:15 AM
@nytimes.com look at what a *news*paper looks like
My first year as a prof I wanted to really emphasize a point so I stood on a table in the front of the room as I made it.
A couple years later an about-to-graduate student in that class told me that he didn’t remember the point I was making but he definitely remembered me standing on the table.
A couple years later an about-to-graduate student in that class told me that he didn’t remember the point I was making but he definitely remembered me standing on the table.
sometimes I think about how a professor once said to never put an Xbox in a poem to make sure the poem can be understood by readers in the future and how twenty five years later I remember what he said bc he mentioned an Xbox but I can’t remember his name
January 22, 2026 at 3:21 PM
My first year as a prof I wanted to really emphasize a point so I stood on a table in the front of the room as I made it.
A couple years later an about-to-graduate student in that class told me that he didn’t remember the point I was making but he definitely remembered me standing on the table.
A couple years later an about-to-graduate student in that class told me that he didn’t remember the point I was making but he definitely remembered me standing on the table.
Reposted by Chad Oldfather
I think this is related to my sense that law professors spend way too much time trying to change the world and way too little time trying to understand it.
January 21, 2026 at 6:20 PM
I think this is related to my sense that law professors spend way too much time trying to change the world and way too little time trying to understand it.
I generally agree with this, but I also wonder how much of a convention it actually is. I'd guess that maybe 30-40% of my articles have had a "Part IV" in this sense, and that most or all of my most-cited pieces don't (and to the extent they do, that's not what they're cited for).
Today, @jocelynsimonson.bsky.social and @ksabeelrahman.bsky.social challenge the idea that law review articles should conclude with a set of actionable prescriptions.
This convention, they argue, constrains ambition, sidelines critique, and conflates near-term feasibility with rigor.
This convention, they argue, constrains ambition, sidelines critique, and conflates near-term feasibility with rigor.
Beyond Feasibility in Legal Scholarship
Law review articles are expected to conclude with a short section, often “Part IV,” that translates analysis into actionable prescriptions. Though well-intentioned, this convention constrains ambition...
lpeproject.org
January 21, 2026 at 4:50 PM
I generally agree with this, but I also wonder how much of a convention it actually is. I'd guess that maybe 30-40% of my articles have had a "Part IV" in this sense, and that most or all of my most-cited pieces don't (and to the extent they do, that's not what they're cited for).
Reposted by Chad Oldfather
An Originalist Case for the Hostile Takeover of Venezuela:
1. Hostile takeovers are a thing. From time immemorial.
2. Art II does not prohibit hostile takeovers of foreign countries.
3. Hostile takeovers have an "executive power" vibe.
4. Art II implies presidents have a hostile takeover power.
1. Hostile takeovers are a thing. From time immemorial.
2. Art II does not prohibit hostile takeovers of foreign countries.
3. Hostile takeovers have an "executive power" vibe.
4. Art II implies presidents have a hostile takeover power.
January 7, 2026 at 9:37 PM
An Originalist Case for the Hostile Takeover of Venezuela:
1. Hostile takeovers are a thing. From time immemorial.
2. Art II does not prohibit hostile takeovers of foreign countries.
3. Hostile takeovers have an "executive power" vibe.
4. Art II implies presidents have a hostile takeover power.
1. Hostile takeovers are a thing. From time immemorial.
2. Art II does not prohibit hostile takeovers of foreign countries.
3. Hostile takeovers have an "executive power" vibe.
4. Art II implies presidents have a hostile takeover power.
The entire thread is worth your time. The portion around and including this post gets at a point I tried to make in my book - the less common ground within the profession about what the rule of law entails, the less likely we are to be able to sustain the rule of law.
That's why I don't like the rise of two separate legal-ideological bubbles. If conservatives only talk to other conservatives, and feel no need to take seriously any arguments on the other side—things go badly. And we're a way down that slippery slope.
January 7, 2026 at 8:49 PM
The entire thread is worth your time. The portion around and including this post gets at a point I tried to make in my book - the less common ground within the profession about what the rule of law entails, the less likely we are to be able to sustain the rule of law.
Yikes
From an email to one of our faculty members....
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
January 6, 2026 at 9:35 PM
Yikes
I wanted to see if it had ever been used elsewhere, so I googled "insensitive to the nuances of human interaction," which a former colleague once used as a way of describing someone as kind of a dick. (It's also applicable to certain interpretive approaches, imo.)
Google AI took it personally.
Google AI took it personally.
January 4, 2026 at 7:28 PM
I wanted to see if it had ever been used elsewhere, so I googled "insensitive to the nuances of human interaction," which a former colleague once used as a way of describing someone as kind of a dick. (It's also applicable to certain interpretive approaches, imo.)
Google AI took it personally.
Google AI took it personally.
Reposted by Chad Oldfather
This all seems pretty unbecoming of a FIFA Peace Prize winner
January 3, 2026 at 2:42 PM
This all seems pretty unbecoming of a FIFA Peace Prize winner
A 2026 amuse-bouche.
January 2, 2026 at 7:20 PM
A 2026 amuse-bouche.
Hi, I’m Chatterton Falls, Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario.
Hi, I’m semi-truck that spun out guardrail to guardrail at the bottom of a freezing mist-encrusted bridge by Niagara Falls.
January 1, 2026 at 11:32 PM
Hi, I’m Chatterton Falls, Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario.
Reposted by Chad Oldfather
I've just started reading this transcript. I'll do a thread (below this post) of parts that stand out to me as I read. The progress will be sporadic, as we're planning to watch some movies tonight (having a wild New Years over here! 🥳)
BREAKING: The House Judiciary Committee has released Jack Smith's 255-page deposition transcript: judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-su...
December 31, 2025 at 11:21 PM
I've just started reading this transcript. I'll do a thread (below this post) of parts that stand out to me as I read. The progress will be sporadic, as we're planning to watch some movies tonight (having a wild New Years over here! 🥳)
Not as bad as it used to be, but I still absolutely hate the ABC/ESPN assumption that TV viewers really want to hear a snippet of marching band between every play.
January 1, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Not as bad as it used to be, but I still absolutely hate the ABC/ESPN assumption that TV viewers really want to hear a snippet of marching band between every play.
Your mileage may vary, but for me the experience of reading Clifford Geertz is an exercise in mumbling "just spit it out, dude" over and over again.
January 1, 2026 at 4:29 PM
Your mileage may vary, but for me the experience of reading Clifford Geertz is an exercise in mumbling "just spit it out, dude" over and over again.
By my friend/colleague Mike Gousha. Somehow seems relevant this morning.
As described by PBS: “The victories and failures of a unique brand of socialism in Milwaukee reduced corruption, improved conditions for workers and cleaned up the environment between 1910 and 1960.”
As described by PBS: “The victories and failures of a unique brand of socialism in Milwaukee reduced corruption, improved conditions for workers and cleaned up the environment between 1910 and 1960.”
America's Socialist Experiment (Full Documentary)
YouTube video by Bex _
youtu.be
January 1, 2026 at 2:38 PM
By my friend/colleague Mike Gousha. Somehow seems relevant this morning.
As described by PBS: “The victories and failures of a unique brand of socialism in Milwaukee reduced corruption, improved conditions for workers and cleaned up the environment between 1910 and 1960.”
As described by PBS: “The victories and failures of a unique brand of socialism in Milwaukee reduced corruption, improved conditions for workers and cleaned up the environment between 1910 and 1960.”
Reposted by Chad Oldfather
When you get the reputation of being the guy with the encouraging words on New Year's Eve, it can start to come through as a little pressure -- what if the situation on the ground is worse than usual? what if people are more scared than they usually are, and with cause? what use are good vibes then?
December 31, 2025 at 11:21 PM
When you get the reputation of being the guy with the encouraging words on New Year's Eve, it can start to come through as a little pressure -- what if the situation on the ground is worse than usual? what if people are more scared than they usually are, and with cause? what use are good vibes then?
Sometimes students applaud at the end of the semester. Maybe even add a “whoo!”
There’s often an individual note or two of appreciation.
And every now and then one of them gives a little gift that cuts to the core of it all.
If you need me I’ll be over here writing footnotes to Karl, as ever.
There’s often an individual note or two of appreciation.
And every now and then one of them gives a little gift that cuts to the core of it all.
If you need me I’ll be over here writing footnotes to Karl, as ever.
December 30, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Sometimes students applaud at the end of the semester. Maybe even add a “whoo!”
There’s often an individual note or two of appreciation.
And every now and then one of them gives a little gift that cuts to the core of it all.
If you need me I’ll be over here writing footnotes to Karl, as ever.
There’s often an individual note or two of appreciation.
And every now and then one of them gives a little gift that cuts to the core of it all.
If you need me I’ll be over here writing footnotes to Karl, as ever.
Reposted by Chad Oldfather
When and if sane and honest people ever again control the U.S. government, one of the first things they should do is enact a tax on large accumulations of wealth. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/if-the-market-were-working-well-we
December 29, 2025 at 8:01 PM
When and if sane and honest people ever again control the U.S. government, one of the first things they should do is enact a tax on large accumulations of wealth. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/if-the-market-were-working-well-we
“Part of the town myth has held that the town-bred boy was somehow purer in body and spirit, more protected from dark knowledge than his city counterpart. The opposite was true. The city probably knows no vice that was not invented by the country.”
December 26, 2025 at 8:31 PM
“Part of the town myth has held that the town-bred boy was somehow purer in body and spirit, more protected from dark knowledge than his city counterpart. The opposite was true. The city probably knows no vice that was not invented by the country.”
Reposted by Chad Oldfather
It has been a bracing moment for American federalism, with both unprecedented efforts to extend executive control over state and local govts, novel forms of subnational resistance. Where is federalism going? Paul Nolette and I have edited a new issue of Publius on that question. Short thread:
December 26, 2025 at 4:03 PM
It has been a bracing moment for American federalism, with both unprecedented efforts to extend executive control over state and local govts, novel forms of subnational resistance. Where is federalism going? Paul Nolette and I have edited a new issue of Publius on that question. Short thread:
Reposted by Chad Oldfather
Extremely funny to call the pope “holier-than-thou”
December 25, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Extremely funny to call the pope “holier-than-thou”