Eric Eisner
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ericjeisner.bsky.social
Eric Eisner
@ericjeisner.bsky.social
History PhD student at Johns Hopkins. Studied law at Yale. Non-practicing rootless cosmopolitan.
Reposted by Eric Eisner
This makes me think of a really interesting recent article by @ericjeisner.bsky.social about the pressure in southern legal systems to permit testimony from Black witnesses, because it was often helpful to white litigants and the white community.

www.cambridge.org/core/service...
August 29, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by Eric Eisner
As @ericjeisner.bsky.social and I explain here, the Constitution is only as strong as the people who breathe life into its words. That's why John Tyler could get away with an unconstitutional claim to be president—an error that has stuck. If we don't stand up for the Constitution, it quickly erodes.
The Constitution Does Not Speak for Itself
In 1841, John Tyler said he was the president. The Constitution said he wasn’t. What happened next?
www.hnn.us
April 1, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Eric Eisner
Often, the media treat the Constitution as an inviolable, external limit on political life. There is no need to take seriously Trump’s musings about a 3rd term, they assume. The Constitution forbids it. The Constitution forbid Tyler from claiming the presidency, too. www.hnn.us/article/the-...
The Constitution Does Not Speak for Itself
In 1841, John Tyler said he was the president. The Constitution said he wasn’t. What happened next?
www.hnn.us
April 1, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Eric Eisner
🗃️ Read @ericjeisner.bsky.social and @dfroomkin.bsky.social on John Tyler and how “the Constitution is only as strong as the people who breathe life into its words.” www.hnn.us/article/the-...
The Constitution Does Not Speak for Itself
In 1841, John Tyler said he was the president. The Constitution said he wasn’t. What happened next?
www.hnn.us
April 1, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Reposted by Eric Eisner
Check out Part III for why even the cynical anti-democratic textual argument doesn’t hold up on its own terms — with thanks to @dfroomkin.bsky.social and @ericeisner.bsky.social

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Officers
The Constitution speaks of “Officers,” “Officers of the United States,” and “Offices under [the Authority of] the United States.” Some scholars equate “Officers
papers.ssrn.com
March 31, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by Eric Eisner
Now in a reputable news outlet.

If you want careful legal analysis for why this wordsmithing fails on its own terms, see @dfroomkin.bsky.social and @ericeisner.bsky.social’s great article on Officers (link below). But don’t let these conmen piss on your leg and tell you it’s raining.
March 31, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Reposted by Eric Eisner
As @ericjeisner.bsky.social and I have argued, the word “election” in the Constitution does not refer exclusively to a popular election. That's why the pre-Seventeenth Amendment Constitution could understand the selection of Senators by state legislatures as an “election.”
papers.ssrn.com
March 31, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by Eric Eisner
The idea that there is a "loophole" in the Twenty-second Amendment, such that someone can serve a third term as President without being "elected," is wrong. The argument misunderstands how the Constitution uses the word "election." The word "election" just means the selection of an official.
papers.ssrn.com
March 31, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by Eric Eisner
We are going to need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to sort out the wreckage of the Trump administration.
Hundreds of asylum seekers from around the globe are being trapped by the US in a Panama hotel where they'll eventually be sent to a camp in the jungle.

One Chinese man said “I thought: America is a free country with respect for human rights. I had no idea it was like a dictatorship.”
February 18, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Reposted by Eric Eisner
Just posted: "The Substitution Clause," in which @ericjeisner.bsky.social and I argue that the Constitution's so-called Succession Clause is known by a misnomer. An officer performing the duties of an incapacitated President only acts as President; she does not become President. Comments welcome!
The Substitution Clause <br>
<div> There appears to be little controversy around counting John Tyler as the tenth President of the United States. When Tyler first claimed this title after
papers.ssrn.com
January 17, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Eric Eisner
I was going to wait to share my latest until it had passed through SSRN moderation, but apparently it is already getting downloads. In this paper, @ericjeisner.bsky.social and I investigate the overarching structure of the Constitution's officer/office provisions. papers.ssrn.com/abstract=502...
November 23, 2024 at 7:28 PM