Michael Plaxton
@michaelplaxton.bsky.social
Law professor. Books: Implied Consent & Sexual Assault; Sovereignty, Restraint, & Guidance; The Tenth Justice (w/ Carissima Mathen).
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
Devlin (1966) “The lamp that shows that freedom lives”
Darbyshire (1991) “The lamp that shows that freedom lives - is it worth the candle?”
Lammy (2025) “someone who is good at the economy please help me budget these candles. my state capacity is dying”
Darbyshire (1991) “The lamp that shows that freedom lives - is it worth the candle?”
Lammy (2025) “someone who is good at the economy please help me budget these candles. my state capacity is dying”
Jury trials in England and Wales to be scrapped except for most serious cases on.ft.com/3LY1Ceq
Jury trials in England and Wales to be scrapped except for most serious cases
Proposed changes unlikely to apply for trials of serious offences such as rape and murder
on.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Devlin (1966) “The lamp that shows that freedom lives”
Darbyshire (1991) “The lamp that shows that freedom lives - is it worth the candle?”
Lammy (2025) “someone who is good at the economy please help me budget these candles. my state capacity is dying”
Darbyshire (1991) “The lamp that shows that freedom lives - is it worth the candle?”
Lammy (2025) “someone who is good at the economy please help me budget these candles. my state capacity is dying”
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
Tweet less; research more.
October 5, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Tweet less; research more.
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
Another shot of an avocet in a rainbow, @rspb.bsky.social RSPB Titchwell Marsh @rspbtitchwellsnett.bsky.social , Norfolk, Saturday 13th September. With @richard013.bsky.social #UKBirding
September 21, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Another shot of an avocet in a rainbow, @rspb.bsky.social RSPB Titchwell Marsh @rspbtitchwellsnett.bsky.social , Norfolk, Saturday 13th September. With @richard013.bsky.social #UKBirding
Yes.
Violence only begets violence. Enduring change comes from building solutions, transforming minds, and cultivating what is good, in the human heart and in the world.
September 15, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Yes.
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
Violence only begets violence. Enduring change comes from building solutions, transforming minds, and cultivating what is good, in the human heart and in the world.
September 15, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Violence only begets violence. Enduring change comes from building solutions, transforming minds, and cultivating what is good, in the human heart and in the world.
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
I've been profoundly depressed seeing so many leftists either joke about or celebrate the murder of someone for political speech. Glad to see this political clarity from @benburgis.bsky.social and Meagan Day in @jacobinmag.bsky.social.
jacobin.com/2025/09/char...
jacobin.com/2025/09/char...
September 11, 2025 at 6:43 PM
I've been profoundly depressed seeing so many leftists either joke about or celebrate the murder of someone for political speech. Glad to see this political clarity from @benburgis.bsky.social and Meagan Day in @jacobinmag.bsky.social.
jacobin.com/2025/09/char...
jacobin.com/2025/09/char...
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
‘Standpoint epistemology’ - mostly an excuse to talk about yourself
September 9, 2025 at 12:47 PM
‘Standpoint epistemology’ - mostly an excuse to talk about yourself
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
Fyi, I've gathered together a bunch of recent X posts on defence of person against home intruders on my Substack.
open.substack.com/pub/michaelp...
open.substack.com/pub/michaelp...
A Collection of X posts on Defence of Person in the Context of Home Intruders
I've been posting quite a bit on X about the law of defence of person in the context of home intruders.
open.substack.com
September 3, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Fyi, I've gathered together a bunch of recent X posts on defence of person against home intruders on my Substack.
open.substack.com/pub/michaelp...
open.substack.com/pub/michaelp...
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
So I wrote a thing about the tariff case:
www.wsj.com/opinion/why-...
www.wsj.com/opinion/why-...
Opinion | Why the Supreme Court Could Uphold Trump’s Tariffs
The president’s powers are at their strongest when it comes to foreign policy and national security.
www.wsj.com
September 1, 2025 at 8:43 PM
So I wrote a thing about the tariff case:
www.wsj.com/opinion/why-...
www.wsj.com/opinion/why-...
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
I think there's a huge shift to group schats and other private settings where you don't have to worry about deeply unwell people making your life miserable. To the average young normie, what conceivable incentive is there to post online, publicly, about politics?
And it's funny as Twitter isn't doing great either. Their advertising cpm is now payable in-kind in nutritional supplements and shit coins. Where is everyone? Threads? Signal chats? Sitting in the parlor swirling brandy snifters and playing charades?
August 20, 2025 at 5:28 PM
I think there's a huge shift to group schats and other private settings where you don't have to worry about deeply unwell people making your life miserable. To the average young normie, what conceivable incentive is there to post online, publicly, about politics?
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
And it's funny as Twitter isn't doing great either. Their advertising cpm is now payable in-kind in nutritional supplements and shit coins. Where is everyone? Threads? Signal chats? Sitting in the parlor swirling brandy snifters and playing charades?
August 20, 2025 at 3:45 AM
And it's funny as Twitter isn't doing great either. Their advertising cpm is now payable in-kind in nutritional supplements and shit coins. Where is everyone? Threads? Signal chats? Sitting in the parlor swirling brandy snifters and playing charades?
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
The stats suggest Bluesky is dying. I think it is just too plain crazy on here.
August 20, 2025 at 3:34 AM
The stats suggest Bluesky is dying. I think it is just too plain crazy on here.
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
I am surprised anti-luminosity about philosophical playerhood is not the default position at DailyNous.
July 29, 2025 at 6:35 PM
I am surprised anti-luminosity about philosophical playerhood is not the default position at DailyNous.
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
This opinion article by @hmallick.bsky.social is itself misogynist garbage & an insult to all female criminal defence lawyers.
BTW, does she know the judge is female & a former, very experienced criminal defence lawyer? Why did she spare her?
BTW, does she know the judge is female & a former, very experienced criminal defence lawyer? Why did she spare her?
My column: Why do men accused of sexual crimes so often prefer women lawyers? To hide behind their skirts. Such hearings were always torment for complainants faced with public scorn, extreme cross-examination and vicious misogynists like the late Chris Blatchford www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
Heather Mallick: Why would female lawyers represent men in sexual crimes?
I don’t object to diversity hiring — it has let women, the disabled, and racialized people into workplace once reserved for white men — but you’d think the diverse would
www.thestar.com
July 25, 2025 at 5:49 PM
This opinion article by @hmallick.bsky.social is itself misogynist garbage & an insult to all female criminal defence lawyers.
BTW, does she know the judge is female & a former, very experienced criminal defence lawyer? Why did she spare her?
BTW, does she know the judge is female & a former, very experienced criminal defence lawyer? Why did she spare her?
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
July 25, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
Starting at Harvard College this fall (or know someone who is)?
Want to think through hard moral and political issues?
Look into my first-year seminar on "Abortion in Controversy," Tuesdays, 3-5 pm
stevesachs.com/syllabi/abor...
Want to think through hard moral and political issues?
Look into my first-year seminar on "Abortion in Controversy," Tuesdays, 3-5 pm
stevesachs.com/syllabi/abor...
July 15, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Starting at Harvard College this fall (or know someone who is)?
Want to think through hard moral and political issues?
Look into my first-year seminar on "Abortion in Controversy," Tuesdays, 3-5 pm
stevesachs.com/syllabi/abor...
Want to think through hard moral and political issues?
Look into my first-year seminar on "Abortion in Controversy," Tuesdays, 3-5 pm
stevesachs.com/syllabi/abor...
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
Richard Fallon, In Memoriam, buff.ly/6WxLugJ - A tribute to the great scholar and dear friend.
July 15, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Richard Fallon, In Memoriam, buff.ly/6WxLugJ - A tribute to the great scholar and dear friend.
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
Rarely have I known someone so universally beloved by his colleagues, his students, and his community. May his memory be a blessing.
RIP Dick Fallon. A devastating loss professionally and personally.
July 14, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Rarely have I known someone so universally beloved by his colleagues, his students, and his community. May his memory be a blessing.
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
RIP Dick Fallon. A devastating loss professionally and personally.
July 14, 2025 at 5:00 PM
RIP Dick Fallon. A devastating loss professionally and personally.
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
Product #1 of research leave: new edition of Walkers on Evidence now submitted to the publisher. 600+ pages of all your Scots law evidence needs, such as they may be, coming your way this autumn. www.bloomsburyprofessional.com/uk/walker-an...
Research leave for the first time in a while and the out of office is on.
July 14, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Product #1 of research leave: new edition of Walkers on Evidence now submitted to the publisher. 600+ pages of all your Scots law evidence needs, such as they may be, coming your way this autumn. www.bloomsburyprofessional.com/uk/walker-an...
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
I'm with Liam on this, although of course the delivery is crucial. Read a text in monotone for one hour=students lost, and rightly so. But if you transform a lecture into theatre and -dare I say- you also leave space for improvisation, you can be relatively sure the content of that class will stick
Thing I am an absolute complete total reactionary about: there has not actually been invented a better model of conveying information in a learning environment than the basic structure of a traditional lecture. A speaker standing in some sort of unique focal point for the attention of listeners...
July 12, 2025 at 11:05 PM
I'm with Liam on this, although of course the delivery is crucial. Read a text in monotone for one hour=students lost, and rightly so. But if you transform a lecture into theatre and -dare I say- you also leave space for improvisation, you can be relatively sure the content of that class will stick
Absolutely. At its best, a lecture is a form of experiential learning: the student is watching the expert think through a problem in real time. There is no substitute.
Thing I am an absolute complete total reactionary about: there has not actually been invented a better model of conveying information in a learning environment than the basic structure of a traditional lecture. A speaker standing in some sort of unique focal point for the attention of listeners...
July 13, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Absolutely. At its best, a lecture is a form of experiential learning: the student is watching the expert think through a problem in real time. There is no substitute.
Reposted by Michael Plaxton
It's not helpful for, yknow, having other things to do with your day, but imo you should be tired at the end of a 1 hr lecture and exhausted at the end of a 2 hr one; it's live improv combined with scholarly rigor if done well, and that uses a shitload of energy.
July 12, 2025 at 11:38 PM
It's not helpful for, yknow, having other things to do with your day, but imo you should be tired at the end of a 1 hr lecture and exhausted at the end of a 2 hr one; it's live improv combined with scholarly rigor if done well, and that uses a shitload of energy.