Bill Watson

Assistant Professor, University of Illinois College of Law | JD, PhD (Philosophy) | Researching public law and jurisprudence

[Bill Watson @BWatson_theory]

My article “The Plain-Meaning Fallacy” just published in the B.C. L. Rev.! My favorite illustration of the plain-meaning fallacy is originalist arguments regarding the President’s removal power—an issue pending before SCOTUS. Here’s a quick explanation 🧵

https://t.co/zZV4IGn2RB

[Francisco Urbina @FranciscUrbina]

Thrilled that my paper "The Object of Interpretation" is out in the @GeorgetownLJ. The paper asks: What exactly is the object of legal interpretation? You can find it below and here: https://t.co/9jnQCOoReS

[Nina Varsava @NinaVarsava]

Happy to see my review of Peter Povilonis's Sustaining Stare Decisis as a Post-Merits Determination out in Jotwell! The article offers an illuminating analysis of the Supreme Court's stare decisis methodology. https://t.co/VX08x3fekR

[Lawrence Solum @lsolum]

Download of the Week: "The Nature of a Precedent's Error" by Nina Varsava (Wisconsin), Jurisprudence (2026). https://t.co/XXTsvHNhfd

[Lawrence Solum @lsolum]

Varsava on the Nature of a Precedent's Error https://t.co/0UtjM2qk87 Nina Varsava (University of Wisconsin Law School) has posted The Nature of a Precedent's Error, Jurisprudence, 1–23 (2026), on SSRN.

[Lawrence Solum @lsolum]

Jiménez on New Legal Anti-Positivism, https://t.co/BKP0MRIwPd - Felipe Jiménez (USC Gould School of Law) has posted Truly General Jurisprudence (Forthcoming in Legal Theory) on SSRN.

[Brian Leiter https://bsky.app/profile/brianleiter. @BrianLeiter]

"General jurisprudence" in U.S. law schools https://t.co/nkZEBQWG0o

[Bill Watson @BWatson_theory]

That’s the short version of what I argue in the paper. There’s, admittedly, a lot more complexity here than can be conveyed in a social-media post. For the full version of the argument, here’s the link to the paper again:

https://t.co/zZV4IGn2RB

[Bill Watson @BWatson_theory]

My article “The Plain-Meaning Fallacy” just published in the B.C. L. Rev.! My favorite illustration of the plain-meaning fallacy is originalist arguments regarding the President’s removal power—an issue pending before SCOTUS. Here’s a quick explanation 🧵

https://t.co/zZV4IGn2RB

[Bill Watson @BWatson_theory]

There may be other constitutional issues where applying originalism makes more sense. But the removal power isn’t one them. Or at least, I’ve yet to see an originalist argument that could justify giving much, if any, weight to such deeply contested original meaning.

[Lawrence Solum @lsolum]

Atiq on Evaluating Law as a Functional Kind, https://t.co/qQ1yjXBvRp - Emad H. Atiq (Cornell University – Sage School of Philosophy; Cornell University – Law School) has posted Justice as Law’s Constitutive Virtue: A Functional Reassessment (Forthcoming lead article, Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Law, Vol. 7) on SSRN.

[Bill Watson @BWatson_theory]

Wow, I'm honored to see my and Nina Varsava's paper on "Originalism's General-Law Turn" appear alongside some terrific pieces of scholarship on Legal Theory Blog's "Downloads of the Year 2025." Thanks @lsolum!

[Lawrence Solum @lsolum]

Downloads of the Year 2025, https://t.co/VfKRUEqNWB
Here are ten papers that I found particularly interesting, innovative, or valuable in 2025.