Volume 135 Supreme Court Collection
The Yale Law Journal inaugurates its Supreme Court Collection. The Journal has collected a series of scholarly essays analyzing cases from October Term 2024-25, with a Foreword by Third Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas. We expect the Collection to be a fixture of the Journal for years to come.
“Harmful to Children” Claims and the Targeting of LGBTQ Speech After Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
This Essay explains why the Supreme Court’s ruling in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton will encourage anti-LGBTQ advocates to continue relying on concocted “harmful to children” claims to restrict LGBTQ speech and why courts must apply strict scrutiny when assessing laws silencing LGBTQ expression in the name of protecting children.
Judging Humbly: Hercules v. Hand
Foreword to the 2026 Supreme Court Collection.
The Asymmetry of Religious Motivation
The Supreme Court’s religious freedom doctrine treats religious motivation asymmetrically: with respect to free exercise, religious motivation suffices for exemptions, but under the Establishment Clause, it is deemed irrelevant. Commenting on Catholic Charities Bureau, this Essay argues that this asymmetry is incoherent but also likely to persist within a broader jurisprudence of religious preference.
Token Triumph: Esteras v. United States Reinforces, Rather than Restrains, Carceral Logic
After Esteras v. United States, federal judges can no longer revoke supervised release as retribution for a defendant’s underlying conviction. However, the Court declined to address whether judges can revoke supervision as retribution for a defendant’s post-release conduct. This essay argues that the decision leaves intact a practice that threatens to undermine the original rehabilitative goals of supervision.