I Started a Law Blog and Then …
By Maureen Duffy
I started this blog during a sabbatical, with the idea that it could be a place to quickly process responses to rapidly unfolding legal developments, in my native United States and also in Canada, my current home. I have a vague recollection of promising, in an early post, to blog at least weekly … but we don’t want to talk about that!
In the rush of a somewhat overwhelming academic year, that ambitious plan was set aside, as I worked to return to my courses that I last taught three years ago, and to a new course that took substantial time to develop. I was fortunate to spend a year as a visiting professor of law in Texas during the 2023-2024 academic year, where I taught U.S. law students U.S. Constitutional Law and First Amendment Law. It was a positive experience, with incredible colleagues and students, and I am grateful to have had it. I was then fortunate to take a year-long research leave.
Returning to Canada, and Canadian law, and Canadian developments, however, has been a little disorienting, as my mind is still preoccupied with matters in the United States. That transition was part of the inspiration behind this blog, as I thought I could use it to process transnational legal issues, as my research interests expand beyond national borders and beyond the borders of a particular legal discipline or a particular academic discipline.
Now that I feel more settled back at my University and in Canada more generally, I hope to reignite some of that work.
Legal events are happening at such a rapid pace that it can be difficult to keep up. My intention, however, is not to comprehensively address all of those changes as they happen, but to pull in particular developments for further consideration. The erosion of the Rule of Law is a well-discussed problem in the United States. It is also being increasingly discussed in Canada, and particularly here in Alberta, where a movement has been on to separate Alberta from the rest of Canada and even, in some circles, to move Alberta towards being the frequently discussed “51st state” of the United States. Crossing borders on some of these issues is more important than ever, and there is much to discuss.
Let’s dust off the cobwebs on this blog and get back to it.
In the rush of a somewhat overwhelming academic year, that ambitious plan was set aside, as I worked to return to my courses that I last taught three years ago, and to a new course that took substantial time to develop. I was fortunate to spend a year as a visiting professor of law in Texas during the 2023-2024 academic year, where I taught U.S. law students U.S. Constitutional Law and First Amendment Law. It was a positive experience, with incredible colleagues and students, and I am grateful to have had it. I was then fortunate to take a year-long research leave.
Returning to Canada, and Canadian law, and Canadian developments, however, has been a little disorienting, as my mind is still preoccupied with matters in the United States. That transition was part of the inspiration behind this blog, as I thought I could use it to process transnational legal issues, as my research interests expand beyond national borders and beyond the borders of a particular legal discipline or a particular academic discipline.
Now that I feel more settled back at my University and in Canada more generally, I hope to reignite some of that work.
Legal events are happening at such a rapid pace that it can be difficult to keep up. My intention, however, is not to comprehensively address all of those changes as they happen, but to pull in particular developments for further consideration. The erosion of the Rule of Law is a well-discussed problem in the United States. It is also being increasingly discussed in Canada, and particularly here in Alberta, where a movement has been on to separate Alberta from the rest of Canada and even, in some circles, to move Alberta towards being the frequently discussed “51st state” of the United States. Crossing borders on some of these issues is more important than ever, and there is much to discuss.
Let’s dust off the cobwebs on this blog and get back to it.