Jess Miers 🦝🦞

@jmiers230

Law Prof @AkronLaw | Computer Scientist | bot psychologist 🤖 | 1A 💬 / tech expert Priors: Google, Twitter (no, not X), Chamber of Progress jmiers@uakron.edu | Signal: j230.95 Currently writing about chatbots, speech, and suicide.

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Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· 7d

❤️👀

Snippet from my syllabus:

Additionally, there is no such thing as political neutrality in the practice of law. Law is inherently political: it allocates rights, imposes obligations, and determines how power may be exercised. I encourage you to recognize that reality and become comfortable navigating it. I’m not going to pretend that law and politics are mutually exclusive. They aren’t—and teaching law as though they were would be irresponsible.
With that said, as your professor, I am committed to presenting a range of perspectives, including those with which I personally disagree. I may tell you when I disagree—and why—but my opinion does not matter. Keep an open mind and develop your own principles and beliefs. I especially welcome you to push back on my views. I have plenty of blind spots, and I have much to learn from you, too.

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· 7d

My approach: fuck that. From my syllabus for torts this year:

Intro snippet from my syllabus:

Welcome! If you’re reading this, you’re most likely a new law student (or a returning Spring-start student) eagerly—or perhaps frantically—trying to get your bearings and complete your first week of reading for Torts (whatever that is). Or you’re a curious interloper who somehow managed to access my syllabus. Either way, I’m excited you’re here (and I hope you are too!).

Footnote 2 reads:

Or you’re reviewing my syllabus on behalf of the State of Ohio, because we have lost the plot on academic freedom. (Students, I encourage you to read up on SB1. Here is an opinion piece in favor of the law. Here is an opinion piece against it).

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· 14d

Disability law professors like @katmacfarlane.bsky.social have been writing extensively about this issue. Kat has a new paper out that pushes back on many of his points: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... Always a good idea to start with the experts before stepping out of our academic lanes.

Screenshot of snippet from Kat's article:

"It is also imprecise to claim that all extra time accommodations are legally
faulty or undeserved because of concerns about certain diagnoses. Extra time
is not solely provided to disabled students with ADHD, learning disabilities,
or anxiety. Extra time is a common accommodation that assists students who
need additional time to, for example, use or reach a restroom. It may also
accommodate students who experience pain after prolonged periods of typing
and need stretching breaks.
I received extra time on my law school examinations, and the two bar
exams I took (New York and California). People like me are counted in all of
the statistics that measure how many students receive extra time. I have
rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that has ravaged my joints.
Typing for long periods of time without a break can be painful—it hurts the
joints in my fingers, wrists, and elbows, which are short on cartilage and
riddled with bone spurs. Like most of my accommodations, the extra time I
received in law school and on the bar was intended to prevent me for
experiencing unnecessary pain, or to temporarily relieve the pain caused by
test-taking discomfort. The accommodations were not entirely effective; the
tests were deeply physically uncomfortable even with the breaks, and pain
likely affected my performance.
What did my extra time look like? I received five-minute breaks away
from my laptop that did not count against my total exam time. To use the
breaks, I had to leave the room in which I was taking the exam, check in with
a proctor, stretch, check back in with the proctor, and return to my computer,
at which point the clock measuring how much exam time I had left would
start again. I was entitled to five-minute breaks each hour. I never considered,"

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· 19d

hand poke done out here in Joshua Tree 🌵❤️

Selfie with the Joshua tree tattoo on my left bicep standing out in the desert

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· 19d

new ink 🌵

Selfie with my new Joshua tree tattoo on my left bicep (Joshua tree scene with mountains, stars, and crescent moon)

Joshua tree standing tall in the middle of the desert later afternoon

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· 19d

I called out John Oliver a few months ago for applauding regulation that effectively requires chatbots to solve the suicide problem. I was told then that it was unlikely chatbots would shut down all communications about suicide. Here is Gemini, today, shutting down a convo w/a researcher.

User: "how do you properly say "attempted suicide" ?

Gemini responds with speak with someone today, the 988 hotline, and options to call, text, chat, or go to 988's official site.

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Jul 6

H/T my former IP student (who was subjected to said final exam): @elizabethsipod.bsky.social Snippet from my final exam:

Snippet from my exam:

Exhibit A
The Professor's Italian Brain Rot Works As Originally Posted to TikTok

Top left: Tralalero Tralala a shark with blue sneakers

Top right: Bombardiro Crocodilo, a hybrid crocodile war plane

Bottom: Ballerina Cappucina a cappuccino cup doing ballet

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Jul 5

Like this is ok. But what about "FUCK ICE" ? Just saying.

Pic of the drone show spelling out "We Are United"

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Jul 5

My partner (who works for a drone delivery company) is pointing out the errors during the drone show. I'm working out whether the FCC could have regulatory authority over the content of drone shows...🤔 Anyway. Happy Freedom Day. 🇺🇸

Drone show displaying America 250 at the Empire Polo Grounds

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Jun 27

Look at this little menace waiting for me to whip up his dinner. The audacity...🐶

Picture of my pup Chomsky looking up at me eagerly awaiting his dinner

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Jun 23

This is a good one for those of you still convinced that generative AI doesn't implicate the First Amendment. Of course it does. Outputs derive from protected editorial judgment. The AI-of-it-all doesn't change that (nor should it).

Snippet of the opinion which reads:

"Court continued, “Like them or loathe them, the Community Standards and
Community Guidelines make a wealth of user-agnostic judgments about what
kinds of speech, including what viewpoints, are not worthy of promotion. And
those judgments show up in Facebook’s and YouTube’s main feeds.” Id. Justice
Barrett joined that footnote.
The unmistakable upshot is this: the First Amendment applies to mixed
curation. The defendants’ contrary assertion is inconsistent with Moody, the many
precedents discussed in Moody, and any coherent view of the First Amendment.
This does not mean platforms are not subject to government regulation, but it does
mean regulation must pass appropriate First Amendment scrutiny"

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Jun 23

You know things are bad when Netchoice loses the MSJ but us 1A folks are still applauding the order. After that fuckass opinion out of the 6th Circuit last week, we'll take anything remotely coherent at this point: digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcont...

Snippet from the opinion in NetChoice v. UTHMEIER. Says:

"The defendants say platforms decide which content to show any given user
primarily based on the user’s viewing habits, showing the user the content most
likely to keep the user on the platform longer. Perhaps so. See Moody, 603 U.S. at
735 (“The selection and ranking is most often based on a user’s expressed interests
and past activities.”). And the defendants say this decision is made by algorithms,
devoid of human involvement. Not so. Humans adopt the standards and guidelines,
establish algorithms that incorporate them, and keep a great deal of content off the
platforms on this basis, even though, as the defendants emphasize, the remaining"

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Jun 8

And now back to the desert to write my article...

Picture of me sitting in the desert sand looking off into the distance with the mountain range and desert scrub behind me.

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Jun 8

Took a break from the desert to speak at Stanford Law School today about AI policy. 🤖

Selfie of me standing outside Stanford law school with my name badge.

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Jun 2

The FL AG suit against OpenAI is legally, technologically, and philosophically flawed. What bothered me most was the suggestion that Raine would still be alive but for ChatGPT. That framing is deeply problematic in suicide prevention. It erases agency, burdens families, and fuels stigma.

Adam Raine isn’t the only person who might still be alive if it was not
for ChatGPT. In 2025, two people were killed and six injured after Florida State
University student Phoenix Ikner asked ChatGPT to tell him how many people he’d
need to kill to become notorious. Minutes before Ikner went on his shooting spree,
ChatGPT explained to him how to operate the Glock handgun that would go on to be
used in killing Robert Morales and Tiru Chabba.

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· May 5

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Apr 17

My @techdirt.com Section 230 coin!! Just in time for Coachella too 🌵🙂‍↔️🌴

Me holding my 230 coin. The coin says protecting the web, 230, CDA Section 230 x30 since 1996.

Selfie of me holding the section 230 coin

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Apr 8

I'm headed to California today to join Prof. @ericgoldman.bsky.social and the Santa Clara Law Internet Law Student Organization for a discussion about kids, the Internet, and the recent social media verdicts. See you there! (or on Zoom!) TOMORROW 12pm Pacific.

Flyer made by the Santa Clara Law Internet Law Student Organization:

Title: Are the Kids Alright (on Social Media)?

Join us for a discussion on child Internet usage and recent social media addiction cases.

Speaker: Eric Goldman, Associate Dean for Research and Professor, Santa Clara University School of Law

Speaker: Jess Miers, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Akron School of Law

CLE Credits Available
Food will be provided
Join Zoom Meeting https://scu.zoom.us/j/96875227192?pwd=W2ng1dgRHLzjHLWDoS1mtNXi8mTska.1

Thursday April 9 @ 12pm Charney Hall Room 101

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Mar 31

See Paul Taske for example:

Paul Taske on X:

"The professional speech doctrine is dead. Long live free speech. Today's decision in Chiles v. Salazar put to rest the once-popular view that "professionals" were categorically entitled to less First Amendment protection than non-professionals.

The First Amendment is stronger without such a cavernous exception. Good riddance."

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Mar 26

Mood.

Scene from Bojack horseman where he says "I REPEAT, THE INTERNET HAS GONE FOUL."

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Mar 26

Weird. It's still set to anyone. Probably a bluesky glitch.

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Mar 24

I encountered this the other day when signing up for a Ghost account (I'm creating a blog for my reporting on suicide and technology law).

Screenshot of the human verification prompt from ghost. It says:

"Are you a human?"

"we verify cards to prevent spam & abuse on our platform. When the free trial ends, the product stops working until you manually upgrade. You will not be auto-charged. More info -->"

The verification method provided asks for credit card details or Google Pay.

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Mar 19

I'm speaking for the California Lawyer's Association (IP Section) on March 31 about online age verification and the policy implications for youth and adult expression. Free registration: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

CLA Flyer. Event title is Youth Safety, Youth Speech, and the Future of the Open Internet. The discussion will explore whether age-based social media bans can protect children without undermining young people's speech rights, autonomy, and access to digital public life.

Speaker: Jess Miers, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Akron School of Law

Date: March 31, 2026, 12pm PDT, Free open to members and non members

Virtual: Link will be emailed. Please register your interest in the form.

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Mar 14

Headline: Philly Bar Bans Anyone Under 25 After Kid Gives ID With Ben Franklin's Photo

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Mar 14

Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.

Screenshot of a post from The Lunduke Journal (@LundukeJournal) on X.com.
Text reads:
“A ‘Progressive Tech Coalition’ (including Apple, Google, & Roblox) has abruptly changed stance on ‘Age Verification’ laws.
Up until now, the ‘Chamber of Progress’ has consistently opposed all laws seeking to implement age verification… but they have decided to support the Colorado ‘Age Verification for all Operating Systems’ law.
What makes this 180 degree change particularly interesting is that ‘Chamber of Progress’ publicly opposed last year’s California law… which the Colorado law (which they support) is based almost entirely upon.”

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Mar 11

We are honored to host THE @aricohn.com here at the University of Akron School of Law for our First Amendment Law Society event today. Ari just explained the chilling effects of online age verification and that promises of safety and anonymity from the tech companies doing it are "horseshit."

Akron Law Student Elizabeth Grossman (left) moderates a discussion with FIRE's Ari Cohn (right) at the University of Akron School of Law

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Mar 6

I don't recall what we were talking about but I absolutely adore this shot with @masnick.com (who I still fangirl over whenever I see him 🤩)

Picture of Mike Masnick (left) and Jess Miers speaking at the Cato Institute 230 at 30 event. Mike is talking while Jess is smiling fondly over whatever point he was making.

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Mar 4

Apparently California will also create a state suicide office empowered to compel chatbot companies to turn over data about users’ mental-health conversations and publish a public report about it online. What could go wrong.

(a) Beginning July 1, 2027, an operator shall annually report to the office all of the following:
(1) The number of times the operator has issued a crisis service provider referral notification pursuant to Section 22602 in the preceding calendar year.
(2) Protocols put in place to detect, remove, and respond to instances of suicidal ideation by users.
(3) Protocols put in place to prohibit a companion chatbot response about suicidal ideation or actions with the user.
(b) The report required by this section shall include only the information listed in subdivision (a) and shall not include any identifiers or personal information about users.
(c) The office shall post data from a report required by this section on its internet website.
(d) An operator shall use evidence-based methods for measuring suicidal ideation.

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Mar 4

California: share.google/6NbgqFv3bxYh...

(c) An operator shall, for a user that the operator knows is a minor, do all of the following:
(1) Disclose to the user that the user is interacting with artificial intelligence.
(2) Provide by default a clear and conspicuous notification to the user at least every three hours for continuing companion chatbot interactions that reminds the user to take a break and that the companion chatbot is artificially generated and not human.

Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230· Mar 4

I always find these mandatory chatbot disclosure laws in the suicide context odd since people in crisis typically turn to chatbots precisely because they offer a space free from human judgment. From the SAFE BOTS Act: share.google/buNrmK0foG1i...