Top recent posts by Legal Academics on Bluesky

Once again, it seems to me that when a court finds the president is doing something wildly unconstitutional, it is dangerous and unhealthy that we default to “but let him keep doing it until multiple layers of review all agree.”

Even though it's tiring, I think it's essential to consistently point out that this is illegal.

NEW: Mahmoud Khalil submits a letter to Judge Farbiarz asking the court to order his release. The letter says he has posted bond, and the government has not filed a notice of appeal for the court's preliminary injunction (which went into effect at 9:30am this morning).

Didn't even make the front pages this morning Today in "neither our media nor our political system is designed to deal with a far right authoritarian party"

Alternatively, “Thousands of Americans expected to take to the streets in defense of their neighbors and their democracy” www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06...

Pope Leo's First US Bishop Calls on Priests to Escort Asylum Seekers to Court: 'People of Faith Stand with Immigrants' www.latintimes.com/pope-leos-fi...

This is what rule by the confidently ignorant looks like; sabotage stuff you don't understand and then discover it was actually doing vital work well at trivial cost

Huh, something I didn't even know was possible: a photograph of the death of the American Constitution

Trump’s disastrous decision to exit the nuclear accord in 2018, even though the Iranians were abiding by it, lit the long fuse that resulted in the latest war between Iran and Israel. Israel is likely to win, but it's a sign of how ineffectual Trump’s diplomacy has been. bit.ly/45jFrXL

Instructing soldiers not to hoot and clap like they are at a political rally when a president gives a speech is civil-military relations 101. Any officer should know this without even thinking about it.

It’s so crazy. I was told this was playing right into Trump’s hands!

Pretty sure a lawyer can’t pick which of their clients gets deported.

It sounds like the Republican leadership of the House Committee on Homeland Security is investigating the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA, & other religious organizations for helping immigrants during the Biden-Harris administration. homeland.house.gov/2025/06/11/c...

Terry Moran, unshackled, says what should be said. Standing up for the truth and democracy in an era where the truth and democracy are polarized means you risk being labeled a partisan and losing audience share. So be it. That’s what it means to have values. open.substack.com/pub/terrymor...

Under what authority and how did they square it with the Non-Detention Act?

I hate using X, and I like using Bluesky. It’s not perfect, but it’s not a Nazi bar.

Seven (7) partners at Willkie Farr are headed for the exits after the firm's collaboration deal with Trump. Gift link: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

It is worth knowing that the MN legislature was nearly perfectly split between Rs and Ds before these assassination attempts, which notably targeted exactly one member from each chamber

We could have had nice things

Trump came to office promising to end the Ukraine war in a day. Now Russia is mounting its heaviest air strikes on Ukrainian cities. He said he wants to end the war in Gaza, and that is continuing as well. He tried to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran. Now there’s an Israel-Iran war. bit.ly/45jFrXL

Reupping myself today

Trump has appointed the same man, Steve Witkoff, as the U.S. envoy for peace talks involving Ukraine/Russia, Israel/Hamas and Israel/Iran. It would test the powers even of a veteran diplomat--a Henry Kissinger or Philip Habib--to conduct three disparate sets of negotiations at once. bit.ly/45jFrXL

The problems with Bluesky are true with every other platform. It's not that it's a bubble, though. It's that people feel a desire to protect a place they like. I don't agree with Cuban here but I think we need to come up with ways to not let this become its story. fortune.com/2025/06/12/b...

Re-enacting Sophie's Choice in present day America is the ultimate "Are we the baddies?" moment. Monstrous.

Part of this is that very often it IS true that starting to act on a ruling, then reversing course if it’s overturned, is a lot more costly & onerous than just delaying a week or two. But that shouldn’t just be assumed, and it’s very much not the case here.

This remains a massive Byrd Rule violation. The provision isn't about taxing or spending, and the budget impact would be attenuated at best. It's all about changing policy about the grant of injunctions by the federal courts. That should take 60 votes under Senate rules.

"And therefore, because of the fascism, I will be caucusing with & voting with the Democrats from now on until the unprecedented crimes & constitutional violations cease." No? Oh, ok, then. I didn't think so. bsky.app/profile/mcop...

On a flight with a well-known right wing commentator and they just took their shoes fully off. Barefoot. BUNIONS ON MAIN.

I was supposed to see my cardiologist on Tuesday (after waiting for a couple of months for an appointment). However, because of a hospital merger, insurance won't yet cover my appointment if I see him in Lawrence. But it would if I saw him in another office. American health care is so broken.

I love this so much.

Catholic Cardinal Robert McElroy, the Archbishop of Washington, DC, speaking strongly in support of undocumented immigrants. www.jrsusa.org/resource/cat...

He absolutely comes off here as an ignoramus

Honestly true, what happened to Padilla is only half as insane as the actual substance of what Noem said

i am considering crowdsourcing all the reports of rally size at tomorrow's No Kings Day protests in a public google sheet. is this something people would find useful?

Maybe that “routine administrative stay” was a bad idea.

This is willful defiance of a court order. Find the lawyer who ordered it and put him in jail for civil contempt until Mahmoud Khalil is released www.axios.com/2025/06/13/t...

ICYMI: Some hoped Sen. Grassley's Senate Judiciary Committee would save us from the awful House budget provision stripping federal courts of power. But the Senate counter-version looks like it was written by lawyers who actually knew what they were doing -- and I don't mean that as praise.

I want to patiently explain that this is exactly why U.S. national security interests depend on maintaining a trained and effective "Voice of America" broadcasting service, and nurturing deep area and linguistic knowledge, and I also want to lose my goddamn mind

TRUMP'S FEVER DREAM MADE REAL: I wrote an in-depth piece with Lil Kalish about the aesthetics of Trump's parade, specifically the aesthetics of fascism and politicization. Sometimes a parade isn't just a parade. Read more (plus WH attempts to insult me, inside): www.huffpost.com/entry/the-ae...

did some sort of news happen this week or something?

I have created a spreadsheet for crowdsourcing reports of No Kings Day protest attendance. The sheet is publicly available for anyone to edit. This will not be official, but hopefully it will be comprehensive and can serve as a resource for reporters and the public. docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Yes. Per a draft briefing I’m hoping to get out soon, one faction in the administration hoped that Operation Rough Rider would lead to war with Iran, while another one hoped it would demonstrate to POTUS the futility of such a conflict.

So government. Much running. Very business. DOGE.

the trump administration is apparently doing everything they possibly can to supercharge the protests this weekend

Everything is political economy, fascist deportations edition

Ramesh Ponnuru: By the end of your remarks, even the most hardened fan of nuclear war will be having second thoughts. But I don’t think there are a lot of viewers who need much convincing. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

More than 400 scholars from dozens of countries, including at least 30 Nobel laureates, are reprising the 1925 Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals to warn that “the threat of fascism is back.” www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

We’ll be greeted as liberators in LA and Tehran.

Unprecedentedly illegal & unconstitutional crimes, still happening hourly, right in front of us. Might be worth noting this in the hed, dek, or lede, but what do I know?

Worth noting that IJ won this case this week. Congrats to them for fighting the good fight. And yes, there’s a whole category of police SWAT teaming the wrong house.

Senator Padilla did not commit any crime. He was simply doing his job. Dissent and the separation of powers are essential to our democracy—not threats to it.

amazing how unwilling some people have been to acknowledge this strategy — and based on flimsy assumptions and no data!

The best, if admittedly imperfect, answer to the Iranian nuclear program that anyone has come up with so far was the 2015 JCPOA. It led to the elimination of 97% of Iran’s fissile material, the removal of 2/3s of its centrifuges, and the imposition of tight international controls. bit.ly/45jFrXL

I’m having a hard time taking seriously the argument that LLMs are a more important invention than, say, the stream engine, refrigeration, and printing press

This is such a disgrace. The court should have ordered his release months ago.

Jokes on them, Bibi doesn't care about hostages

Yes, we know. This is why the JCPOA was negotiated.

Apropos of nothing

His outside was shouting "Let him go" but his inside was shouting "DON'T DO IT ON FUCKING CAMERA YOU FUCKING IMBECILES"

Vulnerable Republicans recognize that Trump's policy of terrorizing and deporting non-criminal immigrants is politically disastrous, Democrats should as well.

oh hey new mpre question

Bunch of New Yorkers on the lower east side suffering mightily in the antifa hellscape

"Before mass leaders seize the power to fit reality to their lies, their propaganda is marked by its extreme contempt for facts as such, for in their opinion fact depends entirely on the power of man who can fabricate it." Hannah Arendt

👇🎯 There will be plenty of time to discuss the possible few side merits of bad fiscal policy once the unprecedented crimes & lawless authoritarianism are defeated.

www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...

Reminder: These coverage losses due to Medicaid work requirements are not because Medicaid recipients are not working. The vast, vast majority of Medicaid recipients are already working or have an approved exemption. The coverage losses are due to the administrative burdens of documentation.

"The whole country is our property". Let that sink in & think about the subtext to it.

Among the reasons Trump isn’t succeeding: He is trying to do too much at once (not only three sets of peace talks but also trade talks with countless countries). He is unwilling to turn the screws on either Netanyahu or Putin. And he has a short attention span & wants instant results. bit.ly/45jFrXL

Performative public lying is a hallmark of far right authoritarian parties, & crypto scam marks

Monsters are in charge of the federal government. We must defeat them. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/u...

It's just like Knight Rider's KITT, if that stood for Killing Incredible numbers of Texas Toddlers

Our friend is very happily retiring from teaching.

If you are a US official worried about a "Tiananmen Square Moment", time to have serious policy rethink. (Particularly given Trump's previous remarks supporting the PRC's crushing of the Tiananmen Square protest.)

Does anyone know what she is up to these days?

Unprecedentedly illegal & unconstitutional crimes happening daily, right in front of us, & 🤷‍♂️

Be safe, be well, be good to each other. Make sure you stay hydrated and dont forget to eat something. And remember to call your mother and let her know youre OK if she isn't out protesting with you today!

"The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist." Hannah Arendt

Judge Farbiarz DECLINES to order release of Mahmoud Kahlil. Says he'll have to try to ask an immigration judge to grant him bail.

So the Justice Department is now saying Trump is suffering from dementia?

Exactly www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I get where Waldman is saying, but in this case the “popularists” aren’t basing their opinions on immigration strategy on data at all. They are explicitly opposed to new polling on this subject. They are not engaging in empirical discussion, it’s vibes and affective polarization all the way down.

“He has ordered more troops to Los Angeles and Washington than he currently has stationed in Syria and Iraq combined. He seems more willing at the moment to use the military against Americans than against Iranians.” The story of today’s parade: Trump is a warmonger, but only against his own people.

Not a meaningful distinction for Non-Detention Act purposes.

The next cover of the New Yorker, featuring “On Parade” by artist David Plunkert.

the problem is, these kinds of "jokes" and caricatures are, historically, preludes to violence

You used to be able to tell jokes on social media because there would be whole weeks where world ending shit wasn't breaking news every few hours.

Exactly what I've been thinking. It isn't like there's some complicated backstory that needs to be uncovered - the whole thing's on video. What more do we need to know?

With all that’s going on, my favorite thing right now is getting emails from students for whom I wrote letters of recommendation, telling me they got the thing. It’s such an honor to be a part of a student’s journey, and so exciting when they share their accomplishments ❤️❤️❤️

www.programmablemutter.com/p/large-lang... LLMs and diffusion models are uncanny in much the same way as Ouija boards are uncanny.

Golf content is not my thing, but I cannot imagine wanting to play Oakmont for fun. Just 18 holes of misery.

This captures the nail in the coffin for many relationships with people i used to admire. To see people gleefully saying "those people" including citizens dont deserve due process made me see them, not as misguided, but wilfully fascist

NEW: The government claims that Judge Farbiarz did not order them to release Mahmoud Khalil, instead saying the court only prevented them from detaining Khalil on the Rubio Determination, not the other grounds of omitting information on immigration docs.

🎼 The Finding Out is the Hardest Part 🎶

@repauchincloss.bsky.social: As this president grasps for every political advantage, he is attacking not just the Constitution but also the morale and mission of one of this country’s greatest institutions, the United States Marines. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

She should be running the country & we wouldn’t be in this mess

Govt says it's not releasing Mahmoud Khalil. Judge Farbiarz only barred govt from detaining Khalil based on Rubio's "foreign policy" determination. While judge said it was "unlikely" govt would try to detain him based on claim of inaccuracy on his LPR application, he didn't bar it.

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...

seems like the tangible current downsides of this technology are pretty high. and for what? www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...