Mattathias Schwartz
@schwartzesque.bsky.social
1.4K followers 400 following 250 posts
legal affairs correspondent // The New York Times first dot last at n y times dot com
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Reposted by Mattathias Schwartz
tanvi.bsky.social
his summer, I went to Panama and met Jharana, a 33-year-old from Nepal who had been deported there in a group of 300 others — the 1st group to be sent to a third country. I wrote about what happened to her and others over the year for
@nymag.com -->

nymag.com/intelligence...
What Happened to The Migrants The U.S. Dumped In Panama?
Nearly 300 people were sent to a country they’d never lived in. The journey didn’t end there.
nymag.com
Reposted by Mattathias Schwartz
jazmineulloa.bsky.social
The first review for my book is in, and I got the coveted star from Kirkus! So deeply honored and over the moon.

What a summary: “A passionate and urgent account that transforms the embers of a bypassed history into flames that consume the present.” www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...
EL PASO | Kirkus Reviews
Illuminating the history and identity of “the new Ellis Island.”
www.kirkusreviews.com
schwartzesque.bsky.social
I gotta say ... the lesser-known "Renegade Soundwave Remix" version of Gary Numan's "Are Friends Electric" is quite a bit better than the album version www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX6g...
Are 'Friends' Electric? (Renegade Soundwave Remix)
YouTube video by Gary Numan - Topic
www.youtube.com
schwartzesque.bsky.social
"Suffice it to say, I think the lower-court judges quoted in the Times story are far closer to the mark—as to both the problems caused by the Court’s recent behavior and the stakes. We dismiss their concerns, and the Times’s reporting, at our (and the Court’s) peril."
stevevladeck.bsky.social
Today’s “One First” looks at how #SCOTUS and its defenders have responded to criticisms of the Court’s behavior in Trump cases either by knocking down straw men or by attacking the critics—without meaningfully defending what the Court is actually *doing*:

www.stevevladeck.com/p/183-the-mi...
After all, maybe one can defend the Court granting emergency relief more often than ever before and in cases with far greater real-world (and structural) impacts. And maybe one can defend the Court altering (if not completely scrapping) the traditional balance of the equities in these cases. But does that defense extend to the Court doing so especially in cases in which President Trump is a party—and no others? And does it extend to the Court doing all of this without usually providing written explanations of what it is doing—or why? And even if the answer is somehow “yes,” does it also extend to the Court doing all of this, not usually explaining what it’s doing or why, and nevertheless accusing lower courts who fail to read the justices’ minds of “defying” the Court?

I have a very hard time believing that anyone can genuinely make it through even three of those sentences with a coherent defense of what the Supreme Court has done over the past seven months—let alone all five of them. I’d love to see such an argument, if it exists, but I haven’t been—and won’t be—holding my breath.
Reposted by Mattathias Schwartz
stevevladeck.bsky.social
Today’s “One First” looks at how #SCOTUS and its defenders have responded to criticisms of the Court’s behavior in Trump cases either by knocking down straw men or by attacking the critics—without meaningfully defending what the Court is actually *doing*:

www.stevevladeck.com/p/183-the-mi...
After all, maybe one can defend the Court granting emergency relief more often than ever before and in cases with far greater real-world (and structural) impacts. And maybe one can defend the Court altering (if not completely scrapping) the traditional balance of the equities in these cases. But does that defense extend to the Court doing so especially in cases in which President Trump is a party—and no others? And does it extend to the Court doing all of this without usually providing written explanations of what it is doing—or why? And even if the answer is somehow “yes,” does it also extend to the Court doing all of this, not usually explaining what it’s doing or why, and nevertheless accusing lower courts who fail to read the justices’ minds of “defying” the Court?

I have a very hard time believing that anyone can genuinely make it through even three of those sentences with a coherent defense of what the Supreme Court has done over the past seven months—let alone all five of them. I’d love to see such an argument, if it exists, but I haven’t been—and won’t be—holding my breath.
Reposted by Mattathias Schwartz
nytimes.com
More than three dozen federal judges have told The New York Times that the Supreme Court’s flurry of brief, opaque emergency orders in cases related to the Trump administration have left them confused about how to proceed in those matters and are hurting the judiciary’s image with the public.
Federal Judges, Warning of ‘Judicial Crisis,’ Fault Supreme Court’s Emergency Orders
Dozens of sitting judges shared with The Times their concerns about risks to the courts’ legitimacy as the Supreme Court releases opaque orders about Trump administration policies.
nyti.ms
Reposted by Mattathias Schwartz
charlesornstein.bsky.social
Sixty-five judges responded to a @nytimes.com questionnaire sent to hundreds of federal judges across the country. Of those, 47 said the Supreme Court had been mishandling its emergency docket since Mr. Trump returned to office.
Federal Judges, Warning of ‘Judicial Crisis,’ Fault Supreme Court’s Emergency Orders
www.nytimes.com
schwartzesque.bsky.social
I've been made aware of an interesting proposal to rebrand our planet as RTH
Reposted by Mattathias Schwartz
debpearlstein.bsky.social
Of all the news in this NYT survey of sitting federal judges - incl 47 of them think the SCt is mishandling its emergency docket - maybe the biggest is that 65 sitting fed judges (37D, 28R), folks circumspect for a living, responded to a NYT survey. Stunning. And a sign that something is very wrong.
Federal Judges, Warning of ‘Judicial Crisis,’ Fault Supreme Court’s Emergency Orders
www.nytimes.com
schwartzesque.bsky.social
NEW: We talked to 65 federal judges about the Supreme Court’s use of the emergency docket during Trump’s 2nd term, how it impacts morale in the lower courts, and its effect on the public’s view of the judiciary.

They had a lot to say.

Free gift link … www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...
Federal Judges, Warning of ‘Judicial Crisis,’ Fault Supreme Court’s Emergency Orders
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Mattathias Schwartz
leahlitman.bsky.social
More judges speak to the press (the NYT) about what a disaster the Supreme Court (specifically the shadow docket) has been - “incredibly demoralizing & troubling”; a “judicial crisis”; a “slap in the face to district courts.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...
Excerpts Excerpts
schwartzesque.bsky.social
NEW: “The significance of the public’s interest in having only well-trained LE officers deployed in their communities and avoiding unnecessary shows of military force in their neighborhoods cannot be overstated."

Our story on Judge Perry's ruling, free gift link >> www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...
schwartzesque.bsky.social
JUST IN -- Judge April Perry finds that "that deployment of National Guard members is likely to lead to civil unrest"

full opinion on yesterday's TRO here >>> storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
schwartzesque.bsky.social
seems like we may have reached Peak News
Reposted by Mattathias Schwartz
haleaziz.bsky.social
On Sept. 27, President Trump described Portland, Ore., as a “War ravaged” city.

But here is how federal officers described the scene outside the ICE building in southwest Portland on Sept. 25: “low energy.”

The next day the same: “low energy.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...
Before Trump Ordered In Troops, Federal Officers Called Portland Protests ‘Low Energy’
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Mattathias Schwartz
samfellman.bsky.social
This op-ed by Thomas Edsall referenced my reporting on the anti-woke activists targeting military officers: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/o...
Opinion | Trump Is Not Afraid of Civil War. Neither Is Stephen Miller.
www.nytimes.com
schwartzesque.bsky.social
I spoke with The Daily about the judiciary's response to Trump's attempt to deploy the National Guard into US cities, and the question of whether simply declaring a "rebellion" makes it so, for legal purposes: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/p...
Trump Claims ‘Rebellion’ in American Cities
www.nytimes.com
schwartzesque.bsky.social
parents
dieworkwear.bsky.social
we need a word for a type of person who spends all their time working to live in a city so they can be near cool things, but they don't actually like going out
Reposted by Mattathias Schwartz
Reposted by Mattathias Schwartz
yearprogress.bsky.social
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Reposted by Mattathias Schwartz
srubenfeld.bsky.social
Two teens at the community garden tried on suit jackets from the adjoining free store.

Faking like they had a microphone, one said to the other: “I’d like to talk to you about tax evasion.”
Reposted by Mattathias Schwartz
charliesavage.bsky.social
I experienced this last week & refused, saying I had never before been asked to provide the names of any analysts I was planning to quote to get a comment. Spox replied that maybe they were D donors. (In that case, it was 3 retired top military JAG officers.) I guess that was not a weird oneoff.
shannonbond.bsky.social
we wrote about this WH tactic recently. they’re asking journalists for expert source names and then using them to look up political donations in FEC records to try to discredit those sources as biased.

www.npr.org/2025/08/18/n...
amykristinsanders.bsky.social
I had this exact same experience this morning. Same reporter as Heidi.

This is *not* normal.

I have spoken to the press on these issues for two decades. No government official has ever demanded to know my identity in order to give a comment on a story.