Ian Sinclair
@imsinclair.bsky.social
appellate counsel || democracy, inequality, segregation, baked goods || former low-level bureaucrat || imsinclair.substack.com/
Pinned
Ian Sinclair
@imsinclair.bsky.social
· Dec 21
The Imperial President
Why the Court's decision in Trump v. United States undermines the separation of powers and encourages political violence.
imsinclair.substack.com
I wrote a thing! Come read my middling thoughts about why the Supreme Court’s terrible decision in Trump v. United States will encourage political violence. It’s not much, but it was fun to write and think through. 1/
imsinclair.substack.com/p/the-imperi...
imsinclair.substack.com/p/the-imperi...
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
Trump says Lisa Cook is unfit to be a Fed governor because she claimed two different properties as her primary residence on her mortgage applications. (Cook denies this.)
Trump did the exact same thing on mortgage applications submitted a mere 7 weeks apart.
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
Trump did the exact same thing on mortgage applications submitted a mere 7 weeks apart.
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
December 8, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Trump says Lisa Cook is unfit to be a Fed governor because she claimed two different properties as her primary residence on her mortgage applications. (Cook denies this.)
Trump did the exact same thing on mortgage applications submitted a mere 7 weeks apart.
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
Trump did the exact same thing on mortgage applications submitted a mere 7 weeks apart.
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz
Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison
www.forever-wars.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:40 PM
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
hey a fun thing is that if congress is delegating authority to an independent agency then by definition that agency is not "unaccountable." it is still accountable to congress. and it is interesting (read: extremely frustrating) to me that these people just write congress out of existence here.
Kavanaugh: Broad delegations to unaccountable agencies are dangerous for individual liberty! We have used the major questions doctrine to prevent agencies from overreaching.
Sauer: MQD not a substitute for the removal power for the president
Sauer: MQD not a substitute for the removal power for the president
December 8, 2025 at 4:16 PM
hey a fun thing is that if congress is delegating authority to an independent agency then by definition that agency is not "unaccountable." it is still accountable to congress. and it is interesting (read: extremely frustrating) to me that these people just write congress out of existence here.
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
And the correct answer is so what, they can if they want.
The conservative justices have their talking point -- what if Congress turned every department into a multimember commission -- and it is totally absurd considering that has never happened under the existing law.
December 8, 2025 at 6:10 PM
And the correct answer is so what, they can if they want.
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
The Take Care Clause was a byproduct of the lessons learned from the Glorious Revolution that the executive should not be able to dispense with the law promulgated by the legislature. It was not a constitutional provision to empower the executive branch— but to constrain it!
December 8, 2025 at 3:32 PM
The Take Care Clause was a byproduct of the lessons learned from the Glorious Revolution that the executive should not be able to dispense with the law promulgated by the legislature. It was not a constitutional provision to empower the executive branch— but to constrain it!
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
i think to understand the meaning of the birthright citizenship clause to the framers of the 14th amendment, you have to understand significance of dred scott to the civil war republican party. dred scott wasn't just a bad ruling, it was understood as a rejection of the declaration itself.
December 6, 2025 at 6:03 PM
i think to understand the meaning of the birthright citizenship clause to the framers of the 14th amendment, you have to understand significance of dred scott to the civil war republican party. dred scott wasn't just a bad ruling, it was understood as a rejection of the declaration itself.
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
I'm done with teaching for the semester, but I'm in the middle of grading. To procrastinate grading the book reviews that I require for my American Legal History course I'm gonna make a thread of all the books that the students reviewed.
December 5, 2025 at 12:35 AM
I'm done with teaching for the semester, but I'm in the middle of grading. To procrastinate grading the book reviews that I require for my American Legal History course I'm gonna make a thread of all the books that the students reviewed.
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
This is a million times worse than anything Hunter Biden was accused of doing in even the most fevered right-wing conspiracy dream
UPDATE: Trump Jr.-backed startup receives $620 million Pentagon loan
In October, Popular Information reported that the Pentagon awarded a contract to Unusual Machines, an obscure drone company that President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., joined as an advisor in Novemb...
popular.info
December 4, 2025 at 4:00 PM
This is a million times worse than anything Hunter Biden was accused of doing in even the most fevered right-wing conspiracy dream
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
Our legal process depends upon litigants citing valid legal authority to support the claims they advance. At present, LLMs are degrading this information ecosystem in ways that mirror the damage being done in schools. Join me won't you for a short thread illustrating the breadth of the problem?
Cool update to last week’s story on why language doesn’t equal intelligence: a Michigan judge cited it to justify imposing sanctions over a ChatGPT-assisted filing that mentioned real cases but misstated their facts. Congrats to author @benjaminjriley.bsky.social!
![Court filing: LLMs are tools
that “emulate the communicative function of language, not the separate
and distinct cognitive process of thinking and reasoning.” Benjamin
Riley, Large language mistake, The Verge https://www.theverge.com/aiartificial-intelligence/827820/large-language-models-ai-intelligenceneuroscience-problems [https://perma.cc/7EHD-PLLZ]. When an LLM
overstates a holding of a case, it is not because it made a mistake when
logically working through how that case might represent a
“nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing
law or for establishing new law;” it is just piecing together a plausiblelooking sentence – one whose content may or may not be true.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7exlcsle4mjfhu3wnhcgizz6/bafkreicn2dgmwtlqwhdwlaijx5g66yqghjogfszcdp4d4afeyjfgwht2pi@jpeg)
December 4, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Our legal process depends upon litigants citing valid legal authority to support the claims they advance. At present, LLMs are degrading this information ecosystem in ways that mirror the damage being done in schools. Join me won't you for a short thread illustrating the breadth of the problem?
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
h/t @robertfreundlaw.bsky.social
holy shit, an accurate legal critique of LLMs. LLMs don't reason because they're just stitching together plausible-looking sentences indifferent to the content
holy shit, an accurate legal critique of LLMs. LLMs don't reason because they're just stitching together plausible-looking sentences indifferent to the content
December 3, 2025 at 7:51 PM
h/t @robertfreundlaw.bsky.social
holy shit, an accurate legal critique of LLMs. LLMs don't reason because they're just stitching together plausible-looking sentences indifferent to the content
holy shit, an accurate legal critique of LLMs. LLMs don't reason because they're just stitching together plausible-looking sentences indifferent to the content
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
This man may be the most racist president this country has ever had, and twelve presidents owned slaves
Trump: "It’s a hellhole right now. And those Somalians should be out of here. They've destroyed our country. And all they do is complain, complain, complain. You have her. She’s always talking about the Constitution provides me with – go back to your own country and figure out your constitution."
December 3, 2025 at 10:29 PM
This man may be the most racist president this country has ever had, and twelve presidents owned slaves
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
This is the Witch Trials theory of war: If they try not to drown at sea, they're terrorists.
December 4, 2025 at 4:18 AM
This is the Witch Trials theory of war: If they try not to drown at sea, they're terrorists.
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
Many people are saying www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/o...
Opinion | We Have a Way to Pay for Free Buses. It Means Free Street Parking Is Over.
www.nytimes.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Many people are saying www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/o...
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
No-strings-attached, zero-means-testing, no-questions-asked cash payouts have been proven, over and over again, to be the most effective form of charity/aid going.
It gets people in housing, and it saves the state money. We know this. It's fact, not theory.
It gets people in housing, and it saves the state money. We know this. It's fact, not theory.
An Oregon pilot program giving cash to homeless youths sees a staggering reduction in homelessness. The program gave participants $1,000 cash payments each month for two years, and at the end of the project's first phase, 91% of participants reported being in stable housing.
Oregon pilot program giving cash to homeless youths sees staggering reduction in homelessness
The state program gave participants $1,000 cash payments each month for two years. At the end of the project's first phase, 91% of participants reported being in stable housing.
www.streetroots.org
December 3, 2025 at 7:12 AM
No-strings-attached, zero-means-testing, no-questions-asked cash payouts have been proven, over and over again, to be the most effective form of charity/aid going.
It gets people in housing, and it saves the state money. We know this. It's fact, not theory.
It gets people in housing, and it saves the state money. We know this. It's fact, not theory.
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
After becoming a congressional leader, a politician’s stock portfolio beats out those of peers by 47 (!!!) percentage points a year through trades timed around bills and firms that later get government contracts
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
December 3, 2025 at 1:42 AM
After becoming a congressional leader, a politician’s stock portfolio beats out those of peers by 47 (!!!) percentage points a year through trades timed around bills and firms that later get government contracts
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
The case for a stock trading ban
After becoming a congressional leader, a politician’s stock portfolio beats out those of peers by 47 (!!!) percentage points a year through trades timed around bills and firms that later get government contracts
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
December 3, 2025 at 1:54 AM
The case for a stock trading ban
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
RFK Jr: "Two weeks ago we ended, under your leadership, a twenty year war on women".
Three out of five men in this shot have been accused of sexual misconduct, harassment or abusive behaviour towards women. A fourth signed into law a near-total abortion ban in his state as governor.
Three out of five men in this shot have been accused of sexual misconduct, harassment or abusive behaviour towards women. A fourth signed into law a near-total abortion ban in his state as governor.
December 2, 2025 at 6:46 PM
RFK Jr: "Two weeks ago we ended, under your leadership, a twenty year war on women".
Three out of five men in this shot have been accused of sexual misconduct, harassment or abusive behaviour towards women. A fourth signed into law a near-total abortion ban in his state as governor.
Three out of five men in this shot have been accused of sexual misconduct, harassment or abusive behaviour towards women. A fourth signed into law a near-total abortion ban in his state as governor.
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
Good, uhhh, afternoon?
A bit earlier than usual, but! New at The Evening Constitutional, it's the latest installment of Constitutional Perspectives! Today we're continuing the discussion of American slavery. Wheee!
eveningconstitutional.net/slavery-part...
A bit earlier than usual, but! New at The Evening Constitutional, it's the latest installment of Constitutional Perspectives! Today we're continuing the discussion of American slavery. Wheee!
eveningconstitutional.net/slavery-part...
Slavery, Part II: From Necessary Evil to Positive Good
Welcome back to Constitutional Perspectives!
Last time, we covered the sordid history of American slavery, up though the Philadelphia Convention of 1787. I talked about all the ways – some pretty app...
eveningconstitutional.net
December 2, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Good, uhhh, afternoon?
A bit earlier than usual, but! New at The Evening Constitutional, it's the latest installment of Constitutional Perspectives! Today we're continuing the discussion of American slavery. Wheee!
eveningconstitutional.net/slavery-part...
A bit earlier than usual, but! New at The Evening Constitutional, it's the latest installment of Constitutional Perspectives! Today we're continuing the discussion of American slavery. Wheee!
eveningconstitutional.net/slavery-part...
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
All of Trump’s boat strikes are war crimes.
A note of caution about the new GOP vow of oversight on the murder of the two men clinging to the boat. It's good to see, but it could become a backdoor way for Rs to defuse pressure for broader scrutiny.
The entire operation is illegal. It all needs oversight. 1/
newrepublic.com/article/2037...
The entire operation is illegal. It all needs oversight. 1/
newrepublic.com/article/2037...
December 2, 2025 at 5:54 PM
All of Trump’s boat strikes are war crimes.
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
Today’s the day! See thread for details.
Y'all, tmrw is a BIG DAY for civil rights and tech. @markey.senate.gov, @repyvetteclarke.bsky.social, @jayapal.house.gov, @pressley.house.gov, & @repsummerlee.bsky.social are introducing the AI Civil Rights Act: the new gold standard AI bill endorsed by 85+ civil society orgs. Pull up a chair.
1/n
1/n
December 2, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Today’s the day! See thread for details.
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
December 2, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
thinking more about this: it is highly ironic that at the same time that it serves as a test case for the "unitary executive," this administration is all but being led by two subordinate officials with no immediate political accountability.
December 1, 2025 at 5:36 PM
thinking more about this: it is highly ironic that at the same time that it serves as a test case for the "unitary executive," this administration is all but being led by two subordinate officials with no immediate political accountability.
Reposted by Ian Sinclair
"At every opportunity, the administration is seeking additional ways to attack anti-hunger programs,"
www.npr.org/2025/12/01/n...
www.npr.org/2025/12/01/n...
The agriculture secretary says SNAP changes are coming. Here's what we know
Brooke Rollins has made a case for sweeping changes to food aid programs by claiming USDA has uncovered "massive fraud." But she and USDA haven't provided the underlying data or any evidence.
www.npr.org
December 1, 2025 at 1:11 PM
"At every opportunity, the administration is seeking additional ways to attack anti-hunger programs,"
www.npr.org/2025/12/01/n...
www.npr.org/2025/12/01/n...