Marty Lederman
@martylederman.bsky.social
Professor at Georgetown University Law Center; former DOJ/OLC attorney
Former Honduran President Hernández, who Trump just pardoned, was convicted of flooding the U.S. with drugs. Could DOD have preemptively precluded such a pardon by simply using lethal force to kill Hernández?
Of course not. Likewise, the strikes on the cocaine boats are unlawful.
@justsecurity.org
Of course not. Likewise, the strikes on the cocaine boats are unlawful.
@justsecurity.org
December 2, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Former Honduran President Hernández, who Trump just pardoned, was convicted of flooding the U.S. with drugs. Could DOD have preemptively precluded such a pardon by simply using lethal force to kill Hernández?
Of course not. Likewise, the strikes on the cocaine boats are unlawful.
@justsecurity.org
Of course not. Likewise, the strikes on the cocaine boats are unlawful.
@justsecurity.org
Important to stress that the "first tap" order by Hegseth, specifically targeting eleven civilians, was a more significant, more consequential unlawful order than the "second tap" directive, whether or not there's an "armed conflict" (and there isn't).
@justsecurity.org
@justsecurity.org
Hegseth Ordered a Lethal Attack but Not the Killing of Survivors, Officials Say
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/u...
Hegseth Ordered a Lethal Attack but Not the Killing of Survivors, Officials Say
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:41 AM
Important to stress that the "first tap" order by Hegseth, specifically targeting eleven civilians, was a more significant, more consequential unlawful order than the "second tap" directive, whether or not there's an "armed conflict" (and there isn't).
@justsecurity.org
@justsecurity.org
It's good that Republicans acknowledge this was unlawful. But this framing is problematic. For one thing, it's not a war (or armed conflict), so it's not a "war crime." Moreover, even if there *were* an armed conflict against the (unnamed) cartel in question ... [1]
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
Lawmakers Suggest Follow-Up Boat Strike Could Be a War Crime
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 4:17 AM
It's good that Republicans acknowledge this was unlawful. But this framing is problematic. For one thing, it's not a war (or armed conflict), so it's not a "war crime." Moreover, even if there *were* an armed conflict against the (unnamed) cartel in question ... [1]
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
Reposted by Marty Lederman
my favorite passage of his
We shed as we pick up.
[farewell to the master]
open.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 5:46 PM
my favorite passage of his
Finally got to see the great One Battle After Another. Has any director ever made as many extraordinary final scenes as PTA? (This one is up there with Magnolia in terms of emotional impact, but there's also, of course, Boogie Nights, TTWB, etc.)
November 29, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Finally got to see the great One Battle After Another. Has any director ever made as many extraordinary final scenes as PTA? (This one is up there with Magnolia in terms of emotional impact, but there's also, of course, Boogie Nights, TTWB, etc.)
How did the @nytimes.com editors let this sentence appear?
"Critics have likened Mr. Trump’s approach to extortion, while others have chalked it up as a cost of doing business with this administration."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
"Critics have likened Mr. Trump’s approach to extortion, while others have chalked it up as a cost of doing business with this administration."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Northwestern University Nears Deal to Resolve Its Conflict With the White House
www.nytimes.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:07 AM
How did the @nytimes.com editors let this sentence appear?
"Critics have likened Mr. Trump’s approach to extortion, while others have chalked it up as a cost of doing business with this administration."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
"Critics have likened Mr. Trump’s approach to extortion, while others have chalked it up as a cost of doing business with this administration."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Fantastic Elizabeth Nelson essay on the 'Mats "Let it Be." "The enormity of the compassion is made to feel deeper by the extent of the confusion."
www.gq.com/story/when-t...
@paranoiacs.bsky.social
www.gq.com/story/when-t...
@paranoiacs.bsky.social
When The Replacements' Courage Was at its Peak
On their 1984 album ‘Let It Be,’ the Minneapolis indie-rock wastrels spewed a message of working-class passion and outsider solidarity into the world's answering machine.
www.gq.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Fantastic Elizabeth Nelson essay on the 'Mats "Let it Be." "The enormity of the compassion is made to feel deeper by the extent of the confusion."
www.gq.com/story/when-t...
@paranoiacs.bsky.social
www.gq.com/story/when-t...
@paranoiacs.bsky.social
What Liza says. This might well be the next legal skirmish if the Court holds that the POTUS can't invoke 12406. And @chrismirasola.bsky.social is right that there's no Article II exception to the PCA. Either the Insurrection Act allows it (I'm doubtful) or the military can't do it.
Important and timely piece by @chrismirasola.bsky.social in today's @lawfare on why Trump couldn't deploy active-duty troops to perform security functions for ICE under a claim of inherent constitutional power to protect federal property/personnel/functions. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/conf...
Confronting the Protective Power
The president’s theory of constitutional authority to deploy active-duty troops is more dangerous than the government’s briefing suggests.
www.lawfaremedia.org
November 20, 2025 at 6:35 PM
What Liza says. This might well be the next legal skirmish if the Court holds that the POTUS can't invoke 12406. And @chrismirasola.bsky.social is right that there's no Article II exception to the PCA. Either the Insurrection Act allows it (I'm doubtful) or the military can't do it.
Does this mean we're in a noninternational armed conflict with a figure of speech; that the courts have to defer to that finding; and that it justifies targeting civilian vessels and detaining/removing figure-of-speech members under the Alien Enemies Act?
@justsecurity.org
@justsecurity.org
Trump Team Calls Maduro a ‘Cartel’ Boss. That Word Doesn’t Mean What You Think.
Venezuelans coined a figure of speech for the phenomenon of generals corrupted by drug money: “Cartel de los Soles.” Then the US started talking about it as a literal organization.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/u...
Venezuelans coined a figure of speech for the phenomenon of generals corrupted by drug money: “Cartel de los Soles.” Then the US started talking about it as a literal organization.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/u...
Trump Team Calls Maduro a ‘Cartel’ Boss. That Word Doesn’t Mean What You Think.
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Does this mean we're in a noninternational armed conflict with a figure of speech; that the courts have to defer to that finding; and that it justifies targeting civilian vessels and detaining/removing figure-of-speech members under the Alien Enemies Act?
@justsecurity.org
@justsecurity.org
A few reactions to the SG's new reply brief in the Chicago/Nat'l Guard case, in 24 "skeets" (keep clicking through whenever it says "read one more reply"):
bsky.app/profile/mart...
bsky.app/profile/mart...
The SG has filed his reply letter brief in the Chicago case involving the National Guard. I've already filed two briefs in the case that address the vast majority of what the SG writes here, but perhaps it's worthwhile to respond to a few discrete things. [1]
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...
www.supremecourt.gov
November 18, 2025 at 12:17 AM
A few reactions to the SG's new reply brief in the Chicago/Nat'l Guard case, in 24 "skeets" (keep clicking through whenever it says "read one more reply"):
bsky.app/profile/mart...
bsky.app/profile/mart...
The SG has filed his reply letter brief in the Chicago case involving the National Guard. I've already filed two briefs in the case that address the vast majority of what the SG writes here, but perhaps it's worthwhile to respond to a few discrete things. [1]
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...
www.supremecourt.gov
November 17, 2025 at 10:31 PM
The SG has filed his reply letter brief in the Chicago case involving the National Guard. I've already filed two briefs in the case that address the vast majority of what the SG writes here, but perhaps it's worthwhile to respond to a few discrete things. [1]
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...
It begins with a Freudian slip: "The government files this emergency stay of the Magistrate Judge’s November 17, 2025,
order."
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
order."
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
#195 in United States v. Comey (E.D. Va., 1:25-cr-00272) – CourtListener.com
Emergency MOTION to Stay re 193 Order,,, 192 Unredacted Document, 191 Memorandum Opinion TO ALLOW TIME FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO FILE ITS OBJECTIONS TO THE ORDER TO THE DISTRICT COURT PURUSANT TO RULE 59....
storage.courtlistener.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:20 PM
It begins with a Freudian slip: "The government files this emergency stay of the Magistrate Judge’s November 17, 2025,
order."
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
order."
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
How to Undermine the Presumption of Procedural Regularity in Eleven Easy Steps!
(featuring more than one "highly irregular and radical departure[s] from past DOJ practice")
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
@justsecurity.org @rgoodlaw.bsky.social
(featuring more than one "highly irregular and radical departure[s] from past DOJ practice")
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
@justsecurity.org @rgoodlaw.bsky.social
#191 in United States v. Comey (E.D. Va., 1:25-cr-00272) – CourtListener.com
MEMORANDUM OPINION in re 167 Order remanding the matter of disclosure of the grand jury materials as to James B. Comey, Jr. Signed by Magistrate Judge William E. Fitzpatrick on 11/17/2025. (jlan) (Ent...
storage.courtlistener.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:37 PM
How to Undermine the Presumption of Procedural Regularity in Eleven Easy Steps!
(featuring more than one "highly irregular and radical departure[s] from past DOJ practice")
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
@justsecurity.org @rgoodlaw.bsky.social
(featuring more than one "highly irregular and radical departure[s] from past DOJ practice")
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
@justsecurity.org @rgoodlaw.bsky.social
I can't imagine what it even means that the Federal Programs Branch refused to work on the case. Brett Shumate said no? He couldn't find any lawyers among FBP's many dozens who are willing to work on it? (They've certainly handled far less viable cases.)
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/n...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/n...
Justice Dept. Struggled to Find Lawyers to Handle Maurene Comey Suit
www.nytimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:38 PM
I can't imagine what it even means that the Federal Programs Branch refused to work on the case. Brett Shumate said no? He couldn't find any lawyers among FBP's many dozens who are willing to work on it? (They've certainly handled far less viable cases.)
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/n...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/n...
Challenge by whom, and against whom?
November 16, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Challenge by whom, and against whom?
One of your best, Alfred.
"What’s striking about these quoted passages is that these aren’t thesis statements but lapidary gestures, remarks of secondary importance, *asides*. He needs no elaboration because the Charlottesville audience knew exactly what he was signaling."
"What’s striking about these quoted passages is that these aren’t thesis statements but lapidary gestures, remarks of secondary importance, *asides*. He needs no elaboration because the Charlottesville audience knew exactly what he was signaling."
I wrote 1200 words on T.S Eliot's out of print conservative text AFTER STRANGE GODS. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2025/11/15/r...
Ragged claws: T.S. Eliot’s ‘After Strange Gods’
In 1933, T.S. Eliot delivered three lectures at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Shortly afterwards the poet-critic had them published in book form under the title After Strange Gods:…
humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com
November 16, 2025 at 10:56 AM
One of your best, Alfred.
"What’s striking about these quoted passages is that these aren’t thesis statements but lapidary gestures, remarks of secondary importance, *asides*. He needs no elaboration because the Charlottesville audience knew exactly what he was signaling."
"What’s striking about these quoted passages is that these aren’t thesis statements but lapidary gestures, remarks of secondary importance, *asides*. He needs no elaboration because the Charlottesville audience knew exactly what he was signaling."
"Life is a complete dumpster fire, but I am reminded that I am not alone, that I am in this with many others.”
May her work and tenacity inspire many others still.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/u...
May her work and tenacity inspire many others still.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/u...
Alice Wong, Writer and Relentless Advocate for Disability Rights, Dies at 51
www.nytimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 10:37 AM
"Life is a complete dumpster fire, but I am reminded that I am not alone, that I am in this with many others.”
May her work and tenacity inspire many others still.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/u...
May her work and tenacity inspire many others still.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/u...
Reposted by Marty Lederman
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
November 14, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
As expected in light of the new legislation, the SG has withdrawn his application to the SCOTUS for a stay of the Rhode Island injunction requiring SNAP payments.
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...
www.supremecourt.gov
November 14, 2025 at 3:48 AM
As expected in light of the new legislation, the SG has withdrawn his application to the SCOTUS for a stay of the Rhode Island injunction requiring SNAP payments.
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...
The apotheosis of the "judiciary must defer to the POTUS" argument (?):
In the case involving the National Guard in Chicago, I've argued--and now Illinois/Chicago do, too--that b/c "the regular forces" in 10 USC 12406 means the standing armed forces (esp. the Army), ... [1]
@justsecurity.org
In the case involving the National Guard in Chicago, I've argued--and now Illinois/Chicago do, too--that b/c "the regular forces" in 10 USC 12406 means the standing armed forces (esp. the Army), ... [1]
@justsecurity.org
November 12, 2025 at 3:33 PM
The apotheosis of the "judiciary must defer to the POTUS" argument (?):
In the case involving the National Guard in Chicago, I've argued--and now Illinois/Chicago do, too--that b/c "the regular forces" in 10 USC 12406 means the standing armed forces (esp. the Army), ... [1]
@justsecurity.org
In the case involving the National Guard in Chicago, I've argued--and now Illinois/Chicago do, too--that b/c "the regular forces" in 10 USC 12406 means the standing armed forces (esp. the Army), ... [1]
@justsecurity.org
A postmortem of the IEEPA/tariffs oral argument, with my GULC colleagues Kathleen Clausen and Peter Harrell, hosted by Scott Anderson. I have an uncredited cameo--you know, like Matt Damon in Interstellar or Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder (sans the vitriol).
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...
Lawfare Live, The Now: Tariff Oral Argument at the Supreme Court
On Nov. 5 at 3:30 pm ET join Scott R. Anderson, Peter Harrell, and Kathleen Claussen for a live discussion.
www.lawfaremedia.org
November 6, 2025 at 12:01 PM
A postmortem of the IEEPA/tariffs oral argument, with my GULC colleagues Kathleen Clausen and Peter Harrell, hosted by Scott Anderson. I have an uncredited cameo--you know, like Matt Damon in Interstellar or Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder (sans the vitriol).
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...
The judge's firm-but-gentle response: "The Court has received the government's filing regarding discovery .... The [court's] Order on the parties' jointly recommended discovery plan governs discovery in this case. To the extent any discovery dispute arises, the parties may address it in a motion."
From an actual filing by the U.S. DOJ: The court erred in requiring us to produce discovery. Therefore, instead of asking the court to reconsider its order, or appealing it, we're simply going to disregard it. "Respectfully submitted, Lindsey Halligan."
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
#46 in United States v. James (E.D. Va., 2:25-cr-00122) – CourtListener.com
NOTICE Of Reasons for Not Providing Pre-Vindictive/Selective Prosecution Motion Related Discovery by USA as to Letitia A. James (Keller, Roger) (Entered: 11/04/2025)
storage.courtlistener.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:45 AM
The judge's firm-but-gentle response: "The Court has received the government's filing regarding discovery .... The [court's] Order on the parties' jointly recommended discovery plan governs discovery in this case. To the extent any discovery dispute arises, the parties may address it in a motion."
Questions about food metaphors in SCOTUS oral arguments:
If tariffs aren't a "hole" in the IEEPA donut, what other sort of pastry are they? (NOTE: "Cronut" is *not* a valid answer.) Or might they possibly be *both* an IEEPA donut hole *and* a very different pastry? Cf. #NewShimmer.
If tariffs aren't a "hole" in the IEEPA donut, what other sort of pastry are they? (NOTE: "Cronut" is *not* a valid answer.) Or might they possibly be *both* an IEEPA donut hole *and* a very different pastry? Cf. #NewShimmer.
November 5, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Questions about food metaphors in SCOTUS oral arguments:
If tariffs aren't a "hole" in the IEEPA donut, what other sort of pastry are they? (NOTE: "Cronut" is *not* a valid answer.) Or might they possibly be *both* an IEEPA donut hole *and* a very different pastry? Cf. #NewShimmer.
If tariffs aren't a "hole" in the IEEPA donut, what other sort of pastry are they? (NOTE: "Cronut" is *not* a valid answer.) Or might they possibly be *both* an IEEPA donut hole *and* a very different pastry? Cf. #NewShimmer.
Because this part of the thread appears to be getting lost, here it is again:
Thomas now doing the same, with the hostage hypo. Katyal doesn't give ground, which seems right to me. [12]
Thomas now doing the same, with the hostage hypo. Katyal doesn't give ground, which seems right to me. [12]
November 5, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Because this part of the thread appears to be getting lost, here it is again:
Thomas now doing the same, with the hostage hypo. Katyal doesn't give ground, which seems right to me. [12]
Thomas now doing the same, with the hostage hypo. Katyal doesn't give ground, which seems right to me. [12]