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pubdef.bsky.social
A Public Defender
@pubdef.bsky.social
360 followers 430 following 340 posts
A California public defender.
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bradlander.bsky.social
I’m running for Congress because we need leaders who will fight, not fold. I recognize this moment, and I’m ready to meet it. #FightDontFold #LanderForNYC #LanderForCongress
December 10, 2025 at 10:49 AM
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atrupar.com
Wow -- Russia reportedly plotted last year to plant bombs on US-bound flights (gift link) giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
December 9, 2025 at 7:33 PM
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propublica.org
15/ Today we’ve published a deeply reported 5-part series. It’s about Albany, Georgia.

It’s about getting sick in America.

And it’s about what happens when the most powerful institution in town is a hospital.
As Phoebe Memorial Grew, the Health of Albany, Georgia, Declined
The five-part series, “Sick in a Hospital Town,” pursues one question: Why are people in Albany so sick when its most powerful institution is a hospital?
projects.propublica.org
December 7, 2025 at 2:28 PM
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swin24.bsky.social
There are well upwards of a BILLION dollars (of OUR money) this year funneled to projects designed specifically to make Trump feel Good about himself: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Trumps private and public furious response to the onrush of media coverage about his mind, health, age, sleep…
December 6, 2025 at 2:53 PM
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jonathancohn.bsky.social
11 Senate Democrats just voted to advance the nomination of a Federal Society judge who used to defend banks and payday lenders:

Durbin
Gallego
Hassan
Hirono
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Reed
Rosen
Whitehouse
SUSAN RODRIGUEZ Susan Courtwright Rodriguez, nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, is a longtime conservative lawyer whose career reflects deep partisan ties, loyalty to corporate interests, and a record of rulings that hurt workers, employees, and consumers and puts profits over people. She held multiple roles in the George W. Bush administration, including as a political appointee for the then-newly formed Department of Homeland Security, as well as with the White House counsel’s office. After a second stint at the DHS, Rodriguez spent 12 years at McGuireWoods, where she co-led the Financial Institutions Industry Team and defended banks, payday lenders, and fintech companies against lawsuits and government investigations. She now serves as a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. CORPORATE DEFENSE & FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS At McGuire Woods, Rodriguez devoted her practice to defending large financial institutions and high-cost lenders. She co-authored industry-facing publications framing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s regulatory oversight as part of a “name-and-shame playbook,” and dismissed CFPB efforts to hold corporations accountable for consumer abuses. She defended Sprint against allegations brought by CFPB and the Federal Communications Commission related to unauthorized third-party charges and represented banks accused of violating anti–money laundering laws (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Sprint Corp.). In one case, Rodriguez defended Truist Bank against claims brought by a whistleblower executive who alleged the bank failed to report suspicious wire transfers and allowed accounts linked to criminal activity to remain open (Denise WHITING, Plaintiff, v. TRUIST BANK f/k/a Branch Banking and Trust Company, Defendant). Rather than addressing systemic fraud, the bank allegedly retaliated against the executive, demoting and ultimately firing her. Rodr… Rodriguez’s leadership role on the board of Mira Via underscores her alignment with organizations that oppose reproductive rights. Mira Via explicitly affirms life “from the moment of conception,” situating Rodriguez firmly within the anti- abortion movement. Her long membership in the Federalist Society and Republican National Lawyers Association further underscores her alignment with conservative legal networks committed to rolling back reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ rights, and other substantive constitutional protections. STAUNCH CONSERVATIVE ADVOCACY Since joining the bench, Rodriguez has issued rulings that repeatedly favor corporations, law enforcement, and institutions over individuals seeking relief. In Rodriguez v. Wipro Ltd., she ruled against a whistleblower who raised concerns about corporate conflicts of interest and later suffered retaliation that exacerbated serious health conditions, dismissing the case for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. In Puranda v. City of Charlotte, she dismissed a civil rights case brought by an 18-year-old subjected to an aggressive traffic stop, where officers allegedly drew weapons, forcibly removed him from his car, and detained him without cause. In Robey v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, she rejected claims brought by parents whose child had repeatedly disclosed self-harm to a school counselor who failed to notify them, ultimately leading to a hospitalization. In each of these cases, Rodriguez prioritized institutional protection over the workers, children, and their families who simply wanted justice when they were hurt.
December 4, 2025 at 4:02 AM
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mmasnick.bsky.social
Hey folks: this morning we're launching a monthlong fundraiser for @techdirt.com. Over the last year, we've been steadfast in not self-censoring, not capitulating, not sanewashing bullshit. But that's come at a cost. And we need help: rtb.techdirt.com/products/fri...
Friend Of Techdirt
Get an Insider Badge on your profile
rtb.techdirt.com
December 3, 2025 at 5:49 PM
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streetroots.bsky.social
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
November 21, 2025 at 2:35 AM
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kendrawrites.com
This is the first story I ever did that got more than a million views
November 19, 2025 at 5:16 PM
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ariberman.bsky.social
Of all the terrible things Roberts has done, this was the most shocking stat: "the right-wing majority has used the shadow docket to uphold Trump’s actions roughly 90 percent of the time, repeatedly bailing him out of any obligation to follow the law"
ariberman.bsky.social Ari Berman @ariberman.bsky.social · 22d
There’s one person squarely to blame for Trump’s corruption, authoritarianism & assault on democracy: John Roberts. He’s enabled so much of Trump’s lawlessness while somehow escaping accountability for it

New cover story from @pemalevy.bsky.social & me

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
This is all John Roberts’ fault
Trump owes his corrupt and abusive reign to one man.
www.motherjones.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:35 PM
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mollycrabapple.bsky.social
Hey authors! Check to see if Anthropic stole your book to train their slop generator on. You’re entitled to $1500 per stolen Work.

Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Submit a Claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:39 AM
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swilua.bsky.social
OK but if emails take down Trump, and a blow job finally ruins Clinton, it definitely proves God is a really funny woman right
November 14, 2025 at 3:12 PM
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brianbeutler.bsky.social
Yup, and the damage isn’t so much in the story as in the proof of weakness. Trump now knows he has new torture tools to make Dems do what he wants. It’s why at least one of the 7 capitulators oughta be run out of office now, mid session. Get that number down to 6. www.offmessage.net/p/16-thought...
November 10, 2025 at 12:31 PM
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sarahposner.bsky.social
The model of holding individual senators responsible is broken here. The retirees clearly agreed to take the fall. Which is why the nos should get no credit for voting no unless they move to oust Schumer
November 10, 2025 at 3:20 AM
pubdef.bsky.social
Hey Ho! Spineless Chuck Schumer has got to go!
schumer.senate.gov Chuck Schumer @schumer.senate.gov · Nov 10
Democrats have been fighting for months to address America's healthcare crisis

For the millions who will lose coverage
For people with cancer who won't get the care they need
For working families who can't afford to pay $25K more a year for healthcare

We will keep fighting
November 10, 2025 at 8:45 AM
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marc-fischer.bsky.social
After a full year of work, this book is out! Cooking in Maximum Security, compiled by Matteo Guidi, is our latest Half Letter Press book and it's beautiful. How do people in Italian prisons cook? This book will show you their recipes and tools used to make them. halfletterpress.com/cooking-in-m...
The cover of the book Cooking in Maximum Security by Matteo Guidi, with black ink on "Grout" paper. A pencil drawing by Mario Trudu shows a fantasy cooking device. From the back cover: Cooking in Maximum Security was compiled by Matteo Guidi, working with people detained in the high surveillance sections of Italian prisons, through a continuous exchange of letters between 2009 and 2013. This book explains the methods and strategies prisoners use to cook in their cells with few available resources. Making kitchen tools before one can even begin to gather ingredients is a priority in this cookbook. In addition to identifying the necessary utensils, this book also describes how to construct them. Simple objects acquire a whole new value. A broom handle becomes a rolling pin, shoelaces tie rolled bacon for curing, and the cupboard or stool becomes an oven. Even the heat from an old cathode ray tube television helps dough for pizza and bread to rise in the cold environment of a prison cell. The recipes themselves, for all kinds of classic Italian pasta dishes, sauces, meat preparations, and pastries, reveal a whole new level of skill and ingenuity when the reader learns how they are made in defiance of the discouraging experience of detention.
November 8, 2025 at 1:35 PM
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boltsmag.org
Do you want to support our work at Bolts? Sign up as a $5 monthly donor today, & we’ll immediately get $60 in matching funds!

That’s right: The NewsMatch program, which launched on November 1, is multiplying all new monthly subscriptions by 12 right now.
Support Bolts
We are a nonprofit publication that covers the nuts and bolts of political change, from the local up, and we need reader support to build our journalism.
boltsmag.org
November 4, 2025 at 7:45 PM
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notalawyer.bsky.social
My latest is about the latest revelations on the failed prosecution of Donald Trump, and why you should blame Merrick Garland more than the Supreme Court.
You Should Blame Merrick Garland
Garland's incompetence gave the Supreme Court the chance to set Trump free
stringinamaze.net
November 1, 2025 at 7:53 PM
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adopteerights.bsky.social
Especially today, props to intercountry adopted people who speak out about being denied US citizenship despite being adopted by US citizen parents decades ago 🥚 www.bbc.com/news/article...
The American adoptees who fear deportation to a country they can't remember - BBC News
Thousands of US adoptees do not have citizenship despite being brought to the country as babies decades ago. Now many fear deportation.
www.bbc.com
October 31, 2025 at 11:08 PM
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jasonkoebler.bsky.social
Private equity destroys 200-year-old book distribution company that libraries around the country rely on and now libraries are having trouble getting new books:

www.404media.co/libraries-sc...
Libraries Scramble for Books After Giant Distributor Shuts Down
Why it might have been and may continue to be harder to get new releases from your local library.
www.404media.co
October 30, 2025 at 3:50 PM
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jaredmcclain.bsky.social
This is nowhere close to being true.

Two @ij.org clients are citizens who were arrested & @propublica.org found 168 more.

Plus, we have witness statements from others who--like most of the citizens caught up by Noem's tactics--didn't have their arrests recorded so they didn't make the news.
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Oct 30
Kristi Noem: "No American citizens have been arrested or detained. We focus on those who are here illegally. And anything you would hear or report that would be different than that is simply not true and false reporting."
October 30, 2025 at 6:39 PM
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cjciaramella.bsky.social
Latest: Feds arrested Juan Barbosa Gomez in Portland on October 15, even though his family says he's got a valid work permit and no criminal record.

But he's not on ICE's detainee locator. His family only could find out his location on a third-party inmate messaging app reason.com/2025/10/30/a...
A Portland family says their dad was wrongly arrested by ICE. Now he's lost in immigration detention.
ICE arrested Juan Barbosa Gomez in Portland. Now he's lost in immigration detention as his family fights for answers.
reason.com
October 30, 2025 at 7:57 PM
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tressiemcphd.bsky.social
If you are reading this piece today, you may be interested to know that I found Adam Bonica on moderate candidates compelling. Ht @hakeemjefferson.bsky.social

data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-new-yo...
October 29, 2025 at 1:39 PM
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bostonglobe.com
A US Drug Enforcement Administration agent said the DEA made “high-level arrests” of 171 Sinaloa Cartel members across New England in August.

A Globe investigation found that many of the DEA’s targets were addicts, low-level dealers, shoplifters, and homeless people.
The DEA said they arrested 171 ‘high ranking’ Sinaloa Cartel members. A Spotlight investigation found that’s not true. - The Boston Globe
A Globe investigation found that the federal agency misrepresented the stature of its targets, claiming cartel ties at a time when the Trump administration is taking lethal military action against such groups.
trib.al
October 29, 2025 at 1:32 PM
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janus.bsky.social
i hate to be that bitch, but my sources are telling me this early voting data has gotten Zohran's people rightly spooked and y'all better stop assuming this one's in the bag. GOTV
Voter turnout surges in NYC mayor’s race, with Boomers and Gen X leading the charge
The data so far is good news for independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, a political scientist said.
gothamist.com
October 27, 2025 at 3:37 PM
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cheeseofthewest.bsky.social
Gavin Newsom, a thread:
August 24, 2025 at 6:12 PM