Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Matthew Segal @segalmr.bsky.social · 1d

Whatever you think of the propriety of their decision to talk to the NYT, the fact that federal judges did so — reportedly more than three dozen! — means they are pulling the proverbial fire alarm.

Leah Litman @leahlitman.bsky.social · 1d

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...

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Matthew Segal @segalmr.bsky.social · 1d

Regardless of what Trump loyalists might claim, advocacy seems like it is more effective — particularly for audiences that include people who may be on the fence about Trump’s actions — when it does not, in fact, insult anyone or deny their humanity.

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Matthew Segal @segalmr.bsky.social · 1d

Respectfully, I think this points in the opposite direction. One virtue of the frog thing is that it demonstrates the absurdity of the crackdown *without* doing anything to insult or deny the humanity of any political adversary.

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Matthew Segal @segalmr.bsky.social · 1d

I think one key is demonstrating that it would be absurd for some to treat you as a threat while *also* avoiding any behavior resembling aggression or doing anything to insult anyone or deny anyone’s humanity.

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Matthew Segal @segalmr.bsky.social · 1d

In all seriousness people might want to think about why the 🐸 costumes are proving to be a more effective brand of advocacy than some other things that have been championed in recent years.

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Reposted by Matthew Segal

Heidi Kitrosser @heidikitrosser.bsky.social · 2d

Just started reading the written opinion by Judge Perry in the Chicago nat'l guard case. Jeebus, the basic record facts are startling. As Perry recounts them, the protests were uneventful UNTIL the feds showed up & then all hell broke loose. Opinion here: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Screenshot from a page of the opinion. I've highlighted the following two portions:

On September 12, there were between eighty and one hundred protestors present outside
of the ICE Processing Center singing, chanting, and holding small musical instruments. Id.
Around 10:00 a.m., twenty to thirty federal agents parked across the street and walked toward the
ICE Processing Center in camouflage tactical gear with masks covering their faces, which
represented a “noticeable shift” from the way agents had previously approached the building. Id.

and

Throughout the rest of the day, the crowd chanted, and some
individuals stood in the driveway to the ICE Processing Center. Id. ICE intermittently grabbed
those people to move them physically out of the driveway. Id. ICE agents eventually gave a
dispersal order through a loudspeaker, threatening to deploy chemical agents if the protestors did
not leave. Id. Approximately twenty to thirty minutes later, ICE deployed tear gas and pepper
spray at the crowd. Id

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Gautam Hans @gshans.bsky.social · 1d

Jameel and the entire KFIA staff remain important, inspiring leaders and litigators amid this crisis.

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 1d

This is a perilous moment for democracy in the United States, but I couldn’t be prouder of the Knight Institute’s work right now, and I don’t take for granted that we have the freedom and resources to do it. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

This free speech group at Columbia is taking on Trump when the university won’t – and winning

The Knight Institute is defending free speech at a school now synonymous with compromising on it

www.theguardian.com

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Leah Litman @leahlitman.bsky.social · 1d

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...

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Dan McFadden @danmcfadden.bsky.social · 2d

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Matthew Segal @segalmr.bsky.social · 2d

🐸

Matthew Segal @segalmr.bsky.social · 2d

One reason why the Constitution broadly protects speech without regard to its content, and why it also protects expressive conduct rather than words alone, is that you never know whether the most profound form of protest against authoritarianism will turn out to be a frog costume.

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Matthew Segal @segalmr.bsky.social · 2d

In conlaw things can change quickly. Today in class we talked about the Second Amendment, a body of law that essentially did not exist before 2008.

Worrying to think about conlaw principles that are supposedly obvious today, but which could be gone in 20 years.

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Barry Friedman @barryfriedman1.bsky.social · 2d

Super interesting comments by GOP Oklahoma Governor and head of NGA on deployment of Texas Guard in IL. I don't agree with it all, but there is real sanity here, itself in too short supply.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...

Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Criticizes National Guard Deployment in Chicago

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Matthew Segal

Matthew L Reznicek @drreznicek.bsky.social · 3d

I bet they’re even telling kids that Congress has the power of the purse

Matthew Segal @segalmr.bsky.social · 3d

I’m at Back to School night for my kid and apparently they’re using out of date materials because in social studies they’re still teaching that the federal government has three branches.

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Matthew Segal @segalmr.bsky.social · 3d

I’m at Back to School night for my kid and apparently they’re using out of date materials because in social studies they’re still teaching that the federal government has three branches.

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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 3d

Shapiro: I filed that amicus brief last night to make it very clear that the Pennsylvania National Guard is under my command.

The way the President has chosen to deploy the Guard in other states—and, in at least one case, deploy the Guard from one state into another—is extremely dangerous.

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 4d

Pleased to note that we got a great decision yesterday in a case we are helping the Institute for Justice in here in Houston. I’m proud to play a small part in helping IJ fight this thing.

thetexan.news/judicial/app...

Appeals Court Orders Harris County to Return Over $40,000 Seized in Civil Asset Forfeiture Case

The court held that evidence of a crime associated with the money was insufficient.

thetexan.news

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Reposted by Matthew Segal

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 3d

It is pretty galling that the Supreme Court spent four years telling Biden "you can't do that without Congress" then allowed Trump to seize a once-unthinkable amount of power from Congress within nine months and concentrate law-making authority almost entirely in the executive branch.

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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 3d

President Donald Trump's threatened crackdown on the finances and activities of liberal non-profits and groups opposed to his agenda is a multi-agency effort with top White House aide Stephen Miller playing a central role, according to officials.

www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

www.reuters.com

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Matthew Segal @segalmr.bsky.social · 3d

Perhaps SCOTUS could reconsider its Bivens jurisprudence in the case of Portland Frog v. Several Unknown ICE Agents bsky.app/profile/dann...

Danny K @dannykpolitics.bsky.social · 6d

WATCH: ‘Portland Frog’ pepper balled by ICE agents

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Reposted by Matthew Segal

Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 3d

he's going to come after you either way, so you might as well act with integrity

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Kasia Szymborski Wolfkot @kasiawolfkot.bsky.social · 4d

friends, @brennancenter.org launched a podcast! give it a listen. this episode is a preview of the #SCOTUS term, with analysis from @mawaldman.bsky.social, Dr. Kareem Crayton @lizagoitein.bsky.social, Leah Tulin, and Prof. Gilda R. Daniels.