Robert L. Tsai
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robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai
@robertltsai.bsky.social
15K followers 600 following 2.7K posts

Author of DEMAND THE IMPOSSIBLE (@WWNorton.com), amzn.to/45LFzNg | Next: BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF COAL COUNTRY (NYU) | Prof & Harry Elwood Warren Scholar, Boston U | constitutional law & politics, legal history, democracy | https://linktr.ee/roberttsai .. more

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Political science 53%
Law 24%
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Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · Dec 15
Just a photo of me with my 2024 spring child

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 17h
Love being back in my office @bulaw.bsky.social

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 21h
It’s a Seahawks celebration 💙💚🏈

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 1d
Best Seahawks D of my lifetime

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 1d
D.A. Joe Briley put some 40 people on Georgia's death row. Steve Bright and Southern Center for Human Rights showed how Briley exploited the unequal justice system to do so, manufacturing all-white juries and defeating overmatched court-appointed lawyers. #DemandTheImpossible

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 1d
This is a populist message and alternative to MAGA that can form the basis of constitutional renewal
acyn.bsky.social Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 2d
Ossoff: We were told that MAGA was for working-class Americans. But this is a government of, by, and for the ultra-rich. It’s the wealthiest Cabinet ever. This is the Epstein class. They are the elites they pretend to hate.

Reposted by Rebecca Solnit, Ben Barr, Philip N. Cohen , and 13 more

acyn.bsky.social
Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 2d
Ossoff: We were told that MAGA was for working-class Americans. But this is a government of, by, and for the ultra-rich. It’s the wealthiest Cabinet ever. This is the Epstein class. They are the elites they pretend to hate.

Reposted by Michael E. Mann, Ben H. Ansell, Will Jennings , and 5 more

carlquintanilla.bsky.social
Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 2d
SEN. OSSOFF: “.. why are roving gangs of masked men — who look like they couldn’t pass the Army physical exam — dressed up like pretend Delta Force operators, on our streets, demanding papers, dragging people from their cars, and shooting people to death?”

@acyn.bsky.social

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 2d
“This $45 billion increase, published just weeks ago, converts the U.S. into a ‘geographic region’ for expeditionary military-style detention. It signals a massive, long-term escalation in the government’s capacity to pay for detention and deportation logistics.”

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 3d
Judges won’t save democracy
kyledcheney.bsky.social Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 3d
BREAKING: A 5th Circuit panel has backed ICE's mass detention policy, a decision that clears the way for the administration to lock up people who are in immigration proceedings

It's a 2-1 ruling
Majority: Jones (Reagan), Duncan (Trump)
Minority: Douglas (Obama)

s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Reposted by Rosemary A. Joyce, Robert C. Richards, Robert L. Tsai

kyledcheney.bsky.social
Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 3d
BREAKING: A 5th Circuit panel has backed ICE's mass detention policy, a decision that clears the way for the administration to lock up people who are in immigration proceedings

It's a 2-1 ruling
Majority: Jones (Reagan), Duncan (Trump)
Minority: Douglas (Obama)

s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 3d
But as I’ve written, it’s not just demographic and cultural shifts Trumpism is seeking to slow down. It’s also a legal assault by all means necessary (including via emergency governance) upon the civil rights settlement of the 1960s—which encompassed immigration reform. bit.ly/3IhlIyd

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 3d
She’s right that Miller and his allies admire the 1924 Immigration Act. Here is my take on Miller’s closest progenitors, and how the GOP rallied around immigration restrictionist—and for many—cultural exclusion as the one right to bind all members of the party. @bostonreview.bsky.social
Trumpism Before Trump
We can’t fully appreciate the current anti-immigration moment without understanding the decades-long investment by right-wing movement politics.
bit.ly

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 3d
Jia Lynn Yang: “From the start of Trump’s first term, the president’s immigration agenda was always about more than the border. It was a project to rewrite who can be considered American.”
Trump’s Immigration Policy Is 100 Years Old
www.nytimes.com

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 3d
Here it is:
Demand the Impossible: One Lawyer's Pursuit of Equal Justice for All
Demand the Impossible: One Lawyer's Pursuit of Equal Justice for All [Tsai, Robert L.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Demand the Impossible: One Lawyer's Pursuit of Equal Justice for All
amzn.to

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 3d
Haha true!

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 4d
☺️

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 4d
First time I’ve had a book shouted out at a commencement. @demandtimpossible.bsky.social @uconnlaw.bsky.social @bulaw.bsky.social @wwnorton.com

Reposted by Roopika Risam, Jason A. Heppler, Robert L. Tsai , and 1 more

currentaffairs.bsky.social
Current Affairs @currentaffairs.bsky.social · 5d
Washington Post is shuttering its book section, part of the ongoing war against literacy & knowledge.

We at Current Affairs want to pick up the slack by expanding book reviews. Writers: pitch us anytime! And if you subscribe/donate we'll use the funding to commission book coverage.

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 5d
No that’s not the point. Rather, it’s about technology, tactics, and mindset

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 5d
Yes

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 5d
That would be a bummer

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 5d
The war has been brought home. @kathleenbelew.bsky.social

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 6d
😂 Too late. He didn’t even leave a note

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 6d
My Uber just slammed into a parked car as it pulled up. Should I get in?

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 6d
Likely young but not that young

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 6d
lmao
danielsuitor.com Daniel Suitor @danielsuitor.com · 6d
This is unreal. An AUSA talking like that in open court is about as close as you can come to a total breakdown. Never heard of anything like it.
SHOCKING FEDERAL COURT MOMENT: DOJ attorney Julie Le, "The system sucks, this job sucks" to Judge Jerry Blackwell who pressed her on why so many court orders are being ignored by ICE/Trump admin. She asked to be held in contempt just so she could get 24 hours of sleep. @FOX9

Reposted by Nandita Sharma, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan , and 8 more

danielsuitor.com
Daniel Suitor @danielsuitor.com · 6d
This is unreal. An AUSA talking like that in open court is about as close as you can come to a total breakdown. Never heard of anything like it.
SHOCKING FEDERAL COURT MOMENT: DOJ attorney Julie Le, "The system sucks, this job sucks" to Judge Jerry Blackwell who pressed her on why so many court orders are being ignored by ICE/Trump admin. She asked to be held in contempt just so she could get 24 hours of sleep. @FOX9

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 6d
The article offers a window into War on Crime political strategies that mutated to criminalize peaceful political protest—with ominous echoes for our own time.

Download and read about this episode in legal and political history: bit.ly/3MbQeMh
bit.ly

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 6d
Bright would go on to become one of the country’s most formidable lawyers on behalf of poor people on death row and a relentless advocate for criminal justice reform.

robertltsai.bsky.social
Robert L. Tsai @robertltsai.bsky.social · 6d
In print: “Becoming Steve Bright,” 113 Kentucky L.J. 213 (2025). This essay once represented the first chapter of @demandtimpossible.bsky.social. It focuses on Bright’s years at UK, his role in the protests following the Kent State massacre, and the litigation challenging emergency measures.