Kelly Young
@kellyyoungwriter.bsky.social
Telling the truth, encouraging the weary, and holding the line in Kentucky.
A federal judge in the Western District of Kentucky ordered immediate release in an immigration habeas case and required a bond hearing if re-detained. This is a Kentucky due-process check with real liberty impact. I break down why it matters here: open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
Due Process, Enforced in Kentucky
A Western District habeas order forces immediate release and judicial oversight of immigration detention
open.substack.com
January 30, 2026 at 5:54 PM
A federal judge in the Western District of Kentucky ordered immediate release in an immigration habeas case and required a bond hearing if re-detained. This is a Kentucky due-process check with real liberty impact. I break down why it matters here: open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
New Dispatches from Kentucky: When federal immigration enforcement uses lethal force and accountability narrows, the consequences don’t stay local. What recent reporting out of Minnesota signals for Kentucky. ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
#AccountabilityMatters
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
#AccountabilityMatters
The Accountability Gap After Lethal Force
What immigration enforcement shootings reveal about federal accountability and Kentucky’s risk
open.substack.com
January 28, 2026 at 12:52 PM
New Dispatches from Kentucky: When federal immigration enforcement uses lethal force and accountability narrows, the consequences don’t stay local. What recent reporting out of Minnesota signals for Kentucky. ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
#AccountabilityMatters
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
#AccountabilityMatters
New Dispatches essay: Is ICE becoming a paramilitary force?
This looks at how enforcement posture is changing, why that shift matters for democracy, and what history shows still works when force begins to normalize.
Link: kellyyoungwriter.substack.com/p/is-ice-bec...
This looks at how enforcement posture is changing, why that shift matters for democracy, and what history shows still works when force begins to normalize.
Link: kellyyoungwriter.substack.com/p/is-ice-bec...
Is ICE Becoming a Paramilitary Force?
How enforcement posture shifts, and how democracies respond
kellyyoungwriter.substack.com
January 26, 2026 at 5:52 PM
New Dispatches essay: Is ICE becoming a paramilitary force?
This looks at how enforcement posture is changing, why that shift matters for democracy, and what history shows still works when force begins to normalize.
Link: kellyyoungwriter.substack.com/p/is-ice-bec...
This looks at how enforcement posture is changing, why that shift matters for democracy, and what history shows still works when force begins to normalize.
Link: kellyyoungwriter.substack.com/p/is-ice-bec...
ICE is defending a posture that treats administrative warrants as authority for forced home entry. Courts have not settled this. Families are adjusting now.
This Dispatches piece explains why it matters for Kentucky and what people can do.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
This Dispatches piece explains why it matters for Kentucky and what people can do.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
When the Door Is No Longer a Line
ICE’s administrative-warrant posture and the quiet reshaping of home entry
open.substack.com
January 25, 2026 at 6:13 PM
ICE is defending a posture that treats administrative warrants as authority for forced home entry. Courts have not settled this. Families are adjusting now.
This Dispatches piece explains why it matters for Kentucky and what people can do.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
This Dispatches piece explains why it matters for Kentucky and what people can do.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
Kentucky’s AG is subpoenaing gas stations over abortion pill ads.
This targets information channels, not providers, with chilling effects in rural communities.
What’s happening and why it matters for Kentucky:
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
This targets information channels, not providers, with chilling effects in rural communities.
What’s happening and why it matters for Kentucky:
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
Why Kentucky Is Investigating Gas Stations Over Abortion Pill Ads
How subpoenas aimed at advertising and intermediaries can chill access to reproductive health information in Kentucky
open.substack.com
January 24, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Kentucky’s AG is subpoenaing gas stations over abortion pill ads.
This targets information channels, not providers, with chilling effects in rural communities.
What’s happening and why it matters for Kentucky:
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
This targets information channels, not providers, with chilling effects in rural communities.
What’s happening and why it matters for Kentucky:
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
Kentucky HB 468 restructures civil rights enforcement, shifting claims from administrative review to private lawsuits.
New Dispatches from Kentucky:
kellyyoungwriter.substack.com/p/when-civil...
New Dispatches from Kentucky:
kellyyoungwriter.substack.com/p/when-civil...
When Civil Rights Enforcement Is Rewired
How HB 468 Rebuilds the Machinery of Civil Rights Enforcement in Kentucky
kellyyoungwriter.substack.com
January 23, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Kentucky HB 468 restructures civil rights enforcement, shifting claims from administrative review to private lawsuits.
New Dispatches from Kentucky:
kellyyoungwriter.substack.com/p/when-civil...
New Dispatches from Kentucky:
kellyyoungwriter.substack.com/p/when-civil...
Kentucky Senate advances a constitutional amendment limiting pardons near elections.
This is a permanent shift in executive power, not a personality fight.
What it does, why it matters, and what voters should watch.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
This is a permanent shift in executive power, not a personality fight.
What it does, why it matters, and what voters should watch.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
Kentucky Senate Advances Constitutional Amendment to Limit Gubernatorial Pardons Near Elections
What voters need to know, why it matters, and where to find relevant resources
open.substack.com
January 21, 2026 at 1:33 PM
Kentucky Senate advances a constitutional amendment limiting pardons near elections.
This is a permanent shift in executive power, not a personality fight.
What it does, why it matters, and what voters should watch.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
This is a permanent shift in executive power, not a personality fight.
What it does, why it matters, and what voters should watch.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
Kentucky’s 2026 session opened with a surge of education bills. That volume matters.
Before votes, schools are already adjusting to pressure and uncertainty. I look at what the early docket reveals.
#KYLEG
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
Before votes, schools are already adjusting to pressure and uncertainty. I look at what the early docket reveals.
#KYLEG
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
Education Policy Pressure in the 2026 Kentucky Legislature
How early-session education bills are reshaping governance, discretion, and public schools in Kentucky
open.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Kentucky’s 2026 session opened with a surge of education bills. That volume matters.
Before votes, schools are already adjusting to pressure and uncertainty. I look at what the early docket reveals.
#KYLEG
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
Before votes, schools are already adjusting to pressure and uncertainty. I look at what the early docket reveals.
#KYLEG
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
New Dispatches: A lawsuit over HHS grant conditions targeting transgender people reveals how civil rights can be reshaped through funding pressure rather than lawmaking. Kentucky is not a plaintiff, but its institutions still feel the impact.
#FederalFundingPressure
#FederalFundingPressure
Changing the Rules After the Grant Is Awarded
Why the HHS lawsuit over transgender-related funding conditions matters for Kentucky institutions
open.substack.com
January 16, 2026 at 6:58 PM
New Dispatches: A lawsuit over HHS grant conditions targeting transgender people reveals how civil rights can be reshaped through funding pressure rather than lawmaking. Kentucky is not a plaintiff, but its institutions still feel the impact.
#FederalFundingPressure
#FederalFundingPressure
Trump’s threat to cut federal funding not just to sanctuary cities but to entire states is a warning shot. This is governing by financial pressure, not lawmaking, and it reshapes what states like Kentucky can safely do.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
#GoverningByThreat
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
#GoverningByThreat
When Washington Treats the Budget as a Bludgeon
From targeting cities to pressuring states, a warning shot for local democracy
open.substack.com
January 14, 2026 at 9:03 PM
Trump’s threat to cut federal funding not just to sanctuary cities but to entire states is a warning shot. This is governing by financial pressure, not lawmaking, and it reshapes what states like Kentucky can safely do.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
#GoverningByThreat
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
#GoverningByThreat
Kentucky did not sit this one out
From Frankfort to Louisville to Lexington, a national ICE enforcement controversy sparked rapid local civic mobilization. What that spread signals for Kentucky, immigrant communities, and democratic pressure:
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
#DispatchesKentucky
From Frankfort to Louisville to Lexington, a national ICE enforcement controversy sparked rapid local civic mobilization. What that spread signals for Kentucky, immigrant communities, and democratic pressure:
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
#DispatchesKentucky
When Federal Enforcement Sparks Statewide Protest in Kentucky
How the killing of Renee Nicole Good triggered rapid civic mobilization across the Commonwealth
open.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Kentucky did not sit this one out
From Frankfort to Louisville to Lexington, a national ICE enforcement controversy sparked rapid local civic mobilization. What that spread signals for Kentucky, immigrant communities, and democratic pressure:
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
#DispatchesKentucky
From Frankfort to Louisville to Lexington, a national ICE enforcement controversy sparked rapid local civic mobilization. What that spread signals for Kentucky, immigrant communities, and democratic pressure:
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
#DispatchesKentucky
When accountability language justifies restructuring rather than repair, power shifts quietly.
This essay breaks down HB 11, the JCPS breakup push, and why the timing matters after the Kentucky Supreme Court ruling.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
#KYPolitics
This essay breaks down HB 11, the JCPS breakup push, and why the timing matters after the Kentucky Supreme Court ruling.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
#KYPolitics
When the State Stops Fixing and Starts Replacing
Performance metrics, governance shifts, and the risk of normalization in Kentucky
open.substack.com
January 11, 2026 at 10:33 PM
When accountability language justifies restructuring rather than repair, power shifts quietly.
This essay breaks down HB 11, the JCPS breakup push, and why the timing matters after the Kentucky Supreme Court ruling.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
#KYPolitics
This essay breaks down HB 11, the JCPS breakup push, and why the timing matters after the Kentucky Supreme Court ruling.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
#KYPolitics
Democratic recovery will take 20–30 years.
I am 67.
Part III of The Long After sits with what that realization changes. Not answers. Not closure. Just the questions that follow when the work is for generations you will never meet.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
I am 67.
Part III of The Long After sits with what that realization changes. Not answers. Not closure. Just the questions that follow when the work is for generations you will never meet.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
The Long After, Part III: Living Mid-Story
What It Means to Realize the Work Is for Those Who Come After
open.substack.com
January 7, 2026 at 1:02 PM
Democratic recovery will take 20–30 years.
I am 67.
Part III of The Long After sits with what that realization changes. Not answers. Not closure. Just the questions that follow when the work is for generations you will never meet.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
I am 67.
Part III of The Long After sits with what that realization changes. Not answers. Not closure. Just the questions that follow when the work is for generations you will never meet.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
Repairing American democracy will take 20–30 years.
Not one election. Not one presidency.
Part II of The Long After looks honestly at the structural and cultural damage we are living through and why recovery is generational, not immediate.
Part III is next.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
Not one election. Not one presidency.
Part II of The Long After looks honestly at the structural and cultural damage we are living through and why recovery is generational, not immediate.
Part III is next.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
The Long After, Part II: Why Repairing American Democracy Will Take a Generation
This is the second in a three-part series examining the damage done to American democracy under Trump and why recovery will take a generation rather than an election.
open.substack.com
January 6, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Repairing American democracy will take 20–30 years.
Not one election. Not one presidency.
Part II of The Long After looks honestly at the structural and cultural damage we are living through and why recovery is generational, not immediate.
Part III is next.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
Not one election. Not one presidency.
Part II of The Long After looks honestly at the structural and cultural damage we are living through and why recovery is generational, not immediate.
Part III is next.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
What happens after fascism falls?
This essay starts with Italy after Mussolini to explain why removing a leader does not end authoritarian damage. Political collapse can be fast. Recovery is generational.
Part I of a three-part series.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
This essay starts with Italy after Mussolini to explain why removing a leader does not end authoritarian damage. Political collapse can be fast. Recovery is generational.
Part I of a three-part series.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
The Long After, Part I: How Fascism Actually Ends
This is the first in a three-part series of essays examining how societies emerge from fascism and why recovery is generational rather than immediate.
open.substack.com
January 5, 2026 at 8:45 PM
What happens after fascism falls?
This essay starts with Italy after Mussolini to explain why removing a leader does not end authoritarian damage. Political collapse can be fast. Recovery is generational.
Part I of a three-part series.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
This essay starts with Italy after Mussolini to explain why removing a leader does not end authoritarian damage. Political collapse can be fast. Recovery is generational.
Part I of a three-part series.
open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
Kentucky families are facing rising costs, staffing shortages, and growing mental health needs in our schools. The December 9th Interim Joint Committee on Education hearing highlighted how disconnected some state leaders are from those realities.
December 27, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Kentucky families are facing rising costs, staffing shortages, and growing mental health needs in our schools. The December 9th Interim Joint Committee on Education hearing highlighted how disconnected some state leaders are from those realities.
Social media feeds are full of people sharing their Spotify Wrapped, but Spotify is full of ICE recruitment ads. Cancel your subscription until Spotify stops helping ICE terrorize our communities. app.sosha.ai/s/zDhoQMyV
Spotify: Wrapped in complicity
app.sosha.ai
December 4, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Social media feeds are full of people sharing their Spotify Wrapped, but Spotify is full of ICE recruitment ads. Cancel your subscription until Spotify stops helping ICE terrorize our communities. app.sosha.ai/s/zDhoQMyV
When food assistance becomes a political pawn, it’s not just policy—it’s dinner. Nearly 600,000 Kentuckians rely on SNAP to eat. Hunger isn’t inevitable; it’s a choice our leaders make.
👉 Read open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
👉 Read open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
When the Lifeline Frays
SNAP cuts and rising food costs are pushing Kentucky families to the edge
open.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:13 PM
When food assistance becomes a political pawn, it’s not just policy—it’s dinner. Nearly 600,000 Kentuckians rely on SNAP to eat. Hunger isn’t inevitable; it’s a choice our leaders make.
👉 Read open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
👉 Read open.substack.com/pub/kellyyou...
I'm canceling my Spotify subscription until the ICE ads are removed. Streaming hate is a choice and I refuse to fund it. #CancelSpotify app.sosha.ai/s/WiT8MDmP
Don’t Stream Fascism: Cancel Spotify
app.sosha.ai
November 1, 2025 at 8:15 AM
I'm canceling my Spotify subscription until the ICE ads are removed. Streaming hate is a choice and I refuse to fund it. #CancelSpotify app.sosha.ai/s/WiT8MDmP
My letter to the editor is out in the Oldham Era.
Read + share: www.pmg-ky1.com/oldham_era/o...
Read + share: www.pmg-ky1.com/oldham_era/o...
Letters to the Editor
The branch worth protecting: public schools and democracy
www.pmg-ky1.com
September 30, 2025 at 8:04 PM
My letter to the editor is out in the Oldham Era.
Read + share: www.pmg-ky1.com/oldham_era/o...
Read + share: www.pmg-ky1.com/oldham_era/o...
They don’t want you to see what’s happening in Kentucky.
ICE raids. Hospital closures. Medicaid cuts.
This week’s Dispatches tells the truth they’re burying.
#DispatchesFromKentucky #WhatsMissing #TrumpRegime #RuralCrisis
ICE raids. Hospital closures. Medicaid cuts.
This week’s Dispatches tells the truth they’re burying.
#DispatchesFromKentucky #WhatsMissing #TrumpRegime #RuralCrisis
What They Don’t Want You to See
There are two Kentuckys right now.
open.substack.com
July 29, 2025 at 8:19 PM
They don’t want you to see what’s happening in Kentucky.
ICE raids. Hospital closures. Medicaid cuts.
This week’s Dispatches tells the truth they’re burying.
#DispatchesFromKentucky #WhatsMissing #TrumpRegime #RuralCrisis
ICE raids. Hospital closures. Medicaid cuts.
This week’s Dispatches tells the truth they’re burying.
#DispatchesFromKentucky #WhatsMissing #TrumpRegime #RuralCrisis
Reposted by Kelly Young
Kentucky is showing the nation what's possible when you put people over politics. Governor @andybeshearky.bsky.social’s approach of finding common ground and delivering results is exactly why our state is moving forward.
Folks are looking to Kentucky and they're seeing hope beyond the conflict at the national level. We're using common sense to find common ground, and we're getting good things done for our people. That's what both our commonwealth and country need, and I'm proud we're doing it here in Kentucky.
July 28, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Kentucky is showing the nation what's possible when you put people over politics. Governor @andybeshearky.bsky.social’s approach of finding common ground and delivering results is exactly why our state is moving forward.
Trump’s new AI directive bans “woke” systems, defunds dissent, and centralizes control over how technology talks, thinks, and serves the public.
This is infrastructure built to obey.
In Kentucky, we’re already seeing the pressure.
Read my latest essay: “When the Algorithm Obeys the State”
#AI
This is infrastructure built to obey.
In Kentucky, we’re already seeing the pressure.
Read my latest essay: “When the Algorithm Obeys the State”
#AI
When the Algorithm Obeys the State
On July 23, 2025, the Trump Administration unveiled a sweeping set of executive orders and policy measures aimed at reshaping how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is regulated, deployed, and funded in the...
open.substack.com
July 24, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Trump’s new AI directive bans “woke” systems, defunds dissent, and centralizes control over how technology talks, thinks, and serves the public.
This is infrastructure built to obey.
In Kentucky, we’re already seeing the pressure.
Read my latest essay: “When the Algorithm Obeys the State”
#AI
This is infrastructure built to obey.
In Kentucky, we’re already seeing the pressure.
Read my latest essay: “When the Algorithm Obeys the State”
#AI
Even some of Trump's biggest media supporters are turning on him over the Epstein cover-up. app.sosha.ai/s/3P1UPcmI
MAGA media rips Trump over Epstein cover-up
app.sosha.ai
July 22, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Even some of Trump's biggest media supporters are turning on him over the Epstein cover-up. app.sosha.ai/s/3P1UPcmI
Someone told me they’re overwhelmed by all the protests and causes right now.
I get it. There’s so much happening.
My advice? Pick one thing. That’s all.
Bring what you’ve got. Show up how you can. That’s how movements are made.
I get it. There’s so much happening.
My advice? Pick one thing. That’s all.
Bring what you’ve got. Show up how you can. That’s how movements are made.
July 21, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Someone told me they’re overwhelmed by all the protests and causes right now.
I get it. There’s so much happening.
My advice? Pick one thing. That’s all.
Bring what you’ve got. Show up how you can. That’s how movements are made.
I get it. There’s so much happening.
My advice? Pick one thing. That’s all.
Bring what you’ve got. Show up how you can. That’s how movements are made.