Chris Geidner

It’s me. SCOTUS, law & politics — including LGBTQ, post-Roe, criminal law, and democracy issues — at Law Dork. / Sober. Queer. Bipolar. Buckeye. Theater. Runner. Gaymer.

Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com
Email: lawdorknews@gmail.com
Pronouns: he/him
Signal: crg.32

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Last Notes

2026-05-02 19:20:54 UTC

BREAKING: Mifepristone is back at the Supreme Court in case over mailing the medication abortion drug.
After a Fifth Circuit ruling Friday that would end the mailing of mifepristone, a drugmaker asked SCOTUS to act immediately to keep the FDA policy allowing mailing in place.
New, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/mifepristone-supreme-court-return-mailing

2026-04-28 05:23:37 UTC

BREAKING: DOJ's leaders just filed what amounts to a Truth social post as a legal filing in the ballroom case.
Acting A.G. Todd Blanche, Associate A.G. Stanley Woodward, and Trent McCotter beclowned themselves in yet another dark, embarrassing moment for DOJ.
Overnight, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/doj-ballroom-filing-blanche-woodward-mccotter

2026-04-27 23:07:36 UTC

NEW: SCOTUS majority lets shadow docket order justify tossing out Texas redistricting case ruling.
The GOP appointees reversed a 160-page ruling that found Texas's mid-decade redistricting map likely unconstitutional.
Today, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/scotus-summary-reversal-texas-redistricting

2026-04-27 13:29:01 UTC

Off to SCOTUS. Orders at 9:30a, followed by arguments over geofence warrants and Monsanto’s Roundup beginning at 10a. Subscribe to Law Dork to support my independent legal journalism. https://www.lawdork.com/
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2026-04-07 21:42:03 UTC

I’ve researched the entire history that led to the 25th Amendment and what followed and wrote about all of it nearly a decade ago.
Since then — and, in part, due to its limits and complications — I’ve only called for Section 4 to be invoked on two dates: January 6, 2021, and today. https://www.lawdork.com/p/donald-trump-must-be-removed-twenty-five

2026-04-07 18:58:17 UTC

NEW: We have the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. Now is the time to use it.
It's past time for Trump to be removed from office. This is a global crisis. It's time for J.D. Vance and the Cabinet to invoke the Twenty-Fifth Amendment.
Now, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/donald-trump-must-be-removed-twenty-five

2026-03-29 22:27:50 UTC

NEW: The birthright citizenship arguments will show what Donald Trump has done to the United States.
Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship is at the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The case will test his anti-immigrant authoritarian project — and the court.
Today, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/birthright-citizenship-arguments-preview

2026-03-25 03:33:03 UTC

BREAKING: Trans West Virginians ask full appeals court to revisit alarming ruling in Medicaid coverage case.
"Left to stand, the panel’s reasoning could amount to judicially-endorsed regulation of transgender people’s liberty to be themselves," lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote.
At Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/trans-west-virginians-ask-full-appeals

2026-03-10 17:28:34 UTC

HUGE: Alabama was set to kill Sonny Burton on Thursday. Governor Kay Ivey stopped it.
Sonny Burton did not kill anyone, but Alabama put him on death row. Ivey granted Burton clemency on March 10, commuting his death sentence to a life sentence.
Law Dork coverage: https://www.lawdork.com/p/alabama-sonny-burton-kay-ivey

2026-03-10 15:00:09 UTC

BREAKING: Former military lawyers say use of JAG lawyers in Minnesota violates the Posse Comitatus Act.
Although recent litigation has focused on troop deployments to American cities, a new challenge in Minnesota looks at DOJ's use of JAG lawyers in non-military cases.
New, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/posse-comitatus-special-attorney-challenge

2026-03-08 01:34:34 UTC

NEW: Alabama is set to kill Sonny Burton on Thursday. Governor Kay Ivey must stop it.
Sonny Burton did not kill anyone, but Alabama put him on death row and his execution is scheduled to be carried out this week — unless Ivey grants clemency or courts intervene.
Tonight, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/alabama-sonny-burton-kay-ivey

2026-02-28 00:44:14 UTC

BREAKING: Federal judge blocks new DHS policy that would allow arrest of thousands of legal refugees.
"The new policy turns the refugees’ American Dream into a dystopian nightmare," Judge Tunheim wrote.
Tonight, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/federal-judge-blocks-dhs-refugee-policy-minnesota

2026-02-27 00:45:00 UTC

NEW: Federal prison officials face civil contempt hearing, as ICE is threatened with criminal contempt.
Orders from two Republican judicial appointees Thursday show greater willingness to push back with increasingly harsh tools in the face of continued Trump admin lawlessness.
Tonight, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/bop-contempt-show-cause-ice-criminal-contempt-threat

2026-02-26 16:46:16 UTC

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UPDATE: Judge Royce Lamberth has set a hearing on the plaintiffs' motion — alleging violations of his Feb. 19 court order — for 2:30 p.m. today.
Background: https://www.lawdork.com/p/trans-inmates-retaliation-contempt-motion

2026-02-26 05:51:20 UTC

BREAKING: Trans inmate's lawyers claim "egregious retaliation" in violation of court order.
Trans woman involved in a lawsuit challenging anti-trans policies says federal prison official told her on Feb. 22: “I don’t give a fuck what that judge says, I do what I want.”
https://www.lawdork.com/p/trans-inmates-retaliation-contempt-motion

2026-02-19 01:24:05 UTC

EXCLUSIVE: Senior DHS officials double down on arresting and detaining refugees in new memo.
Hours after DOJ filed the new memo in court in Minnesota, a magistrate judge denied Law Dork's request for greater public access in the case — including remote electronic docket access.
https://www.lawdork.com/p/exclusive-senior-dhs-officials-double

2026-02-17 00:15:39 UTC

NEW: A Presidents' Day lesson from Philadelphia.
“Each person who visits the President’s House and does not learn of the realities of founding-era slavery receives a false account of this country’s history,“ Judge Cynthia Rufe wrote.
This evening, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/a-presidents-day-lesson-from-philadelphia

2026-02-13 17:59:29 UTC

DHS is currently targeting 5,600 refugees in Minnesota as a first step in an expansive plan aimed at reviewing — and presumably restricting — the legal status of refugees admitted since the start of the Biden administration.
Read my Law Dork report on newly filed Trump admin documents: https://www.lawdork.com/p/uscis-refugee-detention-rescission-memo

2026-02-13 00:16:36 UTC

BREAKING: Judge Nancy Brasel, a Trump appointee, has issued a TRO in the Minnesota access-to-counsel case about treatment at Whipple.
"It appears that in planning for Operation Metro Surge, the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees."
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2026-02-12 17:43:09 UTC

BREAKING: Judge blocks Hegseth effort to punish Sen. Kelly.
"This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly's First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees."
Background: https://www.lawdork.com/p/breaking-kelly-sues-hegseth-over
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2026-02-10 22:22:00 UTC

NEW: DHS's investigation of a man who emailed a DHS lawyer is over — but not the concerns it raises.
After 99 days, DHS retracted an administrative subpoena targeting a man following his exercise of his First Amendment rights — but never explained why it was investigating him.
Today, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/dhss-investigation-of-a-man-who-emailed

2026-02-10 00:23:37 UTC

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BREAKING: The Department of Homeland Security is taking a third crack at restricting congressional oversight visits to immigration facilities — a requirement under federal funding laws that is not new to the Trump administration.
More: https://substack.com/@chrisgeidner/note/c-212380581

2026-02-09 23:41:49 UTC

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The memo — https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.283200/gov.uscourts.dcd.283200.55.1.pdf — was released in a DOJ filing in the case this evening: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.283200/gov.uscourts.dcd.283200.55.0.pdf

2026-02-09 23:40:53 UTC

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Here is my Law Dork report from last week on Judge Jia Cobb's order blocking Noem's second attempt. https://www.lawdork.com/p/breaking-judge-blocks-noems-second

2026-02-09 23:39:36 UTC

BREAKING: On February 2, Sec. Noem issued a memo asserting the lapse in appropriations for DHS meant there is no Sec. 527 — the provision protecting congressional oversight visits to immigration detention facilities — and she was issuing a new (third) policy requiring seven-day notice for visits.
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2026-02-05 05:01:49 UTC

NEW: The unfathomable Minnesota transcript that must be read, as it tells the reality of America today.
"I am not white, as you can see," Julie Le — a government lawyer — told a federal judge on Tuesday. "And my family's at risk as any other people that might get picked up too ..."
Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/the-minnesota-julie-le-show-cause-transcript

2026-02-04 19:00:49 UTC

BREAKING: The Supreme Court will not stop the use of California's new congressional maps in this year's midterm elections.
The court rejected California Republicans' effort to stop the use of the new maps. There were no noted dissents and no opinion.
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2026-02-04 16:07:44 UTC

What’s up with the government lawyer who told a federal judge in Minnesota on Tuesday that “the system sucks” and her “job sucks”?
I have you covered at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/the-system-sucks-or-what-a-federal

2026-01-29 01:11:35 UTC

NEW: Regarding federal immigration agent killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as well as the nonfatal shooting this month, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty told Law Dork: "I know enough now to feel pretty confident that we will be able to make a decision about charges in those three cases.” https://www.lawdork.com/p/hennepin-county-attorney-mary-moriarty

2026-01-27 14:36:53 UTC

BREAKING: Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz sets a contempt hearing for Friday in one of the hundreds of habeas cases in Minnesota pending as a result of Operation Metro Surge, ordering acting ICE Director Todd Lyons personally to appear in court and face contempt. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.230171/gov.uscourts.mnd.230171.7.0.pdf
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2026-01-21 22:47:21 UTC

NEW: DOJ's defense of Trump's Fed firing effort falls flat at SCOTUS.
Fed Governor Lisa Cook looks safe in her job for now. No justice was eager to back Solicitor General John Sauer's arguments for Trump on Wednesday.
Today, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/dojs-defense-of-trumps-fed-firing

2026-01-19 03:27:08 UTC

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As for me, heading into year two, I will keep doing what I have been doing, what I told you I would do in this new administration on January 19, 2025: “It’s going to be a rough ride, but remembering — and acting on — our values will be key.” https://www.lawdork.com/p/on-year-two-of-trump-two

2026-01-19 03:02:18 UTC

NEW: On heading into year two of the second Trump administration, and the necessity of pushback.
The Minnesota pushback to "Operation Metro Surge" shows the power that the people maintain in the face of Trump's authoritarianism.
Tonight, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/on-year-two-of-trump-two

2026-01-16 14:49:19 UTC

Answering questions outside the White House on Thursday, DHS Sec. Kristi Noem made clear that virtually anyone could face a Kavanaugh stop: https://www.lawdork.com/p/noem-says-anyone-can-face-a-kavanaugh-stop

2026-01-16 04:25:32 UTC

"If, as Noem said on Thursday, the administration’s view is that anyone 'surrounding' any person involved in a Kavanaugh stop can have their citizenship questioned — a Kavanaugh stop once removed, if you will — then virtually anyone in the U.S. could find themselves subject to a Kavanaugh stop." https://www.lawdork.com/p/noem-says-anyone-can-face-a-kavanaugh-stop

2026-01-12 18:43:02 UTC

BREAKING: Senator Mark Kelly sues Pete Hegseth, DOD, and others over Hegseth's censure of Kelly and effort to reduce his retirement grade, alleging violations of the First Amendment, due process, Speech & Debate Clause, and federal laws.
Kelly is represented by Arnold & Porter.
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2026-01-09 02:37:32 UTC

NEW: Following Wednesday's ICE killing, D.C. residents take to the streets, chanting "ICE out now."
A protest at 14 and U streets in Washington, D.C., stopped traffic for roughly an hour on the evening after an ICE agent killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.
Tonight, a photo essay at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/dc-ice-protest-fourteenth-u-streets

2026-01-02 22:58:38 UTC

NEW: The latest effort to hold Gregory Bovino accountable for his disregard of the rule of law.
The Border Patrol official is the subject of a sanctions request in Kilmar Abrego Garcia's criminal case in Tennessee.
This evening, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/gregory-bovino-kilmar-abrego-garcia-sanctions

2025-12-31 22:19:28 UTC

At Law Dork today, I highlighted "four key lessons that we can and must take out of 2025." https://www.lawdork.com/p/four-lessons-of-the-year-trump-scotus
As I did that, Trump announced that he was giving up on his National Guard efforts in states where the action is opposed by the state — illustrating all four of my points.
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2025-12-25 05:31:39 UTC

BREAKING: Federal judge in Pittsburgh blocks DOJ's invasive trans care subpoena.
The latest loss for DOJ, regarding the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's patients, also brings news that DOJ has started scaling back its requests following its many losses.
New, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/breaking-federal-judge-in-pittsburgh

2025-12-24 01:00:51 UTC

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Here is my full report at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/supreme-court-illinois-national-guard-order

2025-12-24 00:53:59 UTC

NEW: Supreme Court, on a 6-3 vote, rejects Trump's effort to deploy National Guard in Illinois for now.
More than two months after DOJ asked for "immediate" relief, the Supreme Court said no on Tuesday. Also: A Kavanaugh note on Kavanaugh stops.
Tonight, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/supreme-court-illinois-national-guard-order

2025-12-23 20:32:03 UTC

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Here is the order and opinions: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25a443_ba7d.pdf
More to come at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/

2025-12-23 20:28:01 UTC

BREAKING: The Supreme Court rejects the Trump administration’s request to deploy National Guard troops in Illinois at this time, over the dissenting votes of Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch.
Background: https://www.lawdork.com/p/trump-admin-asks-scotus-for-an-order
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2025-12-22 22:01:51 UTC

BREAKING: Judge James Boasberg rules for those deported under the Alien Enemies Act on March 15 — certifying a class, finding the U.S. maintained constructive custody over them at CECOT, finding they were not given due process, and ordering return or that such process be given by Jan. 5, 2026.
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2025-12-22 03:13:56 UTC

NEW: Zero minutes, or journalism on the chopping block at CBS News.
Bari Weiss's CBS News makes a last-minute decision to pull 60 Minutes CECOT report.
Tonight, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/sixty-minutes-cecot-report-pulled

2025-12-20 04:31:53 UTC

While a bunch of journalists were at the Kennedy Center taking pictures today, I asked the VP of Facilities and Operations at the Kennedy Center a direct question:
“Matt, is this the first time that you’ve defaced a public building?“
Only at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/q-and-a-defacing-kennedy-center
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2025-12-05 19:12:57 UTC

BREAKING: The Supreme Court agrees to take up a challenge to President Trump's January 20 birthright citizenship executive order.
The court will hear DOJ's appeal of a loss below in a class-action challenge brought in the wake of June's decision limiting universal injunctions.
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2025-12-05 00:24:24 UTC

BREAKING: Supreme Court allows new Texas congressional map to be used in 2026. The Dem appointees dissent in the racial gerrymandering case.
Also: An "administrative stay" at the D.C. Circuit means National Guard can remain deployed in DC for now.
Tonight, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/supreme-court-allows-new-texas-map

2025-12-02 00:50:57 UTC

NEW: With nine justices, every vote matters. In Monday's argument, the ground began shifting.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is bringing legislative history back to the Supreme Court.
Tonight, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/every-vote-matters-kbj-legislative-history

2025-11-28 21:59:17 UTC

BREAKING: As part of his contempt inquiry, Judge Boasberg orders DHS Sec Kristi Noem and other officials to submit declarations by 12/5 attesting to their actions relating to the decision not to turn around March 15 Alien Enemies Act flights.
Background: https://www.lawdork.com/p/aclu-lawyers-name-emil-bove-now-a
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2025-11-24 17:53:09 UTC

BREAKING: Federal judge rules that Lindsey Halligan's appointment was not valid, thus, she had no authority to present the James Comey or Letitia James indictments and the indictments are dismissed without prejudice.
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2025-11-18 23:34:30 UTC

NEW: Court blocks Texas's mid-decade redistricting, finding it likely unconstitutional, with DOJ largely to blame.
"DOJ Asked Texas to Engage in Unlawful Racial Gerrymandering," Judge Jeffrey V. Brown, a Trump appointee, wrote for the 2-1 majority. Texas is appealing to the Supreme Court.
Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/court-blocks-texass-mid-decade-redistricting

2025-11-17 00:44:27 UTC

When DHS dared to call its anti-immigrant racial profiling weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina, “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” I knew I was going to have to write about it.
Tonight, at Law Dork, here it is: https://www.lawdork.com/p/gregory-bovino-is-exactly-who-eb-white-warned-of
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2025-11-13 21:33:34 UTC

NEW: Oklahoma governor stops execution, commuting death sentence of Tremane Wood.
Wood will now spend life in prison following Gov. Kevin Stitt's grant of clemency. Also: SCOTUS allows Florida execution to go ahead.
Today, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/oklahoma-governor-clemency-florida-execution

2025-11-10 14:36:27 UTC

BREAKING: The Supreme Court DENIES former county clerk Kim Davis's request for the justices to take up her longshot bid to overturn 2015's Obergefell v. Hodges marriage equality decision. No justice even writes about the request.
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2025-10-31 21:19:48 UTC

NEW: Trump admin ordered to distribute SNAP benefits, using contingency fund. A pair of rulings both found the effort to suspend SNAP payments is likely illegal, with one judge issuing a TRO on Friday.
Also: Appeals court rejects court's Bovino check-in order.
Today, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/trump-admin-ordered-to-distribute

2025-10-29 23:25:29 UTC

So much has gone on today regarding Trump’s extreme immigration enforcement efforts in Illinois. SCOTUS, Seventh Circuit, and the Northern District of Illinois — key developments at all levels of court today.
What happened? I have you covered at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/scotus-holds-off-trump-illinois-ruling

2025-10-21 20:21:45 UTC

NEW: After The Washington Post reported Monday on the demolition of the "East Wing facade," a new picture obtained by Law Dork that was taken on Tuesday shows that a substantial portion of the entirety of the East Wing has been demolished.
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2025-10-06 01:07:57 UTC

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NEW: Oregon and Portland filed an amended complaint in their lawsuit against Trump tonight, with a new plaintiff added who is joining them: California. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ord.189270/gov.uscourts.ord.189270.58.0.pdf
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2025-10-05 06:31:15 UTC

Highlighting that America’s “historical tradition” makes clear that “this is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law,” U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut on Saturday issued an order temporarily blocking President Donald Trump’s effort to deploy the National Guard in Portland, Oregon. https://www.lawdork.com/p/judge-blocks-trump-oregon-national-guard-action

2025-10-04 02:40:33 UTC

"This is not law. It is a spell, announced by a phantom."
Tonight at Law Dork, my look at today's SCOTUS order.
https://www.lawdork.com/p/supreme-court-noem-tps-venezuela-jackson-dissent

2025-09-27 03:30:15 UTC

What happened at SCOTUS today?
The case over $4 billion in foreign aid led to an unsigned Friday SCOTUS order that, in effect, means Trump can overturn certain laws — and that preventing him from doing so is a "harm" for which SCOTUS can grant him relief.
Here's my report at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/scotus-impoundment-is-ok-when-trump-does-it

2025-09-26 03:41:28 UTC

NEW: Trump the tyrant is on full display — but his acting out highlights how weak he is.
Trump got his Comey indictment Thursday and issued a memo directing "domestic terrorism" investigations. And yet, both provided more evidence that Trump is losing.
Tonight, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/trump-weakness-comey-indicted-domestic-terrorism

2025-09-25 23:07:39 UTC

The big news tonight is two-fold — Trump's "domestic terrorism" memorandum and James Comey's reported indictment — and both are signs that Trump's authoritarianism is here. Now.
Both situations, though, show how weak Trump actually is.
That will be coming tonight, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/

2025-09-24 16:06:02 UTC

BREAKING: Judge overseeing DOJ's prosecution of Luigi Mangione orders DOJ to explain by Oct. 3, via sworn declaration, why prejudicial statements continued to be made about him by DOJ officials, contrary to rule/order. Judge Garnett warns that sanctions could follow if there are future violations.
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2025-09-24 04:24:47 UTC

Yeah, Kimmel is back. And Trump made him much stronger.
This was excellent.
410K views on YouTube in the first 30 minutes. https://youtu.be/c1tjh_ZO_tY
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2025-09-23 02:49:49 UTC

NEW: SCOTUS majority says Trump can ignore precedent if the majority doesn't like it.
A 90-year-old precedent meant nothing to the majority allowing Trump to fire an FTC commissioner during litigation. This is no way to run a court, let alone a country.
Tonight, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/scotus-trump-precedent-humphreys-executor-ftc

2025-09-22 19:47:41 UTC

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In dissent as to the stay, Justice Kagan — joined by Justices Sotomayor and Jackson — lays out the lawlessness of the majority plainly.
"Our emergency docket should never be used, as it has been this year, to permit what our own precedent bars."
Order/dissent: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/25a264_o759.pdf
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2025-09-22 19:41:50 UTC

BREAKING: SCOTUS will hear a case over whether it should overrule Humphrey's Executor — in a shadow docket order that also allows Trump's firing of Rebecca Slaughter as an FTC commissioner to take effect while the appeal is considered, which should not be allowed under Humphrey's Executor.
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2025-09-18 15:07:16 UTC

BREAKING: Saying that the Trump administration’s explanation for its Labor Day weekend effort to send children to Guatemala “crumbled like a house of cards” upon examination, Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, grants provisional class certification and a preliminary injunction.
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2025-09-12 05:18:30 UTC

NEW: On this September 11, Trump's troops remain in Washington, D.C.
It's been more than a month now since President Donald Trump unleashed soldiers on the nation's capital. A lawsuit challenging their presence is moving forward, slowly.
Tonight, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/on-this-september-11-trumps-troops

2025-09-10 20:16:34 UTC

BREAKING: SCOTUS refuses to step in, for now, in a dispute over one trans student's bathroom access in South Carolina. For now, the Fourth Circuit's injunction granting the student relief stands. Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch would have granted SC's stay.
Background: https://www.lawdork.com/p/two-cases-involving-20-people-show
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2025-09-10 00:40:39 UTC

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If you need a reminder of the Skrmetti decision, here's my report on that ruling: https://www.lawdork.com/p/breaking-scotus-upholds-tennessees

2025-09-10 00:36:12 UTC

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Here's the opinion, concurrences, and dissents: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca11.80444/gov.uscourts.ca11.80444.173.1.pdf

2025-09-10 00:34:19 UTC

NEWS: The full Eleventh Circuit, in an 8-5 vote, held that an insurance policy excluding transgender gender-affirming surgical care does not facially violate Title VII b/c — following SCOTUS's Skrmetti reasoning — "it does not treat anyone differently based on a protected characteristic."
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2025-09-09 01:20:22 UTC

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In dissent, Justice Sotomayor wrote for the Democratic appointees, “We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent.“ https://www.lawdork.com/p/scotus-trump-immigration-raids-racial-profiling

2025-09-09 01:13:30 UTC

What happened at SCOTUS today is alarming: The right-wing majority allowed the Trump admin, as part of its sweeping immigration raids, to racially profile Spanish-speaking people who look Latino at certain low-wage job sites in the Los Angeles area while litigation challenging the raids is ongoing. https://www.lawdork.com/p/scotus-trump-immigration-raids-racial-profiling

2025-09-08 15:50:11 UTC

BREAKING: The Supreme Court — over the objection of Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson — allows the Trump administration’s racial profiling of people working certain types of jobs in its immigration raids during litigation.
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2025-09-08 14:36:31 UTC

BREAKING: A unanimous three-judge panel of the Second Circuit upholds the $83.3 million jury verdict for E. Jean Carroll in her defamation case against Donald Trump. https://ww3.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/305e5585-e2f1-4a2d-97e7-4aa803199456/1/doc/24-644_2_opn.pdf
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2025-09-08 03:46:51 UTC

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Throughout the arguments, DOJ’s Benjamin Hayes repeatedly demeaned — and, in essence, denied the existence of — trans people, referring to trans women as “trans-identifying men” and “trans-identifying males.” DOJ’s brief went further, calling the women “male inmates.” https://www.lawdork.com/p/two-cases-involving-20-people-show

2025-09-08 03:40:23 UTC

In the case over Trump’s anti-trans prison orders, Benjamin Hayes, a lawyer who left Goodwin in May to join DOJ, argued the D.C. Circuit should overturn the injunctions entered by Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, protecting 19 trans women from transfer to men’s prisons. https://www.lawdork.com/p/two-cases-involving-20-people-show

2025-09-02 13:55:29 UTC

BREAKING: Trump, Hegseth violated the Posse Comitatus Act with their troop deployment to Los Angeles, Judge Charles Breyer rules after trial. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.450934/gov.uscourts.cand.450934.176.0_2.pdf
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2025-08-29 21:53:33 UTC

BREAKING: Federal Circuit, 7-4, rejects Trump’s tariffs under the IEEPA, affirming the lower court’s decision against Trump. https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/opinions-orders/25-1812.OPINION.8-29-2025_2566151.pdf
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2025-08-27 01:34:00 UTC

President Donald Trump’s three appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court each made alarming statements in a single case about federal health research grants last week, particularly when viewed in light of the broader attack on the rule of law in America.
Today’s in-depth report, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/trump-scotus-appointees-nih-shadow-docket-order

2025-08-21 05:16:12 UTC

NEW: Judge orders DOJ to give more info on subpoenas targeting trans minors' medical care.
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia staff warned of "traumatic" effects if forced to provide patient information to the Trump admin. DOJ called the claims "meritless."
Tonight, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/judge-orders-doj-to-give-more-info

2025-08-18 02:10:10 UTC

NEW: Our leading papers failed to stand up to Trump's criminal justice authoritarianism.
The Washington Post and The New York Times editorial boards failed this week to hold Trump accountable for his attack on D.C.
Tonight, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/our-leading-papers-failed-to-stand

2025-08-13 21:58:14 UTC

BREAKING: Federal court blocks and limits most of Florida law targeting school library books.
The only constitutional application is its "harmful to minors" provision, which limits obscene material that had already been banned from school libraries.
More to come at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/

2025-08-07 17:15:56 UTC

If you are still at DOJ — including if we've talked in the past — please reach out if you're able to talk about the current organization, leadership, priorities of the department and anything else that you think I (and the public) should know. I am available on Signal — crg.32 — and can meet in D.C.

2025-07-21 21:42:20 UTC

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Here was my earlier report on the Friday/weekend developments: https://www.lawdork.com/p/trump-cecot-prisoners-released-but-legal-fights-remain

2025-07-21 21:40:09 UTC

UPDATE: In the wake of the release of AEA-removed people from CECOT, Chief Judge James Boasberg—hearing the "CECOT class" AEA case—scheduled a status hearing for 11a Thursday, July 24.
This also followed this July 18 filing from the plaintiffs' lawyers: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436.168.0_1.pdf
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2025-07-14 19:36:59 UTC

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Here is Sotomayor’s full 19-page dissent, in which she is joined by Kagan and Jackson. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a1203_pol1.pdf

2025-07-14 19:32:56 UTC

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The Republican-appointee majority provides no reasoning for its order, which effectively overturns two lower court rulings.
More to come at Law Dork. https://www.lawdork.com/

2025-07-14 19:28:48 UTC

BREAKING: The Supreme Court allows Trump to gut the Department of Education, over the dissent of the three Democratic appointees.
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2025-07-08 21:14:07 UTC

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Here's my report at Law Dork on today's order from SCOTUS: https://www.lawdork.com/p/supreme-court-allows-trump-mass-firing-plans

2025-07-08 21:00:26 UTC

BREAKING: Supreme Court allows Trump admin to resume mass-firing plans.
"[T]his Court sees fit to step in now and release the President’s wrecking ball at the outset of this litigation," Justice Jackson wrote in dissent.
New, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/supreme-court-allows-trump-mass-firing-plans

2025-07-08 20:00:46 UTC

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Supreme Court order: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a1174_h3ci.pdf
Original Law Dork report on the TRO in this case: https://www.lawdork.com/p/-federal-judge-blocks-trump-mass-firings

2025-07-08 19:55:27 UTC

BREAKING: The Supreme Court allows the Trump administration to resume agency mass-firing plans over the dissent of Justice Jackson, who criticized "this Court’s demonstrated enthusiasm for greenlighting this President’s legally dubious actions in an emergency posture."
More to come at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/

2025-07-07 19:56:23 UTC

BREAKING: Documents filed in court today assert that officials from El Salvador told the United Nations that it "facilitated the use of the Salvadoran prison infrastructure" by the U.S. but that "the jurisdiction and legal responsibility for these persons lie exclusively with the" U.S.
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2025-07-03 22:24:44 UTC

NEW: SCOTUS allows Trump admin to send eight men to South Sudan with no process.
Sotomayor, joined by Jackson, dissented, calling their colleagues' actions in the case "indefensible." It was one of several alarming signs for the nation on the Third of July.
This evening, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/scotus-allows-trump-admin-to-send