What I learned today: while having ChatGPT calculate readability scores on the opinions I wrote in 13 years as an appellate judge, I learned that . . .
I wrote 1.88 million words.
Now I’m tired.
I’m left with two questions: 1. Who would buy this book? 2. Who would ever hire her again to do communications work?
And I know, to quote something I just read, “I’m not the only person who feels this.”
Are there any slogans today that might still be remembered in 50 years?
I was thinking today about what makes a slogan memorable, and I was struck by my recollection of “Zenith: the quality goes in before the name goes on.” I first heard it in the ‘60s (though it predates that). If the brand were still around, I’d probably still buy one. www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhZ1...
“What is to stop Trump from making comparably inflated claims about the situations on the ground in other American cities as a pretextual basis for deploying troops? And what’s to stop him from making those claims not tomorrow, but next November—on the eve of the midterms?”
Me, via “One First”:
"Anna, Lindsey Halligan Here." Anna Bower Monday, October 20, 2025, 5:40 PM Share On: f X inK My Signal exchange with the interim U.S. attorney about the Letitia James grand jury.
EXCLUSIVE: One Saturday afternoon in October, my phone lit up with a notification.
I glanced down at the message.
“Anna, Lindsey Halligan here,” it began.
So began my text exchange with the woman who is prosecuting the president's perceived political enemies.
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...
This is an infuriating and shameful scandal. The Roberts Court is condoning Trump’s law breaking, again, pure and simple. There is no serious path forward for democratic government without Supreme Court reform.
His substack really is essential to anyone who wants a written source to understand the Supreme Court today. It’s hard to separate what’s important from what’s not. One First lays it out very clearly.
Yay to smiling faces, a good cause for joy (ice cream!), and the contributions each of you make to our world!
Sheena is the must-follow to understand what Kennedy et al are doing to US vaccines (and other medicines)
Last week, I was on a Missouri Bar conference panel to talk about current threats to the rule of law. Under FCC licensing threats, ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel the night before the presentation. It was a perfect (and transparent) example of a wider playbook. missouriindependent.com/2025/09/25/t...
What are the Chiefs chances either way on this week’s game? I’d guess it’s more significant for them.
Last week, I was on a Missouri Bar conference panel to talk about current threats to the rule of law. Under FCC licensing threats, ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel the night before the presentation. It was a perfect (and transparent) example of a wider playbook. missouriindependent.com/2025/09/25/t...
Today’s message of hope comes from a 1922 editorial by Pulitzer-Prize-winning Kansas newspaperman William Allen White. Still worth reading a century later.
In the NIH funding case, Justice Gorsuch (joined by Justice Kavanaugh) claimed that this was the third time in recent weeks that lower courts had "defied" a #SCOTUS ruling.
As today's "One First" explains, that claim is not only nonsense; it's enabling a dangerous anti-court narrative on the right:
Congratulations to Larkin Walsh, an excellent choice for the Kansas Supreme Court, chosen through merit selection. kansasreflector.com/2025/08/07/g...
Congratulations to my colleague, Allen Rostron, on being named the Edward A. Smith/Missouri Chair in Law, the Constitution and Society at @UMKCLaw. He is a great teacher and scholar—and so easy to work with. Congrats, Allen! www.umkc.edu/news/posts/2...
Why did it happen to Liz???
Since @orinkerr.bsky.social asked, a thread, from limited information reported online, about how I see the US attorney mess in DNJ.
1. Trump picked Habba as interim US Attorney under 28 USC 546. Technically, the AG is supposed to pick, but whatever. She gets 120 days to serve.
Sorry, I’m not here daily. I will check on it.
Have you read a law review article recently that you thought was particularly great and deserving of a wider readership?
If so, leave a link to it as a reply, together with a quick take on what made it great.
Contra NY Times, there is not even an official acting FEMA head. Cameron Hamilton (pushed out) & now David Richardson don't qualify under the Vacancies Act, "leading" the agency through delegation as the "Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator." www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/c...
Kristi L. Noem Harvard flouted the rules. Now, it’s getting a hard lesson.
Jeff Bezos: "We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets."
Today's Washington Post opinion page:
October 2024 Term #SCOTUS rulings to date from which all three Democratic appointees dissented:
On the merits docket: 3
On emergency applications: 9
That tells you quite a lot about where the most important action is...
"SCOTUS allows Trump admin to deport people to random countries with no notice"
Honestly still can't believe that I wrote this headline today, let alone that the U.S. Supreme Court's majority did so.
Did you ever see the movie That Darn Cat?
🤔
Oooh. 100%. Well, maybe 98%. Lots of the actors in The Americans did great work.
But I would never substitute for Keri Russell.
Today’s unsigned, unexplained #SCOTUS ruling clearing the way for removals of migrants to third countries without any additional process is a disaster—not just on the merits, but because of the government misbehavior that it not only refuses to punish, but effectively rewards.
Me, via “One First”:
The “Third Country Removal Case” means thousands of people will be deported to extremely dangerous countries they’re not from with no due process.
This decision represents something that should never happen in a justice system: the nation’s highest court has ruled on an issue affecting millions—without explanation. Courts don’t have absolute power; they should be following rules. Without an explanation, who knows?
