@debpearlstein
Director, Program on Law & Public Policy, Princeton University School of Public and International Affairs. Charles & Marie Robertson Visiting Professor of Law & Public Affairs. Still teaching Con law, still aiming to get out of the new social media market.
Reuters Exclusive
"U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school."
"The strike would rank among the worst cases of civilian casualties in decades of U.S. conflicts in the Middle East."
NEW: The Navy is no longer allowed to shroud its criminal trials in secrecy and must provide public access to hearings and records, a federal judge ruled last month, the result of a yearslong lawsuit filed by ProPublica.
The case, filed in a federal court in Washington, D.C., accuses the Trump administration of ignoring legislation designed to stop the spread of Chinese propaganda — and instead helping to broker a partial sale to businessmen close to Trump. n.pr/3ONX6AB
I talked to Slate this week about why the whole law firm fight is so important - and how effective the administration's attacks have been (despite their losses in court) in chilling BigLaw's willingness to take on any fight adverse to the administration.
Idaho — a deeply Republican state — has become the latest to refuse the Trump Justice Department’s demand for unredacted statewide voter rolls. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
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Missed this. "[D]ays before the US launched a major military op in Iran, Patel fired a dozen agents & staff from a counterintelligence unit tasked w/monitoring threats from Iran," per 2 sources familiar. "Each was involved in the investigation of Trump’s alleged retention of classified docs..."
I’m struck by how every day the admin is like “whoever could have foreseen these consequences?!” when the consequences thus far — evacuations, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, rise in gas prices, etc. — are all the literal most obvious consequences.
They completely, 100% dropped the ball. For US embassy personnel and their families. For Americans throughout the region.
For years on my old blog I published the names of servicemembers who died in Iraq & Afghanistan. No other outlets were.
These are the first 4 Americans to die in the Iran War.
Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35
Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42
Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39
Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is calling for Kristi Noem to resign over her handling of the deadly Minneapolis immigration operation.
Congressional Dems renew demands of Kirkland & Ellis (which committed nearly $1bil in legal services after being threatened w/EEOC investigation) to explain what free legal services the firm is concededly (per letter) providing to federal agencies.
Clown show was my thought exactly. "The situation remained fluid Tuesday morning. It was not immediately clear what legal strategy the administration would ultimately embrace or whether a court would allow the Justice Department to reverse course...."
The weirdness of a DOJ leak hours before any filing made clear there was some kind of internal fight going on. I guess it's still going. The incompetence knows no bounds.
Don’t mind if I do! 🗳️ ✔️
#NCElections
Scenes from a personalist regime
Federal judge: I've been at this for 44 years. I have never encountered the hostility toward the judiciary that has existed in this country in the last year.
As the laid off Middle East News Editor, I concur. Management eliminated the positions of every single staff correspondent and bureau chief in the Middle East.
SOTOMAYOR , J., dissenting If this Court’s grasping reach extends even to a nonfinal decision of a state trial court, then every decision from any court is now fair game. By granting these applications, the Court thrusts itself into the middle of every election-law dispute around the country, even as many States redraw their congressional maps ahead of the 2026 election. It also invites parties searching for a sympathetic ear to file emergency applications directly with this Court, without even bothering to ask the state courts first. There is much reason to question whether the majority will exercise its newfound authority wisely, but there is no reason to question this: If you build it, they will come. I respectfully dissent.
4. Sotomayor says that by weighing in on a "nonfinal decision of a state trial court," the U.S. Supreme Court "thrusts itself into the middle of every election-law dispute around the country, even as many States redraw their congressional maps ahead of the 2026 election"
With DOJ's non-appeal is official, re-upping this 🧵 on how much damage those EOs did - & continue to do - in functionally slashing the availability of deep-pocketed legal representation against WH initiatives EVEN THO they were plainly unconstitutional. BigLaw continues to pull its punches, BigTime.
And like clockwork - a filing at last.
In the before-times, we'd call this obstruction of justice.
I am ready for the news to stop, please and thank you.
One really odd thing about this reporting from WSJ & WashPost. It's all based on unnamed sources. DOJ hasn't actually filed anything yet. Starting to smell like 'leaks' aiming to push over finish line some kind of live internal debate...
Please see my earlier thread listing examples. bsky.app/profile/debp...
I share the praise for the firms that fought these EOs. But one can win the (lawsuit) battle & lose the (professional independence) war. Firms have radically pulled back their willingness to take ANY case adverse to the WH. The chilling effect remains, w/huge real-world costs as elections approach.
(Gift link) Admin is wise to drop what would've been a big loss on appeal. But given the limited scope of the trial ct rulings (only reaching the firms attacked), it keeps the possibility of more threats above other firms' heads. The threat remains acute, as does the damage of BigLaw's response. 🧵
What's to do? Apart from taking a case, lawyers, firms, GCs, et al. should make clear they'd rather hire/work for firms willing to actually take on a fight - any fight. A bipartisan coalition of retired judges has paved the way, links included. /end
BigLaw's absence is felt acutely by medium/small firms, inundated & unable to pick up all the slack. “‘They beg us,’ said Hill, who represents people with disabilities suing the govt over cuts to [Social Security]. ‘They say, ‘I’m going to lose my job and my home.…I’m going to lose my family.’" /5
