Sandra Raponi
@sraponi.bsky.social
5.2K followers 7.3K following 14 posts
Philosophy professor, Honors faculty. JD, PhD. Political & legal philosophy, global justice, international human rights law. Human rights-based climate litigation, refugees, free speech. Zen Buddhism. From Toronto 🇨🇦, now in MA.
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Reposted by Sandra Raponi
davidho.bsky.social
The first planned migration of an entire country due to climate change is happening! Tuvalu, a Pacific island nation, is at risk of being submerged under rising sea level, so it has signed an agreement with Australia to allow 280 Tuvaluans to settle in Australia as permanent residents each year.
The First Planned Migration of an Entire Country Is Underway
The Pacific island nation of Tuvalu could be submerged in 25 years due to rising sea levels, so a plan is being implemented to relocate its population to Australia.
www.wired.com
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
mskellymhayes.bsky.social
Some people don't feel as close to this as they ought to. Most of us are just a bad break or two away from winding up on the streets, and addiction & mental health crises can affect anyone. They're gutting services and rendering more of us disposable, and there's a carceral disposal system waiting.
aclu.org
ACLU @aclu.org · Jul 24
BREAKING: President Trump signed an executive order directing states to criminalize and institutionalize people experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental health disabilities.
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
350.org
350.org @350.org · Jul 23
This historic decision could pave the way for climate reparations and human rights protections that are long overdue, as well as build a stronger case for big polluters to pay up for the damage they have caused!

www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/...
‘Historic’ ruling on climate change by World Court: What to expect
The ICJ is set to decide the future course of climate accountability in a landmark legal case brought by Vanuatu.
www.aljazeera.com
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
donmoyn.bsky.social
New, from me: until recently the big question was “what happens when Trump defies the courts?”
The answer, as it turns out, is that SCOTUS will support him.
The new question is what are the consequences for American democracy and governance?🧵

donmoynihan.substack.com/p/when-youre...
When you’re a star, the Supreme Court lets you do it
SCOTUS is enabling Trump's assault on American institutions
donmoynihan.substack.com
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
carolinelucas.bsky.social
🚨BREAKING🚨 ICJ ruling that a healthy environment is a human right could be a real turning point in setting out governments’ legal responsibility to tackle #climate crisis 👇
Healthy environment a human right, UN court says in landmark climate ruling
Court’s decision expected to be used in future litigation and to support political negotiations by vulnerable states
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
anitaleirfall.bsky.social
Studying Philosophy Does Make People Better Thinkers

This study “offers the strongest evidence to date that studying philosophy does indeed make people better thinkers.” www.cambridge.org/core/journal... (h/t @greggdcaruso.bsky.social) #philosophy #PhilSky
Studying Philosophy Does Make People Better Thinkers | Journal of the American Philosophical Association | Cambridge Core
Studying Philosophy Does Make People Better Thinkers
www.cambridge.org
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
pgourevitch.bsky.social
All the conventional wisdom about a constitutional crisis only coming when Trump flat out defies SCOTUS rulings ignores the obvious fact that this Court is a constitutional crisis in itself. We’ve been in full blown CC since it sided in Trump v USA against the USA:

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/u...
Supreme Court Keeps Ruling in Trump’s Favor, but Doesn’t Say Why
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
aclu.org
ACLU @aclu.org · Jul 17
Rümeysa Öztürk was unlawfully detained by ICE for over six weeks in retaliation for writing an op-ed.

For the first time since her release, Rümeysa opens up about her experiences and advocates for dignity and justice for those still trapped in ICE detention.
“Even God Cannot Hear Us Here”: What I Witnessed Inside an ICE Women’s Prison
Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk opens up about her 45 days in a South Louisiana processing facility—and the generous and compassionate women she met.
www.vanityfair.com
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
esqueer.net
The Supreme Court said it was unlawful for the Biden administration to forgive student loans because it lacked congressional authority but has no problem with the Trump administration gutting the entire Department of Education without congressional approval. This is a lawless court.
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
stevevladeck.bsky.social
Since April 4, #SCOTUS has issued 15 rulings on 17 emergency applications filed by Trump (three birthright citizenship apps were consolidated).

It has granted relief to Trump ... in all 15 rulings.

It has written majority opinions in only 3.

Today's order is the 7th with no explanation *at all.*
stevevladeck.bsky.social
Here we go again: Over an acerbic dissenting opinion by Justice Sotomayor (joined in full by Justices Kagan and Jackson), #SCOTUS, with no explanation, grants a stay in the Department of Education RIFs case—effectively clearing the way for the Trump administration to dismantle much of the agency:
www.supremecourt.gov
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
aoc.bsky.social
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.

This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.

It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
stevevladeck.bsky.social
“By doing nothing to push back against attacks on lower courts], and by behaving in a way that gives the appearance of justices more interested in rationalizing their votes than in reconciling their jurisprudence, #SCOTUS is ultimately weakening the federal judiciary at the worst possible moment.”:
163. A New Kind of Judicial Supremacy
The Supreme Court closed the balance of the October 2024 Term with both actions and opinions that bespeak a new vision of how it exercises power—one that is as dangerous as it will be unpredictable.
www.stevevladeck.com
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
marisakabas.bsky.social
My latest: Alligator Alcatraz, Florida’s immigrant concentration camp, has its grand opening today after being built in one week. Trump, DeSantis and Noem will be there to celebrate their collaboration.

I wrote about this fulfillment of a Republican wet dream—complete with tacky merch:
Alligator Alcatraz immigrant prison camp is Florida's sadistic 'one-stop shop' for mass deportation
Trump will attend the opening on Tuesday with Gov. DeSantis and DHS Sec. Noem.
www.thehandbasket.co
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
agawande.bsky.social
“Foreign aid has changed nothing.” “These are not our problems.” “The system is dysfunctional.” “The countries we aid are corrupt.” “Other countries aren’t doing enough.”

I have heard all these arguments too. @nickkristof.bsky.social succinctly answers.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/o...
Opinion | The U.S. Cannot Solve All the World’s Problems
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
agawande.bsky.social
This is a travesty & a nightmare. The US was a founder of @gavi.org. It lowers global vaccine costs, has vaccinated 1B children, & averted 19M deaths. This pull out will cost 100s of thousands of children's lives a year - and RFK Jr will be personally responsible.
www.politico.com/news/2025/06...
RFK Jr. says US won’t donate to global vaccine effort
Kennedy ripped into Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in a video address at its pledging summit.
www.politico.com
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
rgoodlaw.bsky.social
DOJ plan to prioritize revoking citizenship includes

Cases a US Attorney refers "or in connection with pending criminal charges if those charges do not fit within one of the other priorities"

"Any other cases referred to the Civil Division that the Division determines to be sufficiently important"
DOJ announces plans to prioritize cases to revoke citizenship
Denaturalization is a tactic heavily used during the McCarthy era and one that was expanded during the Obama administration and grew further during President Trump's first term. It's a tool usually us...
www.npr.org
Reposted by Sandra Raponi
mattsteilen.bsky.social
"A New Kind of Judicial Supremacy"

Excellent post from Vladeck connecting changes in emergency relief to how the Court understands and exercises its supremacy.

open.substack.com/pub/stevevla...
@stevevladeck.bsky.social