Author | Lightnews

Rebecca Fordon

@thefordon.bsky.social

5.2K followers 5.1K following 960 posts

law librarian, legal writing prof, legal tech skeptic/addict in Columbus OH. Writing & researching about the ways tech enables access to information. I enjoy bikes, books, and birds. she/her. join a union.

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · Nov 9

Feels weird to reintroduce myself, but I’m finally fully gone from the other place, and fully here. So hi again everyone!

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · Jul 3

Introduction post! I'm a law librarian (any other #lawlibrarians on here?) and #legalwriting professor. I love thinking and writing about #legaltech and information systems. I also like bikes, birds, and flowers.

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 1d

One side *wants* no government. That’s why they’re fine keeping it shut down forever—or maaaaaybe reopening it if Democrats agree to weaken it enough that it’s barely a government. How can we possibly negotiate in this situation?

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 1d

I understand the point of view that there are no benefits to a system built in this way, and honestly lean a bit in that direction, but I also like to provide some concrete examples of that. I think this is a good one.

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 1d

I don’t necessarily use Chatgpt for accessibility reasons, but I’m an educator and try lots of things so I can better educate my students of benefits and risks. I like to try to poke at information retrieval issues and bias issues especially.

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 2d

Just asked ChatGPT about whether there are any current movements to shelter and hide undocumented people, and it lectured me for trying to break the law. In case you were wondering if technological systems have a point of view.

Short answer up front: I can’t help with instructions for hiding people or evading law enforcement — that would be facilitating illegal activity. However, there are many — lawful, effective, and lower-risk — ways people and communities organize to protect and support immigrants facing enforcement. Below I’ll explain the legal risks, give concrete, lawful alternatives that sanctuary networks use, and point you to organizations and resources you can contact or plug into right away.

Why I can’t help with “how to hide people”

U.S. federal law makes it a crime to “conceal, harbor, or shield from detection” undocumented noncitizens in certain circumstances (8 U.S.C. §1324 and related enforcement). That’s why anyone contemplating direct sheltering should consult a lawyer and understand the risks.

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 2d

I have never seen this much sports in my feed. I do not cultivate a sports feed. I’m so confused and disoriented.

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 3d

Spotted this ad recently in my city. Would the response be legal advice?

ChatGPT Billboad. Query reads:
“Check out my lease.
Is painting my walls okay or a mistake?”

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 11d

What a beautiful piece, definitely planning to assign this to students.

What matters in your courses, even in many cases within your major, isn't the topic. You'll probably forget most of what you learn, especially if you don't end up using it repeatedly in future. What you will always have, though, is the mind that taking the courses made. By that I mean, the mind that was shaped by working through Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina while trying to understand Maxwell's equations for the first time. I don't remember the sequence of events we discussed (repeatedly!!) in my French Revolution course, but I remember the importance of understanding that history is made through discourses. There is the way my writing skills were improved. There is the way that my courses helped make me into the human that I am today -- even the lazily taught ones.

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 12d

Ugh. The Harvard-conveyor-belt line is so funny, because the reason they're so mad about this is they have a thing for salt-of-the-earth candidates and think they're the only way to win.

Reposted by Rebecca Fordon

Sharon @sharonmc.bsky.social · 13d

This needs to be blasted far and wide, particularly to all the GOP voters who support public education.

Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 17d

Trump’s Department of Education actively collaborates w/ Moms for Liberty. Asked “what % of children she imagines should be in public schools going forward,” Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice told ProPublica: “‘I hope zero. I hope to get to zero.’” 1/ www.propublica.org/article/educ...

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 13d

I read Remains of the Day for a literature and the law class; the professor had us thinking about professionalism and self vs. client. I think about that book all the time, and the movie would be valuable too (though its not quite as rich).

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Reposted by Rebecca Fordon

Ellie Margolis @elliemargolis.bsky.social · 18d

This is madness. Today we had to send a message to our 1L students telling them it’s not a great idea to use the first drafts of their first legal writing assignments because the new OCI timeline is so early they are wondering if they should.
#LegalWriting

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 18d

Entering my middle aged pain in the ass era. Just submitted a few 311 issues (a blocked pedestrian crossing sign, not good!) and headed to a school board meeting tonight.

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 19d

Oh no, I didn't realized that was something AI was suggesting, and that people might be making that assumption about it. I've been using those pipe dealies in my bios (twitter, then bsky, then LinkedIn) for years.

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 20d

A reminder: dietary supplements are super unregulated, which is how protein powders can apparently get away with having pretty large levels of lead(?!).

paris martineau @paris.nyc · 20d

i was surprised to learn that bc most protein powders are considered dietary supplements, they basically fall into a regulatory grey area

there's no federal limit on the amount of lead they can contain and neither manufacturers nor the FDA have to prove these products are safe before they're sold

Protein powders and shakes, like all dietary supplements, fall into something of a regulatory gray area.

There is no federal limit specifying the amount of lead allowed in protein powders. And while the FDA requires that manufacturers keep their products free of harmful contaminants, it largely leaves it up to companies to decide what counts as harmful and test their own products for compliance.

Before 1994, manufacturers had to prove herbal products were safe before selling them. That changed after Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. The law sharply limited the FDA’s authority, leaving supplements far less regulated than drugs.

Today, supplements are “presumed safe unless found otherwise,” says Cohen at Harvard Medical School, and most products face scrutiny only after reaching the market—meaning unsafe or contaminated supplements can reach consumers before problems are caught.

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Reposted by Rebecca Fordon

Benjamin McKean @blmckean.bsky.social · 20d

Very bad: OSU unilaterally cancelled the registration of grad students attending the joint conference of the National Society of Black Physicists and the National Society of Hispanic Physicists. And OSU won't fund recruiting at the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.

Ohio State changes policy on group conferences after Trump administration threats

A federal investigation into potentially discriminatory practices at Ohio State prompted the university to change its policies regarding conferences.

www.dispatch.com

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 23d

I saw a lot of discussion about funding right after inauguration in my FB groups on 504/IEP/special ed. But the moderators changed the rules to prohibit “political” content and there’s zero discussion about this latest news there now. I need to find the political spaces.

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 23d

(Totally unrelatedly, I’m looking for videos we can watch together about how AI is made and how it’s bad for artists.)

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 23d

Sora is a cesspool, meanwhile this is what my child chose to do with this power.

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Reposted by Rebecca Fordon

Randi Weingarten 🖇️📚✊🇺🇸 @rweingarten.bsky.social · 25d

And that’s why we held tonight’s webinar: To educate members on their rights & responsibilities, and to provide resources people need to stay safe online. Thank you to our speakers. You can find more information from the discussion here. @ShareMyLesson.bsky.social sharemylesson.com/webinars/fre...

Speaking Out, Staying Safe: Free Speech and Online Safety for Public Employees and Educators

In today’s digital age, the line between personal expression and professional consequences can feel increasingly blurred, especially for educators and public employees. With disciplinary actions and h...

sharemylesson.com

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 25d

Saving this thread to savor and enjoy with my coffee in the morning.

Kathryn Tewson @kathryntewson.bsky.social · 26d

The bros are at it again! and make no mistake, they are LITERALLY calling it "Vibe Lawyering"

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 25d

He graduated in 2022?!! Like he sounds horrible but also how is this child qualified to run OSC? I guess we are beyond that but just wow.

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 26d

Idly wondering if ProQuest is working on AI summaries/analysis for Legislative Insight. I feel like I'm living in the Stone Ages, relying on Ctrl-F to page through 1000+ page documents.

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · Oct 2

I think it’s sort of a useful analogy to help understand key numbers, which are supposed to be describing how the law is forming. But I may be too attached to this very librarianish example.

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · Oct 2

I like this example. Does it work like AO3 where they let users tag with whatever they like, then exert some control after the fact? (I’m thinking of AO3 “tag wranglers” “, who canonize certain of the tags for easier filtering, and link the user-created tags to the canonized tag)

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · Oct 2

Is there a good example of moderated tags other than AO3? It’s the best example I know, but there are too many giggles when I talk about it! (Also I feel like some of the best moderation is around ship pairs, and there would *really* be too many giggles there).

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