Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alison Frankel @alisonfrankel.bsky.social · 6h

This piece is incredibly insightful!

Greg Lipper @theglipper.bsky.social · 6h

"Prudent, temperate messaging disappears into the ether. It is one reason Mikie Sherrill, the cautiously centrist Democratic candidate for [NJ gov], is in an even remotely close race with a Republican who is running in part on bringing back plastic shopping bags." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/o...

Opinion | Voting for Mamdani Taught Me Why Trump Won

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Alison Frankel

Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 13h

Pope to Chicago Labor Leaders: “Please know of my appreciation for your welcome of immigrants and refugees, especially your support of food pantries and shelters….I encourage you to continue to advocate for society to respect the human dignity of the most vulnerable.” www.vatican.va/content/leo-...

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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 17h

Of all the news in this NYT survey of sitting federal judges - incl 47 of them think the SCt is mishandling its emergency docket - maybe the biggest is that 65 sitting fed judges (37D, 28R), folks circumspect for a living, responded to a NYT survey. Stunning. And a sign that something is very wrong.

Federal Judges, Warning of ‘Judicial Crisis,’ Fault Supreme Court’s Emergency Orders

www.nytimes.com

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Alison Frankel @alisonfrankel.bsky.social · 19h

“In a time of darkness, New York must be the light.”

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 19h

UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 19h

UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.

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John Schwartz @jswatz.bsky.social · 20h

One judge compared their district’s current relationship with the Supreme Court to “a war zone.” Another said the courts were in the midst of a “judicial crisis.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...

Federal Judges, Warning of ‘Judicial Crisis,’ Fault Supreme Court’s Emergency Orders

www.nytimes.com

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New York Attorney General Letitia James @newyorkstateag.bsky.social · 2d

This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.

I am not fearful — I am fearless.

We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights..

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Alison Frankel @alisonfrankel.bsky.social · 2d

share.google/JbplmvLzxexe...

Pope Leo calls for news agencies to stand as bulwark against "post-truths," lies and manipulation

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the "ancient art of lying" and manipulation.

share.google

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 2d

CHICAGO — Outside an elementary school during dismissal… horrifying. What have we become?

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Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 3d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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Larry Ferlazzo @larryferlazzo.bsky.social · 2d

Oklahoma’s Republican governor criticizes guard deployment. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...

Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, a Republican and the chairman of the National Governors Association, on Thursday criticized the deployment of Texas National Guard troops to Illinois as a violation of his beliefs in federalism and “states’ rights.”

His comments, in an interview with The New York Times, marked the first time a Republican governor has questioned the interstate deployment of National Guard troops over a governor’s objections. Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois and other Democratic elected officials have been strongly critical of the move and have implored Republican governors to join the opposition.

Mr. Stitt on Thursday said, “We believe in the federalist system — that’s states’ rights,” adding, “Oklahomans would lose their mind if Pritzker in Illinois sent troops down to Oklahoma during the Biden administration.”

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 3d

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for jailing Chicago's mayor and the governor of Illinois, both Democrats, as his administration prepared to deploy military troops to the streets of the third-largest U.S. city. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

www.reuters.com

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Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 4d

Supreme Court on banning gender-affirming care for trans youth: Sure, that's fine, no constitutional violation.

Supreme Court on banning so-called conversion therapy for gay youth: No, can't have that, grave constitutional violation.

Here, Ketanji Brown Jackson gets to the bottom of it:

Excerpt of Supreme Court transcript in Chiles v. Salazar:

JUSTICE JACKSON: No, but here's what
I mean, right? In Skrmetti, we had a state
that wanted to prohibit certain medical
treatment, gender-affirming care, being given
to minors in the form of medication.
And we said that was okay. And I
understand there are particulars with respect
to how the -- the arguments, the constitutional
arguments, worked, but the state can prohibit
that.

Here, we have a state that wants to
prohibit gender-related medical treatment in
the form of talk therapy, but we now have the
First Amendment that is inhibiting the state's
ability to do that.

And I'm just, from a very, very broad
perspective, concerned about making sure that
we have equivalence with respect to these
things.

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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 4d

New on MSNBC: Trump's new acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan has recruited prosecutors from outside her office to take James Comey to trial, after being unable to find any federal prosecutors in her own office willing to pursue the charges, according to two people familiar with the selections.

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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 5d

Trump on pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell: Haven't heard the name in so long. I’ll take a look at it. I’ll speak to the DOJ. A lot of people have asked me for pardons.

Reporter: But she’s convicted of sex trafficking

Trump: I’ll have to take a look at it.

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Reuters @reuters.com · 5d

Trump says he will talk to DOJ about Maxwell pardon, says Diddy asked for one reut.rs/4o8EWG5

Trump says he will talk to DOJ about Maxwell pardon, says Diddy asked for one

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday left the door open to a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of helping the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.

reut.rs

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Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 5d

The DC Circuit is set to consider whether Trump violated the First Amendment by expelling the Associated Press from the White House press pool. @knightcolumbia.org's brief, just filed. knightcolumbia.org/content/knig...

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ACLU @aclu.org · 9d

BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador.

Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.

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Department of Shoe @shoe.bsky.social · 10d

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Kevin H Bell Esq @kevinok.bsky.social · 11d

Today was my last day as a federal employee, but tomorrow I and my new partner, Ginger Quintero-McCall, open a new law practice, the Free Information Group. We are both FOIA lawyers, and we are very good at suing the government. 1/

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Joshua Lenon @joshualenon.bsky.social · 11d

Texas, Florida, and Ohio Republicans are attacking the @americanbar.org on behalf of Trump. The ABA’s defense of the rule of law, judicial independence, and legal representation has made them a target. www.reuters.com/legal/legali...

Texas plans to end ABA's role in state's law school oversight

Texas is poised to end its reliance on the American Bar Association for law school oversight and instead let its highest court determine which schools’ graduates can be admitted as lawyers in the state.

www.reuters.com

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Alison Frankel @alisonfrankel.bsky.social · 11d

Thread!

Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 11d

I don’t talk about this publicly, but hegseth drives me out of my silence.

I attended West Point from 1998-2000. I left, along with about 5 other young women, as a direct result of the military’s then-shameful (non) policies addressing sex harassment and assault.

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Eric Columbus @ericcolumbus.bsky.social · 11d

Drop whatever you’re doing and read the last 15 pages of this 161-page opinion. I’m serious.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 11d

Omg. I’ve never seen anything like this in a judicial opinion:

Case 1:25-cv-10685-WGY Document 261
Filed 09/30/25
Page 1 of 161
Post card dated June 19, 2025
(On file in Chambers)
1 9/S UNE 2025
TRUMP HAS PARDONS
AND TANKS..
WHAT DO
You
HAVE?
Dear Mr. or Ms. Anonymous, Alone, I have nothing but my
sense of duty.
Together, We the People of the
United States -- you and me --have our magnificent Constitution.
Here's how that works out in a
specific case --
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS -- HARVARD FACULTY CHAPTER, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS AT NEW
YORK UNIVERSITY, RUTGERS AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS-AMERICAN
FEDERATION OF TEACHERS, and
MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION,
Plaintiffs,
)
CIVIL ACTION NO.
25-10685-WGY
v.
MARCO RUBIO, in his official capacity as Secretary of State, and the DEPARTMENT OF STATE, KRISTI NOEM, in her official
[1]

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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 12d

EXCLUSIVE: The number of people charged with breaking federal drug laws dropped to the lowest level in decades this year after the Trump administration ordered enforcement agencies to focus on deporting immigrants, a @reuters.com review of court dockets found.

www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

Chart showing the decline in the number of people charged with federal drug offenses.

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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 12d

These Kavanaugh Stops keep seeming to be a lot more invasive than Kavanaugh tried to pretend they would be.

The extent to which Justices just make up facts, history, psychology, etc etc etc to get the outcomes they want, and the legal community as a whole just shrugs is … legit appalling.

Jazmine Ulloa @jazmineulloa.bsky.social · 12d

As immigration agents have escalated their tactics, US citizens, many of them Latino men, have been stopped and in some cases taken into custody by law enforcement officers. Allison, Jenny and I took a closer look at the encounters. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/u...

‘I’m From Here!’: U.S. Citizens Are Ending Up in Trump’s Dragnet

www.nytimes.com

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