Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Supreme Court lifts restrictions on LA immigration stops tied to racial profiling

Reposted by Bob Lawless

Bailey Barnes @baileydbarnes.bsky.social · Sep 8

Existing while brown, speaking Spanish, & working with a blue collar is apparently an acceptable reason for ICE to seize you on suspicion of immigration charges in America according to a majority on the Supreme Court.

USA TODAY @usatoday.com · Sep 8

Supreme Court lifts restrictions on Los Angeles immigration stops tied to racial profiling, a win for Trump.

The administration's indiscriminate immigration-related stops sparked protests and charges of racial profiling.

bit.ly

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Bob Lawless @boblawless.bsky.social · Sep 5

Working hard to get Credit Slips moved. Thank you to the hardworking IT staff at the University of Illinois for their help.

Credit Slips @creditslipsblog.bsky.social · Sep 5

Our blog hosting service, Typepad, is shutting down. Their original announcement said the site would be available until September 30. Our blog and every other Typepad blog has now been done for over a day. We are moving Credit Slips to WordPress. We should be back online in a few days.

Bob Lawless @boblawless.bsky.social · Aug 6

A post on a very much an "inside baseball" topic but an issue that just annoys me because it is so easy to get this right.

Credit Slips @creditslipsblog.bsky.social · Aug 6

Chapter 11s Did Not Spike in July 2025 - Credit Slips

There were a number of reports that commercial chapter 11 filings jumped dramatically in July 2025. Unfortunately, these headlines appear to be from junk data and from sources that should know better ...

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Bob Lawless @boblawless.bsky.social · Aug 5

Debt's Grip is out today!

Credit Slips @creditslipsblog.bsky.social · Aug 5

Debt's Grip Now Available! - Credit Slips

Today is the official release date for our new book, Debt's Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy, from the University of California Press. Debt's Grip uses eleven years of court records and surveys from...

Reposted by Bob Lawless

Credit Slips @creditslipsblog.bsky.social · Aug 5

Debt's Grip Now Available! - Credit Slips

Today is the official release date for our new book, Debt's Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy, from the University of California Press. Debt's Grip uses eleven years of court records and surveys from...

Bob Lawless @boblawless.bsky.social · Jul 25

Agree. See www.creditslips.org/creditslips/...

Reposted by Bob Lawless

Credit Slips @creditslipsblog.bsky.social · Jul 24

Arbitration for Thee, But Not for Mike Lindell - Credit Slips

The Eighth Circuit has overturned an arbitration award in favor of a software developer who took up the $5 million challenge of MyPillow founder, Mike Lindell, to "Prove Mike Wrong" about his claims t...

DOGE Put Free Tax Filing Tool on Chopping Block After One Meeting With Lobbyists

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Reposted by Bob Lawless

Waldo Jaquith @waldo.net · Jul 17

Direct File exists. We already paid for it. So we are now trashing software that we have already paid for, that people are using, that people *love*, in the name of "efficiency." Yes, blame the Trump administration for this, but Intuit has been desperate to murder Direct File for years.

makena kelly @makenakelly.bsky.social · Jul 17

SCOOP: DOGE moved to kill Direct File, the IRS's popular free tax filing tool, days after meeting with private tax filing software lobbyists.
www.wired.com/story/doge-d...

A key operative from DOGE initiated plans to potentially kill Direct File, the free tax filing tool developed by the IRS, after offering assurances it would be spared from cuts.

www.wired.com

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Bob Lawless @boblawless.bsky.social · Jul 7

The student loan changes have lots of issues. These are some observations about what is coming for legal education. Tl;dr -- it would be great if students did not borrow so much for law school but in the real world where they do, this law will hurt them.

Credit Slips @creditslipsblog.bsky.social · Jul 7

The "Big Beautiful Bill" & Law-School Student Loan Debt - Credit Slips

The president has done yet another thing that will have massive effects on legal education. No, this is not about how I must overhaul my Consumer Finance syllabus. Granted, the poor saps who teach Con...

Bob Lawless @boblawless.bsky.social · Jun 25

Someday in a legal academic's career, they must complain about law reviews. Today was that day for me.

Credit Slips @creditslipsblog.bsky.social · Jun 25

What Are Law Reviews Good For? - Credit Slips

Adam recently posted his laments about the state of law reviews, which has been an issue only since the 1930s. I have a different theoretical lens that fills a gap in the literature that, at first blu...

The “Seizure of Power” 2025: An Historical Reflection

Bob Lawless @boblawless.bsky.social · Jun 6

From my colleague, Matt Finkin, about the parallels between to a previous seizure of power in 1930s Germany. Worth a read.

verdict.justia.com/2025/06/05/t...
@justiaverdict.bsky.social

Illinois Law professor Matthew W. Finkin draws a detailed historical comparison between Donald Trump’s 2025 actions as U.S. president and key elements of the Nazi regime’s early consolidation of power...

verdict.justia.com

Debt's Grip by Pamela Foohey, Robert Lawless, Deborah Thorne - Paper

Reposted by Bob Lawless

Prof Pamela Foohey @proffoohey.bsky.social · Jun 5

In two months, on August 5, my new co-authored book, Debt's Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy, published by University of California Press, will be out! (Co-authored with @boblawless.bsky.social and Deborah Thorne, University of Idaho.) More about the book here: www.ucpress.edu/books/debts-...

Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.

www.ucpress.edu

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Bob Lawless @boblawless.bsky.social · Apr 9

Dear President Trump,

Below is an executive order that crossed my desk today. I just feel you should be aware that some jackass is signing your name to stupid orders on meaningless bullshit.

Under His Eye,
/s/

P.S. -- Even this one is still illegal.

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Maintaining Acceptable Water Pressure in Showerheads

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose.

www.whitehouse.gov

Did Trump help insiders cash in on his tariff flip-flopping?

Reposted by Bob Lawless

Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · Apr 9

I'm calling for an investigation into whether President Trump manipulated the market to benefit his Wall Street donors—all while working people and small businesses paid the price.

Did Trump help insiders cash in on his tariff flip-flopping? It sure looks like corruption.

YouTube video by Senator Elizabeth Warren

youtu.be

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Bob Lawless @boblawless.bsky.social · Apr 8

This is my new all-time favorite Xkcd, explaining exactly why the tariffs are so dumb.
xkcd.com/3073/

Tariffs

xkcd.com

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Bob Lawless @boblawless.bsky.social · Mar 25

Wait, you mean there is hypocrisy in the Trump administration?

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · Mar 25

CNN put together a collection of clips of various Trump officials who were on the signal chat criticizing Hillary Clinton’s email server

Bob Lawless @boblawless.bsky.social · Mar 25

Some interesting points from Adam Levitin about 23andme's bankruptcy filing. I am not sure I agree about the stay violation but also not sure I disagree. Worth a read.

Credit Slips @creditslipsblog.bsky.social · Mar 25

23andMe Bankruptcy - Credit Slips

Quite a bankruptcy week. First there was Forever21's gone forever 22, and now we have 23andMe. Kudos to Melissa Jacoby and her co-authors for having the most timely publication ever regarding the 23an...