Chris Seaman
@cbseaman.bsky.social
6.8K followers 630 following 350 posts
Law professor at W&L teaching IP, property, election law and remedies. Husband of @elyons822. Childhood cancer dad.🎗️Pro-public education. All opinions my own.
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Reposted by Chris Seaman
mcpli.bsky.social
The Turtle Mountain case has been distributed for the Supreme Court’s Nov. 7 conference.

Case is appeal by Native tribes seeking to overturn an 8th Circuit ruling that the Voting Rights Act cannot be enforced by individual voters through a private of action.
Reposted by Chris Seaman
aclu.org
ACLU @aclu.org · 3d
The public has a right to know how ICE is planning to expand its network of detention centers — especially when these centers hold thousands of our neighbors and loved ones in inhumane and unconstitutional conditions.
Civil rights group sues ICE for withholding records of the agency's detention expansion plans in Virginia
ICE solicited bids to expand detention in Virginia—then failed to respond to a public records request. Now, the ACLU is suing.
reason.com
Reposted by Chris Seaman
nycsouthpaw.bsky.social
I’m a career prosecutor who took a $25,000 check from an affiliated entity of Donald Trump’s while investigating Trump University and later left my lobbying firm to become Donald Trump’s personal impeachment lawyer, White House aide, and Attorney General. So don’t you DARE question my integrity.
atrupar.com
Bondi to Blumenthal: "You lied. How dare you? I'm a career prosecutor. Don't you ever challenge my integrity. Do not question my ability to be fair and impartial."
Reposted by Chris Seaman
dem8z.bsky.social
“Any university leader who signs on to this compact wld betray everything good and solid about the university & would do deep and permanent harm to the United States & the world.”

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down newrepublic.com/article/2013... via @newrepublic.com
Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down
How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education
newrepublic.com
Reposted by Chris Seaman
matthewstiegler.bsky.social
A top Trump official accusing federal district court judges, "as a class," of engaging in insurrection is a profoundly dangerous development.
matthewstiegler.bsky.social
❗❗❗

Stephen Miller: "It's simply a factually accurate statement that when a judge assumes for him- or herself the powers that have been relegated or delegated by the Constitution to the president, that that is a form of illegal insurrection." ...
atrupar.com
Q: You called the judge's ruling 'legal insurrection.' Are you recommending the president take action against judges who rule against him?

STEPHEN MILLER: No. It's simply a factually accurate statement
Reposted by Chris Seaman
joelhs.bsky.social
I was told not to teach a class on the intellectual histories of Zionism and Anti-Zionism next year - not because they doubted I could teach it fairly, but because it would attract too many politicians scrutinizing the syllabus.

A society where that is a valid fear is no longer fully democratic.
Reposted by Chris Seaman
govpritzker.illinois.gov
We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s Invasion. It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state’s military troops.
Reposted by Chris Seaman
rparloff.bsky.social
Judge Immergut (my new favorite judge) issued her 31-page opinion, barring federalization of 200 National Guard troops in Portland, <48 hrs after entering the case. It’s a model of restrained but powerful prose & reasoning. Read it yourself ...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
1/3
Reposted by Chris Seaman
stevevladeck.bsky.social
The very first statute authorizing domestic use of the military during domestic emergencies, enacted in 1792 by a Congress full of the same folks who wrote and ratified the Constitution, expressly provided for judicial review in certain circumstances *before* the President could even send troops.
Reposted by Chris Seaman
gelliottmorris.com
There has been basically no (public) reckoning with the democratic strategists who said that "raising the salience" of immigration/deportations in ~March would help Trump, which was obviously wrong at the time and has been proved wrong over the last 6 months www.gelliottmorris.com/p/kilmar-abr...
Reposted by Chris Seaman
fishkin.bsky.social
News coverage of the Trump administration's proposed "compact" with universities has been, so far, shockingly bad.

I hate to pick on NPR reporter Elissa Nadworny, who's usually a solid reporter, but almost every important thing I heard her say this morning about the proposed "compact" was false.
Reposted by Chris Seaman
kyledcheney.bsky.social
BREAKING: A federal judge says there is a realistic likelihood that the prosecution of Kilmar Abrego Garcia was driven by vindictive motives — reflected in the public statements of Bondi, Blanche, Noem et al.

He has ordered discovery on the question.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
cbseaman.bsky.social
Love the convenience of early voting! In and out in just a couple of minutes. Get out the vote, Virginia!
I voted
Reposted by Chris Seaman
jswatz.bsky.social
“No self-respecting university could ever accept something like this,” said Lee Bollinger, a First Amendment scholar and former Columbia University president. “Trying to protect conservative ideas against being ‘belittled’ — that’s about as violative of the First Amendment interests as you can get.”
Colleges weigh whether to sign onto Trump plan or forgo federal benefits
A new proposal from the Trump administration would give colleges funding advantages if they adopt conservative priorities.
www.washingtonpost.com
Reposted by Chris Seaman
Reposted by Chris Seaman
fishkin.bsky.social
The "compact" is a threat, with the administration explicitly stating that it plans to disfavor universities that don't sign in areas from foreign student visas, student loans, federal contracts as well as grants, and even tax [501(c)(3)] status.

It's a maximalist plan of 1st Amendment violation.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
Reposted by Chris Seaman
brendannyhan.bsky.social
Trump's higher ed ransom note is here - everyone would have to acquiesce to their unprecedented demands or not be "given priority for grants," plus they can demand "reimbursement" for "violations" www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

A mechanism to enforce fealty. An attack on academic freedom and democracy
Reposted by Chris Seaman
jamellebouie.net
all presidential administrations are partisan, but trump and the people in his white house are partisans bordering on sectarians, and one result is that they see nothing of actions that strain and weaken the union itself
Trump targets states that voted for Harris in shutdown fight
The Office of Management and Budget is withholding billions in energy and infrastructure money in more than a dozen states that voted against Trump.
www.politico.com
Reposted by Chris Seaman
jamellebouie.net
what does an "unconstitutional DEI principle" mean in the context of a tunnel project? what, a black person is going to use it?
ndhapple.bsky.social
OMB Director Russell Voight says that US DOT will announce that the federal government is "pausing" funding for both Gateway and the Second Avenue Subway because of "unconstitutional DEI principles" -- x.com/russvought/s...
Voight's tweet
cbseaman.bsky.social
Ugh. Sounds like a terrible decision. Link to full opinion?
Reposted by Chris Seaman
bill-of-lefts.bsky.social
There is no constitutional principle that would differentiate this from the FTC case other than “don’t fuck with the money people”
mjsdc.bsky.social
NEW: The Supreme Court *refuses* to let Trump fire the Fed's Lisa Cook—for now. Instead, the court agrees to hear the case in January. Cook may continue to serve in the meantime.
(ORDER LIST: 606 U.S.)

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2025

ORDER IN PENDING CASE

25A312 TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF U.S., ET AL. V. COOK, LISA D.

The application for stay presented to The Chief Justice and
by him referred to the Court is deferred pending oral argument in
January 2026. The Clerk is directed to establish a briefing
schedule for amici curiae and any supplemental briefs responding
to amici.