Ellen Henak
@ehenak.bsky.social
Retired appellate and post-conviction criminal defense lawyer. Former public defender. Is working on playing with her grandkids and sewing.
The logic is impeccable.
You may laugh, but the Macbeths are a much better role model for a marriage than Romeo and Juliet. They discuss their problems (killing the king of Scotland), share their hobbies (killing the king of Scotland), and resolve their conflicts (by killing the king of Scotland).
February 13, 2026 at 9:21 PM
The logic is impeccable.
Reposted by Ellen Henak
Vital, vital thread.
I don’t really know what I expect in posting this, but maybe some people see it and can learn from it.
I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
1/
I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
1/
February 12, 2026 at 8:21 PM
Vital, vital thread.
I think there is commentary on our current lives somewhere in here
Littles have a “house.”
4 yo: Nana, you be a robber.
Me: Ok. (Advancing) I’m coming to steal your meatballs. I’m coming to steal your meatballs.
4 yo: Fall down. I just deaded you.
6 yo: Aw, [4 yo], why’d you do that? We don’t even have any meatballs.
4 yo: Nana, you be a robber.
Me: Ok. (Advancing) I’m coming to steal your meatballs. I’m coming to steal your meatballs.
4 yo: Fall down. I just deaded you.
6 yo: Aw, [4 yo], why’d you do that? We don’t even have any meatballs.
February 8, 2026 at 2:54 PM
I think there is commentary on our current lives somewhere in here
Littles have a “house.”
4 yo: Nana, you be a robber.
Me: Ok. (Advancing) I’m coming to steal your meatballs. I’m coming to steal your meatballs.
4 yo: Fall down. I just deaded you.
6 yo: Aw, [4 yo], why’d you do that? We don’t even have any meatballs.
4 yo: Nana, you be a robber.
Me: Ok. (Advancing) I’m coming to steal your meatballs. I’m coming to steal your meatballs.
4 yo: Fall down. I just deaded you.
6 yo: Aw, [4 yo], why’d you do that? We don’t even have any meatballs.
February 8, 2026 at 2:52 PM
Littles have a “house.”
4 yo: Nana, you be a robber.
Me: Ok. (Advancing) I’m coming to steal your meatballs. I’m coming to steal your meatballs.
4 yo: Fall down. I just deaded you.
6 yo: Aw, [4 yo], why’d you do that? We don’t even have any meatballs.
4 yo: Nana, you be a robber.
Me: Ok. (Advancing) I’m coming to steal your meatballs. I’m coming to steal your meatballs.
4 yo: Fall down. I just deaded you.
6 yo: Aw, [4 yo], why’d you do that? We don’t even have any meatballs.
If the law gets in our way, we’ll cut down the law.
🚨HOLY CRAP. The Trump admin just took a SLEDGEHAMMER to due process, largely eliminating the Board of Immigration Appeals process and MANDATING DISMISSAL of ALL appeals (which cost $1,000 thanks to OBBBA) filed after tomorrow unless a majority of the BIA votes to hear the case.
February 5, 2026 at 2:49 PM
If the law gets in our way, we’ll cut down the law.
Reposted by Ellen Henak
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
February 5, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
Reposted by Ellen Henak
During COVID there was no meaningful statistical difference between Ds and Rs for jail and prison releases. People were left to die by both parties as guards called in sick.
February 2, 2026 at 6:05 PM
During COVID there was no meaningful statistical difference between Ds and Rs for jail and prison releases. People were left to die by both parties as guards called in sick.
If things are really caught up, that is very good news. While I have had only minor delays in mail, there are people in this village who got no mail for more than 2 weeks--and some get medication by mail. It has been a mess.
www.jsonline.com/story/news/l...
www.jsonline.com/story/news/l...
Brown Deer post office adds staff, Sunday delivery amid delays
The post office on the border of Brown Deer and Milwaukee has added staff and Sunday delivery to address complaints of ongoing delays.
www.jsonline.com
January 29, 2026 at 5:38 PM
If things are really caught up, that is very good news. While I have had only minor delays in mail, there are people in this village who got no mail for more than 2 weeks--and some get medication by mail. It has been a mess.
www.jsonline.com/story/news/l...
www.jsonline.com/story/news/l...
Even the folks up here in the north seem to need to re-learn this every year
PSA from a native northern midwesterner: having 4-wheel drive does not somehow make you immune to the laws of physics! I've helped push out way too many stranded trucks and SUVs the last few days (and exactly zero cars).
January 27, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Even the folks up here in the north seem to need to re-learn this every year
Reposted by Ellen Henak
Moriarty: "I was working with the BCA all day. What happened at the scene was that the federal agents stood about 2 feet apart w/ large batons & they physically prevented the BCA from entering the scene ... DHS prevented them from even entering the scene with a lawfully signed, by a judge, warrant."
January 26, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Moriarty: "I was working with the BCA all day. What happened at the scene was that the federal agents stood about 2 feet apart w/ large batons & they physically prevented the BCA from entering the scene ... DHS prevented them from even entering the scene with a lawfully signed, by a judge, warrant."
One of the reasons I love the Bucks
January 26, 2026 at 12:15 AM
One of the reasons I love the Bucks
Reposted by Ellen Henak
This picture broke me, but the description of this kidnapping by a witness who says ICE referred to this precious child as “it” as they took him away fills me with an unspeakable, murderous rage.
Sharing this report of ICE depravity from Facebook at the request of community member. This is from a suburb north of ICE-occupied Minneapolis.
The text is from her post on Facebook.
The text is from her post on Facebook.
January 21, 2026 at 11:59 PM
This picture broke me, but the description of this kidnapping by a witness who says ICE referred to this precious child as “it” as they took him away fills me with an unspeakable, murderous rage.
Completely inadequate medical care even by normally bad prison standards. Yes, we now have concentration camps
popular.info/p/ice-has-st...
popular.info/p/ice-has-st...
ICE has stopped paying for detainee medical treatment
ICE halted payments in October, and the situation will persist for at least several more months
popular.info
January 20, 2026 at 2:19 PM
Completely inadequate medical care even by normally bad prison standards. Yes, we now have concentration camps
popular.info/p/ice-has-st...
popular.info/p/ice-has-st...
Reposted by Ellen Henak
What the last days of the Roman emperor Caligula can teach us about the second Trump administration open.substack.com/pub/greattra...
The Last Days of Caligula
Madness in Power: Caligula’s Final Days and its Lessons for Trump’s Second Act
open.substack.com
January 17, 2026 at 5:23 PM
What the last days of the Roman emperor Caligula can teach us about the second Trump administration open.substack.com/pub/greattra...
Some days, wisdom is aiming at making one person happy. Today I worked at making a medium-size girl happy. She hates sleeves so the compromise is often sleeveless but with a jacket. She loves pink (and purple), hearts, and sparkle. #sewing
January 17, 2026 at 11:28 PM
Some days, wisdom is aiming at making one person happy. Today I worked at making a medium-size girl happy. She hates sleeves so the compromise is often sleeveless but with a jacket. She loves pink (and purple), hearts, and sparkle. #sewing
i have been reading Tom Ricks’ “Fighting the Good War” which is a military analysis of the civil rights movement, and one thing that comes abundantly across is that movement leaders and ordinary people made it a practice to refuse to fall into despair and cynicism.
January 17, 2026 at 3:00 AM
I ain’t dead yet.
things im learning from this tweet:
- everyone on this site was a really annoying kid
- really annoying kids today love newspaper comics too
- there was apparently a generation that preceded millennials, but they've all died out and little is known about them
- everyone on this site was a really annoying kid
- really annoying kids today love newspaper comics too
- there was apparently a generation that preceded millennials, but they've all died out and little is known about them
why did so many millennials read so many newspaper comics? easily 60 percent of my reading diet in elementary/middle school was collected editions of calvin and hobbes, farside, dilbert, peanuts, doonesbury (!), foxtrot (?!?) and i know im not alone. historically unique phenomenon
January 13, 2026 at 9:59 PM
I ain’t dead yet.
Reposted by Ellen Henak
Others have posted it but I will do so as well. In the 1930s, the Nazis imposed restrictions on the ability of Jews (and other undesirables) to get their money out of Germany. Bessent is promoting Nazi-style fiscal policies.
Bessent: "For individuals who want to wire money out of the country, they're gonna have to tick a box whether they are or are not on public assistance. Then we're going to start pushing over the coming days and weeks that if you're on public assistance, you cannot wire money out of the country."
January 12, 2026 at 10:41 PM
Others have posted it but I will do so as well. In the 1930s, the Nazis imposed restrictions on the ability of Jews (and other undesirables) to get their money out of Germany. Bessent is promoting Nazi-style fiscal policies.
The winner of today's one-liner goes to a guy who looked like he was sleeping.
Scene: the ENT clinic, waiting for audiologist
Asst calls a name three times.
Asst (just loudly enough to be heard): I really wish people would pay attention.
Guy: I bet many of the people here wish they could hear.
Scene: the ENT clinic, waiting for audiologist
Asst calls a name three times.
Asst (just loudly enough to be heard): I really wish people would pay attention.
Guy: I bet many of the people here wish they could hear.
January 13, 2026 at 4:20 AM
The winner of today's one-liner goes to a guy who looked like he was sleeping.
Scene: the ENT clinic, waiting for audiologist
Asst calls a name three times.
Asst (just loudly enough to be heard): I really wish people would pay attention.
Guy: I bet many of the people here wish they could hear.
Scene: the ENT clinic, waiting for audiologist
Asst calls a name three times.
Asst (just loudly enough to be heard): I really wish people would pay attention.
Guy: I bet many of the people here wish they could hear.
A special ed bus? Where there are likely to be some children incapable of "complying" with orders? They really are looking for something explosive to happen, aren't they?
Local parents groups asking if adults can ride school buses to help protect children from ICE after a special ed bus got stopped this morning. Like a Dirty Harry movie except the villain in the federal government.
January 12, 2026 at 11:51 PM
A special ed bus? Where there are likely to be some children incapable of "complying" with orders? They really are looking for something explosive to happen, aren't they?
Whoever engineered the threading on my serger should be condemned to an eternity of threading and re-threading it with arthritic hands, bifocals, and (mild) cataracts
January 9, 2026 at 9:17 PM
Whoever engineered the threading on my serger should be condemned to an eternity of threading and re-threading it with arthritic hands, bifocals, and (mild) cataracts
To me, the ICE killing yesterday is not shocking. I’ve witnessed enough bad policing behavior.
The true escalation for me is going onto school grounds without a warrant (or chase) & behaving like that. I have never seen that before.
The true escalation for me is going onto school grounds without a warrant (or chase) & behaving like that. I have never seen that before.
No matter how I think about it, I can't get over the reality that an entire city had to cancel school to keep its students safe from the terrorism of the federal government.
January 8, 2026 at 3:36 PM
To me, the ICE killing yesterday is not shocking. I’ve witnessed enough bad policing behavior.
The true escalation for me is going onto school grounds without a warrant (or chase) & behaving like that. I have never seen that before.
The true escalation for me is going onto school grounds without a warrant (or chase) & behaving like that. I have never seen that before.
Reposted by Ellen Henak
No matter how I think about it, I can't get over the reality that an entire city had to cancel school to keep its students safe from the terrorism of the federal government.
January 8, 2026 at 2:02 PM
No matter how I think about it, I can't get over the reality that an entire city had to cancel school to keep its students safe from the terrorism of the federal government.
Reposted by Ellen Henak
It’s official: RFK Jr has officially reduced recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11, removing universal vaccine recommendations for RSV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, dengue and two types of bacterial meningitis.
This reckless contravention of science is going to kill people.
This reckless contravention of science is going to kill people.
January 5, 2026 at 7:36 PM
It’s official: RFK Jr has officially reduced recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11, removing universal vaccine recommendations for RSV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, dengue and two types of bacterial meningitis.
This reckless contravention of science is going to kill people.
This reckless contravention of science is going to kill people.
I still remember refusing to give a big-law firm my LSAT scores during second-year and, instead, lecturing them on the misuse of such scores for those purposes. Surprisingly, I got an offer anyway. Unsurprisingly, I did not take it.
As near as I can tell, this man was briefly “on the faculty” of a small college devoted to business education but he has big ideas for revamping the entire university system.
This article advocates for the “Faculty Merit Act” that would — get this — require all faculty applicants to submit their *SAT* scores. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Holy shirts that’s hilarious.
January 2, 2026 at 5:13 PM
I still remember refusing to give a big-law firm my LSAT scores during second-year and, instead, lecturing them on the misuse of such scores for those purposes. Surprisingly, I got an offer anyway. Unsurprisingly, I did not take it.