Matthew Stiegler
@matthewstiegler.bsky.social
Appellate lawyer, president of Third Circuit Bar Association, former prosecutor, fellow of American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. Boring until fascism.
Views here: just mine.
Views here: just mine.
Pinned
🧵 Authoritarianism, Democratization, and Coalition Politics.
The consensus around here is, more or less, that the United States is currently a consolidating authoritarian regime controlled by a mix of reactionary populists and fascists.
The consensus around here is, more or less, that the United States is currently a consolidating authoritarian regime controlled by a mix of reactionary populists and fascists.
We lose it all if we don’t unite in time.
Reposted by Matthew Stiegler
Prof. @rachelbarkow.bsky.social's book should be required reading for *state* justices, specifically.
Why should state supreme courts blindly follow deeply-flawed rulings responsible for widespread atrocities when they have their own, independent *state* constitutions?? bsky.app/profile/stri...
Why should state supreme courts blindly follow deeply-flawed rulings responsible for widespread atrocities when they have their own, independent *state* constitutions?? bsky.app/profile/stri...
You can get Prof. Barkow's book Justice Abandoned: How the Supreme Court Ignored the Constitution and Enabled Mass Incarceration
here:
bookshop.org/p/books/just...
here:
bookshop.org/p/books/just...
Justice Abandoned: How the Supreme Court Ignored the Constitution and Enabled Mass Incarceration
How the Supreme Court Ignored the Constitution and Enabled Mass Incarceration
bookshop.org
November 22, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Prof. @rachelbarkow.bsky.social's book should be required reading for *state* justices, specifically.
Why should state supreme courts blindly follow deeply-flawed rulings responsible for widespread atrocities when they have their own, independent *state* constitutions?? bsky.app/profile/stri...
Why should state supreme courts blindly follow deeply-flawed rulings responsible for widespread atrocities when they have their own, independent *state* constitutions?? bsky.app/profile/stri...
The US Marshals have posted updated data on threats to federal judges.
Comparing FY2025 to the year prior, more judges reported threats, and the total number of reported threats increased by over 10%. About 16% of all judges--1 in 6--were targeted.
The rise in threats continues so far in FY2026.
Comparing FY2025 to the year prior, more judges reported threats, and the total number of reported threats increased by over 10%. About 16% of all judges--1 in 6--were targeted.
The rise in threats continues so far in FY2026.
November 21, 2025 at 8:30 PM
The US Marshals have posted updated data on threats to federal judges.
Comparing FY2025 to the year prior, more judges reported threats, and the total number of reported threats increased by over 10%. About 16% of all judges--1 in 6--were targeted.
The rise in threats continues so far in FY2026.
Comparing FY2025 to the year prior, more judges reported threats, and the total number of reported threats increased by over 10%. About 16% of all judges--1 in 6--were targeted.
The rise in threats continues so far in FY2026.
Reposted by Matthew Stiegler
Watch this 👇 I am proud to have @crow.house.gov as a fellow public servant and friend. Calls to arrest and execute public servants are outrageous. And calls to uphold the Constitution are important and our shared duty.
The President of the United States just called for my arrest and execution.
In these moments, fear is contagious, but so is courage:
In these moments, fear is contagious, but so is courage:
November 20, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Watch this 👇 I am proud to have @crow.house.gov as a fellow public servant and friend. Calls to arrest and execute public servants are outrageous. And calls to uphold the Constitution are important and our shared duty.
Reposted by Matthew Stiegler
Acts of political violence are characteristic of authoritarian regimes and dictatorships – not strong democracies.
Violence of any kind has no place in our society and we must all condemn it. Especially when it comes from the President.
Violence of any kind has no place in our society and we must all condemn it. Especially when it comes from the President.
Joint Statement from Goodlander, Slotkin, Kelly, Crow, Deluzio, and Houlahan
November 20, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Acts of political violence are characteristic of authoritarian regimes and dictatorships – not strong democracies.
Violence of any kind has no place in our society and we must all condemn it. Especially when it comes from the President.
Violence of any kind has no place in our society and we must all condemn it. Especially when it comes from the President.
Reposted by Matthew Stiegler
"The Barnes and Noble in York—where Fetterman was born and raised—had sold zero copies. The Barnes and Noble in Philadelphia had sold two copies. An independent store in Pittsburgh and an independent store in Philadelphia each told me they weren’t stocking Unfettered" defector.com/john-fetterm...
John Fetterman's Memoir Is As Low-Effort As His Senate Tenure | Defector
John Fetterman’s just-released memoir, Unfettered, argues that he’s turned a corner and has everything under control. Fetterman was a “stubborn asshole” (his words), he was clinically depressed, he wa...
defector.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:39 PM
"The Barnes and Noble in York—where Fetterman was born and raised—had sold zero copies. The Barnes and Noble in Philadelphia had sold two copies. An independent store in Pittsburgh and an independent store in Philadelphia each told me they weren’t stocking Unfettered" defector.com/john-fetterm...
Reposted by Matthew Stiegler
NEW: I wrote for @statecourtreport.org about the important role *state* law plays in immigration enforcement, and some ongoing litigation in WI, NY, and CA that will shape the relationship between ICE and the states and localities in which it operates. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...
State Challenges to Immigration Enforcement Practices
Recent lawsuits in Wisconsin, New York, and California explore questions about the role of state law in federal immigration enforcement.
statecourtreport.org
November 20, 2025 at 8:55 PM
NEW: I wrote for @statecourtreport.org about the important role *state* law plays in immigration enforcement, and some ongoing litigation in WI, NY, and CA that will shape the relationship between ICE and the states and localities in which it operates. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...
I was recently surprised and a little alarmed to be informed that an anonymous account I've interacted with a bit here is someone I know in real life. If you post anonymously and you wonder if I've puzzled out who's behind your anonymous account without you actually telling me: not a chance.
November 20, 2025 at 8:44 PM
I was recently surprised and a little alarmed to be informed that an anonymous account I've interacted with a bit here is someone I know in real life. If you post anonymously and you wonder if I've puzzled out who's behind your anonymous account without you actually telling me: not a chance.
Reposted by Matthew Stiegler
Ellis repeatedly accuses multiple CBP and ICE officials of lying (under oath) and says their "widespread misrepresentations call into question everything" they "say they are doing in their characterization of what is happening." She broadly discredits their testimony as objectively false.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis just handed down the written opinion version of her preliminary injunction order, regarding use of force by federal agents in Chicago.
It's the one already put on hold by the 7th Circuit.
It's 233 pages.
Here you go: cst.brightspotcdn.com/49/34/daecfb...
It's the one already put on hold by the 7th Circuit.
It's 233 pages.
Here you go: cst.brightspotcdn.com/49/34/daecfb...
November 20, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Ellis repeatedly accuses multiple CBP and ICE officials of lying (under oath) and says their "widespread misrepresentations call into question everything" they "say they are doing in their characterization of what is happening." She broadly discredits their testimony as objectively false.
Reposted by Matthew Stiegler
That John Roberts was more concerned with nuisance lawsuits against the president than he was with whatever this is will haunt this country for a long time
Trump posts again about Democrats, saying their behavior is “punishable by DEATH!”
November 20, 2025 at 6:51 PM
That John Roberts was more concerned with nuisance lawsuits against the president than he was with whatever this is will haunt this country for a long time
Reposted by Matthew Stiegler
I love him. “The first time I caught up to [ICE], I could tell that they already knew who I was. They had seen me before, so they thought they were just going to speed away. I was like, ‘Ha ha, bitches, I got a new scooter!’”
Meet the veteran who chases ICE on a scooter
Clifford “Buzz” Grambo patrols the streets of Baltimore to keep his neighbors safe—and make federal agents uncomfortable.
www.motherjones.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:41 PM
I love him. “The first time I caught up to [ICE], I could tell that they already knew who I was. They had seen me before, so they thought they were just going to speed away. I was like, ‘Ha ha, bitches, I got a new scooter!’”
Grim
November 20, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Grim
Reposted by Matthew Stiegler
EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN CONGRESS should be pressed about Trump calling for their colleagues to be killed
November 20, 2025 at 5:20 PM
EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN CONGRESS should be pressed about Trump calling for their colleagues to be killed
Reposted by Matthew Stiegler
/3 Asserting the (legally correct) point that members of the military may refuse illegal orders is not conspiring to overthrow the government or hinder the laws by force.
You can tell because if it were seditious conspiracy Trump would be pardoning it.
www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...
You can tell because if it were seditious conspiracy Trump would be pardoning it.
www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...
Stewart Rhodes, convicted of seditious conspiracy and released by Trump, visits Capitol Hill
Rhodes, the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group founder, was found guilty of orchestrating a weekslong plot that culminated in his followers attacking the U.S. Capitol in a desperate bid to keep Tr...
www.pbs.org
November 20, 2025 at 4:33 PM
/3 Asserting the (legally correct) point that members of the military may refuse illegal orders is not conspiring to overthrow the government or hinder the laws by force.
You can tell because if it were seditious conspiracy Trump would be pardoning it.
www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...
You can tell because if it were seditious conspiracy Trump would be pardoning it.
www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...
I don't know Fifth Circuit Judge Jerry Smith and I don't follow CA5 especially closely, so I don't have anything like the same degree of insight about his dissent yesterday that'd I'd have if he were a judge in the Third Circuit, where I practice.
In a remarkable and deeply unconventional dissent, U.S. Circuit Judge Jerry E. Smith unleashed a blistering and bizarre attack on his fellow judges after a federal court struck down Texas’ unconstitutional racial gerrymander. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
In Unhinged Dissent, Texas Judge Attacks Colleagues — and George Soros
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:12 PM
I don't know Fifth Circuit Judge Jerry Smith and I don't follow CA5 especially closely, so I don't have anything like the same degree of insight about his dissent yesterday that'd I'd have if he were a judge in the Third Circuit, where I practice.
This might just be the least-important contribution I could possibly make to society tonight, but … I see many journalists referring to federal magistrate judges as “magistrates” and I understand that to be a no-no.
November 20, 2025 at 1:54 AM
This might just be the least-important contribution I could possibly make to society tonight, but … I see many journalists referring to federal magistrate judges as “magistrates” and I understand that to be a no-no.
Same.
I will also note that I’ve met and spoken to many judges over the years, some in social settings, and none have expressed this kind of sentiment to me. Maybe I’m naive, but I genuinely don’t think this is what judging is like.
November 20, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Same.
Reposted by Matthew Stiegler
Look, as the resident fifth circuit guy here, it is not surprising that Judge Smith wrote a … vigorous …. dissent — after all, he wrote the “good ship fifth circuit is afire” dissent (where he was right) — but this is another level.
November 19, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Look, as the resident fifth circuit guy here, it is not surprising that Judge Smith wrote a … vigorous …. dissent — after all, he wrote the “good ship fifth circuit is afire” dissent (where he was right) — but this is another level.
Reposted by Matthew Stiegler
This dissent in the Texas gerrymandering case is batshit crazy and SCOTUS is going to eat it up
Judge Jerry Smith (Reagan appointee) is out with his dissent in the Texas redistricting case, and it is WILD
www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/u...
www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/u...
November 19, 2025 at 9:43 PM
This dissent in the Texas gerrymandering case is batshit crazy and SCOTUS is going to eat it up
Reposted by Matthew Stiegler
SCOOP: Notes obtained exclusively by Democracy Docket reveal Cleta Mitchell, leading anti-voting activists, and right-wing lawmakers met to discuss plans to limit early and mail voting — returning us to one-day elections and radically restricting ballot access.
Exclusive: Cleta Mitchell, Activists Scheme to Bring Back One-Day Elections
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:46 PM
SCOOP: Notes obtained exclusively by Democracy Docket reveal Cleta Mitchell, leading anti-voting activists, and right-wing lawmakers met to discuss plans to limit early and mail voting — returning us to one-day elections and radically restricting ballot access.
To clarify a point that might be confusing some, this is a 3-judge district court panel on which 5th Circuit Judge Smith is sitting, not a 5th Circuit appeal panel. Almost all district court rulings are by a single (district court) judge, but one exception is for redistricting challenges like this.
I have never seen an opinion like Judge Smith’s dissent in the Texas redistricting case in public before. H/t to the election law blog
electionlawblog.org/wp-content/u...
electionlawblog.org/wp-content/u...
electionlawblog.org
November 19, 2025 at 10:20 PM
To clarify a point that might be confusing some, this is a 3-judge district court panel on which 5th Circuit Judge Smith is sitting, not a 5th Circuit appeal panel. Almost all district court rulings are by a single (district court) judge, but one exception is for redistricting challenges like this.
Given the unprecedented and widely discussed avalanche of violent threats targeting federal judges these days, an appellate judge's decision to go after a district judge in this way in a high-profile opinion seems inappropriate. At best.
To be clear, Trump appointed the judge that Judge Smith calls out by name repeatedly throughout his dissent (Judge "Jeffrey Vincent Brown") during Trump's first term.
I've never seen one judge go after another by name, let alone using all three names as if Judge Brown were an assassin.
I've never seen one judge go after another by name, let alone using all three names as if Judge Brown were an assassin.
November 19, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Given the unprecedented and widely discussed avalanche of violent threats targeting federal judges these days, an appellate judge's decision to go after a district judge in this way in a high-profile opinion seems inappropriate. At best.
Reposted by Matthew Stiegler
NOW: Chief Judge Boasberg is holding a hearing in the Alien Enemies Act, and announces that he does plan on continuing the contempt proceedings.
He believes that will entail having people testify, but is asking the parties for their positions.
“Justice requires me to move promptly on this.”
He believes that will entail having people testify, but is asking the parties for their positions.
“Justice requires me to move promptly on this.”
November 19, 2025 at 7:07 PM
NOW: Chief Judge Boasberg is holding a hearing in the Alien Enemies Act, and announces that he does plan on continuing the contempt proceedings.
He believes that will entail having people testify, but is asking the parties for their positions.
“Justice requires me to move promptly on this.”
He believes that will entail having people testify, but is asking the parties for their positions.
“Justice requires me to move promptly on this.”
Criminal practitioners don’t astonish easily.
This is astonishing.
This is astonishing.
The facts are complicated, but here’s a summary of what appears to have happened based on the filings and today’s hearing:
NEWS: During a hearing in federal court in VA, prosecutors confirmed that the operative indictment in the case against James Comey was never shown to or voted on by the entire grand jury before it was presented in open court.
Defense counsel argued that’s a complete bar to further prosecution
Defense counsel argued that’s a complete bar to further prosecution
November 19, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Criminal practitioners don’t astonish easily.
This is astonishing.
This is astonishing.
Reposted by Matthew Stiegler
Stop whatever you're doing and read this piece by @pemalevy.bsky.social & @ariberman.bsky.social laying out how John Roberts has spent his entire adult life constructing the scaffolding for Trump's authoritarian takeover, and why he's so invested in rigging the system to continue to help Trump.
Using racial profiling in immigration sweeps. Defying Congress' power of the purse. Firing independent agency commissioners.
President Trump owes his corrupt and abusive reign to one man: John Roberts
President Trump owes his corrupt and abusive reign to one man: John Roberts
This is all John Roberts’ fault
Trump owes his corrupt and abusive reign to one man.
www.motherjones.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Stop whatever you're doing and read this piece by @pemalevy.bsky.social & @ariberman.bsky.social laying out how John Roberts has spent his entire adult life constructing the scaffolding for Trump's authoritarian takeover, and why he's so invested in rigging the system to continue to help Trump.
<facepalm>
NEWS: During a hearing in federal court in VA, prosecutors confirmed that the operative indictment in the case against James Comey was never shown to or voted on by the entire grand jury before it was presented in open court.
Defense counsel argued that’s a complete bar to further prosecution
Defense counsel argued that’s a complete bar to further prosecution
November 19, 2025 at 5:19 PM
<facepalm>