Peter Orlowicz
@peterorlowicz.bsky.social
Admin law atty, IL native, Navy veteran, sometimes appellate lawyer, board game aficionado, ethics enthusiast, railroad law-talkin' guy (he/him). Personal account, as always.
Pinned
Peter Orlowicz
@peterorlowicz.bsky.social
· Jul 14
Well, new platform means new people, so I may as well introduce myself. I'm a lawyer in Chicago, though I live in the western suburbs, and I'm just over 10 years into practice. This is a personal account, but my day job is Senior Counsel for the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, a federal agency.
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
there are a lot of cop shows, the pitt should do a social worker spinoff
February 19, 2026 at 12:57 AM
there are a lot of cop shows, the pitt should do a social worker spinoff
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
New — I wrote about WINNING for a change!
We won our FOIA lawsuit for body cam footage of DOGE raid on US Institute of Peace
The judge ruled DC Metropolitan Police must share all un-redacted footage from the March 2025 raid.
www.thehandbasket.co
February 18, 2026 at 11:28 PM
New — I wrote about WINNING for a change!
I never saw RoS because I stopped caring a bit before that (and haven't watched anything else since, sorry Andor), but BOY does this thread ring true about WHY I stopped caring.
okay you know what we're doing this
why rise of skywalker is the worst crime ever committed against cinema and the very concept of a coherent fictional universe: a thread
why rise of skywalker is the worst crime ever committed against cinema and the very concept of a coherent fictional universe: a thread
it is not interested in plot, it is not interested in worldbuilding, it is not interested in anything except throwing random disconnected snapshots of nostalgia at you
rise of skywalker kicks over the sandbox and leaves you uninterested in star wars in a way the prequels never did
rise of skywalker kicks over the sandbox and leaves you uninterested in star wars in a way the prequels never did
February 18, 2026 at 10:44 PM
I never saw RoS because I stopped caring a bit before that (and haven't watched anything else since, sorry Andor), but BOY does this thread ring true about WHY I stopped caring.
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
“I don’t want to be in this place I want to go to my school.”
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
February 17, 2026 at 7:31 PM
“I don’t want to be in this place I want to go to my school.”
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
It's worth saying, most serious ethics proposals wouldn't prohibit owning widely diversified index funds or mutual funds, it's really just about individual company stock ownership.
I just saw a bunch of the credulous reporting on this new conflicts check system, and, my god, it's so embarrassing.
Please, read and subscribe to Law Dork for independent legal journalism. Save yourself from the bullshit.
Please, read and subscribe to Law Dork for independent legal journalism. Save yourself from the bullshit.
SCOTUS changed the rules for bringing cases to the court because John Roberts won't sell his stocks
Roberts and Alito are the only two justices who own individual stocks. Also: A new lawsuit challenges the Trump admin's removal of the Pride flag at the Stonewall Monument.
www.lawdork.com
February 17, 2026 at 9:58 PM
It's worth saying, most serious ethics proposals wouldn't prohibit owning widely diversified index funds or mutual funds, it's really just about individual company stock ownership.
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
Kudos to Stephen Colbert for speaking out on CBS barring him from interviewing Senate candidate James Talarico due to threats from the FCC. Shows how FCC Chair doesn't need to actually do anything to get his way - the threats are enough to limit speech. WATCH: loom.ly/xhTty-k
February 17, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Kudos to Stephen Colbert for speaking out on CBS barring him from interviewing Senate candidate James Talarico due to threats from the FCC. Shows how FCC Chair doesn't need to actually do anything to get his way - the threats are enough to limit speech. WATCH: loom.ly/xhTty-k
This thread reads very much like an audition for guest-hosting @ifbookspod.bsky.social .
I suspect I may have some opinions to share about this next book I’m reading.
February 16, 2026 at 11:26 PM
This thread reads very much like an audition for guest-hosting @ifbookspod.bsky.social .
So, a Seawolf-class datacenter would be designed for tasks that are already obsolete when it comes online, and instead of building 29 of them there's only going to be 3?
Heard someone refer to a (large) datacenter as an "ohio-class datacenter" and now I only want to hear datacenter sizes referred to by reference to submarine classes
February 16, 2026 at 10:15 PM
So, a Seawolf-class datacenter would be designed for tasks that are already obsolete when it comes online, and instead of building 29 of them there's only going to be 3?
If you want to know why this admin wants to eliminate civil service protections &make federal attorneys at-will, here's part of the reason. (The answer is "yes, you have a greater responsibility to the legal system & ethics rules than to any individual client or officeholder.")
#LegalEthics Tidbit #PresidentsDay Edition: Do I have to follow the ethics rules even if the President orders me to do something unethical?
NYC Bar Ethics Opinion 2025-1 asks whether a government lawyer must conform to the rules of professional conduct...(cont.)
www.nycbar.org/reports/form...
#law
NYC Bar Ethics Opinion 2025-1 asks whether a government lawyer must conform to the rules of professional conduct...(cont.)
www.nycbar.org/reports/form...
#law
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
lnkd.in
February 16, 2026 at 6:28 PM
If you want to know why this admin wants to eliminate civil service protections &make federal attorneys at-will, here's part of the reason. (The answer is "yes, you have a greater responsibility to the legal system & ethics rules than to any individual client or officeholder.")
Way to throw @legalminimum.bsky.social under the bus.
I remain only-mostly-jokingly-convinced that the Pokemon Go craze of mid-2016 was one of the things that weakened the barriers between the timelines and sent us to Earth-3.
February 16, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Way to throw @legalminimum.bsky.social under the bus.
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
UET may be on the rise,
But as a matter of history, it’s simply not true. @jedshug.bsky.social @jdmortenson.bsky.social @andreascoseriakatz.bsky.social @narosenblum.bsky.social @janemanners.bsky.social
Violets are blue,
UET may be on the rise,
But as a matter of history, it’s simply not true. @jedshug.bsky.social @jdmortenson.bsky.social @andreascoseriakatz.bsky.social @narosenblum.bsky.social @janemanners.bsky.social
February 14, 2026 at 9:03 PM
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
UET may be on the rise,
But as a matter of history, it’s simply not true. @jedshug.bsky.social @jdmortenson.bsky.social @andreascoseriakatz.bsky.social @narosenblum.bsky.social @janemanners.bsky.social
Violets are blue,
UET may be on the rise,
But as a matter of history, it’s simply not true. @jedshug.bsky.social @jdmortenson.bsky.social @andreascoseriakatz.bsky.social @narosenblum.bsky.social @janemanners.bsky.social
YEP. Legal research is EXACTLY in this camp.
If I had to bet on the main thing that has radicalized people against "ai," and I am talking about the way that branding is CURRENTLY BEING USED, not whatever specialized ML utility you may have found for it, it would be in apps and tech they already use being made worse and/or inoperable by it
February 15, 2026 at 1:09 AM
YEP. Legal research is EXACTLY in this camp.
Today in "at no point could I predict the next word in this headline"...
🚨 President Trump’s Claim of an “Irrefutable” Argument Supporting His Right to Unilaterally Impose Voter ID and Election Rules May Be Based on Insane Claim that Marriott Hotel Manager Found Secret Text in the Shadows of a Microfilm Copy of the U.S. Constitution electionlawblog.org?p=154326
President Trump's Claim of an "Irrefutable" Argument Supporting His Right to Unilaterally Impose Voter ID and Election Rules May Be Based on Insane Claim that Marriott Hotel Manager Found Secret Text ...
Yesterday I noted the latest set of unhinged social media posts from President Trump in which he declared that voter id requirements and other election changes would be imposed in the midterms via exe...
electionlawblog.org
February 14, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Today in "at no point could I predict the next word in this headline"...
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
NEW — I spoke with Rep. Delia Ramirez (@ramirez.house.gov) about her calling DHS leaders "inheritors of the Klan hood and the slave patrol," the prospect of one day seeing them behind bars, and what it's like to see the public [finally] embrace her long-held dream to abolish ICE.
Our conversation:
Our conversation:
"The day of accountability will come": Rep. Delia Ramirez on abolishing and prosecuting DHS
The Handbasket spoke with the congresswoman who called out ICE long before it was popular.
www.thehandbasket.co
February 13, 2026 at 11:40 PM
NEW — I spoke with Rep. Delia Ramirez (@ramirez.house.gov) about her calling DHS leaders "inheritors of the Klan hood and the slave patrol," the prospect of one day seeing them behind bars, and what it's like to see the public [finally] embrace her long-held dream to abolish ICE.
Our conversation:
Our conversation:
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
This is an awesome thread and a fascinating result. We discuss this lawsuit in the Arizona Cardinals episodes in @badlawyerpod.bsky.social too
FOOTBALL & RACE 🧵
1/ Four years ago, Brian Flores sued the NFL alleging that the "Rooney Rule" requiring teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching vacancies is a sham.
Today, the judge ruled that ALL claims must be litigated, not arbitrated.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
1/ Four years ago, Brian Flores sued the NFL alleging that the "Rooney Rule" requiring teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching vacancies is a sham.
Today, the judge ruled that ALL claims must be litigated, not arbitrated.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
February 13, 2026 at 10:21 PM
This is an awesome thread and a fascinating result. We discuss this lawsuit in the Arizona Cardinals episodes in @badlawyerpod.bsky.social too
Not only is this a great piece of movie and cultural critique, but it made me click through a bunch of links to the OP's other Trek articles and they are also great. New rabbit hole unlocked!
Unironically yes, LOWER DECKS is about how the response to the disappointments of the post-Cold War era and the complexity of the modern world should not be despair or cynicism but instead a recommitment to the original ideals of liberalism, thank you for coming to my TED talk.
February 13, 2026 at 9:42 PM
Not only is this a great piece of movie and cultural critique, but it made me click through a bunch of links to the OP's other Trek articles and they are also great. New rabbit hole unlocked!
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
DHS is shutting down because it refuses to obey the law. They are tear-gassing schools, killing American citizens, and disappearing legal immigrants. Democrats shouldn’t fund an out of control ICE.
February 13, 2026 at 4:53 PM
DHS is shutting down because it refuses to obey the law. They are tear-gassing schools, killing American citizens, and disappearing legal immigrants. Democrats shouldn’t fund an out of control ICE.
Hey @mreno79.bsky.social , yay trains!
February 13, 2026 at 8:15 PM
Hey @mreno79.bsky.social , yay trains!
Live your life in a way that you don't need a $15m security detail, is my opinion.
"The White House Office of Management and Budget, which Vought leads, is allocating $15 million of what remains of USAID operating expenses to cover the costs of his protection" www.reuters.com/world/us/whi...
Exclusive: White House uses USAID funds for budget director Vought's security, documents show
The White House budget office is using millions of dollars from the former U.S. foreign aid agency to pay for the security detail of Russell Vought, President Donald Trump's budget chief and an archit...
www.reuters.com
February 13, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Live your life in a way that you don't need a $15m security detail, is my opinion.
"The Grand Jury Members Should Be Arrested for Obstruction of Justice" by Josh Blackman
There is no serious legal scholarship that suggests that the Framers were thinking of the radical left Democrat Party when they wrote the First Amendment. The grand jury grievously erred by failing to indict Mark Kelly, Elissa Slotkin, and their cohort.
by Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley
February 13, 2026 at 1:32 PM
"The Grand Jury Members Should Be Arrested for Obstruction of Justice" by Josh Blackman
There's gotta be SOMEONE, right?
Do I know anyone licensed in the Court of Federal Claims?
February 13, 2026 at 12:35 AM
There's gotta be SOMEONE, right?
Look, the Maersk Lego train set is one of the two Lego sets I will always regret not getting my hands on, I'm not gonna let it happen to the container ship.
Kids frantically pushing aside the new Pokemon and Mandalorian LEGO sets in Target to purchase the ANE MÆRSK container vessel
February 13, 2026 at 12:32 AM
Look, the Maersk Lego train set is one of the two Lego sets I will always regret not getting my hands on, I'm not gonna let it happen to the container ship.
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
BREAKING: Judge Nancy Brasel, a Trump appointee, has issued a TRO in the Minnesota access-to-counsel case about treatment at Whipple.
"It appears that in planning for Operation Metro Surge, the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees."
"It appears that in planning for Operation Metro Surge, the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees."
February 13, 2026 at 12:14 AM
BREAKING: Judge Nancy Brasel, a Trump appointee, has issued a TRO in the Minnesota access-to-counsel case about treatment at Whipple.
"It appears that in planning for Operation Metro Surge, the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees."
"It appears that in planning for Operation Metro Surge, the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees."
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
Here’s that passage from the ethics opinion
February 12, 2026 at 11:28 PM
Here’s that passage from the ethics opinion
This is particularly insulting and cowardly from the IOC since Russia is banned from competing as a nation at these Olympics specifically because of the invasion of Ukraine.
Heraskevych’s choice to forfeit the medal chance instead of give up the memorial helmet is the biggest story in Ukraine today. Everyone is heartbroken but there is a unanimous consensus that this was what had to happen rather than to give up.
February 12, 2026 at 3:52 PM
This is particularly insulting and cowardly from the IOC since Russia is banned from competing as a nation at these Olympics specifically because of the invasion of Ukraine.