Cathy Gellis
@cathygellis.bsky.social
23K followers 1.6K following 16K posts
Lawyer, writer, all-around-great person I mostly post about technology, law, and civil liberties (especially free speech), and how they intersect. And mostly at Techdirt: https://www.techdirt.com/user/cathy/ I also post silly things too.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
andycraig.bsky.social
Using the military against your own people is something Bad Guys do. It's a trope that can be so readily invoked because it needs so little explanation, people easily recognize it. You need little history and even less law to know what it means. That's what we need here.
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
mitchellepner.bsky.social
Curtis Sliwa (the GOP nominee for NYC mayor) has launched a devastating ad against Andrew Cuomo (still running as an independent) featuring Donna Johnson, who claims that Cuomo's COVID policies regarding nursing homes killed both of her parents.

This hits home with Cuomo's prime demographic.
Andrew Cuomo’s Deadly Leadership: Meet Donna Johnson
YouTube video by M. Sliwa Public Relations
www.youtube.com
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
proptermalone.bsky.social
not even asking for Republicans to not be evil here. just asking for them to be competent, rational evil actors.
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
proptermalone.bsky.social
a fortunate quirk is that doing food and medical support for impoverished children, foreign and domestic, *also* is about the biggest bang it is possible to get for our buck.

so you can analyze aid on a moral basis or a realpolitik basis and you get the same answer: we should do it
juliaazari.bsky.social
Here's the thing. I am a lucky person and pay a fair bit in taxes. I can think of no better use for my tax dollars than feeding children, because I think all people are equally deserving of basic humanity.
donmoyn.bsky.social
The elimination of USAID is a moral atrocity and all involved made a choice to enable, and then lie about, ending the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
I had the pleasure of talking with Bishop Seitz before an event we were both speaking at, and of listening to him speak on immigration. He's a true humanitarian who believes in the fundamental dignity of human beings. Also, really nice guy!

/and now I'm just two degrees of separation from the Pope!
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
annahickey.bsky.social
I recorded a @lawfaremedia.org podcast with @nickkristof.bsky.social about what the end of USAID means for the people who had relied on it and it's heartbreaking. The wholesale destruction of the agency by this administration will have consequences for decades to come. youtu.be/HfxfXuHBz6c?...
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
thehighsign.bsky.social
The woman standing to his left and laughing has me balling my hands up into fists. Oh tee hee, that silly woke journalist asking the third most powerful person in the US government about the president making direct threats to jail his opponents!
atrupar.com
Q: Do you agree that the mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois should be in prison?

MIKE JOHNSON: Should they be in prison? I'm not the attorney general. I'm not following the day to day on that
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
katestarbird.bsky.social
The comments on this post are … something. The lack of empathy, political imagination, and strategic thinking is troubling. C’mon folks. Ben points out a vulnerability and lever (the NG troops who could become allies against these deployments) and the replies are like, “Nope. Eff that. Eff them.”
raders.bsky.social
Texas National Guard troops arriving in Chicago (via ABC News)

Remember: These are not MAGA stormtroopers. These are everyday teachers and accountants who signed up to serve their country with their spare time. They're being used as political pawns by venal, un-American, draft-dodging president
cathygellis.bsky.social
Follow-up question?

"Why do you think this is a good answer?"
atrupar.com
Q: Do you agree that the mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois should be in prison?

MIKE JOHNSON: Should they be in prison? I'm not the attorney general. I'm not following the day to day on that
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
rismith.bsky.social
In addition to Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson fancies himself a constitutional lawyer, but doesn't follow national news or know if it's a crime for state and local officials to not do what the president wants.
atrupar.com
Q: Do you agree that the mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois should be in prison?

MIKE JOHNSON: Should they be in prison? I'm not the attorney general. I'm not following the day to day on that
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
donmoyn.bsky.social
The elimination of USAID is a moral atrocity and all involved made a choice to enable, and then lie about, ending the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.
MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) - Mohammed Taher clutched the lifeless body of his 2-year-old son and wept. Ever since his family's food rations stopped arriving at their internment camp in Myanmar in April, the father had watched helplessly as his once-vibrant baby boy weakened, suffering from diarrhea and begging for food.
On May 21, exactly two weeks after Taher's little boy died, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat before Congress and declared: "No one has died" because of his government's decision to gut its foreign aid program. Rubio also insisted: "No children are dying on my watch."
That, Taher says, "is a lie."
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
dr-harebrain.bsky.social
New Race-Day Worry for the Chicago Marathon: Immigration Enforcement

Tensions over the federal intervention in the city have many runners worried about what to expect during the race

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/u...
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
andycraig.bsky.social
One of my most contrarian poli sci takes is nonpartisan local elections are Good, Actually (that is, no party labels on the ballot, as this race was).
taniel.bsky.social
JUST IN: The Republican Mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska’s second biggest city, lost re-election last night to a Democrat.

Mayor David Pruhs is a conservative who fought protections for LGBTQ+ residents; he made comments this year drew condemnation this year from Alaska Natives. He lost to Mindy O'Neall.
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
kenwhite.bsky.social
Mike Johnson’s position is young pregnant American women shouldn’t have to wait before being turned away to die in the parking lot from an ectopic pregnancy the hospital is afraid to treat
atrupar.com
Mike Johnson: "If you're a young, pregnant American citizen women who shows up in an ER and you get treated and they pay the hospital less for treating you than some illegal rabble rouser who came in from some South American country to do us harm, that is wrong."
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
kyledcheney.bsky.social
NEWS: James Comey pleaded not guilty to criminal charges that followed President Trump’s demand to prosecute.

The judge set a Jan. 5 trial date — but Comey is expected to try to kill the case before it starts, including by disqualifying Lindsey Halligan

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
annabower.bsky.social
A second set of pre-trial motions is due by Oct. 30.

Comey’s defense counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald, said he expects that batch to include a motion regarding abuse of grand jury process and an “outrageous government conduct” motion.
cathygellis.bsky.social
She is doing a much better job standing up for our constitutional principles than nearly anyone else. It makes no sense to bench her just because she's old when she's doing the job, and better than most.
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
mooseallain.bsky.social
I have a cartoon in the current Private Eye
Cartoon. Two people standing on a stage looking at a third person who is jumping down through a trap door. In the foreground we see the backs of the audience’s heads. One standing people observes “It’s just a stage he’s going through”
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
legal.reuters.com
The US Senate is slated to cast a procedural vote that will clear the way for the Republican-led chamber to ready a vote to confirm Jennifer Mascott to become Trump's latest appointee on the 3rd Circuit.

Subscribe to The Daily Docket: reut.rs/3YVLopB
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
prisonculture.bsky.social
This very very very bad. I cannot stress this enough. I said that they crossed the Rubicon with arresting Ras Baraka several months ago. This is very bad and portends more bad things for regular people.
royalpratt.bsky.social
The President of the United States is calling for the mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois to be jailed.
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
swin24.bsky.social
when Reuters (reuters!) does the most straightforward, bloodless, nonpartisan headline possible and still comes up with: www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
www.reuters.com