Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 50m

Also: Democratic governance: Bad. Republican governance: Good.

1 1 6

Reposted by Cristian Farias

Imani Gandy Corn 🎃 @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 55m

Skrmetti and Chiles are both cases we want to use to stick it to queer kids. - SCOTUS, basically

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 15h

Supreme Court on banning gender-affirming care for trans youth: Sure, that's fine, no constitutional violation.

Supreme Court on banning so-called conversion therapy for gay youth: No, can't have that, grave constitutional violation.

Here, Ketanji Brown Jackson gets to the bottom of it:

Excerpt of Supreme Court transcript in Chiles v. Salazar:

JUSTICE JACKSON: No, but here's what
I mean, right? In Skrmetti, we had a state
that wanted to prohibit certain medical
treatment, gender-affirming care, being given
to minors in the form of medication.
And we said that was okay. And I
understand there are particulars with respect
to how the -- the arguments, the constitutional
arguments, worked, but the state can prohibit
that.

Here, we have a state that wants to
prohibit gender-related medical treatment in
the form of talk therapy, but we now have the
First Amendment that is inhibiting the state's
ability to do that.

And I'm just, from a very, very broad
perspective, concerned about making sure that
we have equivalence with respect to these
things.

2 15 81

Reposted by Cristian Farias

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 15h

Supreme Court on banning gender-affirming care for trans youth: Sure, that's fine, no constitutional violation.

Supreme Court on banning so-called conversion therapy for gay youth: No, can't have that, grave constitutional violation.

Here, Ketanji Brown Jackson gets to the bottom of it:

16 180 730

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 1h

This was perfect in every single way. We stan. youtu.be/8y-ViyUk7Dk?...

EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami from KPop Demon Hunters: Golden | The Tonight Show

YouTube video by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

youtu.be

3 13

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 2h

Will the panel be bound by Newsom II, now being appealed?

Reposted by Cristian Farias

Jess Bravin @jessbravin.bsky.social · 11h

War Resister: @WSJ Stylebook conscientiously objects to bellicose rebranding of DoD. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

Vol. 38, No. 8: Department of War

In the latest Wall Street Journal stylebook bulletin, a note on the revival of an old name for what is still officially the Defense Department.

www.wsj.com

2 9 40

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 15h

Rational basis, says Skrmetti, but apparently not when “speech” therapy is involved. 🫠

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 15h

When all is said and done, the Supreme Court will be greatly responsible for creating a balkanized United States—where states will be able to regulate medical treatments the justices approve of, and others won't be able to regulate those the justices don't approve of.

See also: Dobbs.

3 12 80

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 15h

Transcript: www.supremecourt.gov/oral_argumen...

Slate's @mjsdc.bsky.social wrote it up: slate.com/news-and-pol...

With One Damning Question, Ketanji Brown Jackson Defined the Supreme Court’s New Term

The justice stripped the veneer of constitutional principle from the court’s latest blatant culture war.

slate.com

1 10 43

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 15h

Supreme Court on banning gender-affirming care for trans youth: Sure, that's fine, no constitutional violation.

Supreme Court on banning so-called conversion therapy for gay youth: No, can't have that, grave constitutional violation.

Here, Ketanji Brown Jackson gets to the bottom of it:

16 180 730

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 17h

I’m old enough to remember when Republicans in Congress sued President Obama, and a federal judge agreed with them, that he could not spend money to fund certain Obamacare programs without a congressional appropriation.

www.scotusblog.com/2016/05/judg...

6 47 130

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 23h

I, under no circumstances, want to "do" the news.

1 13

Reposted by Cristian Farias

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 23h

Feel free to attribute the following to a former OMB General Counsel: The supposed "new legal analysis" is, to use a technical legal term, horseshit. What the law actually says is that when Congress enacts a law ending a lapse, furloughed employees get paid at the earliest date possible. Period.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 23h

Johnson: "It's true that in previous shutdowns, many or most furloughed employees have been paid for the time they were furloughed, but there is new legal analysis - I don't know the details, I just saw a headline - but there are some legal analysts saying that might not be appropriate or necessary"

140 1.1K 3.4K

Reposted by Cristian Farias

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 1d

crazy that one of the most storied institutions in american journalism is going to be run by two people with basically no experience to do it

Exclusive | CBS News taps Adam Rubenstein — once ostracized at NY Times for liking Chick-fil-A — as new deputy editor

Sources expect Rubenstein will effectively run the Free Press now that Weiss will be busy steering the editorial direction of shows like “60 Minutes,” “Face The Nation” and …

nypost.com

380 1.6K 8.4K

Reposted by Cristian Farias

Pwnallthethings @pwnallthethings.bsky.social · 1d

Tragic news from Canada where the Canadian Supreme Court has gone from the official dress on the left to the one on the right

Canadian Supreme court. Everyone is dressed in bright red wooly gowns, with a beige trim. It looks sort of like a Santa robe

The Canadian Supreme court. Everyone is dressed in black gowns with a bright white kravat, and two thin red vertical lines on the side of the robe

95 290 1.7K

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 1d

A murderers’ row, one might say.

Scary Werewolf Bar Kochba @dickius.bsky.social · 1d

ChatGPT, draft me up a resumé for a guy who would write an OLC memo opining that the president should murder people.

Mr. Gaiser clerked for Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. of the Supreme Court of the United States,
Judge Neomi Rao of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Judge Edith H.
Jones of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In the private sector, Mr. Gaiser
worked at the law firms Jones Day, Boyden Gray, and Gibson Dunn. He graduated from the
University of Chicago Law School and Hillsdale College. He is also a husband and father.

1 15

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 1d

First Monday in October.

Cristian at the beach on a sunny Oct. 6, 2025. Mostly his silhouette and some seagulls far in the background. There are no people around.

1 1 24

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 1d

People love to hate on the Ninth Circuit, but it’s the best for remote access to things.

29

Reposted by Cristian Farias

Lawrence Hurley @lawrencehurley.bsky.social · 2d

The new Supreme Court term starts today, meaning that -- in a novel twist -- the justices will hear oral arguments in some cases before they issue rulings that actually explain what they are doing.

66 670 3.9K

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 1d

Called it: Here’s the Illinois lawsuit. bsky.app/profile/nyti...

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 1d

Breaking News: Illinois sued President Trump over his deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago, expanding the multistate court fight challenging Trump’s authority to send military forces into American cities.

Live Updates: Illinois Sues Trump Over National Guard Deployments to Chicago

The lawsuit seeks to block the White House from sending Texas National Guard troops to Chicago. It came hours after a federal judge blocked deployments to Portland, Ore.

nyti.ms

2 4 25

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 1d

One data point worth noting: bsky.app/profile/andy...

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 2d

Immergut deposed Monica Lewinsky for Ken Starr, was a US attorney under Bush, and was appointed to the bench by Trump during his first term. This is not some left-wing judge.

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 2d

Immergut: I'm handling this on expedited basis, but defendants haven't provided new info.

SHE RULES FROM THE BENCH: I grant the plaintiffs motion for a second TRO based on reasons stated in previous order...

2 14 88

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 1d

Reread my response or read up on trials that have happened already. www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

A Federal Trial Reveals the Sprawling Plan Behind Trump’s Attacks on Pro-Palestinian Students

In Boston, a Reagan appointee is on pace to get to the bottom of the campaign against Mahmoud Khalil and others the Administration wants to deport over their activism.

www.newyorker.com

1

Reposted by Cristian Farias

Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 2d

I truly don't understand what people thought was going to happen

Mary Dudziak @marydudziak.bsky.social · 2d

Has Trump’s second term posed a greater or lesser threat to the rule of law than you expected? @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/m...

Has Trump’s second term posed a greater or lesser threat to the rule of law than you expected?
Circular graph showing over half answered: much more than I expected, about a quarter: more than I expected, about an eighth: similar threat to what I expected, small sliver: much less threat than I expected.

170 530 2.7K

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 2d

bsky.app/profile/cris...

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 2d

No. The people who will likely be under oath are military and civilian personnel and functionaries, largely apolitical, following orders from on high. That’s not how these people roll.

Like the general who testified that a Trump appointee questioned his loyalty for raising operational concerns.

1 1 4

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 2d

I should note: J.B. Pritzker is denouncing the same deployment that Judge Immergut blocked in Oregon.

See Pete Hegseth order here: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

So I expect the governor to follow in Oregon’s footsteps and file his own legal action to keep out the Texas National Guard.

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 2d

This evening, President Trump is ordering 400 members of the Texas National Guard for deployments to Illinois, Oregon, and other locations within the United States. No officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate.

1 3 39