Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 15h

The same people who insisted devout Catholic Joe Biden was leading a “war on Christianity” are now cheering Trump on as his armed goons assault clergymen.

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 16h

WATCH: Trump’s lawless Ice goons shoot an unarmed priest in the head with a pepper ball. Completely out of control.

80 1.1K 3K

Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman

Adam Rothman enjoys a good sandwich @adamrothman.bsky.social · 16h

“Deportations like Sergio’s — to fixtures of the community — are making people think, ‘This could be me next, or my favorite place next, or somebody who I talk to every day’"

emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 19h

Make sure you read the report about how Stephen Miller deported Waco's favorite Mexican restaurant owner.

www.texastribune.org/2025/10/07/t...

A picture of Sergio Garcia and George W and Laura Bush. It is signed, To Sergio Garcia with best wishes.

1 28 65

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 3d

I think too many originalists cherry-pick from the First Congress, ignore overwhelming contrary evidence, and assume the First Congress is reliable evidence of original meaning.
@kexelchabot and I are both primarily fact-checkers who cautiously see some value from this evidence.

2 1

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 3d

Here’s the song- just the intro echoed the Police. 2/
open.spotify.com/track/53iuhJ...

The Fate of Ophelia

open.spotify.com

2

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 3d

Taylor Swift “Fate of Ophelia” intro seems to be a riff on The Police’s reggae riff “Wrapped Around Your Finger.”
Nice. I wonder if there is a Shakespeare layer yo that.
Sting as Hamlet?
open.spotify.com/track/400ZJA...

Wrapped Around Your Finger - Remastered 2003

open.spotify.com

1 4

Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman

Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 4d

"When a President invokes a statute to support action that does not align with—or runs directly contrary to—statutory purpose, that is evidence of an abuse of power."

- @jedshug.bsky.social

(We shouldn't need this reminder, but in these times...)

journals.law.harvard...

emergency clause is open-ended, interpreters should emphasize
context and purposes to give intelligible meaning and scope to the
clause; and second, the means must fit the emergency ends. Congress expects emergency powers to be invoked when immediate
action from the President is necessary to effectively respond to a
disaster or crisis reached by the statute; Congress never intended
emergency power provisions to aggrandize the reach of presidential power past the intended reach of a statute. Thus, when an emergency power is invoked, it should typically be permissible only if it
does not conflict with statutory purpose. When a President invokes
a statute to support action that does not align with—or runs directly
contrary to—statutory purpose, that is evidence of an abuse of
power. The language, legislative history, and historical context of a
statute may shed light on its purpose.
This approach would serve as a solution to both problems: First,
it solves a longstanding problem in the in

8 28

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 10d

The MedBed of Trump:
Everyone magically fits, whether you’re too short or too tall.

Stop by our showroom — an ICE agent named Procrustes will make sure of it.

Alex Kaplan @alkapdc.bsky.social · 11d

Trump tonight appears to have pushed the false "medbed" conspiracy theory, which has spread in the far-right internet over the years. www.yahoo.com/news/qanon-c...

1 1 4

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 12d

Sorry, this is the correct link to the Trump v. Cook amicus brief the SCOTUS site:
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...

www.supremecourt.gov

2 6

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 13d

SCOTUS link to amicus brief (Trump v. Cook) here:
www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...

1 1 10

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 13d

I filed an amicus brief in Trump v. Cook (the emergency appeal over the firing of Fed Governor Lisa Cook) with @democracyforward.org, who did amazing work editing & filing on a tight lightning docket schedule.

Special thanks to @janemanners.bsky.social
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

The Fed, Offices as Property, and the Meaning of "Cause"

The Federal Reserve Act states that "each member shall hold office for a term of fourteen years from the expiration of the term of his predecessor, unless

papers.ssrn.com

1 9 50

Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman

Zach Dubin @dubza85.bsky.social · 14d

Great piece and not just because of the @jedshug.bsky.social reference!

Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 14d

Read this whole thing

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/o...

Opinion | This Is About So Much More Than Lisa Cook

www.nytimes.com

1 3 6

Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 19d

Trump has done more to establish a unitary executive than all the judges or legal scholars in the world could ever do.

And Trump has done more to discredit and expose the unitary executive theory as lawless authoritarianism than any judge or legal scholar could ever do.

17 190 650

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 19d

Offices can be both property and have sureties. It was not either/or.
The transition was so gradual, no one has identified when or even if offices are no longer protected as a form of property.

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 19d

Marshall says Marbury is unremovable three times.
In 1803.
Why?
Because protected offices were still property, as I have explained in many places and publications, building on Manners and Menand,

2

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 19d

scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scho...

The Indecisions of 1789: Inconstant Originalism and Strategic Ambiguity

The unitary executive theory relies on the First Congress and an ostensible "Decision of 1789" as an originalist basis for unconditional presidential removal power. In light of new evidence, the First...

scholarship.law.bu.edu

1

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 19d

scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scho...

Professionals, Politicos, And Crony Attorneys General: A Historical Sketch Of The U.S. Attorney General As A Case For Structural Independence

We assume that the nineteenth century was an era of patronage, and the twentieth century marked the rise of professionalization. But the Office of the Attorney General reveals an opposite pattern — a ...

scholarship.law.bu.edu

2 2 1

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 19d

I've been writing against this nonsense for almost a decade:
scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scho...

The Creation of the Department of Justice: Professionalization without Civil Rights or Civil Service

This Article offers a new interpretation of the founding of the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 1870 as an effort to shrink and professionalize the federal government. The traditional view is that Cong...

scholarship.law.bu.edu

1 2 2

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 19d

The entire unitary project is bunk.
Ahistorical myth.
Anti-rule-of-law absurdity.
But there's debunked bunk, and then there's bunker bunk.
The Roberts Court won't admit error about the bunker bunk they've already decided, but will 5 Justices approve this round of authoritarianism?
I don't know.

1 1 2

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 19d

1. The long-game. It took decades for "Lochner" to discredit itself & become the label for ideological pro-corporate judges.

2. The short-game. There is a non-zero chance that these escalating abuses could make 2 or 3 Justices think twice. They already tried (weakly) to carve out a Fed exception.

1 1 9

Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 19d

There should be a 12-syllable German word for this basic phenomenon

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 19d

Trump has done more to establish a unitary executive than all the judges or legal scholars in the world could ever do.

And Trump has done more to discredit and expose the unitary executive theory as lawless authoritarianism than any judge or legal scholar could ever do.

2 3 14

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 19d

Trumpf Kampf?

2

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 19d

Echoes of Humpty Dumpty...

Trumpty Dumpty built a great unitary wall.
Trumpty Dumpty had a great unitary fall.
And all the King's originalists and all the King's crony officers
Couldn't put the unitary executive back together again.

a cartoon of donald trump and mike pence playing golf on showtime

ALT: a cartoon of donald trump and mike pence playing golf on showtime

media.tenor.com

2 5 24

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 19d

Trump has done more to establish a unitary executive than all the judges or legal scholars in the world could ever do.

And Trump has done more to discredit and expose the unitary executive theory as lawless authoritarianism than any judge or legal scholar could ever do.

17 190 650

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 22d

7/ And here is the article by @janemanners.bsky.social & @levmenand.bsky.social that the district court and the DC Circuit majority rightly relied upon:
THE THREE PERMISSIONS:
PRESIDENTIAL REMOVAL AND THE STATUTORY LIMITS OF AGENCY INDEPENDENCE
www.columbialawreview.org/content/the-...

THE THREE PERMISSIONS:PRESIDENTIAL REMOVAL AND THE STATUTORY LIMITS OF AGENCY INDEPENDENCE - Columbia Law Review

Introduction Independent agencies are government bodies whose leaders do not serve at the pleasure of the President or other government officials. Although independent agencies are common creatures in...

www.columbialawreview.org

1 1 3

Jed H. Shugerman @jedshug.bsky.social · 22d

6/ More here:
"Presidential Removal: The Marbury Problem and the Madison Solutions," building on the outstanding research of @janemanners.bsky.social & @levmenand.bsky.social:

scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scho...

Presidential Removal: The Marbury Problem and the Madison Solutions

Marbury v. Madison is not just a puzzling judicial review precedent. It is also a puzzle about presidential removal. Why was it not taken for granted that Jefferson, Secretary of State Madison, or ano...

scholarship.law.bu.edu

1 4