Livio De La Cruz
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livio.me
Livio De La Cruz
@livio.me
330 followers 1.5K following 1.1K posts
Interim Co-Executive Director of Legal Services at https://communities-rise.org where we help nonprofits and small businesses thrive.
Activist, former indie game developer, dad. Active in my local UCC congregation. Seattle, WA, USA. All opinions are my own
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livio.me
Why did ABC take Jimmy Kimmel off the air? Apparently, this is why:

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/b...
In his opening monologue on Monday, Mr. Kimmel had addressed the killing of Mr. Kirk by saying: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.” Conservative activists described those comments as mischaracterizing the political beliefs of Tyler Robinson, the accused shooter, who wrote in private messages that he objected to Mr. Kirk’s “hatred.” The authorities have not identified which of Mr. Kirk’s views that the suspect found hateful, but his mother said that her son had shifted toward the political left over the last year and had become “more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented,” according to prosecutors.
September 18, 2025 at 1:05 AM
livio.me
Another viral post urging the left to throw all integrity out the window because one should be more crooked just like Fox News.

Much like how the right uses partisanism to justify misconduct, many voices on the left want to do the same. They’ve been corrupted by the amorality they claim to oppose.
Post from @thefarce.org saying “Firing liberals over stuff right-wingers get away with every day is truly honoring Charlie Kirk's legacy.”
September 15, 2025 at 6:24 PM
livio.me
The above viral post also alleges that the Times refused to detail horrible things Kirk said. A quick glance at the same article debunks this claim.
Mr. Kirk did speak freely. He called Dr. King “awful” and “not a good person.” He described the Civil Rights Act as a “huge mistake” and George Floyd as a “scumbag.” He said that Islam “is not compatible with Western civilization,” and accused “Jewish donors” of fueling radicalism by financing “not just colleges — it’s the nonprofits, it’s the movies, it’s Hollywood, it’s all of it.” Democratic women, he said, “want to die alone without children.”
September 14, 2025 at 9:15 PM
livio.me
My family and I joined a protest in Shoreline, WA, just outside of Seattle. Was expecting low turnout because I thought most would flock to downtown Seattle, but one estimate was that we had 2,000 people. My sloppy photos don’t do it justice because we lined up along Aurora Ave for several blocks.
June 15, 2025 at 3:45 AM
livio.me
Credit: Santiago Mejia, San Francisco Chronicle, via Associated Press
People forming in a human banner at Ocean Beach during the “No Kings” protests in San Francisco. The human banner reads “NO KING!” and features an upside down American flag.
June 15, 2025 at 3:38 AM
livio.me
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/u...
To critics, Mr. Trump, who uses words like “invasion” and “occupation” to justify the troop deployment to Los Angeles, is manufacturing fake wars at home to suppress domestic dissent, heralding what some fear is a creeping military dictatorship. What is striking is that Mr. Trump does not seem to worry about giving that impression. He has done nothing to dispel it or reassure Americans that his use of the military against domestic unrest is a limited effort that should not concern them.
June 14, 2025 at 2:25 PM
livio.me
Due to popular demand, we are once again hosting our WA Nonprofit Legal Health Checklist Training, sponsored by @nonprofitwa.org

Tuesday, 6/17, 4pm PST

We'll cover legal/compliance issues, emphasizing topics relevant to navigating the current political context

communities-rise.org/event/nonpro...
Upcoming Webinar from Communities Rise: Nonprofit Legal Health Checklist Training Is your nonprofit due for a legal health checkup? Come learn how to use our Legal Health Checklist toolkit. We’ll explain several legal topics, including compliance issues and how to mitigate common legal risks. Tuesday, June 17th 4:00pm - 5:30pm virtual/online training RSVP: https://communities-rise.org/event/nonprofit-legal-health-checklist-training-2/ nonprofit@communities-rise.org 206-324-5850 Sponsored by the Nonprofit Association of Washington
June 13, 2025 at 5:31 PM
livio.me
This keeps happening.😬 Judge punishes law firms for using AI to draft court filings with fake quotes & fake citations.

None of the co-counsel knew that one attorney had used AI for legal research, so none had checked that his quotes and sources were real before integrating it into a brief. 😬
"A final note. Directly put, Plaintiff’s use of AI affirmatively misled me. I read their brief, was persuaded (or at least intrigued) by the authorities that they cited, and looked up the decisions to learn more about them – only to find that they didn’t exist. That’s scary. It almost led to the scarier outcome (from my perspective) of including those bogus materials in a judicial order. Strong deterrence is needed to make sure that attorneys don’t succumb to this easy shortcut."
May 13, 2025 at 11:01 PM
livio.me
For example, this effort to characterize a factual disagreement as "not seriously contested" is so bizarre. Why burn your credibility like that? There's a line between vigorously pursuing every favorable argument versus sounding like you're outright hallucinating (just critiquing the lawyering here)
1. Plaintiff Contests Purported Findings in EO 14230’s Section 1. The government blithely describes the statements set out in Section 1 of EO 14230 as “not seriously contested” and “matters of public record.” Gov’t’s Mem. at 7. This description is inaccurate. Plaintiff “vigorously contests” Section 1’s allegations of racial discrimination throughout the complaint. Pl.’s Opp’n at 2; see, e.g., Am. Compl. ¶ 45 (stating that Plaintiff “does not, and did not” racially discriminate against its employees); id. ¶ 46 (contesting Section 1’s “false premise” that “promoting diversity in the legal profession” equates to illegal discrimination); id. ¶ 51 (calling Section 1’s allegations “false and disparaging”). Moreover, to the extent that certain factual matters alluded to in Section 1 are not contested, see, e.g., Pl.’s SMF ¶ 83 (acknowledging three former Perkins Coie lawyers were sanctioned, in 2021, a total of $8,700 resulting from a duplicative motion filed in a voting rights appeal), plaintiff does challenge the use of these statements as a basis for the government actions directed in EO 14230, see, e.g., Am. Compl. ¶¶ 2, 8 (challenging the Order as “not executive in nature,” id. ¶ 2, and stating that “[t]he principal claims made by the Order have already been raised in the proper forum and resolved by the branch of government with constitutional authority to do so,” id. ¶ 8); Pl.’s Mem. at 35 (arguing the Order impermissibly invades the judicial function, “given that federal courts already have adjudicated many of the President’s grievances referenced in the Order”). The thrust of the government’s inaccurate characterization of Section 1’s statements as “undisputed” appears to be that these statements are immune from, or would survive, any factual or legal claims asserted by plaintiff, and therefore Section 1 must withstand any challenge lodged... ...by plaintiff on any constitutional basis. This defense falls short on both procedural and legal grounds. As a factual matter, in the procedural posture of a motion to dismiss, the amended complaint’s allegations firmly disputing the veracity of the Section 1 statements are assumed to be true and any factual disputes may not be resolved on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. See supra Part II.A.2. As a legal matter, Section 1’s statements setting out the “Purpose” of the Order are highly probative of the sufficiency of the claims of constitutional violations, as discussed more fully infra in Part III.B.1, and thus may certainly not be accepted as appropriate, let alone “straightforwardly legal,” as the government urges, Gov’t’s Mem. at 1.
May 12, 2025 at 11:02 PM
livio.me
This is the order that started with a cautionary quote from Shakespeare, "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

I recently encountered attorneys who were mad at this order because they thought this patriotic intro was too woke. 🙄

Full order: cdn.prod.website-files.com/67cf71f1f27e...
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PERKINS COIE LLP, Plaintiff, v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, et al., Defendants. Civil Action No. 25-716 (BAH) Judge Beryl A. Howell MEMORANDUM OPINION No American President has ever before issued executive orders like the one at issue in this lawsuit targeting a prominent law firm with adverse actions to be executed by all Executive branch agencies but, in purpose and effect, this action draws from a playbook as old as Shakespeare, who penned the phrase: “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, HENRY VI, PART 2, act 4, sc. 2, l. 75. When Shakespeare’s character, a rebel leader intent on becoming king, see id. l. 74, hears this suggestion, he promptly incorporates this tactic as part of his plan to assume power, leading in the same scene to the rebel leader demanding “[a]way with him,” referring to an educated clerk, who “can make obligations and write court hand,” id. l. 90, 106. Eliminating lawyers as the guardians of the rule of law removes a major impediment to the path to more power. See Walters v. Nat’l Ass’n of Radiation Survivors, 473 U.S. 305, 371 n.24 (1985) (Stevens, J., dissenting) (explaining the import of the same Shakespearean statement to be “that disposing of lawyers is a step in the direction of a totalitarian form of government”). The importance of independent lawyers to ensuring the American judicial system’s fair and impartial administration of justice has been recognized in this country since its founding era. In 1770, John Adams made the singularly unpopular decision to represent eight British soldiers charged with murder for their roles in the Boston Massacre and “claimed later to have suffered the... ...loss of more than half his practice.” DAVID MCCULLOUGH, JOHN ADAMS 68 (2001). “I had no hesitation,” he explained, since “Council ought to be the very last thing that an accused Person should want in a free Country,” and “the Bar ought . . . to be independent and impartial at all Times And in every Circumstance.” 3 DIARY AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHN ADAMS 293 (L.H. Butterfield et al. eds., 1961). When the Bill of Rights was ratified, these principles were codified into the Constitution: The Sixth Amendment secured the right, in “all criminal prosecutions,” to “have the Assistance of Counsel for . . . defence,” U.S. CONST. amend. VI, and the Fifth Amendment protected “the right to the aid of counsel when desired and provided by the party asserting the right,” Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45, 68 (1932).1 This value placed on the role of lawyers caught the attention of Alexis de Tocqueville, who in reflecting on his travels throughout the early United States in 1831 and 1832, insightfully remarked that “the authority . . . intrusted to members of the legal profession . . . is the most powerful existing security against the excesses of democracy.” ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA 301 (Henry Reeve trans., 2002) (1835). Footnote 1: Amici law professors highlight that the right to counsel was included in the Bill of Rights in large part to avoid “executive control of access to counsel,” which “could distort the administration of justice.” Br. of Amici Curiae 363 Law Professors in Supp. of Pl.’s Mot. for Summ. J. & for Declaratory & Permanent Injunctive Relief (“Law Professors’ Br.”) at 11, ECF No. 49. The historical backdrop for these provisions, as Justice Black explained, was in direct response to the “willingness . . . of the courts of England to make ‘short shrift’ of unpopular and uncooperative groups,” including “lawyers whose greatest crime was to dare to defend unpopular causes.”
May 12, 2025 at 10:47 PM
livio.me
Looking through Judge Howell's order granting summary judgment in favor of Perkins Coie in their suit against Trump's EO targeting their law firm.

Apparently, the government's briefs were not organized correctly, nor did they cite any procedural authority at all. 😬That's real bad lawyering...
The government argues that all plaintiff’s claims should be dismissed for multiple alleged deficiencies, which are discussed in the government’s supporting memorandum by reviewing EO 14230 on a section-by-section basis. None of these arguments are persuasive. While the government organizes its briefing in a manner designed to mount a forceful defense of each section of the Order, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b) guides the assertion of defenses to “claim[s] for relief,” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b) (emphasis supplied), as plaintiff correctly points out. Thus, the normal form of analysis of a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b) requires review of each claim asserted to assess its sufficiency, but this is not how the government presented its arguments. To reduce redundancy, the sufficiency of each claim is considered as part of assessing whether plaintiff is entitled to summary judgment on the claims, in Part III.B. The general arguments raised by the government's motion to dismiss—which arguments are only loosely tied, if at all, to specific procedural rules to test the sufficiency of the claims as pleaded—are addressed in this Part. Footnote: Neither the government’s motion to dismiss itself or its proposed order cites to any procedural rule as the basis for the requested dismissal, and the government’s memorandum in support likewise contains no clear statement of the procedural rules relied upon as to each claim, leaving the legal bases for the motion to the Court to discern from vague headings used in the government’s memorandum or to tease out of the text of the same document, despite the critical differences in applicable standards depending on which rule is relied upon. Plaintiff requests denial of any intended government cross-motion for summary judgment “for failure to comply with [D.D.C.] Local Rule 7(h)(1). This basis for denial urged by plaintiff need not be resolved since the pending motions are resolved on alternative grounds.
May 12, 2025 at 10:28 PM
livio.me
Attorney disbarred for stealing from client funds appeals all the way to the WA Supreme Court asking for a one-year suspension instead.

I haven't read the underlying briefs or seen the oral arguments here, but the court makes his arguments sound absolutely idiotic😬
www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf...
Quote from the court's opinion: Wallstrom correctly recognizes that disbarment is the appropriate sanction in accordance with our precedent. Nevertheless, he asks the court to reject the Board’s unanimous recommendation and impose only a one-year suspension. To reach this result, Wallstrom urges the court to disregard our well-established framework for reviewing attorney disciplinary sanctions and, instead, determine the appropriate sanction based on a single question: “‘Do you really feel that Paul Wallstrom needs to be disbarred to achieve the purposes of attorney discipline?’” Appellant’s Opening Br. at 24. We decline to follow this approach.
May 9, 2025 at 4:28 PM
livio.me
The image below is the official White House portrait of President Obama.

Normally a president unveils and displays their predecessor’s official White House portrait, which Trump refused to do in his first term, so it wasn’t unveiled until Biden’s term.
www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/fotow...
Photorealistic painting of President Barack Obama wearing a dark suit standing in a clear white void. Portrait by Robert McCurdy.
April 27, 2025 at 11:11 PM
livio.me
Saw this ancient viral post and immediately knew it was fake, but wanted to look deeper for fun.

I first thought, isn’t the real official portrait the one below? Apparently no.

“While this an official portrait of Obama, it is not the official White House portrait.”
www.snopes.com/fact-check/o...
Painting of President Barack Obama dressed in a dark blue suit while sitting on a formal wooden chair surrounded by green leaves and occasional colorful flowers. Portrait by Kehinde Wiley.
April 27, 2025 at 11:11 PM
livio.me
“Don’t write about columns about tech! Write news articles about Trump!” —person who apparently has never seen NYT’s unending, hourly coverage of that man
New York Times Technology Section published a column called “Should We Start Taking the Welfare of A.I. Seriously?” The @nytimes.com account linked to it with the caption: "Can ChatGPT experience joy or suffering? Does Gemini deserve human rights?" our tech columnist asks. "Many A.l. experts I know would say no, not yet, not even close. But I was intrigued." That post got reposted by another bsky user who said: “You could be running articles about how your country is literally getting torn apart at the seams by a fascist dictator but instead you are curious if your blender has depression.”
April 25, 2025 at 4:49 AM
livio.me
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) was finally able to meet with Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the innocent man who was sent to an offshore prison without any due process by the Trump administration.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/u...
Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is shown in a handout photo from his office with Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia on Thursday in El Salvador. Credit: The office of Chris Van Hollen
April 18, 2025 at 3:12 AM
livio.me
I never post these kind of context-removed memes, but this is a good one.

Original context: www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-to-...

More recent context: www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-c...
Screenshot of two tweets. First tweet, by CBS News, says, “BREAKING: The Trump administration is revoking the legal status of 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.” Second tweet, by @BlackKnight10k, says, “So even if you came here the "right way" you're still getting deported. See? We told you it was racism.”
April 17, 2025 at 12:03 PM
livio.me
This really is the golden age of politicians taking credit for stuff they voted against because we voters are so uninformed.

Many Republicans in Congress ran successful reelection campaigns on the “wins” of this bill, even though they voted against it.

As seen on www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/s/...
Red sign posted on construction site reads, “Seattle Rail Yard Modernization. President Donald J. Trump. Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure. Funded by the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act.” Red sign also features logos for Amtrak and the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. To the left of the red sign is a man wearing a large white sign that reads, “THE RED SIGN IS A LIE. ➡️ Trump fight against the infrastructure bill (Biden signed it).”
April 3, 2025 at 9:21 PM
livio.me
In which the Atlantic asks its readers “does this not look confidential to you?”
“Let us pause here for a moment to underscore a point. This Signal message shows that the U.S. secretary of defense texted a group that included a phone number unknown to him—Goldberg’s cellphone—at 11:44 a.m. This was 31 minutes before the first U.S. warplanes launched, and two hours and one minute before the beginning of a period in which a primary target, the Houthi “Target Terrorist,” was expected to be killed by these American aircraft. If this text had been received by someone hostile to American interests—or someone merely indiscreet, and with access to social media—the Houthis would have had time to prepare for what was meant to be a surprise attack on their strongholds. The consequences for American pilots could have been catastrophic.”
March 26, 2025 at 2:22 PM
livio.me
Have you ever heard of this guy? I haven’t.

Surprise! Apparently he’s been the face of the Resistance this entire time!
March 24, 2025 at 12:36 AM
livio.me
Homemade pizza night 🍕
Two pizzas on a cutting board Seven slices from three other pizzas on a cutting board, with pizza scissors.
March 8, 2025 at 4:13 AM
livio.me
To start, I generally like these roundtable-style articles where different writers weigh in on stuff. I would probably like them more if I was an avid op-ed reader and therefore knew who these people were. But I think the diversity of opinions is key for making this format not boring.
‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Elon Musk pressed to fire federal workers and threatened their jobs in the name of cutting waste and fraud and improving efficiency, largely with Trump’s support. Most writers are in the “negative impact / more consequential” quadrant. Only two writers are in the “positive impact / more consequential” quadrant. U.S.A.I.D. Trump and Musk moved to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development, with some foreign aid and other functions shifting to the State Department. Most writers are in the “negative impact / more consequential” quadrant. Only one writer is the “positive impact / more consequential” quadrant. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Trump and his administration moved ahead in dismantling D.E.I. programs and firing employees doing D.E.I. work, while broadly describing D.E.I. as a scourge in American society. The writers are evenly dispersed across all quadrants. They generally do not agree on whether the impact is negative or positive, or whether it’s more consequential or less consequential. Transgender issues Trump moved to enforce his ban on transgender student-athletes in women’s sports, pressuring states to go along while Health Secretary Kennedy issued guidance recognizing only two sexes. The writers are evenly dispersed across all quadrants. They generally do not agree on whether the impact is negative or positive, or whether it’s more consequential or less consequential. But a slight majority of writers see it as a negative impact.
March 1, 2025 at 7:35 PM
livio.me
Republican Men and Women Are Changing Their Minds About How Women Should Behave
By Michael Tesler, John Sides, and Colette Marcellin

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/o...
More Republicans now believe that women should return to their traditional roles in society. As of November 2024, almost half of Republican men agree, up from 28 percent in 2022. Republican women have also shown a similar spike in agreement: 38% as of Nov 2024, up from less than a quarter in 2022. Source: Views of the Electorate Research Survey Almost 80 percent of Republican men believe that society as a whole has become too soft and feminine Compared to a decade ago, more Republicans agree with the sentiment, while fewer Democrats do. Two thirds of Republican women agree, less than a fifth of Democratic men and woman agree. Source: Public Religion Research Institute
February 28, 2025 at 7:09 AM
livio.me
The last two weeks on here, everyone and their mom was talking about political messaging. They were teeing up talking points for Dems and saying they were all stupid for not using them.

But today is Opposite Day? Comms are bad now and the below comms strat is evidence that Dems need to ACT actually
February 3, 2025 at 8:54 AM
livio.me
Are you a Washington State nonprofit? 🗣️📢 Come learn more about joining our Capacity Building Cohort program this year.

We're hosting two upcoming info sessions about our cohort program, RSVP below.

2/4 at 11:30am: forms.gle/mDDGv24JADro...
2/12 at 5:30pm: forms.gle/ZXfQniCSp7TX...
Join Communities Rise for: Organizational Capacity-Building Cohort Information Sessions! The cohort takes place from May to December 2025. Applications available at communities-rise.org from March 6th to March 20, 2025. Join an upcoming info session to learn more about this opportunity to spend 8-months in community with other leaders of color! Participating organizations will receive a $7,000 stipend to help cover the cost of staff time and resources devoted to capacity building. We provide a capacity assessment, development of a work plan, monthly 1:1 coaching, free workshops on topics selected by the cohort, and group meetings to discuss challenges and solutions in a community of peers. UPCOMING INFO SESSIONS: Tuesday, February 4th, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Register here: https://forms.gle/mDDGv24JADroRj1v9 Wednesday, February 12th, 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM Register here: https://forms.gle/ZXfQniCSp7TXpvF97 This program is provided by Communities Rise and funded by the Seattle Human Services Department. Questions? Email: cohort@communities-rise.org
January 27, 2025 at 7:26 PM