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Laurent Pech

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by Laurent Pech

profpech.bsky.social
I mean how can such a body be considered a court within the meaning of EU law...?

cc @kimlanelaw.bsky.social @rdanielkelemen.bsky.social @profkochenov.bsky.social @grabowskamoroz.bsky.social
@tjmcintyre.com
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by Laurent Pech — Reposted by: Steve Peers

profpech.bsky.social
Important but arguably flawed ruling with rule of law implications as this is possibly the 1st time a non-EU body manifestly lacking characteristics of a court IMO - US Data Protection Review Court - is nonetheless recognised as a court within meaning of EU law...
www.politico.com/news/2024/01...
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by Laurent Pech

profpech.bsky.social
Any other outcome would have made a mockery of the European Parliament’s own finding that Orban’s Hungary is no longer a democracy but an electoral autocracy aka a situation where Orban can influence and interfere with judicial proceedings at will

www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pres...
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by Brendan Nyhan — Reposted by: Laurent Pech, Joanna Bryson, Norbert Schwarz , and 4 more

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Monstrous.

"federal agents detained nearly every resident of the 130-unit building—including children and babies—placing them in zip ties and separating them by race into vans for more than two hours early Tuesday morning."
dlknowles.bsky.social
Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 8h
Good reporting on the South Shore raid from South Side weekly here.

Confirms one thing I was told but didn't put in my own piece because I didn't have a second source and it seemed too insane: border agents segregated arrested residents by race

southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...
Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children
Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.
southsideweekly.com
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Reposted by: Laurent Pech, Brendan Nyhan, Nathan P. Kalmoe

johnpfaff.bsky.social
They said on-line isn’t real life, and Bluesky is a niche social media site.

But here is @akalhan.bsky.social getting “Kavanaugh Stops” into the Boston Globe!

With a pic of Kav looking a little petulant too (but then when doesn’t he?).

Glad to see this is sticking to him.
Critics of Trump’s immigration crackdown are using the term ‘Kavanaugh stop.’ Here’s what it means. - The Boston Globe
The phrase, is "a window into where [the administration] can go next," some advocates say.
www.bostonglobe.com
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by Laurent Pech

profpech.bsky.social
"For the administration to attempt to use federal funds to force colleges and universities to toe a conservative line is to create what our constitutional law calls unconstitutional conditions"
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by Laurent Pech

profpech.bsky.social
"It would require American colleges and universities to become instruments of official thought control. This is what happened in the United States during World War I ... We have spent a century repenting those mistakes, and now the Trump administration demands that we repeat them."
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by Laurent Pech — Reposted by: Jan W. Mueller

profpech.bsky.social
Exactly right. See also by Professors Robert Post and Tom Ginsburg: "Holding hostage federal loans and grants, the “compact” is essentially a unilateral executive decree that cannot be refused"

www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
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Reposted by: Laurent Pech, Joe R. Feagin

govpritzker.illinois.gov
What's happening in Chicago is not normal.

The arrest of Alderperson Fuentes is just the latest example of how far Noem and Bovino are willing to go to ignore the rule of law. We must all speak up.
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by Laurent Pech

profpech.bsky.social
NPR in 2028: "President Trump is bucking tradition and legal precedent in cancelling the presidential election and establishing a dictatorship."
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by Jan W. Mueller — Reposted by: Laurent Pech, Jan W. Mueller

jwmueller-pu.bsky.social
Rarely has so much creativity been poured into the creation of euphemisms: "tradition-bucking, " "norm-breaking," etc. ...
npr.org
NPR @npr.org · 20h
President Trump is bucking tradition and legal precedent in pushing to deploy the National Guard to Democratic-led cities like Portland, Oregon, and Chicago due to what he says is rampant crime and to support his crackdown on illegal immigration.
Trump's power to deploy National Guard, explained
President Trump is bucking tradition and legal precedent in pushing to deploy the National Guard to Democratic-led cities like Portland, Oregon, and Chicago due to what he says is rampant crime and to support his crackdown on illegal immigration.
n.pr
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by Laurent Pech

profpech.bsky.social
Dual state framework does provide some insight into what’s unfolding in 🇺🇸 but as far as current SCOTUS is concerned, key aspect to understand is that it is no longer a court but a MAGA captured 🦘 “court”

verfassungsblog.de/trump-2-0-as...
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by Laurent Pech

profpech.bsky.social
“Trump may suspend elections and establish a dictatorship. Experts say it could violate the US Constitution”
washingtonpost.com
The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 1d
The U.S. Treasury shared a proposal to mint $1 Trump coins to mark America’s 250th anniversary.

But U.S. code says only deceased individuals may appear on U.S. currency, a tradition dating back to efforts to break from monarchical rule. https://wapo.st/4pWsyL3
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by Colin Murray — Reposted by: Laurent Pech, Alan Lester

colinmurray.bsky.social
More in the breathless, breaking stop-the-presses, and not at all confected story, that judges, before they were judges, were involved in practising law. Take 5 seconds to appreciate just how hard into "swivel-eyed loon" Robert Jenrick is being allowed to lean:

www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...
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Reposted by: Laurent Pech, Michael D. McDonald, Vaughan S. Roberts

washingtonpost.com
The U.S. Treasury shared a proposal to mint $1 Trump coins to mark America’s 250th anniversary.

But U.S. code says only deceased individuals may appear on U.S. currency, a tradition dating back to efforts to break from monarchical rule. https://wapo.st/4pWsyL3
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by Kim L. Scheppele — Reposted by: Laurent Pech

kimlanelaw.bsky.social
Excellent analysis of what the US Supreme Court has done and might do. Are they providing the appearance of normal law in order to disguise the authoritarianism driving the executive branch? That's the logic of the dual state.
pemalevy.bsky.social
Pema Levy @pemalevy.bsky.social · 1d
“The reality is that the court is adjusting the law to make place for arbitrary power.”

To understand the Supreme Court's role in Trump's authoritarian project, I turned to the idea of a dual state: an authoritarian regime that keeps up a facade of normalcy

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
The “dual state” theory was invented to describe Nazis. The Supreme Court could take us there.
Authoritarianism—but make it look like the rule of law.
www.motherjones.com
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by Laurent Pech

profpech.bsky.social
Broader context re this fascistic development in the 🇺🇸
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
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by Laurent Pech

profpech.bsky.social
EU "cannot accept a new member state which is really not 100 percent following the rule of law" EU Enlargement Commissioner @martakos.ec.europa.eu told Reuters
But @ec.europa.eu & @consilium.europa.eu fine with a country becoming an autocracy post EU accession
www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pres...
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by Laurent Pech

profpech.bsky.social
Not sure who are these NYT legal experts. See eg this article from *June 2023*

"Trump critics warn of ‘deep decline of rule of law’ if he wins second term"

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023....
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by Laurent Pech

profpech.bsky.social
Do we know who the NYT "legal experts" are?
Are/were they US and/or non-US experts on democratic and rule of law backsliding?
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Reposted by: Laurent Pech, Christian Odendahl, Steve Peers , and 1 more

centreeuropeanref.bsky.social
#Czechia’s elections mark a populist shift, but Babiš now faces a hard path to form a government. The further he’s pulled to the right, the greater the risk of EU fragmentation.

Quick @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social reaction from @zecsaky.bsky.social

Read here:
CER quick reaction: The Czech elections
Czechia’s elections mark a populist shift, but Babiš faces a hard path to form a government. The further he’s pulled to the right, the greater the risk of EU fragmentation.
buff.ly
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Reposted by: Laurent Pech, Richard S.J. Tol, Erich Fromm , and 10 more

governor.ca.gov
This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power by the President of the United States.

America is on the brink of martial law.

Do not be silent.
govpritzker.illinois.gov
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.
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by Kim L. Scheppele — Reposted by: Laurent Pech, Stephen M. Walt, Brendan Nyhan , and 1 more

kimlanelaw.bsky.social
A must-read for those who are concerned about the future of universities under Trump. Trump is replacing the rule of law with rule by deal, and guaranteeing nothing for universities except that they give up their constitutional freedoms to avoid political punishments.
fishkin.bsky.social
Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 3d
I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.

It's especially for journalists covering this story!

Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.
Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal
A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics
balkin.blogspot.com
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by Laurent Pech

profpech.bsky.social
"This compact is a “reward” in exactly the same sense that it is “rewarding” to purchase protection from the Mafia ... The Trump team’s goal has not changed. They want an unprecedented—and flagrantly unconstitutional—degree of government oversight and control over American universities"
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by Laurent Pech

profpech.bsky.social
Autocracy in America: "An extremely credulous mainstream press quickly reported that ... the new approach was all carrot ... Any lawyer—really, any careful reader—who makes it through even the first paragraph of the document can see that this is incorrect"

balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...
Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal
A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics
balkin.blogspot.com
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Reposted by: Laurent Pech, Cas Mudde

joshuajfriedman.com
“Federal officers were flanked by videographers, toting professional equipment and wearing high-visibility vests. They filmed from behind the lines of officers, capturing the show of force. At least two drones swept over the scenes.”
alexzee.bsky.social
Alex Zielinski @alexzee.bsky.social · 2d
Hours after a federal judge paused the Trump administration’s plans to deploy 200 members of the Oregon National Guard to Portland, federal law enforcement officers escalated the tactics used on protesters in the city.

Troy and I were on the ground:
Federal tactics on protesters escalate, hours after judge rules against Trump
Hours after a federal judge paused the Trump administration’s plans to deploy 200 members of the Oregon National Guard to Portland, federal law enforcement officers escalated the tactics used on prote...
www.opb.org
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by Stephen I. Vladeck — Reposted by: Laurent Pech, Michael E. Mann, Anna O. Law , and 14 more

stevevladeck.bsky.social
The very first statute authorizing domestic use of the military during domestic emergencies, enacted in 1792 by a Congress full of the same folks who wrote and ratified the Constitution, expressly provided for judicial review in certain circumstances *before* the President could even send troops.
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Reposted by: Laurent Pech, Daniel W. Drezner, James Goodwin

anthonymkreis.bsky.social
*Donald Trump says he is about to put 10 Marines in my home*

Wurman: Have you considered tort law?
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by Laurent Pech

profpech.bsky.social
🤜 🤛

by Laurent Pech

profpech.bsky.social
US Federal Judge William Young in American Association of University Professors et al v Rubio et al, 30 September 2025

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
And there’s the issue of masks. This Court has listened carefully to the reasons given by Öztürk’s captors for maskingup and has heard the same reasons advanced by the defendant Todd Lyons, Acting Director of ICE. It rejects this testimony as disingenuous, squalid and dishonorable. ICE goes masked for a single reason -- to terrorize Americans into quiescence. Small wonder ICE often seems to need our respected military to guard them as they go about implementing our immigration laws. It should be noted that our troops do not ordinarily wear masks. Can you imagine a masked marine? It is a matter of honor -- and honor still matters. To us, masks are associated with cowardly desperados and the despised Ku Klux Klan. In all our history we have never tolerated an armed masked secret police. Carrying on in this fashion, ICE brings indelible obloquy to this administration and everyone who works in it. “We can not escape history,” Lincoln righty said. “[It] will light us down in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.” Abraham Lincoln, Second Annual Message to Congress (Dec. 1, 1862).
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