Peter Orlowicz
@peterorlowicz.bsky.social
Admin law & appellate atty, IL native, Navy veteran, board game aficionado, ethics enthusiast & adjunct legal ethics prof, railroad law-talkin' guy (he/him). Personal account, as always.
Pinned
Peter Orlowicz
@peterorlowicz.bsky.social
· Jul 14
Well, new platform means new people, so I may as well introduce myself. I'm a lawyer in Chicago, though I live in the western suburbs, and I'm just over 10 years into practice. This is a personal account, but my day job is Senior Counsel for the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, a federal agency.
Yay trains! (But no, I'm not buying a locomotive. Out of my price range, my HOA won't let me park it anywhere, have to pick it up in NY...)
September 15, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Yay trains! (But no, I'm not buying a locomotive. Out of my price range, my HOA won't let me park it anywhere, have to pick it up in NY...)
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
Training Thru the Towers. Chicago commute on Metra to start the morning.
September 14, 2026 at 11:58 AM
Training Thru the Towers. Chicago commute on Metra to start the morning.
The one that REALLY sticks in my head from when I was a little kid was highway bridges where you couldn't see the bridge deck because it arched. I was terrified that there was a gap in the bridge we couldn't see. (In my defense I grew up in a river town that had actual bridges that went up, so.)
things i was frightened of as a child:
1. the concept of selling your soul to the devil
2. that cars were following us home
tied for infinity: all sorts of intrusive thoughts, you name it
1. the concept of selling your soul to the devil
2. that cars were following us home
tied for infinity: all sorts of intrusive thoughts, you name it
Things I was frightened of as a child:
1. The VHS tape boxes of horror movies at the video store
2. Unsolved Mysteries
3. My father
1. The VHS tape boxes of horror movies at the video store
2. Unsolved Mysteries
3. My father
September 13, 2026 at 2:12 AM
The one that REALLY sticks in my head from when I was a little kid was highway bridges where you couldn't see the bridge deck because it arched. I was terrified that there was a gap in the bridge we couldn't see. (In my defense I grew up in a river town that had actual bridges that went up, so.)
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
Fed. judge holds that the addition of a loyalty question—identify two Trump EOs that are important to the applicant and how they would implement them—to civil service job applications likely violates the APA bc it is contrary to the First Amendment.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
September 12, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Fed. judge holds that the addition of a loyalty question—identify two Trump EOs that are important to the applicant and how they would implement them—to civil service job applications likely violates the APA bc it is contrary to the First Amendment.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Yay trains! xkcd.com/3297/
OH Scale
xkcd.com
September 12, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Yay trains! xkcd.com/3297/
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
I wrote about one of my favorite subjects today: the expansion of passenger rail. I've wondered why this seemingly simple extension of service to the Quad Cities had taken so long, and let's say there's a lot of moving pieces.
Check it out (gift link)
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/09/11/c...
Check it out (gift link)
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/09/11/c...
After years of delay, funding to restart Chicago-Quad Cities rail service has Illinois back on track
The Quad Cities, which straddle the Iowa-Illinois border, have gone without passenger rail since 1979, despite their history as the center of the Rock Island Line.
www.chicagotribune.com
September 11, 2026 at 4:03 PM
I wrote about one of my favorite subjects today: the expansion of passenger rail. I've wondered why this seemingly simple extension of service to the Quad Cities had taken so long, and let's say there's a lot of moving pieces.
Check it out (gift link)
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/09/11/c...
Check it out (gift link)
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/09/11/c...
TIL the Illinois Legislative Inspector General is currently an hourly contract position (but can also be full-time or part-time depending on how the Commission decides to fill it).
LEC accepts McCuskey’s Sept. 30 resignation, will appoint acting LIG
LEC accepts McCuskey’s Sept. 30 resignation, will appoint acting LIG
* Press release…
After receiving the resignation letter from the current Legislative Inspector General (LIG), the members of the Legislative Ethics Commission (LEC) have agreed to accept the resignation effective September 30, 2026. As previously stated when announcing the impending vacancy of the LIG, Rep. Jeff Keicher, Chair of the LEC, and all members of the [...]
dlvr.it
September 10, 2026 at 4:56 PM
TIL the Illinois Legislative Inspector General is currently an hourly contract position (but can also be full-time or part-time depending on how the Commission decides to fill it).
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
Folks, Trump's $5000 thing is dumb and transparent and whatnot. It's also never going to happen.
But it isn't bribery. "Vote us into office and we'll do this policy thing you want" is the core of what political campaigns are. It would be a very bad idea to start criminalizing that.
But it isn't bribery. "Vote us into office and we'll do this policy thing you want" is the core of what political campaigns are. It would be a very bad idea to start criminalizing that.
September 10, 2026 at 3:52 PM
Folks, Trump's $5000 thing is dumb and transparent and whatnot. It's also never going to happen.
But it isn't bribery. "Vote us into office and we'll do this policy thing you want" is the core of what political campaigns are. It would be a very bad idea to start criminalizing that.
But it isn't bribery. "Vote us into office and we'll do this policy thing you want" is the core of what political campaigns are. It would be a very bad idea to start criminalizing that.
Fun fact, Tom Kotarac (the new NITA Board Chairperson) was nominated by President Obama to be the Chairman of the Railroad Retirement Board in 2016, but he wasn't confirmed before Obama left office.
President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:
obamawhitehouse.archives.gov
September 10, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Fun fact, Tom Kotarac (the new NITA Board Chairperson) was nominated by President Obama to be the Chairman of the Railroad Retirement Board in 2016, but he wasn't confirmed before Obama left office.
I... what. No, come on, really.
Law students who work as unpaid interns for federal judges after their first year of studies may accept stipends under certain conditions from law firms looking to recruit them as summer associates, according to the U.S. judiciary's top ethics body @nateraymond.bsky.social reut.rs/4gSmf7p
US judges' interns may accept money from law firms recruiting them, ethics panel says
Law students who work as unpaid interns for federal judges after their first year of studies may accept stipends under certain conditions from law firms looking to recruit them as summer associates, ...
reut.rs
September 10, 2026 at 12:35 AM
I... what. No, come on, really.
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
Press Release from UCLA’s Safeguarding Democracy Project: “New Report Offers Judges Guidance on Potential Law Enforcement Efforts to Seize Election Materials During an Ongoing Election” electionlawblog.org/2026/press-r...
Press Release from UCLA's Safeguarding Democracy Project: "New Report Offers Judges Guidance on Potential Law Enforcement Efforts to Seize Election Materials During an Ongoing Election" #ELB
New Report Offers Judges Guidance on Potential Law Enforcement Efforts to Seize Election Materials During an Ongoing Election Published in anticipation of highly contested elections, the recommendatio...
electionlawblog.org
September 9, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Press Release from UCLA’s Safeguarding Democracy Project: “New Report Offers Judges Guidance on Potential Law Enforcement Efforts to Seize Election Materials During an Ongoing Election” electionlawblog.org/2026/press-r...
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
Reminder that Lewandowski was a Special Government Employee with a zero dollar contract. Because he saw govt as a graft opportunity for much bigger bucks
September 8, 2026 at 2:14 AM
Reminder that Lewandowski was a Special Government Employee with a zero dollar contract. Because he saw govt as a graft opportunity for much bigger bucks
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
it brings me great pleasure to report that EGOT-winner rita moreno won an emmy for a 1977 episode of the muppet show
were Sabrina Carpenter to get an EGOT, would she be the first to do it with one of the four wins coming from a project with the muppets
September 6, 2026 at 11:02 PM
it brings me great pleasure to report that EGOT-winner rita moreno won an emmy for a 1977 episode of the muppet show
Hi, I'm Peter Orlowicz, an admin law, railroad benefits & ethics attorney (& adjunct law school teacher) in the Chicago area. I'm married with one grade-school kid and three cats.
I love the moment in Mason Williams' "Classical Gas" when the horn line comes in the first time.
I love the moment in Mason Williams' "Classical Gas" when the horn line comes in the first time.
September 5, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Hi, I'm Peter Orlowicz, an admin law, railroad benefits & ethics attorney (& adjunct law school teacher) in the Chicago area. I'm married with one grade-school kid and three cats.
I love the moment in Mason Williams' "Classical Gas" when the horn line comes in the first time.
I love the moment in Mason Williams' "Classical Gas" when the horn line comes in the first time.
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
I’ve discovered the apex of nerddom.
But, because the attention to detail in the model train world is so high, the effects of the writer/yard worker relationship trickle down to the small scale, and even the train hobbyists reflect the rules on their own models.
September 5, 2026 at 12:58 AM
I’ve discovered the apex of nerddom.
Railroads have their own special subchapter in the Bankruptcy Code.
Tell me a fun fact.
September 4, 2026 at 11:50 PM
Railroads have their own special subchapter in the Bankruptcy Code.
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
Just made a new Chicago bot.
Follow for @chicagobuoys.bsky.social for all the latest readings from 'Chuoy' the buoy, pictured here.
bsky.app/profile/chic...
Follow for @chicagobuoys.bsky.social for all the latest readings from 'Chuoy' the buoy, pictured here.
bsky.app/profile/chic...
September 4, 2026 at 6:29 PM
Just made a new Chicago bot.
Follow for @chicagobuoys.bsky.social for all the latest readings from 'Chuoy' the buoy, pictured here.
bsky.app/profile/chic...
Follow for @chicagobuoys.bsky.social for all the latest readings from 'Chuoy' the buoy, pictured here.
bsky.app/profile/chic...
This is also true for legal writing, of course (appellate and otherwise). @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social @smmarotta.bsky.social @elliemargolis.bsky.social @djsziff.bsky.social @aznchew.bsky.social
September 3, 2026 at 2:56 PM
This is also true for legal writing, of course (appellate and otherwise). @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social @smmarotta.bsky.social @elliemargolis.bsky.social @djsziff.bsky.social @aznchew.bsky.social
Reading these kinds of accounts make me indescribably sad and incandescently angry, but I'm grateful the narratives are recorded. We cannot afford to forget or gloss over the magnitude of the crimes committed by DOGE and its enablers.
This is 20 minutes worth of the most fucked up shit you will ever read. I hardly know where to begin. www.commondreams.org/opinion/trag...
The Twin Tragedies of the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace | Common Dreams
A year ago, the Trump administration abruptly terminated 40 years of conflict resolution work by the US Institute of Peace and confiscated its building; it became the home for his nascent Board of Pe...
www.commondreams.org
September 3, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Reading these kinds of accounts make me indescribably sad and incandescently angry, but I'm grateful the narratives are recorded. We cannot afford to forget or gloss over the magnitude of the crimes committed by DOGE and its enablers.
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
A moment to reflect.
September 3, 2026 at 4:02 AM
A moment to reflect.
Yep.
"they blocked me and i never even said anything to them" buddy i have some bad news about how many people can perceive your behavior in a public setting
September 3, 2026 at 2:42 AM
Yep.
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
Wile E. Coyote is doing a reddit AMA right now for Coyote vs ACME and strictly answering through signs, and it's genius.
September 2, 2026 at 5:44 PM
Wile E. Coyote is doing a reddit AMA right now for Coyote vs ACME and strictly answering through signs, and it's genius.
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
DuPage Republicans promote GOTV event that appears to violate state law
DuPage Republicans promote GOTV event that appears to violate state law
* The DuPage County Republicans posted this inducement to early vote earlier today…
* But there might be an oh-so-slight problem with the Illinois Election Code…
Any person who knowingly gives, lends or promises to give or lend any money or other valuable consideration to any other person to influence such other person to vote or to [...]
dlvr.it
September 2, 2026 at 5:49 PM
DuPage Republicans promote GOTV event that appears to violate state law
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
Southbound traffic could still get through if they weren't cowards
September 2, 2026 at 5:26 PM
Southbound traffic could still get through if they weren't cowards
Reposted by Peter Orlowicz
Once more, with feeling:
Ctrl-F “Laquan McDonald”
<Not found>
Ctrl-F “Laquan McDonald”
<Not found>
Rahm Emanuel: 'You Don't Like My Ideas? Show Me Yours'
Rahm Emanuel wants to take on Republicans and Democrats from the "pragmatic center." He talks Israel, the DSA, a possible run for president and more.
www.rollingstone.com
September 2, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Once more, with feeling:
Ctrl-F “Laquan McDonald”
<Not found>
Ctrl-F “Laquan McDonald”
<Not found>