Joshua Engel, Esq.
banner
joshuaaengel.com
Joshua Engel, Esq.
@joshuaaengel.com
Civil Rights & Appellate Attorney | Fmr Prosecutor | Father & Husband | Friend of Collies | Long-Suffering Cornhuskers Fan
Pinned
"Mr. Engel is one of the more competent attorneys who appears in ths Court..."

-- Judge to my court appointed client who had filed a motion requesting different counsel
Times neglected to mention one of the most important Yom Kippur rituals for many American Jews: ending the fast with Chinese food

www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/u...
American Yom Kippur: How Jews Across the U.S. Observe the Holiest Day of the Year
From 200-mile treks to synagogue to spiritual striving, readers share the rituals that define Judaism’s holiest day for them.
www.nytimes.com
September 20, 2026 at 7:53 PM
“Looks” requirements unrelated to actual performance is not limited to Dept of Defense, sadly

This can get silly

When I worked for State Ohio, I recall a meeting with head of state highway patrol over height and weight requirements for Troopers — they were required to weigh-in every month

1/
Exclusive: The Pentagon is asking commanders to nominate troops to attend Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “State of the Force” address this September, and says the servicemembers must meet waist-to-height requirements and exhibit “impeccable” grooming standards. https://on.wsj.com/3VwFKeF
September 16, 2026 at 12:05 PM
July 4th — Wilmington, Ohio
July 5, 2026 at 10:53 AM
I am going to now have to include an amphibious exploring vehicle in my lifeguard equipment
June 20, 2026 at 9:06 PM
Waiting on lines is definitely a New York thing

No Midwesterner is waiting on a long line for much of anything, much less, checks notes, frozen yogurt

www.nytimes.com/2026/06/16/m...
Why Is Everyone Waiting Hours for Frozen Yogurt? Why Am I?
www.nytimes.com
June 16, 2026 at 7:07 PM
I think @brianphillips.lol is right in observing that university leaders
“are frequently hostile to the idea of the university itself”

One unmentioned reason is trend towards leaders with background in professional higher ed admin, not an academic background

www.theringer.com/2026/05/22/n...
Who’s to Blame When an Ivy League President Drives Into His Students?
“Ah! He just ran over my fucking foot!”
www.theringer.com
May 24, 2026 at 11:35 PM
Related law story

My certificate from the U.S. Supreme Court contains a mistake

I did not replace it but keep it as a reminder that the Court is not infallible

www.nytimes.com/athletic/729...
NFL sending Jaxon Smith-Njigba new Offensive Player of the Year trophy after typo
Smith-Njigba posted a video of the trophy, showing that it appeared to call him the
www.nytimes.com
May 19, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Very difficult for First Amendment lawyers to convey how deeply unserious -- essentially frivolous -- this indictment is
Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted for placing seashells by the seashore. And for posting.

Today's indictment: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
April 28, 2026 at 9:18 PM
The inevitable end-result of the Unitary Executive Theory 👇
This is how the United States Department of Justice writes now.
April 28, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Just because the Patel lawsuit almost certainly will laughed out of court doesn’t make it a laughing matter

Fighting a baseless defamation suit burns up time, attention, and money

And that's the point; Patel's goal is not necessarily to "win" the lawsuit, but rather to chill the media
April 20, 2026 at 6:49 PM
The Cincinnati-area teacher who was ordered to remove a "Hate Has No Home Here" poster from his classroom in a highly-contested school board vote said his constitutional rights were violated in a federal lawsuit filed on April 7 against the district.

archive.today/g4wbg
April 7, 2026 at 3:05 PM
So embarrassing... wearing a pin is literally the *least* someone can do to stand up for First Amendment rights
Journalists plan to make a subtle but pointed statement with their attire at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, Status has learned, as Donald Trump prepares to attend for the first time.

Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/whcd-first...
WHCD’s Trump-Era Accessories
Journalists plan to make a subtle but pointed statement with their attire at the annual gala, Status has learned, as Donald Trump prepares to attend for the first time.
www.status.news
April 6, 2026 at 12:51 PM
I was under the basket when Laettner made his shot …👇

Taking nothing from UConn, but the context and history of the 1992 shot (Duke peak obnoxious; KY off years in wilderness) still makes it the end of, as Bob Ryan and Mike Lupica noted at the time, the greatest game ever
March 30, 2026 at 10:07 AM
Reposted by Joshua Engel, Esq.
The numbers don't lie
March 23, 2026 at 1:58 AM
Notable that higher education administrators have embraced lower standards of learning and achievement 👇

This has, imho, everything to do with the fact that most administrators don’t come from academic backgrounds anymore but, instead, study policies, business-speak and “academic leadership”
The future of higher education
March 22, 2026 at 5:33 PM
With all respect to @adamliptak.bsky.social, the suggestion that Tariff decision "amounted to a declaration of independence" by SCOTUS is a bit too much

This is still the Court that expresses a need to protect a “vigorous” and “energetic” unitary executive

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/u...
The Supreme Court’s Declaration of Independence
www.nytimes.com
February 20, 2026 at 6:19 PM
My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from a guy who knows a kid who's going with the girl who says it’s Zombies.

I think it's serious.
cnn.com CNN @cnn.com · Feb 11
FAA halts all flights to and from El Paso, Texas, and an area of southern New Mexico for 10 days over security concerns https://cnn.it/4rbdn0R
February 11, 2026 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Joshua Engel, Esq.
let's be honest, america needed the patriots to get their motherfucking heads beat in like this
February 9, 2026 at 3:00 AM
People may be scared , even "terrified," of ICE coming to the City, but traditional response of Philadelphians is to remain steadfast

Dr. Franklin wanted our national motto to be "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God” and I would hope and expect Philadelphia would live up to that ideal
February 3, 2026 at 12:09 PM
Here's an important thing about attorney-client, work-product, deliberative process, and other privileges:

They can be waived by a client who is interested in transparency
January 30, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Respect for @danwetzel.bsky.social, but disagree with his take

Minimizing cheating as "run-ins with the rulebook" fails to take into account what all prosecutors know: "criminals commit crimes" - fact he only got caught once doesn't mean a lot more did not happen

www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/...
Wetzel: If Belichick isn't first ballot, just shut the Hall down
The humiliation of snubbing Bill Belichick is on the committee and, in turn, on the Hall of Fame itself.
www.espn.com
January 28, 2026 at 3:39 PM
There is a known issue of Sig handguns used by law enforcement accidentally discharging— I did a murder trial a few years ago that centered on this issue

local12.com/news/local/h...
January 25, 2026 at 10:40 AM
“Mom…. Dad’s being Dad…”
January 8, 2026 at 3:11 AM
Today (especially) as every day:

The Union and the Constitution forever!
January 7, 2026 at 12:04 AM
Politico nicely illustrates 👇 the big problem with Washington journalists:

NO GRIT

Nobody from the Midwest would ever describe 20 degrees as “teeth-clenching” or consider a high of thirty to be cold regardless of the wind

Buy a scarf, worry less about “access,” and get to work
December 15, 2025 at 12:06 PM