LightNews — News, ranked by scholars

Reposted by Jack Hardcastle

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick

@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social

Suuuuper interesting, I was not tracking this. The judge found the law criminalizing noncitizen voting is a voter qualification statute, and therefore outside of Congress’s power.

Surprisingly, this is an issue of first impression!

Decision is here: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

The best reading of the actual statute that underpins this criminal case yields an inescapable
conclusion: 18 U.S.C. S 611 is a voter qualification statute, and the Constitution does not authorize
Congress to legislate voter qualifications for federal elections. Except for very specific constitutional
provisions (that cannot support this statute; we will go through them, Congress has no power to say
who can vote or who cannot vote in federal elections-that foundational power is reserved for the States,
and limits Congress.
Some legal principles are so fundamental that they form American constitutional bedrock, and
this case reveals a big one: When you're prosecuted based on a law that Congress did not have the
authority to pass, the prosecution cannot stand. That principle in federal law harkens back to cases
like Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137, 180 (1803), and United States v. Hudson, 11 U.S. 32, 34 (1812), and
has had explicit and unbroken support in criminal cases since Ex Parte Siebold, 100 U.S. 371, 376-77
(1879) ("An unconstitutional law is void, and is as no law. An offence created by it is not a crime. A
conviction under it is not merely erroneous, but is illegal and void, and cannot be a legal cause of
imprisonment."). The principle is so fundamental that it even predates our constitutional republic; it
lies at the very heart of our constitutional heritage. See, e.g., Bayard v. Singleton, 1 N.C. 5, 9-10 (1787) (striking down a legislative act as unconstitutional and holding that a court cannot enforce an
unconstitutional law in any type of proceeding). This principle acts as a shield for every person facing
criminal prosecution in the United States, citizen and non-citizen alike. That shield protects the
Defendant here, and none of the Government's arguments break through it.

October 2, 2026 at 9:00 PM

Jack Hardcastle

@jwhardcastle.com

This is the most offensive thing I've ever seen from Google. An Ad disguised as a system update.

I have been telling people to get a Pixel specifically because it doesn't come with all that bloatware other manufacturers include on their devices. That stops now.

The system update announcement screen for a Google Pixel device, weighing in at 1.2 GB, and including an ad for the Harry Potter audiobook with wallpapers, icons, and sounds.

September 25, 2026 at 9:14 PM

Jack Hardcastle

@jwhardcastle.com

Much like all of Kathryn's threads, this one is worth a read all the way to the end.

Kathryn Tewson @kathryntewson.bsky.social · Aug 2

I have just been sent the transcript of a deposition my grandmother gave in 1977 while she was serving as an expert witness in a series of tribal rights cases and let me tell you, if nothing else this is proof that I come by it honest for every conceivable value of “it”

August 2, 2026 at 11:38 PM

Reposted by Jack Hardcastle

Moose The Misanthrope ®️™️

@fuck-elon-musk.bsky.social

I wonder which one of Trump's cronies got this contract...

Pensacola’s 'Sewing Box' loses Blue Angels flight suit contract after 43 years share.google/BTvHKTL8LAi1...

Pensacola’s 'Sewing Box' loses Blue Angels flight suit contract after 43 years

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- After more than 40 years, a Pensacola business says they will no longer make the Blue Angels' ceremonial flight suits.

share.google

August 1, 2026 at 4:04 PM

Reposted by Jack Hardcastle

Claire Willett

@clairewillett.bsky.social

happy Pride Eve to all the people who are about to paraphrase this tweet from 2022 or repost it with my name removed as if it’s a thought they just had themselves

a screencap of a 2023 Instagram post from Jamila Jameel with over 1500 likes (including Billy Porter!!) it has a progress Pride flag striped background behind a screencap of my old tweet which reads

Claire Willett
@clairewillett
for pride month this year can straight people focus less on "love is love" and more on "queer and trans people are in danger"

May 31, 2026 at 11:36 PM

Reposted by Jack Hardcastle

Brendan Nyhan

@brendannyhan.bsky.social

April 24, 2026 at 10:01 PM

Reposted by Jack Hardcastle

Vikram Bath

@vikrambath.bsky.social

You do not get to vote on math

% of Americans who say that if the price of an item drops from $600 to $10, it is a...
600% reduction in price: 9%
98.33% reduction in price: 64%
Something else: 12%
Don't know: 15%
See the full survey

April 24, 2026 at 1:06 AM

Reposted by Jack Hardcastle

Bill Kristol

@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social

“Expanding the Supreme Court is no different that redistricting in California and Virginia. It is a proportionate response to Republican attempts to degrade liberal democracy and move America toward a post-liberal order.”

open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

It Is Time for Ruthless Aggression

The national battle over gerrymandering should be just the first step. Next up: expanding SCOTUS.

open.substack.com

April 22, 2026 at 11:26 PM

Reposted by Jack Hardcastle

Josh Marshall

@joshtpm.bsky.social

Pete Hegseth Nailed It. No Really. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/pete-...

April 18, 2026 at 4:10 PM

Reposted by Jack Hardcastle

Sam “The Great Pumpkin” Thielman

@samthielman.com

on the one hand it flatters people literally to death, but on the other it also burns down the rainforest

He Warned About the Dangers of A.I. If Only His Father Had Listened.

www.nytimes.com

April 14, 2026 at 4:09 AM

Reposted by Jack Hardcastle

Ryan Rosenblatt

@ryanrosenblatt.bsky.social

THEY SENT FOUR HUMAN BEINGS 252,756 MILES AWAY, WENT FULLY AROUND THE MOON AND BROUGHT THEM BACK TO LAND IN THE PRECISE LOCATION THEY WANTED

EVERYONE WHO WORKED ON THIS IS THE COOLEST PERSON ON EARTH

April 11, 2026 at 12:09 AM

Reposted by Jack Hardcastle

ghost malone ergo propter bones

@proptermalone.bsky.social

this is pretty fucked up

Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · Apr 4

Apparently the US is taking Iranians in this country hostage now:

Phil Stewart @phildstewart
X.com
MORE -
(Reuters) - U.S. federal agents have arrested the niece and grand-niece of late Iranian military commander
Qassem Soleimani after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked their lawful permanent resident status, the State Department said on Saturday.
"Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in the custody of U.S.
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement," the State Department said in a statement after Rubio revoked their green cards.

April 4, 2026 at 5:47 PM

Reposted by Jack Hardcastle

Dj

@djsoke.bsky.social

If you’re looking to donate just a little to a political candidate, Peltola is easily the best value per $ in the country

Ivan Moore @alaskasurvey.bsky.social · Mar 28

Hey kids... new Peltola-Sullivan results from ASR being released today!

It's an official (rounded) 5 point lead now.

Spread the word!

March 29, 2026 at 6:32 PM

Reposted by Jack Hardcastle

Snowden St.

@snowden.st

just last night my brother shared this amazing pic of Toyota executives studying the American dining room they had some consultants build them to understand our average sizes and expectations of space and comfort

A crowd of Japanese businessmen in suits, sitting and studying a basic 80s US dinner table for 6

March 14, 2026 at 6:42 PM

Jack Hardcastle

@jwhardcastle.com

I'm white, and even I can't tell them apart.

Photos of David Muir, Tony Dokoupil, and Tom Llamas side by side, all wearing the same expression, clothes, and facial features.

CBS News’ Tony Dokoupil’s Latest Ratings Compared With NBC & ABC
Martin Holmes
February 9, 2026, 10:10 am

ABC News YouTube; CBS News YouTube; NBC News YouTube

February 10, 2026 at 11:56 AM

Reposted by Jack Hardcastle

Christopher Webb

@cwebbonline.com

☠️

February 8, 2026 at 11:33 PM

Reposted by Jack Hardcastle

southpaw

@nycsouthpaw.bsky.social

Jeff Bezos makes enough money to fully fund this literally every two minutes.

Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · Feb 8

Former Washington Post journalists have launched a GoFundMe to help repatriate fired staff members who are effectively stranded in foreign countries.

One of the richest men in the world fired them from the paper and didn’t even pay to ensure they got home.

Abolish the billionaire class:

Donate to Support for Washington Post international employees, organized by Michelle Lee

Among the hundreds of journalists laid off by The Washington Post on … Michelle Lee needs your support for Support for Washington Post international employees

www.gofundme.com

February 8, 2026 at 5:13 AM

Jack Hardcastle

@jwhardcastle.com

It's actually worse than that, because the money earns interest on investments, etc. while it is sitting there.

Bezos could set a BILLION dollars on fire every month, in perpetuity (less than 5% of his net worth per year), and never run out of money, ever.

Rodger Sherman @rodger.bsky.social · Feb 4

again we do not really do a good job of explaining how wealthy people like Jeff Bezos are

his net worth is $253.2 billion.
so he could take one million dollars, and just light it on fire
and then do it again tomorrow
and again the day after that
and then do it every day for 693 years and 8 months

February 4, 2026 at 7:07 PM

Reposted by Jack Hardcastle

Steve Vladeck

@stevevladeck.bsky.social

Even if you don't have time to read all 83 pages of Judge Reyes's opinion barring the Trump administration from rescinding Temporary Protected Status for 350,000+ Haitians, please at least check out the four-page introduction.

It's a tour de force:

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

"On December 2, 1783, then-Commander-in-Chief George Washington penned: “America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respected Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions.”1
More than two centuries later, Congress reaffirmed President Washington’s vision by establishing the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254a (TPS statute). It provides humanitarian relief to foreign nationals in the United States who come from disaster-stricken countries. It also brings in substantial revenue, with TPS holders generating $5.2 billion in taxes annually. See Part VI.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has a different take. [screenshot of tweet].

So says the official responsible for overseeing the TPS program. And one of those (her word) “damn” countries is Haiti. Relevant here, three days before making the above post, Secretary Noem announced she would terminate Haiti’s TPS designation as of February 3, 2026. See 90
Fed. Reg. 54733 (Nov. 28, 2025) (Termination).

Plaintiffs are five Haitian TPS holders. They are not, it emerges, “killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies.” They are instead: Fritz Emmanuel Lesly Miot, a neuroscientist researching Alzheimer’s disease, Dkt. 90 (Second Am. Compl. (SAC)) ¶ 1; Rudolph Civil, a software engineer at a national bank, id. ¶ 2; Marlene Gail Noble, a laboratory assistant in a toxicology department, id. ¶ 3; Marica Merline Laguerre, a college economics major, id. ¶ 4; and Vilbrun Dorsainvil, a full-time registered nurse, id. ¶ 5. They claim that Secretary Noem’s decision violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706(2), and the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Government counters that the Court does not have jurisdiction, and, in any case, the Secretary did not violate the law.

Plaintiffs seek to stay the Secretary’s decision under 5 U.S.C. § 705 pending the outcome of this litigation. See Dkt. 81 (§ 705 Mot.). To decide their motion, the Court considers first whether it has jurisdiction. It does. See Part II. It then considers: whether Plaintiffs have a substantial likelihood of success on the merits; whether they will be irreparably harmed absent a stay; and whether a merged balance of the equities and public interest analysis favors a stay. See Part III. Each element favors Plaintiffs. See Parts IV, V, and VI.

Plaintiffs charge that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants. This seems substantially likely. Secretary Noem

has terminated every TPS country designation to have reached her desk—twelve countries up,
twelve countries down. See Section IV.A.2. Her conclusion that Haiti (a majority nonwhite
country) faces merely “concerning” conditions cannot be squared with the “perfect storm of
suffering” and “staggering” “humanitarian toll” described in page-after-page of the Certified
Administrative Record (CAR). See Section IV.A.3.a. She ignored Congress’s requirement that
she “review the conditions” in Haiti only “after” consulting “with appropriate agencies.” 8
U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(3)(A); see Section IV.A.1. Indeed, she did not consult other agencies at all.
See id. Her “national interest” analysis focuses on Haitians outside the United States or here
illegally, ignoring that Haitian TPS holders already live here, and legally so. See Section
IV.A.3.b. And though she states that the analysis must include “economic considerations,” she
ignores altogether the billions Haitian TPS holders contribute to the economy. See id.
The Government’s primary response is that the TPS statute gives the Secretary
unbounded discretion to make whatever determination she wants, any way she wants. And, yes,
the statute does grant her some discretion. But not unbounded discretion. To the contrary,
Congress passed the TPS statute to standardize the then ad hoc temporary protection system—to
replace executive whim with statutory predictability. See Section I.A.
As to irreparable harm, the Government contends that, at most, the harms to Haitian TPS
holders are speculative. But the Department of State (State) warns [screenshot]

Dkt. 100 (§ 705 Reply) at 20–21.4 “Do not travel to Haiti for any reason” does not exactly
scream, as Secretary Noem concluded, suitable for return. And so, the Government studiously
does not argue that Plaintiffs will suffer no harm if removed to Haiti. Instead, it argues Plaintiffs
will not certainly suffer irreparable harm because DHS might not remove them. But this fails to
take Secretary Noem at her word: “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” See Section
IV.B.2.b.
Finally, the balance of equities and public interest favor a stay. The Government does not
cite any reason termination must occur post haste. Secretary Noem complains of strains
unlawful immigrants place on our immigration-enforcement system. Her answer? Turn 352,959
lawful immigrants into unlawful immigrants overnight. She complains of strains to our
economy. Her answer? Turn employed lawful immigrants who contribute billions in taxes into
the legally unemployable. She complains of strains to our healthcare system. Her answer? Turn
the insured into the uninsured. This approach is many things—in the public interest is not one of
them.
For the reasons below, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Renewed Motion for a Stay Under
5 U.S.C. § 705, Dkt. 81.

February 3, 2026 at 1:06 AM

Jack Hardcastle

@jwhardcastle.com

FUCK Nazi Greg Bovino. Pure evil.

Nick Miroff @nickmiroff.bsky.social · Jan 26

BREAKING Greg Bovino has been removed as Border Patrol "commander at large" and will return to El Centro Calif, where he is expected to retire soon. A stunning turnaround after Pretti killing. Bovino's traveling blue city crackdown is over www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Gregory Bovino Gets Demoted

The Border Patrol chief was the public face of a traveling immigration crackdown on cities governed by Democrats.

www.theatlantic.com

January 27, 2026 at 12:03 AM

Reposted by Jack Hardcastle

-𝚖𝚘𝚡 ☃︎ ❄︎

@moxiest.art

A typewritten note that reads:

ICE has murdered another person
the video is horrific.
you do not need to watch.

January 24, 2026 at 3:51 PM

Jack Hardcastle

@jwhardcastle.com

Ahhhh, so *that's* why he's so focused on Greenland. Who's the donor that profits here?

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/w...

embassy sites. Mr. Trump and other officials have said that territory in Greenland could prove important for his plans to build a so-called Golden Dome missile defense system for the United States, which could include components stationed in Greenland.

HIGHLIGHTED BULLET - Restrict non-NATO member countries, particularly Russia and China, from obtaining rights to mine the rare-earth minerals that lie deep under Greenland’s ice sheet. - END HIGHLIGHT

All of those plans have been under discussion inside NATO over the last year, as a direct response to Mr. Trump’s stated ambitions. Since returning to the White House in 2025, Mr. Trump has described publicly, with increasing intensity, his desire to own Greenland. Denmark, with equal intensity, has insisted it would not sell, with Danish leaders saying that the island’s fate is up to Denmark, not NATO. Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik

January 22, 2026 at 8:23 PM

Jack Hardcastle

@jwhardcastle.com

Trump eliminated $2 billion worth of funding for mental health yesterday with the stroke of a pen.

You know, mental health care, the same stuff those guys say is the only solution for the epidemic of mass shootings in our country.