Melissa Thompson
LightNews LightNews
melthomp7799.bsky.social
Melissa Thompson
@melthomp7799.bsky.social
990 followers 2K following 3 posts
CJS, mental health, sociology.
MN sports
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
muellershewrote.com
HHS wants to relax regulations on human subject research (The Common Rule). For example, they want to redefine “undue influence” on vulnerable human research subjects (children, prisoners, disabled, culturally disadvantaged). 1/
From the federal register: The foundational framework for human subjects protection in the United States was established by the National Research Act of 1974 in response to widespread public concern over unethical biomedical and behavioral research practices. Following its passage, the then-Department of Health, Education, and Welfare issued the first version of 45 CFR part 46. These regulations established institutional review boards (IRBs) as the key mechanism for oversight and ethical review of human subjects research. While these protections remain vital, the current regulatory framework no longer reflects the realities of modern research. In 1991 the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, known as the Common Rule, was formally adopted by HHS and 15 other federal departments and agencies. Although the last major revision in 2017 introduced several changes to modernize human subject protections while reducing unnecessary regulatory burden, investigators and institutions have continued to report that the Common Rule imposes unnecessary burdens and unclear requirements, particularly for minimal-risk studies. For example, the Department has received feedback that applying the Common Rule remains cumbersome for research within Learning Healthcare Systems and for other research methods that are integrated into clinical care settings and are intended to improve the quality and safety of medical care. Without additional changes intended to clarify ambiguities, expand flexibilities, and redirect protective measures toward high-risk activities, the rights and safety of research participants as well as scientific breakthroughs can be impeded. Examples of how this rulemaking will address these issues include expanding exemptions for certain additional types of low-risk research, incorporating flexibilities for de minimis protocol changes, and clarifying key terms such as the definition of undue influence. These reforms will reduce ambiguity and undue administr…
September 17, 2026 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
atrupar.com
DURBIN: Do you still stand behind the false statements you made on social media after Marimar Martinez was shot?

KASH PATEL: They are not false statements

DURBIN: She's never been charged with a crime after being shot five times

PATEL: You want her to be charged for being shot?
September 15, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
mcbridetd.bsky.social
Yikes! That ballroom is raidly growing.
Look at the scale of this thing. The people’s house is being swallowed by one man’s monument to himself.
x.com/cwebbonline/...
Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline) on X
Yikes! That ballroom isn’t going to complement the White House. It’s going to overpower it. Look at the scale of this thing. The people’s house is being swallowed by one man’s monument to himself.
x.com
September 13, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
assignedmedia.org
@rikiwilchins.bsky.social 2026 Sep
The Marshall Project documents how kinds of detainees -- immigrants and transgender - and esp those who are both are targeted in ICE custody with harassment, humiliation, assault and denial of medical.
www.themarshallproject.org/2026/09/12/i...
ICE Treatment of Transgender Women Reversing Years-Long Practices
Women said they face harassment and lack proper medical care.
www.themarshallproject.org
September 12, 2026 at 8:43 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
prisonpolicy.org
The carceral system is a traumatic and deadly place — and it's only gotten worse in recent decades.

From 2001 to 2019, deaths by suicide increased in state prisons by 85%.

Incarceration is a mental health crisis.
Graph showing that suicide rates in prisons have always been higher than the general U.S. population, and the gap is widening. In 2001, it was 14 per 100,000 people vs. 10.4. In 2019, it was 26 vs. 14.2.
September 11, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
lebassett.bsky.social
Can’t let people see how many women died from the new abortion laws before they vote
September 9, 2026 at 11:41 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
jamesnorth7.bsky.social
Kudos to the #NYTimes and Frances Robles for this searing first-hand report from #Haiti. She interviews recent deportees, who arrive stunned, penniless, and in immediate danger from the vicious gangs. @ambdanfoote.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/w...
Haitians Deported From U.S. Are Left Broke and Stranded (Gift Article)
Hundreds have been deported to Haiti in recent weeks, and some say they have been left with no money, no protection from gangs and no place to go.
www.nytimes.com
September 7, 2026 at 2:02 AM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
urocklive1.bsky.social
US Attorney Matthew Evans believed the office had sufficient evidence to charge Castro with a more significant civil rights offense known as "deprivation of rights under color of law," but claimed officials at Main Justice headquarters overruled him.

He was just fired.
abcnews.com/US/ice-agent...
ICE agent faces federal charges for allegedly lying about Minneapolis shooting: Sources
The charges against Christian Castro, 52, come just one week after he was released from jail by authorities amid an extradition dispute over separate state-level charges.
abcnews.com
September 4, 2026 at 12:47 AM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
swin24.bsky.social
All part of the plan zeteo.com/p/trump-ice-...
September 3, 2026 at 2:46 AM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
rbreich.bsky.social
A heartbreaking tragedy. Driven by racism and cruelty.

Historians looking back on this shameful period will wonder how this was allowed.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/springfield-ohio-haitian-student-dies-suicide-ice-mandates-ankle-monit-rcna595552
Haitian student dies by suicide after ICE issued him an ankle monitor
Pierre Damas Bel, 20, of Springfield, Ohio, expressed feeling “shame and humiliation” at having to wear an ankle monitor
www.nbcnews.com
September 2, 2026 at 10:15 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
marymoriarty.bsky.social
“But now, it looks like at least one Republican governor is willing to violate express constitutional, federal and state laws to provide sanctuary for federal officials charged with harming people in Democratic-led cities or states.”
Opinion | Greg Abbott is blocking Minnesota from holding an indicted ICE agent accountable
John Pfaff: Extradition between states is part of the Constitution. But all bets are off with Trump’s immigration crackdown.
www.ms.now
September 1, 2026 at 2:32 AM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
bgrueskin.bsky.social
Tuesday: The US govt offers its “deepest condolences to the victims and their families” after armed gangs storm a mountainside town in Haiti, killing dozens and kidnapping more than 50, including infants.

Thursday: The govt deports 57 people, including a 3-year-old born in the U.S., to Haiti.

1/
August 29, 2026 at 8:47 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
The situation in Haiti is terrifying. On Sunday, 150 gunmen swept down on a town to kill, rape, loot, and burn. 22 people were executed in a churchyard. 52 were taken hostage.

Stephen Miller mockingly says Haiti is safe and ICE just sent its second deportation flight this month; with kids on board.
They arrived in silence, under cover of darkness, heavily armed as they surrounded the town and moved through Kenscoff’s rugged terrain and towering forests in the mountains above the Haitian capital. Numbering around 150, the gunmen swept through several locations as they made their way toward the center of the town, opening fire on resident who tried to flee. At least 13 people were shot and killed as the gunmen ran through downtown, according to an account by the United Nations human rights office. As more than 50 others sought refuge in L’Arche de la Nouvelle Alliance, a Protestant church that had been sheltering people already displaced by the violence, the gunmen pursued them. When they arrive, they forced residents from the church and executed 22 of them in its courtyard. A dozen others were killed behind the sanctuary. The attackers didn’t just stop there. Before withdrawing from downtown, an area encompassing City Hall and a Haiti National Police substation, they abducted at least 52 people, including a mother and her five children, as well as another mother and her infant. Children and elderly who could not run were killed inside their homes. Others were burned alive after gunmen set at least a dozen houses on fire, witnesses told the National Human Rights Defense Network. The attackers also shot horses and other livestock inside the rural enclave.
August 28, 2026 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
jaywillis.net
The lawyers at Trump’s DOJ are filing briefs with riddled with the kinds of weird malapropisms and baffling typos that would be embarrassing for a sophomore English major. Government by an LLM trained on Truth Social posts.
The Trump DOJ Is Running Out of Ways to Humiliate Itself In Public
Another week, another argument from your federal government that would be kind of embarrassing if a high school sophomore tried to make it.
ballsandstrikes.substack.com
August 28, 2026 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
sababausa.bsky.social
The dude was caught planning to flee to Mexico, and the judge even acknowledged this, and yet he is free to go

Minnesota could ask Mexico to extradite Castro, but would need the co-conspirator Trump Administration’s cooperation to do so

They’re aiding & abetting a fugitive
bsky.app/profile/saba...
sababausa.bsky.social ❀°。Der Siebenschläfer *.ﾟ✿ ⋆ @sababausa.bsky.social · 21d
Technically there is a still a rendition warrant for Castro to be rendered to Minnesota custody, but it's all in limbo because Greg Abbott refuses to act on it

Meanwhile, Castro is reportedly in negotiations to buy a house in Mexico, which the judge basically shrugged at 👇
Minnesota also argues that Sheriff Trevino will release Castro on August 27, 2026, and that upon his release, Castro may flee the country, which would significantly hinder Minnesota’s efforts to prosecute its case against him. The Court agrees that Castro’s flight to Mexico would impose a hardship on Minnesota’s prosecutorial efforts. But that possible outcome does not alter the analysis. At most, the impending release and potential flight by Castro supports Minnesota’s showing of irreparable injury, for purposes of the second prong of the Rule 65 analysis. But the threat of irreparable injury does not obviate the need for Minnesota to demonstrate that it has a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of at least one of its causes of action. And the threat of injury by itself does not create an issue ripe for adjudication.
August 27, 2026 at 9:49 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
An incredible story. The Iranian Christian woman who wrote “help” on the glass on the hotel in Panama has finally found permanent safety; in Canada.

The Trump admin deported her to Panama soon after taking office, rather than let her seek asylum. Read her story 👇

www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/w...
Christian Convert Who Fled Iran and Was Deported By Trump Finds New Home (Gift Article)
Artemis Ghasemzadeh, who had escaped religious persecution, was deported to Panama under Trump’s immigration crackdown. Now, Canada has given her asylum.
www.nytimes.com
August 25, 2026 at 10:24 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
wellborn.net
Congress funded the CDC's Alzheimer's work, the sickle cell and epilepsy data programs and a rape prevention unit, and Vought simply will not release the money. Grassley told him to his face he lacks the authority. The pocket rescission alone took 4.9 billion.
Republicans furious as Trump’s budget director goes 'rogue'
The director of the Office of Management and Budget is infuriating Republican lawmakers by "going rogue" on what appropriations were approved by the House and Senate.
www.alternet.org
August 24, 2026 at 8:16 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
texasobserver.org
Earlier: In an attempt to overcomply with Texas law, the University of Houston will eliminate over 100 women's studies, gender and sexuality courses from the core curriculum.

It won't be enough to appease extremist Republicans.
University of Houston Is Gutting Its Gender and Sexuality Classes. That Won’t Stop Texas' Crusade Against Higher Ed.
College administrators wrongly hope that anticipatory obedience will satisfy a GOP-run Texas Legislature that is increasingly hostile toward education.
www.texasobserver.org
August 20, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
dangaristo.bsky.social
Finally, this has gone a bit under the radar, so I want to highlight it: The social, behavioral and economic sciences directorate (SBE) has simply ceased to deliver grants to many of its subareas. Any topic not specifically OK'd by the Trump administration is receiving zero new awards.
All of the NSF’s directorates are awarding fewer new grants, but the hardest hit is the social, behavioural and economic sciences (SBE) directorate, which the White House proposed eliminating in its 2027 budget request to Congress. SBE has so far awarded 84 new grants this year, about 11% of its average, mainly in areas of artificial intelligence, cognitive neuroscience and decision-making. Much of its portfolio, such as sociology, archaeology, political science, economics and geography, has received zero new awards. “I don’t think they’ve realized yet that there’s no awards,” one NSF staff member says of researchers in those fields. “That’s going to be clear soon.”
August 20, 2026 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
dmsilverman.bsky.social
In case you weren’t troubled enough by the consequences of the USAID demolition, a recent study in Science shows it caused significant political instability and increased the amount of political violence occurring in affected areas of Africa.
August 22, 2026 at 10:45 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
davidwcochrane.bsky.social
21 days before the 25th anniversary of September 11th, the United States imposes 50% tariffs on the country that gave its citizens refuge during the worst terrorist attack in US history.
August 22, 2026 at 3:57 AM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
vermontgmg.bsky.social
Among other reforms, it cannot stand that the President can sue everyone all the time but never face any lawsuits or criminal charges himself because he’s president. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/u...
Trump Threatens Defamation Suit Over National Guard Report, Aiming to Intimidate a Critic (Gift Article)
It was the latest example of President Trump’s bid to use the legal system against those who voice unflattering facts and opinions generally protected by the First Amendment.
www.nytimes.com
August 21, 2026 at 9:51 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
ottergoose.net
Thank you to @wcconews.bsky.social for covering the news that we observed our 5,000th detainee boarding at ICE flight at MSP this week.
5,000th ICE detainee flown from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, flight tracker says
"These are mothers who aren't going to be home tonight for bedtime snuggles with their kids," said Nick Benson.
www.cbsnews.com
August 21, 2026 at 1:32 AM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
nancylevinestearns.bsky.social
🔥 NEW NYT: Prison Firm Donated to Trump’s PAC After ICE Gave It $165 Million a Year in Contracts: GEO Group has profited from the administration’s mass deportation campaign. A subsidiary donated more than $1.4 million to the president’s super PAC last month.

#$GEO

www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/u...
Prison Firm Donated to Trump’s PAC After ICE Gave It $165 Million a Year in Contracts (Gift Article)
The GEO Group has profited from the administration’s mass deportation campaign. A subsidiary donated more than $1.4 million to the president’s super PAC last month.
www.nytimes.com
August 21, 2026 at 8:31 PM
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
peark.es
*INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS TO US COLLEGES FELL 10% THIS YEAR
August 20, 2026 at 4:02 PM