Sheldon Snook
@sheldonsnook.bsky.social
18 years in the federal judiciary; 5 at One First Street NE.
Reposted by Sheldon Snook
Few institutions have risen to this moment better than the federal district courts.
Circuit courts and SCOTUS? Media? Major law firms? Tech companies with map apps?
Far FAR less so.
But the federal trial courts have done what they can.
Circuit courts and SCOTUS? Media? Major law firms? Tech companies with map apps?
Far FAR less so.
But the federal trial courts have done what they can.
Court finds sufficiently robust evidence that ICE was systematically harassing and retaliating against a peaceful observer documenting its activities that it grants him a temporary restraining order against the agency [Volokh; Springfield, Ohio]
Court Grants TRO Barring "Threatening, Intimidating, and Retaliation Action ... Without a Legitimate Law Enforcement Purpose" Against ICE Watcher
From Judge Michael Newman (S.D. Ohio) Friday in Moorman v. Doe No. 1; since this is a decision at the...
reason.com
September 12, 2026 at 11:21 PM
Few institutions have risen to this moment better than the federal district courts.
Circuit courts and SCOTUS? Media? Major law firms? Tech companies with map apps?
Far FAR less so.
But the federal trial courts have done what they can.
Circuit courts and SCOTUS? Media? Major law firms? Tech companies with map apps?
Far FAR less so.
But the federal trial courts have done what they can.
Great piece.
In honor of the last regular decision day of this appalling #SCOTUS term, @talkingpointsmemo.com has an adapted excerpt from my forthcoming book, The Political Supreme Court. Put it in your pocket for the next time someone tells you the justices are apolitical or calling balls & strikes.
For Most of Its History, the Supreme Court Didn’t Pretend to Be Apolitical
Today’s Supreme Court justices insist that they are not “politicians in robes”...
talkingpointsmemo.com
June 30, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Great piece.
At this point the justices should acknowledge they are unavoidably engaged in high politics. But politics, nonetheless.
5-4 instead of 9-0. Just a completely illegitimate institution at this point.
The Supreme Court strikes down Trump's attack on birthright citizenship. By a 5–4 vote, it holds that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to children born of unauthorized and temporary immigrants. Roberts and Barrett join the three liberals. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
June 30, 2026 at 3:53 PM
At this point the justices should acknowledge they are unavoidably engaged in high politics. But politics, nonetheless.
Interesting piece about protecting Supreme Court justices at a time of increasing threats. Not helpful when the President fans the flames.
NEW in @politico.com Magazine: It's often said that the Supreme Court lacks its own army. Well, that may be changing. The force protecting #SCOTUS is mushrooming. Now, some in Congress are demanding justices testify-for 1st time in 7 years-on where the $ goes www.politico.com/news/magazin...
The Supreme Court Is Building Its Own Massive Police Force
The Supreme Court is spending millions to beef up security. At what cost?
www.politico.com
June 28, 2026 at 8:02 PM
Interesting piece about protecting Supreme Court justices at a time of increasing threats. Not helpful when the President fans the flames.
The argument contra is that cameras would diminish the quality of oral arguments, but transparency, public interest, and a historic video record outweigh that concern. Live-streaming is going to happen eventually.
BIG NEWS: Senate Judiciary today advanced bills that would:
— Require #SCOTUS videostream oral args + opinion announcements (Cameras in the Ctrm)
— Permit district & appeals courts to videostream proceedings (Sunshine in the Ctrm)
Both passed by voice vote; will add text once Congress.gov is fixed.
— Require #SCOTUS videostream oral args + opinion announcements (Cameras in the Ctrm)
— Permit district & appeals courts to videostream proceedings (Sunshine in the Ctrm)
Both passed by voice vote; will add text once Congress.gov is fixed.
June 18, 2026 at 11:32 PM
The argument contra is that cameras would diminish the quality of oral arguments, but transparency, public interest, and a historic video record outweigh that concern. Live-streaming is going to happen eventually.
Time and time again, district judges are making hard decisions to preserve our democracy in the face of intimidation and threats to their safety. I expect history will judge them favorably for their courage and fidelity to the Constitution.
As I wrote several months ago…https://www.headsupnews.org/p/lets-hear-it-for-the-district-court
Let’s hear it for the district court judges
Frontline federal jurists from across the political spectrum are defending the rule of law
www.headsupnews.org
May 29, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Time and time again, district judges are making hard decisions to preserve our democracy in the face of intimidation and threats to their safety. I expect history will judge them favorably for their courage and fidelity to the Constitution.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...
Judges hiring law clerks based on “ideological adherence” is a bad look for the federal judiciary. Judges are supposed to be neutral arbiters of fact and law. Hiring based on ideology, particularly at the Supreme Court, weakens the courts’ legitimacy.
Judges hiring law clerks based on “ideological adherence” is a bad look for the federal judiciary. Judges are supposed to be neutral arbiters of fact and law. Hiring based on ideology, particularly at the Supreme Court, weakens the courts’ legitimacy.
Conservative Judges’ Early Hiring Fuels Two-Track Clerkship System at Harvard Law | News | The Harvard Crimson
Federal judges — particularly those aligned with the conservative legal movement — are increasingly recruiting Harvard Law School students during their first year, accelerating a clerkship hiring proc...
www.thecrimson.com
April 15, 2026 at 10:35 PM
www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...
Judges hiring law clerks based on “ideological adherence” is a bad look for the federal judiciary. Judges are supposed to be neutral arbiters of fact and law. Hiring based on ideology, particularly at the Supreme Court, weakens the courts’ legitimacy.
Judges hiring law clerks based on “ideological adherence” is a bad look for the federal judiciary. Judges are supposed to be neutral arbiters of fact and law. Hiring based on ideology, particularly at the Supreme Court, weakens the courts’ legitimacy.
Reposted by Sheldon Snook
State bars ensure that lawyers, including at DOJ, are subject to independent oversight. In Justice Connection’s Substack, advisory committee members Jennifer Ricketts & Rupa Bhattacharyya explain why DOJ’s absurd proposed rule undermines accountability.
justiceconnection.substack.com/p/dojs-propo...
justiceconnection.substack.com/p/dojs-propo...
March 25, 2026 at 5:33 PM
State bars ensure that lawyers, including at DOJ, are subject to independent oversight. In Justice Connection’s Substack, advisory committee members Jennifer Ricketts & Rupa Bhattacharyya explain why DOJ’s absurd proposed rule undermines accountability.
justiceconnection.substack.com/p/dojs-propo...
justiceconnection.substack.com/p/dojs-propo...
One example of federal court discipline.
March 13, 2026 at 8:33 PM
One example of federal court discipline.
The Trump Administration Floats a New Way to Humiliate the Legal Profession www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/o...
Opinion | The Trump Administration Floats a New Way to Humiliate the Legal Profession
www.nytimes.com
March 13, 2026 at 7:28 PM
The Trump Administration Floats a New Way to Humiliate the Legal Profession www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/o...
Are we a Christian nation? Pew Religious Landscape Study: The share of Americans who say they have no religion – identifying, instead, as atheist, agnostic or as “nothing in particular” – stands at 29% in the new RLS, up from 23% in 2014 and 16% in 2007.
What does this imply for those of us who are not Christian, and who labor under the assumption that we're protected by the First Amendment?
March 5, 2026 at 11:55 PM
Are we a Christian nation? Pew Religious Landscape Study: The share of Americans who say they have no religion – identifying, instead, as atheist, agnostic or as “nothing in particular” – stands at 29% in the new RLS, up from 23% in 2014 and 16% in 2007.
Reposted by Sheldon Snook
Studies of Rupert Murdoch TV consistently show it is a stream of faked videos and montages that have nothing to do with the news they are reporting. This is where news ends and political propaganda begins.
March 3, 2026 at 4:44 AM
Studies of Rupert Murdoch TV consistently show it is a stream of faked videos and montages that have nothing to do with the news they are reporting. This is where news ends and political propaganda begins.
It would be a shame if these went up all over DC.
February 20, 2026 at 1:31 AM
It would be a shame if these went up all over DC.
Sadly, this article from 2024 resonates again. Notable that the president whose actions set off the protests resigned in disgrace a few years later due to an unrelated scandal….
Watching what’s happening in South Korea brought back sad memories of the Kent State shootings (when I was 12 years old). The parallels to what’s happening today in America make me worry about the dangers protestors could face under a Trump regime. Read:
www.bbc.com/culture/arti...
www.bbc.com/culture/arti...
Kent State shootings: The 1970 student protests that shook the US
Fifty-four years ago, four students were shot by the National Guard during an anti-Vietnam War protest at Kent State university in Ohio – a tragedy that still resonates today.
www.bbc.com
January 26, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Sadly, this article from 2024 resonates again. Notable that the president whose actions set off the protests resigned in disgrace a few years later due to an unrelated scandal….
As someone who worked in the Federal judiciary for nearly two decades, including five years at the Supreme Court, it pains me to see half of Americans have an unfavorable view of the Court. But kudos to the lower court judges who are standing up to authoritarianism.
Y'know, when six justices moved on from adjudication to refashion themselves as a super-legislature — rewriting laws and the Constitution itself — they may have doomed themselves to public popularity and trust as abysmal as our legislature typically enjoys.
November 21, 2025 at 12:51 AM
As someone who worked in the Federal judiciary for nearly two decades, including five years at the Supreme Court, it pains me to see half of Americans have an unfavorable view of the Court. But kudos to the lower court judges who are standing up to authoritarianism.
November 7, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Letting the president fire officials “for reasons good or bad,” would grant him “an enormous amount of power — more power, I think, than any sensible person should want anyone to have, and more power than any member of the founding generation could have anticipated.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/u...
Originalist ‘Bombshell’ Complicates Case on Trump’s Power to Fire Officials
www.nytimes.com
October 13, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Letting the president fire officials “for reasons good or bad,” would grant him “an enormous amount of power — more power, I think, than any sensible person should want anyone to have, and more power than any member of the founding generation could have anticipated.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/u...
Reposted by Sheldon Snook
Listen now! This Monday, ICAP Executive Director Mary McCord delivered the keynote address at Stockton University's 19th Annual Constitution Day with a focus on rule of law and where it stands in the current political landscape. Listen to Mary's full address here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmYR...
Constitution Day 2025 with Mary McCord
YouTube video by Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton Univ.
www.youtube.com
October 1, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Listen now! This Monday, ICAP Executive Director Mary McCord delivered the keynote address at Stockton University's 19th Annual Constitution Day with a focus on rule of law and where it stands in the current political landscape. Listen to Mary's full address here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmYR...
DHS head feeling threatened because someone didn’t identify themselves!!
Norm refers to Padilla as “this man” and claims he didn’t identify himself
June 12, 2025 at 10:08 PM
DHS head feeling threatened because someone didn’t identify themselves!!
Attorney discipline, an underrated guardrail.
This week, we filed a bar complaint against interim DC US Attorney Ed Martin.
Martin has threatened investigations against political enemies and given legal advice to at least one January 6 defendant. These actions violate his professional obligations as a lawyer.
amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/04/...
Martin has threatened investigations against political enemies and given legal advice to at least one January 6 defendant. These actions violate his professional obligations as a lawyer.
amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/04/...
Ex-January 6 prosecutors urge attorney disciplinary board to investigate Trump’s controversial pick to be DC’s top prosecutor | CNN Politics
Five former prosecutors who worked on criminal cases stemming from the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol are urging the disciplinary office governing lawyers in Washington, DC, to open an inve...
amp.cnn.com
April 16, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Attorney discipline, an underrated guardrail.
Reposted by Sheldon Snook
The case for Democrats to start holding televised, primetime opposition hearings featuring civil servants fired by Trump & Musk, Americans hurt by baseless cuts, and scholars on authoritarian regimes.
quartzevelyn.substack.com/p/the-urgent...
quartzevelyn.substack.com/p/the-urgent...
The Urgent Need for Televised Opposition Hearings
Unmasking Trumpism
quartzevelyn.substack.com
February 18, 2025 at 4:32 PM
The case for Democrats to start holding televised, primetime opposition hearings featuring civil servants fired by Trump & Musk, Americans hurt by baseless cuts, and scholars on authoritarian regimes.
quartzevelyn.substack.com/p/the-urgent...
quartzevelyn.substack.com/p/the-urgent...
Reposted by Sheldon Snook
Having served with many career federal employees, I can comfortably state with conviction that these dedicated, non-partisan public servants are the essential backbone of our society. What Trump is doing is a gift to our adversaries and catastrophic to a functioning government.
February 18, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Having served with many career federal employees, I can comfortably state with conviction that these dedicated, non-partisan public servants are the essential backbone of our society. What Trump is doing is a gift to our adversaries and catastrophic to a functioning government.
Reposted by Sheldon Snook
The Washpost, which is bleeding millions of dollars and shrinking its staff, accepted -- and then rejected -- a $115,000 ad that criticized Elon Musk.
Anyway, here's the ad that the Post's business side didn't want its readers to see ⤵️
thehill.com/media/514849...
Anyway, here's the ad that the Post's business side didn't want its readers to see ⤵️
thehill.com/media/514849...
February 17, 2025 at 1:38 PM
The Washpost, which is bleeding millions of dollars and shrinking its staff, accepted -- and then rejected -- a $115,000 ad that criticized Elon Musk.
Anyway, here's the ad that the Post's business side didn't want its readers to see ⤵️
thehill.com/media/514849...
Anyway, here's the ad that the Post's business side didn't want its readers to see ⤵️
thehill.com/media/514849...
www.msn.com/en-in/news/o...
Re-posting this for no particular reason.
Re-posting this for no particular reason.
MSN
www.msn.com
February 4, 2025 at 11:40 PM
www.msn.com/en-in/news/o...
Re-posting this for no particular reason.
Re-posting this for no particular reason.