Literally in the announcement of the deal:

I am getting a lot of questions about whether Trump's threats alone are illegal. The answer is yes. 1. First, Additional Protocol I states “Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited.” (also DOD LOW Manual §5.2.2) 1/

Our PhD student Kennedy Orwa, who studies applications of AI to health care, was hastily deported today to Kenya along with his 13-year-old son without opportunity to speak to legal counsel. King 5 reports that he held a valid visa that was rescinded without explanation.

"Tucker Collins, an 18-year-old freshman at USC, attended a 'No Kings' protest in Los Angeles on Mar. 28. He ended up getting shot in the eye with a less-lethal projectile by a Department of Homeland Security agent and is now blind."

In a letter to Congress this week, #ICE confirmed it has approved the use of a powerful #spyware tool, raising serious civil liberties concerns. The Knight Institute urges Congress to limit ICE's use of spyware technology. See @nadinefj.bsky.social's statement: knightcolumbia.org/content/knig...

I spoke to the Christian Science Monitor about Trump's threats to carry out mass war crimes. Though there appears to be a ceasefire (thank goodness), the threats have done irreparable damage to U.S. standing and moral authority. We will pay the cost for decades. www.csmonitor.com/World/2026/0...

We have now killed at least 1,665 civilians, including at least 248 children, in this illegal war. www.en-hrana.org/day-38-of-u-...

Over 100 international lawyers (including me) warn that U.S. strikes on Iran violate the UN Charter and may be war crimes. Read the letter here: www.justsecurity.org/135423/profe...

"There’s a chilling effect on not just my academic freedom, but that of my colleagues; anyone who dares to speak out against the war and against aggression,"​ said UW professor Aria Fani.

‘Some of us may no longer be Habermassians, but we learned from, with and against him what it means to keep faith with critique.’ Nancy Fraser on the philosopher, from the blog. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ma...

Another day, another violation of academic freedom in Texas. This time a university is firing a philosophy professor owing to complaints about an off-campus talk he gave on the Israeli-Palestine conflict...

The US supreme court has decided to hear arguments in a climate accountability lawsuit, marking the first time the high court has weighed in on such a case. The decision could potentially hinder the wave of climate litigation the US has seen in recent years

NEWS DIGEST | Fossils Expansion on Trial A landmark civil case in the Paris Judicial Court could reshape how fossil fuel companies are held accountable for climate harm. Sources: @insideclimatenews.org Read relevant articles: bit.ly/3PzGVXNMg #TotalEnergies #ClimateNews #FossilExpansion

mill's dedication: this is a jointly authored work a century & a half of male editors: mill exaggerated out of a sentimental fondness for his wife mill's letters: no, really, most of "my" work was partly by her, i really could not be clearer on this

In Iran, the Trump Administration has targeted a range of "dual use objects"--objects that have both civilian and military uses. Here, we explain how such targeting blurs the line between civilian and military--eroding critical protections for civilians. yalelawjournal.org/pdf/134.8.Ha...

Essential read: a statement from Cardinal Cupich. www.archchicago.org/statement/-/...

The U.S. and Israel bombardment of Iran has led to civilian deaths estimated to be well over 1,000; a strike that hit a girls’ school in Minab killed more than 175 people alone. A Yale Law School professor discusses the lawlessness of Trump’s war. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/fFM7yg

A DOGE staffer assigned to the National Endowment for the Humanities to flag grants for "DEI" tries to explain what "DEI" is. This deposition is part of a lawsuit by the @acls1919.bsky.social, @historians.org and @modernlanguage.bsky.social.

The ten second video was released by Iranian state media and directly contradicts statements made by President Trump, who said Iran was responsible for the strike. n.pr/4aVMqZi

To mark International Women's Day, we feature portraits and profiles of determined women around the world. n.pr/4rXpezP

Reuters Exclusive "U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school." "The strike would rank among the worst cases of civilian casualties in decades of U.S. conflicts in the ​Middle East."

from a standpoint epistemological view you have to take this view particularly seriously

War powers highlight the problem where we have to stop conflating nonjusticiable with legal. Courts are not going to intervene in this kind of thing, nor should they, but parts of the Constitution dependent on the president and Congress to follow and enforce are still real parts of the Constitution.

Wars of choice kill those who have no choice. "Mistakes" like the reported strike on a girls' school that killed forty civilians are the predictable result of poor planning and execution. For more on "Mistakes" in War, read this by me and @azmatzahra.bsky.social papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

The strikes on Iran are blatantly illegal. I explained in June why the strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities were unlawful under US and international law. Everything I wrote then is true today, but this is a far larger assault with far graver consequences. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/o...

Now is the time to join your university's AAUP chapter. Nationwide attacks on academic freedom and on our democracy are growing. The AAUP offers the resources to fight back. Chapters are open to faculty of all ranks as well as graduate workers. For more details about how to join, see below ⬇️

Last term I tried an experiment: I walked into my Tech and Design Ethics class, admitted that I had *no idea* what to do about ChatGPT - so I would let them figure it out. As in: their first project was to decide and write the ChatGPT policy for the class. Here's what happened:

I’m the Prime Minister of Spain. This Is Why the West Needs Migrants. Gift link www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...

Walk for peace: Buddhist monks arrive in Washington after 2,300-mile journey reut.rs/4kqhinI

1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken. Hundreds of kids are still detained. We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵

We are seeing what Ernst Fraenkel called “the dual state.” For most, life is routine and the rule of law exists. But if you interact with ICE, you face the full force of the prerogative state, which is marked by “unlimited arbitrariness and violence unchecked by any legal guarantees.”

Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

An essay as beautiful as it is insightful from @michaelpollan.bsky.social on the self & consciousness. The Buddhists figured out a good deal about how the mind works centuries ago, and there are few better guides than @joanhalifax.bsky.social, as Michael discovered.

“Hold your beliefs with strength, but always extend love outward, even in the face of adversity. Take one step, no matter how small, to help heal our world. Through these acts, carry his light forward in his name. Let his legacy continue to heal.”

For many in the Trump regime it seems incomprehensible or a scam of sorts that those not categorically under attack by ICE are so committed to solidarity with their neighbors who are, and thereby to universal human rights, to standing up on principle, and will risk their lives to do so.....

I think a lot of us get hope wrong. Hope, I do not believe, is an emotion. In fact, hope makes space for lots of emotions to exist alongside it. You can DO hope scared, angry, sad etc... Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.

What we are watching is a paramilitary force learning that they can kill with impunity, that the regime will smear the victim and defend them. Unless politicians and the legal system exerts accountability, it will not stop. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/past-the-b...

In his first year back in the White House, President Trump has presided over a sweeping expansion of executive power while eroding democratic norms. n.pr/3YVl5Q3

ICE’s new policy directing agents to ignore the 4th Amendment is one of the most frightening things we’ve seen yet. And there’s no telling where it could end up. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

Tomorrow’s front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 23, 2026

🚨HOLY CRAP. An ICE whistleblower just revealed a secret memo authorizing ICE officers to break into homes without a judicial warrant, which DHS's own legal training materials say is unconstitutional! ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth and private conversation.

Appreciate this from @dandrezner.bsky.social, and it was an honor to co-author with him.

“In a world of great power rivalry, the countries in-between have a choice: compete with each other for favour, or combine to create a third path with impact: …the power of legitimacy, integrity, and rules will remain strong if we choose to wield it together.”

You're paying for this. Trump's Big Ugly Bill gave BILLIONS to ICE and giant corporations—using money meant to lower your health care costs. Instead of helping your mom get cancer treatment, your tax dollars are being used to terrorize communities.

My recent conversation: What Is Engaged Buddhism? with the great @joanhalifax.bsky.social now available on The Road Home podcast. You can subscribe to the substack or download wherever you get your pods (please *don't* use Spotify, thank you deep bows). ethannichtern.substack.com/p/ep-164-wha...

Why Donald Trump is telling such obvious lies on the ICE Minneapolis killing Philosophers Tim Keyon and Jennifer Saul on authoritarian discourse #philsky theconversation.com/why-donald-t...

semi-regular reminder that ICE was only created in 2003 when you are asked to imagine a world without ICE, you're basically being asked to remember where you were when Lilo & Stitch came out