“Ambient AI listening in the hospital” what could go wrong

Law school and university "leaders must realize that attempting to appease hostile powers will never buy permanent security, and that caving under political pressure will only undermine their institutions rather than save them." Well said, @gshans.bsky.social! ballsandstrikes.org/legal-cultur...

For what it's worth, the best gift I gave myself this year was becoming a paid subscriber to @404media.co. The team there is doing incredible journalism on a host of tech/surveillance/privacy/etc. topics. If you're interested in these topics or work on them in any way, it's an invaluable resource.

I've been following a pair of odd FOIA cases in D.D.C. brought by America First Legal. The cases argue that the Government Accountability Office (which is part of Congress) and the Judicial Conference and Administrative Office for the Courts (which are in the Judicial Branch) are subject to FOIA.

I am so incredibly proud of the work my students did on this @acluofiowa.bsky.social report about automated license plate readers in Iowa. www.aclu-ia.org/publications...

We are launching a Justice Initiatives Division within Free Law Project focused on turning open law into real-world impact. Our goal is to fill the voids in the legal system that lead to gaps in fair justice. This is a big one. 🧵 free.law/2025/12/01/j...

NEW: DHS secretly obtained Chicago police data on 900 residents accused of gang ties. It was quietly deleted after intelligence officers violated rules against domestic spying. The handoff came well after city inspectors formally announced CPD's gang data was deeply flawed and infected w/ bias.

I don’t know, man. Why are we baking this into legal practice like we’ve established it’s better than the world we have now

"[T]he innocence of basic questions around criminal propensity is only skin deep." Sitting with @cbo.bsky.social's excellent reflections on the legacy of the "Crime Gene Conference" this morning. I encourage you to do the same. undark.org/2025/10/16/o...

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

FAA has issued MASSIVE temporary flight restriction which prohibits drones (i.e., photography) over Chicago. They did similar around federal buildings in Los Angeles since June protests, but really no comparison... Chicago's TFR covers 900x more area than ones in LA! 🧵👇 tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=d...

The fall semester is officially underway! We are kicking off with clinic orientation today and I'm so excited for the group we have and the work they're going to do!

Excited to announce an upcoming event w @nyuengelberg.org! My first back at @nyulaw.bsky.social! "Fixing a Broken System: The Path to Public Pharma in New York" 5:30-7 pm Thur Sep. 25, 2025 @ NYU Co-hosted w T1International & @racepowerpolicy.org! Zoom & IRL, free & open to all! Join us!

We just translated a wave of our ICE coverage into Spanish. No paywall, no email signup necessary. From leaks about Palantir's work with ICE to ICE's new facial recognition app, we think there is a massive public interest in this info. Read why and support us here: www.404media.co/were-publish...

ICYMI: Last week, I had a great conversation on @pdefenselesspod.bsky.social about the work the Technology Law Clinic is doing at Iowa Law and how tech lawyers can collaborate with public defenders to amplify expertise. Check it out!

I’m not the only one, for sure, but it’s wild to see the question I asked myself 15 years ago—“what’s the worst thing they could do with tech-charged surveillance”—unfold in real time

Today, I spoke with Iowa Clinical Law Professor @megankgraham.bsky.social At her clinic, Megan works with Public Defender offices to identify and challenge a wide array of new technologies police and prosecutors are using in the criminal legal system. open.spotify.com/episode/4tzm...

I had a very fun conversation on @pdefenselesspod.bsky.social about the Iowa Tech Law Clinic's work, emerging policing tech, and trying to support public defenders' work when you're not a line defender. Check it out!

Meta's datacenter project in NE Louisiana, now called Hyperion, could take between 2 to 5 gigawatts of electricity. "To get a sense of the scale we’re talking about, a new, large nuclear reactor has about a gigawatt of capacity." heatmap.news/sparks/meta-...

I’m going to be very honest and clear. I am fully preparing myself to die under this new American regime. That’s not to say that it’s the end of the world. It isn’t. But I am almost 50 years old. It will take so long to do anything with this mess that this is the new normal for *me*.

Putting out there that among many other messes, the current legislative budget bill cuts GAO's budget by 48%. GAO folks are wonky public service nerds who conduct actual oversight, identify inefficiencies, and make the government work better. If you've got time to call your electeds, please do!

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

Very cool sounding job opening at @legaldefensefund.bsky.social for a Justice in Public Safety Project Counsel! Surveillance tech + law enforcement policy + racial justice + a bunch of other good work thrown in. They're looking for someone with 5+ years experience. www.naacpldf.org/about-us/car...

I am sitting in a public library working on a grant, and a grandmotherly woman is patiently teaching a small boy how to read at the table next to me. Another woman is knitting nearby. The children’s section is packed with kids. Things in my country are bleak, but libraries are where I find hope. ❤️

I'm so grateful for the phenomenal tech law clinicians who came to Iowa City for Tech Clinic Camp 2025! It was wonderful to see everyone and I learned a ton from you all. Here's to keeping the energy going forward!

I'm giddy with excitement to welcome a bunch of friends from the tech law clinic space to Iowa City later today! Can't wait to officially convene Tech Clinic Camp 2025 tomorrow!

I'm giddy with excitement to welcome a bunch of friends from the tech law clinic space to Iowa City later today! Can't wait to officially convene Tech Clinic Camp 2025 tomorrow!

Scoop: Texas police used Flock's license plate cameras to search *nationwide* for a woman who had a self-managed abortion. Claim it was "about her safety" www.404media.co/a-texas-cop-...

Law profs: What songs are on your grading playlist that your students should find delightful (even though they'd probably roll their eyes or stare at you blankly)?

Come work with me! @nyulaw.bsky.social is hiring a clinical teaching fellow!

New from 404 Media: Flock, the license plate reader company that has cameras all across the U.S., is now building a massive people lookup tool using hacked data. The plan is to "jump from LPR to person." Won't require a warrant. This is according to leak we obtained. www.404media.co/license-plat...

So proud of my Tech Law Clinic students! At the end of April, they taught a fantastically useful session on workplace surveillance to labor leaders in Iowa as part of the University of Iowa Labor Center's annual short course. 🤖⚖️🧑‍🏫 www.instagram.com/p/DJmMPcmvnY...

For those of us with institutional support for our federal court work/research, please install the RECAP plugin! It mirrors filings we open so they're freely available to the public on Court Listener. If you're a lawyer, also consider the RECAP email notification handler. Learn more: free.law/recap

It's possible to get PACER fee waivers, but they're not available to journalists like Chris. The US Courts should reevaluate this policy. It's embarrassing to paywall this kind of essential work.

New from 404 Media: the Signal clone the Trump administration uses was just hacked. TeleMessage makes a modified version of Signal that archives messages for government agencies, Waltz used it. A hacker got some users' messages, group chats. Hugely significant breach www.404media.co/the-signal-c...

Another semester of zealous advocacy and dedicated client-centered work (nearly) in the books! Law clinic students are simply the best. So proud of my crew and all they've achieved!

So excited for and proud of my friend and classmate @cmorten.bsky.social! But I'm even more excited for my alma mater @nyulaw.bsky.social. Chris is an incredible clinician, scholar, mentor, and friend, and the NYU students he'll teach are so lucky to have him! www.law.nyu.edu/news/new-fac...

There’s no Alien Enemies Act exception to the Fourth Amendment.

The Trump administration's policy on designating people as "enemy aliens" was was that it could expel them without any recourse to the courts. DOJ said that people detained under the act are "not entitled to ... judicial review of the removal order in any court of the United States."

I'm teaching FOIA today in National Security Law (and censorship next week), which reminded me of my 3 favorite pieces that I edited at @justsecurity.org. They were by the NY Times's David McCraw about FOIA, leaks, and the Pentagon Papers. Worth a revisit. www.justsecurity.org/author/mccra...

State secrets privilege is to protect disclosure to the public, not to the court.

Saturday morning vibe: Needing to find the scanned copy of the book version of the Federal Supplement from 1971 to figure out what the hell certain formatting in the online versions is trying to convey. 🤦‍♀️

You might have noticed that basically every link that you see to a court filing is at courtlistener.com. Ever wondered why? Court Listener is a tiny non-profit with a staff of four and a four-person board, plus some dedicated volunteers. They receive no government funding. free.law/team/

So excited for today’s symposium on reproductive health privacy @ Iowa Law. jgrj.law.uiowa.edu/symposium-2025 ready to learn from great speakers @michaelrulrich.bsky.social @jillwieberlens.bsky.social @lizchiarello.bsky.social @staceytovino.bsky.social Alex Rosenblat, Adi Youcht & Phoebe Jean-Pierre

The Office of Legal Counsel has a body of secret law that binds government agencies, interprets the constitution, determines rights—but is mostly inaccessible to the public. Good luck to @AlexAbdo, who is challenging this before the DC Circuit tomorrow. www.justsecurity.org/43253/office...

Proud join 25 of my colleagues to tell our students that the rule of law matters. We don't all agree on much, but we strongly agree what we are teaching matters. Lawyers have a special responsibility for the role of justice and we oppose efforts to undermine that. dailyiowan.com/2025/04/08/l...

This is definitely getting added to my Word Nerd class session next semester...

Interestingly, getting rid of the people responsible for complying with public-records laws does not relieve the government of its obligation to comply with the laws.

Highlight of the week: Having @cmorten.bsky.social guest teach in my Tech Law Clinic seminar today. He's fantastic and my students (predictably) learned a ton! So proud of him and his work, and so grateful for him sharing his wisdom with us all! 🥰

Today's topic in national security law is "domestic national security crimes." "Ameriican Requiem" (and Cowboy Carter generally) seems like an appropriate soundtrack for my prep, doesn't it?