Professional Responsibility / Legal Ethics profs: I just got around to reading the new ABA Formal Ethics Opinion (#26-520). TIP: it gives 3 nifty "illustrations" or hypos that will be easy to turn into exam questions about Model Rule 1.16. www.americanbar.org/content/dam/...

This was the single lowest month of homicides in New York City on record...ever.

FYI, Kristi Noem’s full initials are K.L.A.N.

Word of the Day Perendinate: Word of the Day: Perendinate - The Economic Times m.economictimes.com/news/interna...

In 2010, Dems candidates distanced themselves from Obama to try to avoid thermostatic backlash and punishment for the ACA. This was seen as smart strategy at the time. The GOP in 2026 has decided to go 100% in on the most unpopular policies, figures, and ideas in politics. MN gonna be D+15 in Nov

The reason Ilan Wurmans exist is because we let Richard Epsteins continue to exist in legal academia rather than kick them down the figurative professional staircase.

It’s hard to express how fucking bleak it is when the oldest active judge on the Western District of Texas concludes an order with: “With a judicial finger in the constitutional dike”

ICE Opens New Supermax Detention Center For Most Hardened Toddlers https://theonion.com/ice-opens-new-supermax-detention-center-for-most-harden-1827838332/

check it out

There's a lot to like about this guy, but I confess my favorite thing about him is how remarkably good he is at making little videos. World-class talent for the genre of short explainer vids.

Meanwhile, here in Texas, Briscoe Cain is getting primaried by MAGA candidates saying Briscoe is dangerously "liberal." (I'm kinda proud of Briscoe for being moderate enough on a few points to be accused of this)

Good headline theintercept.com/2026/01/28/a...

ICE Agent Stuffs Sock Under Mask To Give Himself Chin

Just got pepper sprayed at #Dilley detention center

Worth repeating (for no particular reason)

Wait, they have a kill list?

They just only know how to lie. The Supreme Court has never said LCMs are protected. Virtually every lower federal court to address the issue has said LCM prohibitions are constitutional, even then Judge Kavanaugh in Heller II wasn't willing to say LCM prohibitions are unconstitutional .

Profs at law schools in Texas - does your law school have an official school-wide policy about student use of AI? We're in the process of creating our revising ours, and we are interested in what other law schools in our region are doing about this.

💯

It's worth remembering that even AFTER Nixon resigned, roughly 30% of Americans thought he'd been treated very unfairly and was the victim of a left wing "witch hunt" coordinated by Democrats and a liberal media who hated the "real Americans" in the "silent majority." bsky.app/profile/seth...

Following the Kent State massacre in May 1970, a Gallup poll showed that 58% of Americans thought the shootings were justified. The night *before* the killings, Ohio's GOP governor described the student protesters this way: "They're the worst type of people that we harbor in America."

In church this morning, we studied the Barmen Confession, a statement crafted in 1933 Germany by the minority of Christians who refused to support Hitler’s fusion of church & state. It’s a timeless denunciation of Christian Nationalism—& the later added intro below is worth remembering.

I can start feeling distraught over everything that's happening, and watching one of these helps me feel better for a little while youtube.com/shorts/BucKb...

This is inspiring but I don't trust this administration to have any qualms about running over people or mowing down peaceful protesters with machine guns. The Trump supporters love that stuff.

The hypocrisy of gun extremists doesn’t surprise us women opposing them in hearing rooms & comment sections for years. Theirs isn’t an ideological position on a constitutional right. It’s just misogyny, racism, power, & propping up the systems of oppression. #AlexPretti #GoodGuyWithAGun #AbolishICE

Noticed this at the bookstore today and got it, along with a couple other books. Enjoying reading a good book.

Now they're saying the storm won't be as bad here in Houston, now that the store shelves are empty from panic buying. I wonder if meteorologists own stock in Kroger and the other supermarket chains.

Without looking it up with Google lens or something, do any of my friends know what this is? My church has started using this stock photo as a slide for announcements, and I had no idea what the contraption was supposed to be.

Ronald Dworkin started out as law clerk to Judge Learned Hand ("the law clerk to beat all law clerks," said Hand). But when RD disagreed with Hand's advocacy of judicial restraint, Hand blurted out, "Fuck you!", steam coming "out of his eyebrows," according to Dworkin.

SCOTUS argument in the Hawaii 2d Am case raised questions about the soundness of the history-&-tradition test but the conservative super-majority will use it to open coffee shops, bars, etc. to gun-toters, while signaling their supposed opposition to racism. Win-win for them. Not so much for us. 👇

In that case, it's time to expand the powers of the Fed

Called by J. Edgar Hoover "Red Monday (17 June 1957), SCOTUS issued Yates (overturning Communist Party convictions), Watkins (limiting congress's power to probe beliefs), Sweezy (invalidating investigation of lecturer's subversive acts), and Dulles (reversing disloyalty firing).

I'm accepting this invitation from the National Academies to join this committee on air quality in airplanes. "An ad hoc committee will conduct a study examining the potential impacts of fume or smoke events on air quality in passenger aircraft cabins."

BREAKING A federal judge STRIKES the words "United States Attorney" from Lindsey Halligan's signature and warns that he will refer her to disciplinary proceedings if she persists in calling herself one. Doc buff.ly/JvTKLlD Background buff.ly/Ay2iB6u

A few times a week, some random guy rings my doorbell wanting to sell me something (new roof, insecticide services, new windows, magazine subscriptions). They're pushy and hard to get rid of, and they won't leave until we're a little rude. Now imagine these dudes get to be ARMED. Thanks, SCOTUS!

Justice Sotomayor is incorrect that there is not a history of prohibiting guns in churches. (apologies for the wild link -- you may have to click the carry tab to narrow it down) firearmslaw.duke.edu/repository-o...

The assistant SG in Wolford pretty egregiously misstated this statute. It's a very broad prohibition on carrying guns in inclosed lands and a fairly narrow restriction on trespassing generally. firearmslaw.duke.edu/laws/n-y-law...

German Jews were citizens of Germany at the start of 1933. By the end of 1933, the Nazis had removed citizenship from naturalized citizen Jews. In 1935, all German Jews were fully stripped of their German citizenship. Citizenship under dictatorships is contingent for targeted minorities.

This oped presents lies about "sanctuary cities." First, "sanctuary cities" are a local sovereignty issue. Arguing that you can punish local jurisdictions for polices you may not like is a neo-Confederate argument based on ideas that immigrants/ non-whites (+ supporters) cannot govern themselves.

My theory is that a lot of these guys had a mean, authoritarian father who yelled at them and demeaned them all the time. So they melt when a male who is older than them sternly and loudly reproaches them. The childish feeling of shame wells up to the surface.

#Dallas 8 pm Tonight #DirectAction Keep Ice Agents Awake #NoJusticeNoPeace #NoSleep @ The Hilton Anatole

All 6 Branches Of Armed Forces Present At Arrest Of Undocumented Nanny https://theonion.com/all-6-branches-of-armed-forces-present-at-arrest-of-undocumented-nanny/

He's right thehill.com/opinion/judi...

This was an intense hearing. Judge Young, an 85-year-old Reagan appointee who has served on the federal bench for 47 years, didn't mince words. He closed the hearing by reading from Lincoln's address at Gettysburg. Some of the people in the courtroom were in tears. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/u...

By using brutal force against Americans, ICE has given Democrats a chance to change how voters think about immigration. Will they take it? An extra post recapping new numbers about ICE out this week: www.gelliottmorris.com/p/ice-is-a-7...

Also, "Crushed ICE" or "Melting ICE" would be much cooler slogans

Leg-Reg Profs: Is anyone using the Hetzel-Libonati-Williams casebook on Legislative Law and Statutory Interpretation? Would you be willing to share your PPTs, a course outline, or other materials (lecture notes, etc)?

New from me and @tristanl.ee with a bit of help from @wileydcope.bsky.social: We identified companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that are operated either by members of Patriot Front or individuals with multiple connections to Patriot Front www.texasobserver.org/revealed-fou...