Thanks for the shrewd analysis @tsilverstein.bsky.social. Not entirely clear to me that their agenda is better served by doing this given ICP rather than just issuing a new rule that functionally kills disparate impact. They’d prefer the random court’s interpretation of ICP than their own rule?

Thanks, New Yorker

The Trump administration is limiting enforcement of fair housing laws, dismissing them as ideologically driven and DEI in disguise, according to interviews and internal documents reviewed by The New York Times.

In the last six weeks, the Tenant Union Federation launched seven (7) majority tenant unions, across five (5) states, representing 1000 units of housing owned by Capital Realty Group, a New York-based corporate landlord. The first portfolio organizing of its kind... www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Pritzker: "Everybody should be saying that ABC should reverse their decision."

It’s happening. The takedown of Jimmy Kimmel is likely the start of a campaign to use the murder of Charlie Kirk as a pretext to use the power of the White House to wipe out Trump’s critics and his political opponents. But we aren’t powerless. We can mobilize and organize. Now.

See how this works?

Just just did this. The kids will miss Bluey but it had to be done.

I am sounding the alarm on the real crisis we face today. Donald Trump’s overreach is what our founders warned against – it is unprecedented, unwarranted, and un-American. There’s no emergency here that calls for military intervention.

Reminder that Trump unleashing federal troops across D.C. isn't meant to address any actual concerns about crime. It's a show of force. It’s important to see this and L.A. as trial runs for a possible military occupation elsewhere in the United States.

“We have committed our professional lives to learning and free inquiry, working together with students to advance truth for the collective benefit of society. Unlike our distant governing boards, we will not give up so easily — no matter what kind of deals are signed in our name.”

I have resigned as Executive Director of the Skadden Foundation. This moment in history calls on us to provide more and better support for public interest lawyers. I look forward to finding other ways to contribute to their vital work.

Today, our client Rümeysa Öztürk was released on bail from ICE detention in Louisiana, and she will return to New England to continue her studies. 📸 Giancarlo D’Agostaro

Lifetime honor to receive American University’s highest award, Scholar/Teacher of the Year, at the National Press Club this evening. So very grateful @auwcl.bsky.social

It was the original tool to prevent tyranny. No EO or politicized federal prosecution can get a conviction unless 12 ordinary citizens agree. Maybe more people will read Why Jury Duty Matters as a reminder.

As markets churn and world orders reset, @jamesftierney.bsky.social and I have a new piece forthcoming in Yale Law Journal that couldn't be more timely. "Trading Acres" traces the risks of farmland financialization and analyzes the role of law in this ongoing rural land grab. 🧵

Harvard sued the Trump admin today 💪🏽🥳💯 www.harvard.edu/research-fun...

Was the major questions doctrine meant to be a one-way ratchet, good for striking down Democratic presidential action but dormant during Republican presidencies? Let’s hope Roberts avoids that further black mark on the legitimacy of an already embattled court. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/20/o...

Feels like momentum is building toward coming together and speaking up… here’s a letter members of our faculty put out this week

Steve Kerr wore a Harvard basketball shirt after the Warriors’ win tonight: “Yes, this is me supporting Harvard. Way to go. Way to stand up to the bully.”

I guess I'm gonna have to do a big explainer on the Bob Jones case (which will control how the Harvard tax exemption revocation will go in the lower courts) at some point on here, but for now you can't go wrong with this nice introduction to the issues by Joe.

If the U.S. government is going to take the position that, once removed from the United States, folks can’t be brought back, then it sure seems to me that federal courts should be reflexively and categorically barring *all* removals until they’re 100 percent certain that the removals are lawful.

Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions - rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking steps to make sure students can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. Let’s hope others follow suit.

I hope other university alliances start pooling resources and engaging in the kinds of collective action Rutgers is proposing here for the Big Ten. senate.rutgers.edu/report/resol...

Wishing everyone here a happy Transgender Day of Visibility! Trans rights remain at the frontier of American civil rights law and we can’t give up the fight for freedom, equality, and inclusion.

Here is my best guidance for action, rendered beautifully by the great John Lithgow. I first published these lessons more than eight years ago, in late 2016. They open the twenty chapters of "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century." snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...

“Lawyers and big firms: For God’s sake, stand up for the legal profession, and for the Constitution. Defend the oath you took when you became officers of the court. If we stand together and fight, we will win.” - John W. Keker, Robert A. Van Nest and Elliot R. Peters

But the formula for resisting these bullies is not mysterious or complex. Collective solidarity in defense of each other (even at the risk of loss/harm) will work. I see this letter as weak advocacy in this direction. That doesn’t make it good, but it’s better than it could have been. 4

This is a great reminder that all of us who are embedded in institutions have power to act within those institutions—to open space, resist, build power. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

“The federal government is stating ‘we are not making integration a priority,’” said Brandon Weiss, a law professor at American University…

I signed a letter asking for Mahmoud Khalil’s immediate release. We will not let this administration trample our constitutional rights and silence voices they don’t like. Free Mahmoud Khalil.

“Going forward, the agency will accept a locality’s self-certification that it is affirmatively furthering fair housing in accordance with the 1968 Fair Housing Act.”

Even the people working at DOGE say it is a lawless nightmare for America. In fact, they know it better than anyone. Thanks to these true public servants who won’t stand for such a dangerous betrayal of the American people.

1/ Musk and crew have no legal authorization to access (a disclosure to them) Treasury Department tax return systems. Period. No routine use; no written request from law enforcement head for a specific record; no nothing. This is the kind of indiscriminate, unauthorized access that Sen. Goldwater

Excellent reporting by the Washington Post today in a top story on the potential scale of alleged rent-setting collusion by some of the nation’s largest landlords wapo.st/4fWtN6U

I had the pleasure of being invited to HUD headquarters in Oct. as one of 25 housing scholars from around the U.S. to talk about the "Next Generation of Housing Policy." The two-day convening was a wonderful opportunity to engage w/ scholars and the incredibly dedicated public servants at HUD. (1/2)

Hah! He picks guy who helped run Opportunity Zone program, a basically scam tax break widely regarded as worst & least-accountable economic development program in US history. Program subsidizes already-likely gentrification. No evidence of benefits to communities. www.politico.com/news/2024/11...

My pre-election piece on post-Chevron housing regulation (with Michael Karam). Given the election, it’ll be interesting to see if conservative-leaning judges suddenly become much less keen on the MQD…

Show me a picture on your phone that has your energy but isn’t a selfie.

Some good news (or perhaps, the absence of bad news) out of SCOTUS today: the Court denied cert in two Takings challenges to New York's rent stabilization laws. Gorsuch indicated that he would have granted cert but did not write a dissent. The threat is far from gone, but I'll take this for now.

Welcome to everyone new to Bluesky! Here are 4 (illustrated) steps you can take to make your experience here more pleasant than what you left behind on X and/or Threads. A 🧵

Happy to be quoted in this Washington Post article today: “Stories about the growing number of squatters is a sort of narrative, or rhetorical tool, being used to push back against tenants . . . . " www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/...

Busy week @ SCOTUS for those who care about affordable housing / property / HUD. Last Tuesday was Sheetz (relevant to AH impact fees), tomorrow is Devillier (whether the Takings Clause is self executing), and Wednesday is Loper (challenge to Chevron deference — could affect FHA rules)

I just donated to Luz Herrera for Judge 2024 and you can too: www.efundraisingconnections.com/c/LuzHerrera... Many of you know and love Luz — she is an incredibly dedicated public interest lawyer and law professor, who started a nonprofit firm in Compton, CA ~20 yrs ago. Bio here: luzherrera.com

“As rents surge and homelessness reaches a record high, housing assistance has fallen to the lowest level in nearly 25 years — a stark contrast to growth in other safety net programs.” www.nytimes.com/2023/12/19/u...

I quiet quit Twitter, but I simply have to put into the world somewhere that there was apparently another version of livery of seisin for houses where the grantee would have to “enter alone, and shut the door, and then open it, and let in all the others," and this is incredible

This is BIG news