kimmel will be back on tv but hold the celebrations; the trump assault on free speech rights continues. those who stood up for kimmel need to stand up & rally for universities, public media, access to govt information, independent journalism, etc - and against trump's propaganda.

the strangeness of the current moment lies in how the administration is consolidating authoritarian power while also being extremely weak

Just wait until SCOTUS overturns this on the emergency docket. (I kid, I kid, sort of)

Unfortunately, the SCOTUS bar is all about repeat players

J. Kagan dissent: "Our emergency docket should never be used, as it has been this year, to permit what our own precedent bars.Still more, it should not be used,as it also has been,to transfer government authority from Congress to the President, and thus to reshape the Nation’s separation of powers."

An open endorsement of hate - precisely what you do not want the President to do after an assassination when messages from leaders disavowing violence are especially important www.nytimes.com/2025/09/21/u...

This piece by Robert Post is excellent. I especially like that he traces the Trump Administration's authoritarian trampling on the First Amendment to, in part, the Roberts Court's extreme unitary executive theory. verfassungsblog.de/turn-against...

Yes, when did the government abridge Trump's First Amendment rights?

this needs to be corrected, but also it shows just how shallow mainstream reporting can be on free speech, supposedly a foundational constitutional right in this country.

It's hard to imagine what @peterbakernyt.bsky.social and the @nytimes.com were thinking in publishing this assertion: “We all especially know Biden used government to censor Trump, kicking him off many media platforms, a clear violation of the law,” Mr. Shirley said. @peterbakernyt.bsky.social

Trump had his accounts suspended on January 7, 8, and 9th 2020. WHEN HE WAS STILL PRESIDENT. It was not Joe Biden because Biden was not President.

“Tom Homan was investigated for accepting $50,000 from undercover FBI agents. Trump’s DOJ shut it down.” electionlawblog.org?p=152157

If they're talking openly about this, you can only imagine what they're saying behind closed doors.

There is no world in which it is normal for the president to publicly call upon his attorney general to hurry up and prosecute his political foes. It’s like the Watergate tapes but posted on social media. Let’s get a grip on what’s happening here.

you’re saying the government has created a public forum?

The third possible problem is just too many scandals at once. I’m very interested in how this one goes because in therms of secret-vs-open, this accidental deleted Truth Social post / DM is the kakistocracy equivalent of Deep Throat.

Most logical read of this: Trump wants Pam Bondi to name Lindsey Halligan interim U.S. attorney in EDVA so she can charge Letitia James, which he says is a "great case" and that the delay in charging her is hurting his reputation.

Trump criticizes Pam Bondi for not charging his adversaries quickly enough, in a Truth Social post that looks a lot like a DM. truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT...

Must-read; important to interpret recent events in terms of how Trump could turn the US into a competitive authoritarian state where the government abuses its powers to undermine the opposition even as elections continue to be held

Genevieve Lakier is who everyone should be reading on the risks of government jawboning in the Jimmy Kimmel case. @genevievelakier.bsky.social

That's literally false. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that praising someone's death is protected speech, including in Snyder v Phelps (2011), where protesters at a soldier's funeral held signs that said "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" & "Thank God for 9/11" rollcall.com/2025/09/19/s...

If I were writing a law school exam hypothetical about a government official engaging in coercion, I would literally have the official tell the regulated entity, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." It's a little on the nose actually.

This from Eugene Volokh on Jimmy Kimmel and government coercion is right on point: reason.com/volokh/2025/...

The WaPo’s law and politics columnist doesn’t understand that Murthy was a standing ruling— a decision fundamentally about states trying to intervene on behalf of alleged jawboning victims with a handful of individual plaintiffs thrown in as an afterthought— and ignores Vullo entirely. Yikes.

Miss @rickhasen.bsky.social's Safeguarding Democracy Project's hour-long webinar earlier this week on "The Risk of Federal Interference in the 2026 Midterm Elections"? A recording is now online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=es09...

Watch Archived Video of @law.ucla.edu Safeguarding Democracy Project Program, “The Risk of Federal Interference in the 2026 Midterm Elections” with Ben Haiman, Liz Howard, and Stephen Richer. www.youtube.com/watch?v=es09...

I bet even inside the White House they're surprised at all the capitulation.

Starting in 35 minutes

Today: Free Webinar from Safeguarding Democracy Project: “The Risk of Federal Interference in the 2026 Midterm Elections” electionlawblog.org?p=152054

“Election deniers now hold posts on local US election boards, raising concerns for midterms” electionlawblog.org?p=152041

Looking Forward to Speaking at University of Oregon Law on Friday Sept. 19: “Keynote Address: The Past and Future of the Voting Rights Act at the U.S. Supreme Court “ electionlawblog.org?p=152039

at the center of the efforts to destroy civil society in russia, hungary, georgia and elsewhere is the stigmatization, harassment, & criminalization of NGOs. that's what this is about, a full-on assault on democratic debate & freedoms. this is not hyperbole. it's right here.

BREAKING: DC Cir. court of appeals rejects Trump’s effort to remove Lisa Cook from Board of Governors of Federal Reserve, allows her to participate in tomorrow’s meeting

“Louisiana’s Chief Election Official Confirms Lack of Widespread Noncitizen Voting” electionlawblog.org?p=152013

David Gans on Circumspection Podcast Talking about Louisiana v. Callais, and Voting Rights at the Supreme Court electionlawblog.org?p=152015

“How Nancy Pelosi Quietly Shaped California’s Redistricting Fight” electionlawblog.org?p=152017

“On the Supreme Court’s Emergency Docket, Sharp Partisan Divides” electionlawblog.org?p=152019

“How Charlie Kirk’s social media machine rewired a generation’s politics” electionlawblog.org?p=152021

“Louisiana’s Chief Election Official Confirms Lack of Widespread Noncitizen Voting” electionlawblog.org?p=152013

On Thursday, NPR invited CPAC Chair Matt Schlapp to pay tribute to his friend, Charlie Kirk, which he did, at length.. But he ended up getting angry and cutting the interview short. This is what angered him: www.npr.org/2025/09/11/n...

Rare that the Texas legislature looks like a paragon of competence

“Brazil’s Former President Was Convicted of Plotting a Coup. What Comes Next?; Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for conspiring to cling to power after losing the 2022 elections.” electionlawblog.org?p=152011

“Missouri lawmakers give final approval to map targeting a Democratic House seat” electionlawblog.org?p=152007

Danielle Thomsen's (@daniellethomsen.bsky.social) The Money Signal will change how you think about the function of money in US elections. A must-read! press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

A new lawsuit claims the Trump administration tried to bypass deportation restrictions by flying people out of the U.S. on a military aircraft to Ghana, which would then send them on to their home countries, even though U.S. judges had found they could not be forced to return there.

#ICYMI: Yesterday’s bonus “One First” took a deep dive into Justice Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion in the ICE raids case—and how its … casual … relationship with the facts and relevant law may be a broader indictment of how #SCOTUS is approaching *all* of the Trump-related emergency applications:

You Can Now Read a Transcript of My NPR “Fresh Air” Interview on the Growing Risks to American Democracy and Voting Rights electionlawblog.org?p=152005

“As Political Violence Rises, Trump Condemns One Side” electionlawblog.org?p=152003

Follow @yochriscruz.bsky.social folks