District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi is skeptical about who really leads the NJ US Attorney’s Office — and doesn’t trust the answers he gets. “Generations of Assistant U.S. Attorneys had built the goodwill of that office for your generation to destroy it within a year.” www.inquirer.com/news/nj-fede...

A Philadelphia man was arrested Monday night for assaulting his wife and adult daughter. Prosecutors said he repeatedly punched his wife in the head and chocked her. He also pulled his daughter to the ground by her hair. The kicker — he’s a family court judge. www.inquirer.com/crime/judici...

Here's a new one: ICE detained a man in Utah who had been arrested for a suspected drug sale ... that turned out to be dried pinto beans. Utah case was dropped but the man, who arrived in US as a minor and has deferred action, was transfered to ICE. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

This Atlantic cover story is a reminder that when we talk about the financial woes of the journalism industry, they aren't equally distributed. Local news reporters go through hopes to reduce costs of court records and transcripts. Meanwhile national magazines...

Apparently “I’m the Michael Jordan of using cocaine” is not a defense against a federal charge of possession with intent to distribute.

A federal judge said yesterday that “scores of dangerous criminals” could be released because of Trump’s refusal to have a senate confirmed U.S. Attorney in New Jersey for over a year. A brutal 130-page opinion about an “enormous assertion of Presidential power.” www.inquirer.com/news/new-jer...

One reason they’re ordering release of detainees — rather than bond hearings: Berger and Johnston say the hearings are increasingly a pre-cooked sham, resulting in detention without a genuine chance for bond. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

They are calling out violations of court orders, sloppy paperwork in detention cases, the destruction of families, the erosion of civil liberties and a climate of fear wrought by masked agents operating on WV’s roadways. Contempt is next, they say. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

For weeks, Judges Joseph Goodwin (Clinton), Robert Chambers (Clinton), Thomas Johnston (GWB) and Irene Berger (Obama) have been ordering the release of dozens of detainees ICE and its WV partners have picked up since Jan 1. But they’re not stopping there www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

NEW: Four federal judges have formed a firewall against ICE in West Virginia — and say they’ll punish state and federal officials of they continue detaining people in ways they have ruled illegal and unconstitutional. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

This war could be very, very long. Unlike the war over the summer, the goal Trump and Netanyahu outlined are clear and publicly verifiable: regime change. They won’t be able to declare victory based on alleged intelligence reports. The whole world will know the outcome. There isn’t any real out.

I thought the Israeli and U.S. strikes over the summer destroyed the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile program programs, removing a threat. Netanyahu said. Trump said. Words. Listening to Netanyahu and I can’t believe he was first elected before I was 6 years old. I have nearly 8 year old.

Impossible to sleep.

Yesterday, NJ District Judge Zahid Quraishi issued a blistering opinion calling out ICE and DOJ for ignoring the hundreds of court ruling against mandatory detentions of immigrants residing in the U.S. "It ends today," he wrote. It didn't. Five new release petitions were filed in NJ today.

"Women in tight uniforms and maggots in the soft serve: Two ex-employees sue Trump’s N.J. golf club" Abraham Gutman for @inquirer.com [How the heck did I miss this story from January?!]

The reactions to ICE’s mandatory detention from judges in all districts, regardless to which president appointed them, is unlike anything I’ve seen before — and their responses are escalating.

Iran is “within days” of having enough material to build a nuclear bomb, but also “Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated” less than a year ago. Totally adds up. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/u...

DOJ sued five more states — UT, OK, WV, NJ, KY — for their voter rolls. “This brings the Justice Department’s nationwide total to 29 states and the District of Columbia.” www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justi...

A Trump-aligned legal team, which includes attorneys from Stephen Miller’s America First Legal, has been filing lawsuits against DEI efforts in Philly. After challenging diversity in city contracting and school admissions, their latest is about police promotions. www.inquirer.com/news/philade...

Woof. A NJ District Judge has had it with the Trump admin's lack of compliance with court orders and legal defense of ICE's mandatory detention despite. "The undersigned will not stand idly by and allow this intentional misconduct to go on. It ends today." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

I have *so much* to say about this. This is true and starts in hiring. It’s very hard for a reporter who grinds a beat, produces a ton, and contributes to live coverage (all things digital publications value) to show worth in 3-5 clips. And the return of the beat reporting Pulitzer won’t help..

Pennsylvania’s Republican U.S. Senator, Dave McCormick, has stronger approval numbers than Democrat John Fetterman among *Pennsylvania Democrats*. Only 62% of Pa. Dems disapprove of Fetterman’s job performance compared to 18% of Republicans. @fallonroth.bsky.social’s story:

NEWS: Matthew Isihara, the first DOJ attorney to be held in contempt of court for years, is now appealing that ruling to Eighth Circuit. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...

A very Philly court moment. After lunch break, without context, the plaintiff attorney told the federal judge: we have spoken to opposing counsel and agreed on a stipulation to instruct the jury that Nov 5, 2023 was a Sunday and the Philadelphia Eagles played against the Dallas Cowboys at 4:25pm.

Was in a trial all day. What did I miss?

Between 2020 and 2024, detained immigrants *filed* 11 release petitions in Philly’s federal court. In the past three months, the court *granted* over 200. Trump appointed judges granted nearly 40 of those. What changed? ICE’s mandatory detention policy. www.inquirer.com/news/mandato...

And the petitions represent just the tip of the iceberg, immigration attorneys say. The full impact of ICE’s mandatory detention’s policy is far greater. “It had really dire consequences to the community.” www.inquirer.com/news/mandato...

District Judge Gail A. Weilheimer wrote that ICE had set up a “trap” for “thousands of non-citizens,” who are required to file forms, attend check-ins, or apply for asylum to receive permission to stay in the country. www.inquirer.com/news/mandato...

The Fifth Circuit Court approved mandatory detention of undocumented residents who have been in the US for decades. The ruling isn’t binding in outside of Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. And Philly federal judges, including Trump appointees, are unpersuaded. www.inquirer.com/news/mandato...

District Judge Paul Diamond listed 201 release petitions granted in the past 3 months by his peers. All judges rejected ICE’s mandatory detention policy as unlawful. “These rulings do not appear to have persuaded the Government to reconsider its position.” www.inquirer.com/news/mandato...

Relase release petitions filed by detained immigrants used to be rare in Philly’s federal court, just a couple a year. Now more than 1-in-6 cases filed in the court are habeas petitions. And all judges are granting them, including those appointed by Trump. Story: www.inquirer.com/news/mandato...

At least 35 times since August, federal judges have ordered the administration to explain why it should not be punished for violating their orders in immigration cases. @schwartzesque.bsky.social and co from NYT (Philly-based reporters get h/t priority) www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/u...

I’m the Michael Jordan of being bad at applying to things.

Staffing for DHS’ Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) and its Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, which together oversee the agency’s civil rights complaints, have been reduced by 85 and 91 percent, respectively. @juliametraux.bsky.social www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Every arrest and investigation [overseas] tied to the Epstein files reminds me of this line from the July 2025 FBI memo: “We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.” apnews.com/article/poli...

gift link share.inquirer.com/LS797w

Here’s a gift link for this eye-opening new article. The Inquirer’s immigration coverage continues to be strong. For context, Judge Diamond is nobody’s liberal. www.inquirer.com/news/mandato...

Some graph

Relase release petitions filed by detained immigrants used to be rare in Philly’s federal court, just a couple a year. Now more than 1-in-6 cases filed in the court are habeas petitions. And all judges are granting them, including those appointed by Trump. Story: www.inquirer.com/news/mandato...

The only thing that gives me joy these days is the thought that Jared McCain might actually finish this year with a NBA championship ring. Ironically, it also depresses me so much.

ICE agents grabbed a 16-year-old asylum seeker--which they aren't supposed to do They kept him from his parents -which they aren't supposed to do They shipped him out of state, to a Christian ministry, which they aren't supposed to do. Then they *lost* him. www.startribune.com/how-ice-labe...

The sixers are trying to kill me.

An interesting and relevant nugget from yesterdays’s SCOTUS opinion. Kavanaugh writes in his dissent that there are other laws that would allow a president to impose tariffs. Roberts didn’t like that. “We do not speculate on hypothetical cases not before us.”

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell lavished money on the Interlochen Center for the Arts to gain access, documents show. In the process, two teenagers were pulled into their orbit.

A retired British primary school administrator with a British passport and a valid visa was shackled, chained and detained for six weeks by ICE www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

👀The federal judges in West Virginia, where ICE has been pulling over and detaining people on the freeway, are literally screaming about ICE's tactics. "It is an assault on the constitutional order," Judge Goodwin says. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

President Donald Trump’s administration won its first court victory in the President’s House case Friday afternoon, when a federal appeals judge paused the injunction ordering the restoration of the slavery exhibits to the site. With @fallonroth.bsky.social. www.inquirer.com/news/philade...

The Trump admin’s reinstallation of slavery exhibits to the site of the first White House in Philly is about more than a court battle. @fallonroth.bsky.social takes you into the fight of a Black history tour to tell the full story. “I just refuse to be erased.” www.inquirer.com/politics/nat...

NEW: Jeffrey Epstein cultivated relationships with CBP officers at the airports he frequented. Epstein emailed and texted with six CBP officers, invited them to his island, visited with them at the airport, and frequently sought to determine who was going to be on duty when he was traveling