Interesting new Inquirer piece by historian @rachelshelden.bsky.social today. (Gift link.) share.inquirer.com/jgU9C4

We have a plausible new contender for Dumbest Subhed of the Decade

Really fantastic @jamellebouie.net column today. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/03/o...

Shocking, but not surprising.

NEW: Losing Trust in Justice Dept., Judges Call Out Its Lawyers’ Behavior The federal courts have long assumed that the government’s lawyers are trustworthy. Now judges across the country are criticizing their lack of candor. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/u...

“President Trump’s upheaval of the federal government has led to an exodus of more than 10,000 lawyers since the beginning of 2025.” 10,000.

The rate that the federal courts pay lawyers, no matter how experienced, to represent poor people in criminal and habeas appeals is $177 per hour. Capped at $9,800.

“People in the federal government are dissatisfied, are angry, are frustrated, and want no part of it. That’s translating directly to people saying, ‘I want to be part of organizations that actually operate with integrity.’” - Colorado AG (and fellow Ebel clerk) @philweiser.bsky.social

The conclusion has become inescapable that the Roberts-Court-made "Purcell principle" was merely a tool to serve partisan interests. As soon as a fair application of the principle would protect Democrats, it became "Purcell? Never heard of her." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/31/u...

Brutal. Just brutal. I keep saying it: the legal profession is a self-regulating profession, and it damn well better start acting like one. Start at 5:39 in the video.

Really fascinating new tool that may be a lifeline for attorneys working to file habeas lawsuits to protect their clients' right to bond!

Now that I know that the judge was appointed by Obama, my view about the appropriateness of a secret reprimand is precisely the same. Principles, imagine that.

Samuel Alito’s son has been working as an attorney with the Treasury’s office of the general counsel for months even as the Supreme Court takes up cases involving the department. https://www.notus.org/us-news/samuel-philip-alito-trump-treasury-department

Dear federal judges: how many lawyers do you expect to stand up for you today, to put their own reputations on the line for you telling the public in this perilous moment to keep their faith in you, if you won’t keep your own house in order?

Yup: www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-229-...

I find it stupefying that the judges let their peer off with a secret wrist-slap. That judge lied to another judge repeatedly in writing. That judge falsely accused their clerk of concocting it. Simply stupefying.

Law professor friends, can you share any advice on what if anything someone like me could do to support the law school application of a great applicant who’s been waitlisted?

To be clear, I’m not saying the deciding judges lack integrity. The Third Circuit judicial council that badly mishandled (in my view) the first round of allegations against Kozinski was made up of judges I think have exceptional integrity. Expecting judges to judge their peers has not fared well.

Good point

JUST IN: A Philadelphia judge vacated the #wrongfulconvictions of Jermal Shuler, Marc Brittingham, and Rasheed Smith in a 1997 murder. The convictions were based on flawed forensic testimony and the unreliable testimony of a single eyewitness. Read more: innocenceproject.org/news/philade...

“In Chicago, the inspector general’s report found 91% of alerts did not result in officers finding any evidence of gun crime. New York’s audit revealed ShotSpotter alerts resulted in confirmed shootings only 8% to 20% of the time. Chicago decommissioned its system in 2024.”

Why would @slotkin.senate.gov or @peters.senate.gov return blue slips on this guy?!

It deserves more attention that one of Trump’s new district court nominees—Michael Martin for ED Mich—is a top official in the US Attorney’s office that just fired 2 respected AUSAs who had prosecuted abortion-clinic blockaders.

Trump is putting no effort into becoming less unpopular but a TON into putting elements of a coup in place. Some of them may remain invisible, but the ones we can see point to his general approach: violent intimidation + corrupt judges + executive branch and congressional coconspirators + bribes.

This seems evil.

3/

My 2cents: - shame on the judge if this doesn’t result in searching contempt proceedings to identify and hold accountable every last person involved - I’d be surprised to learn that the acts described aren’t state-law crimes prosecutable by a local prosecutor, whether prosecuted federally or not.

A clear-eyed description of what is happening. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/20/o...

Am I the first person to suggest Blanche’s nickname should be “Carte”? Probably not, but I shall choose to believe so regardless.

👀

Dear 3-years-out-of-law-school self: All that crap you want to say drains the force from what you need to say.

“Use 3 words rather than 4; be ruthless.” ❤️

“Moderation” is not one of the first 100 words I would have chosen to end that sentence with.

“Fondly,” my ass.

I recall discussing Jan. 6 with "very serious people" in the immediate aftermath. I said it was a moral imperative & critical to the survival of our constitutional republic that Trump be impeached, convicted & barred from office. I was told I was being hysterical (rare insult for a straight man).

The latest repudiation by Philly voters of Philly party boss Bob Brady. A humiliation.

I'd like to see the reforms that come of this. Terrific journalism. I looked at the Harvard L. Forum piece too, which is impressive (harvardlawreview.org/forum/vol-13...).

For those who care about the quality of criminal justice in Philadelphia, this new article is a big deal. www.inquirer.com/news/philade...

This seems super normal, not deranged at all. What a judge.

If they’ve read your brief and think “boy this case is just pretty simple it’s kinda obvious that your guy should win” then that’s a good brief.

Historian of Reconstruction here, today Brown v Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas in 1954 put segregation on the road to extinction, implementing the 14th amendment passed in 1868. Yet the Warren court was accused of judicial activism by people whose unconstitutional overreach today is astounding.

Good legal writing, too. If the judge or the clerk is reading your brief thinking what a genius you are, you messed up.

“The stakes could not be higher. A judiciary that cannot operate without intimidation is not fully independent.” New Inquirer op-ed by Republican former Pa. governor and Democratic-appointed former federal judge. www.inquirer.com/opinion/comm...

Sixers fans nod ruefully

I wonder how many pieces this pundit has ever written criticizing excessive criminal sentences or defending controversial clemencies or commutations, before this one.

Have we learned nothing since 1994?

I believe making assaults on healthcare workers a new federal crime is a bad idea that will aggravate mass incarceration. I hope @repdean.bsky.social reconsiders. (My opinion, not my employer’s, as always.) www.inquirer.com/health/save-...

JUST IN: Abject apology from lawyers for former DHS official Joseph Guy over motion containing fake case citations hallucinated by AI. Jason Greaves of Binnall Law Group says he used Claude Console, asked associate to cite check & failed to check himself www.documentcloud.org/documents/28...

Attorney General Phil Weiser called the commutation “an insult,” “mind-boggling” and “a threat to the rule of law.” Secretary of State Jena Griswold called Polis’ decision “an affront to democracy” and accused Polis of “selling out our state justice system to cave to a vengeful president.”