Congratulations to @pjaicomo.bsky.social & my other @ij.org colleagues for their win at SCOTUS in Martin v. US today! On a very minor point, I'll note that Justice Gorsuch introduced a honey-do list into the U.S. Reports. (Although this part went against an argument IJ made.)

Sometimes the Louisiana criminal justice system throws up cases you can hardly believe (remember overdetention?) Here: a judge says “use my donor’s ankle monitoring company or stay in jail.” H/t @pjaicomo.bsky.social www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/unp...

The federal gov't has taken the unusual step of filing an uninvited cert-stage amicus in Goldey v. Fields, asking #SCOTUS to expand #FederalImmunity - here, to ensure there's no remedy for excessive force against prison inmates. I have a lot of thoughts, but here are 5. 1/6

On 3/7, @ij.org filed our merits brief in Martin v. US. We explain why the gov’t can’t claim #SovereignImmunity for intentional torts committed by FBI agents raiding the wrong house. This case is about one of the last threads of federal accountability. The gov’t’s trying to cut it.

Today, #SCOTUS denied cert. in @ij.org wrong-house raid #QualifiedImmunity case, Jimerson v. Lewis. Justices Sotomayor and Jackson would grant. Remember, Jimerson involved an *admitted* #FourthAmendment violation. The application of QI means the raid was reasonably unreasonable.

Happy Washington’s Birthday to all who celebrate the real holiday. Happy “Presidents’ Day” to all the participation-trophy people.

My biggest criticism of Ilan and Randy’s anti-birthright-citizenship theory is that it discards the post-war context. If jurisdiction is really about allegiance, it seems incredible that the 14th Amendment’s drafters wouldn’t have spelled that out. Why? 1/6 www.nytimes.com/2025/02/15/o...

So, is the D.C. U.S. Attorney not permitted to practice in the District Court of D.C.? (This is from U.S. v. Padilla, 1:21-cr-00214 - the case in which the D.C. U.S Attorney dismissed the case while he was still the defendant’s counsel of record.)

Our new paper proves that § 1983 and its Notwithstanding Clause displace #QualifiedImmunity. Textualists should be troubled greatly that the congressionally enacted text of § 1983 precludes extra-textual defenses. Yes #SCOTUS upholds QI. As @ij.org has said for years, QI must go.

Whole lotta big cases coming the federal judiciary's way.

ATTN: LAW REVIEWS My @ij.org colleague Daniel Nelson & I have submitted our article "Section 1983 (Still) Displaces Qualified Immunity." Building on the work of Will Baude and Alex Reinert, we trace the history of #QualifiedImmunity and import of its lost "Notwithstanding Clause." 1/

A whole bunch of people who were totally cool with posting the addresses of NIH/CDC employees during COVID are now absolutely apoplectic that people would publish the mere names of people forcing their way into government agencies and accessing sensitive data. Weird, huh?

BEHOLD, THE CONSTITUTIONAL SEPARATION OF POWERS: - Legislative Branch: “The President can just do whatever.” - Executive Branch: “The courts will stop me if this is wrong.” - Judicial Branch: “We defer to Congress and the President.”

Robert E. Lee was a traitor to the United States.

I’ve been suing the federal gov’t for abuses since Obama. Trump came in; people said gov’t would accept accountability. It didn’t. Biden came in; people said gov’t would accept accountability. It didn’t. Trump’s back. People say gov’t will accept accountability. It won’t …

Update on the grant of certiorari in @ij.org #WrongHouseRaid case, Martin v. U.S.: 1. #SCOTUS will likely be hear the case this term, between 4/28 and 4/30. 2. The Court has appointed an amicus to argue QP1 (below), since the gov't did not defend the 11th Cir.'s Supremacy Clause bar.

WATCH: Here's the new @ij.org case video (starring @kinger-dc.bsky.social) explaining our lawsuit against the City of Norfolk's use of Flock Cameras to create an unconstitutional, digital panopticon. This system of cameras tracks every driver, wherever he goes. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Mc3...

They just granted cert in our Georgia Wrong House Raid case!!! www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?...

The justices on Monday evening fast-tracked the briefing for a dispute over an FBI SWAT raid on the wrong house and the right to sue the federal government for error. Martin v. United States will likely be argued in April, before the end of the 2024-25 term.

Option 5: Cert will be granted on an accelerated briefing schedule later this afternoon with the case squeezed into this term.

THE U.S. SUPREME COURT HAS GRANTED CERT IN @IJ.org CASE MARTIN V. UNITED STATES!!!

Via this morning's Orders List, #SCOTUS has now relisted both of @ij.org's #WrongHouseRaid cert. petitions for a THIRD time. That could mean several things, but it's a little curious that the cases are in a group of 15 cases that have been relisted three times. We keep waiting.

My @ij.org colleague Jaba and I will be speaking at Civil Rights Etouffee in New Orleans on VALENTINES DAY! Who doesn't love constitutional rights? So, if you want some CLE credits and to hear about developments in civil rights law, click the link. eventbrite.com/e/civil-righ...

Most normal people expect that, if a SWAT team raids the wrong house, the gov't is responsible for the costs. But courts around the U.S. have held the opposite, employing a variety of immunities to leave the burden on innocent families. Two @ij.org petitions ask SCOTUS to step in:

Someone should update the U.S. Court’s website, which says the Supreme Court accepts 100-150 cases every year. This term, it has accepted 67, and it remains to be seen whether it will accept any more. (Though it’s already scheduling cases for next term.)

Imagine simultaneously thinking that the federal criminal justice system: 1) is so corrupt that it's perpetrating a "grave national injustice" by convicting and punishing innocent people And still 2) ensuring it has access the "essential tool" of killing people as punishment.

Via this morning's Orders List, the Supreme Court has again relisted BOTH of @ij.org's wrong-house raid cert petitions. This could mean a number of different things, but the most important one for now is that the Court is still considering whether to hear one or both of these important cases.

The birthright citizenship executive order is unconstitutional, but I wonder what creative arguments it might provide for federal criminal defendants who satisfy any of the characteristics of persons the federal government now disclaims jurisdiction over. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

It's our latest episode of Unpublished Opinions! There's courts and technology, a "livecast" of the TikTok ruling, free speech & tiers of scrutiny, Fourth Amendment poverty, & sundry other flotsam & jetsam. With @pjaicomo.bsky.social & Diana Simpson. ij.org/podcasts/unp...

🧵As we await decisions on the #SCOTUS relists of @ij.org’s #WrongHouseRaid cert. petitions, I want to highlight how these cases expose a judicial hypocrisy. Factually, they’re similar. SWAT teams raided the wrong house without checking the address. Legally, they’re distinct. 1/8

🧵As we await decisions on the #SCOTUS relists of @ij.org’s #WrongHouseRaid cert. petitions, I want to highlight how these cases expose a judicial hypocrisy. Factually, they’re similar. SWAT teams raided the wrong house without checking the address. Legally, they’re distinct. 1/8

Via John Elwood, I learn that SCOTUS has relisted this 4A-related case. Doesn't mean they'll grant it, but often means it's at least in play or of interest to some Justices. supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24...

This is Karen Jimerson. A SWAT commander ordered the night-time raid of her home without first checking the address. And though the commander conceded he violated the #FourthAmendment, the 5th Cir. granted him #QualifiedImmunity. @ij.org filed cert. #SCOTUS has relisted the case.

The doctrine of #QualifiedImmunity has no basis in law or history. It's purely a creation of judicial policy that overrides the plain statutory text Congress enacted after the civil war to broadly ensure a remedy for rights violations. Harlow v. Fitzgerald and Pierson v. Ray must be overruled.

On Monday, #SupremeCourt relisted both of @ij.org's pending cert. petitions challenging grants of immunity to police for #WrongHouseRaids on innocent families. - Martin v. U.S. (24-362) - Jimerson v. Lewis (24-473) This means that there is some interest in the cases at #SCOTUS. There should be!

Law nerds, this is a case of first impression in Nevada regarding civil forfeiture and federal adoption of local cases. Order here: ij.org/wp-content/u...

The SWAT commander who ordered this raid on the wrong house conceded his mistake was unreasonable. The Fifth Circuit granted him qualified immunity anyway because he didn’t do EVERYTHING wrong. SCOTUS will now consider our cert petition again at its next conference.

#SCOTUS has relisted BOTH of @ij.org's #WrongHouseRaid cases for this Friday's conference. 1. Martin v. U.S. (11th Cir. barring FTCA w/#SovereignImmunity) 2. Jimerson v. Lewis (5th Cir. barring 1983 w/#QualifieidImmunity) The relists indicate someone at the Court is interested...

What's more romantic than learning about #CivilRights on Valentine's Day? Join me and my @ij.org colleague Jaba on 2/14 in New Orleans at the Civil Rights Etouffee CLE. We will be presenting on panels about #FirstAmendment retaliation and #QualifiedImmunity. www.etouffeelaw.com #LawSky

Are you ready for the digital panopticon? @ij.org is not. So we're suing Norfolk to stop its use of Flock Cameras to warrantlessly spy on the entire driving public: ij.org/case/norfolk...

HEY LITIGATORS: Does the January billable-hour reset get you down? Come work with me at @ij.org. We litigate the exciting constitutional cases that drove you to go to law school. And we don't have billable hours. We're hiring! #lawsky instituteforjustice.applytojob.com/apply/kygr4B...

Now IJ's lawsuit on behalf of a group of property owners will move forward, challenging #Humboldt County's aggressive, unconstitutional system that imposes crippling code enforcement fines without investigation.

Our Martin #WrongHouseRaid cert. petition appeals the 11th Cir.'s application of the #SupremacyClause to bar the application of . . . a *federal statute* to the actions of FBI agents. As a result, @ij.org's petition is supported by a bipartisan, bicameral group of Congress members as amici. 1/4

HEY LITIGATORS: Does the January billable-hour reset get you down? Come work with me at @ij.org. We litigate the exciting constitutional cases that drove you to go to law school. And we don't have billable hours. We're hiring! #lawsky instituteforjustice.applytojob.com/apply/kygr4B...

If you’re not hip to @ij.org’s Bound by Oath Podcast, it’s an excellent long-form podcast. This season we are diving deep into #PropertyRights. Listen below!

2025: Here’s to making the world just a little bit better with @ij.org. ij.org/support/give...

In filing our very-short reply brief in support of cert. in @ij.org’s #QualifiedImmunity #WrongHouseRaid case Jimerson v. Lewis, I discovered that our printer’s machines can only bind a minimum of 4 pages. So, these booklets have a couple blank pages. #AppellateSky

Ending the year with the same story I’ve been writing about my entire career. Kentucky police shot and killed a man while serving search warrant in the middle of the night. They appear to have had the wrong address. www.kentucky.com/news/state/k...

Here is the @reason.com writeup on @ij.org's cert. petition in Bowers Development v. Oneida (Case No. 24-670), which asks #SCOTUS to overturn its awful decision in Kelo v. New London - allowing the government to use eminent domain to benefit private parties. Here are our QPs:

And today, @ij.org filed the reply in our THIRD #WrongHouseRaid case: Hadley v. South Bend. Unlike Jimerson ( #QualifiedImmunity) & Martin ( #SovereignImmunity), Hadley is a #Takings case in the 7 Cir. SWAT destroyed Amy's house, and their employer(s) refused to pay compensation: