Free speech for thee ...

Last night the 14th Amend Ctr had a terrific opening session on birthright citizenship w/historians Martha Jones & @kate.masur.TONIGHT is Part Two w/a great line-up of scholars & advocates. It’s not too late to register. howard.zoom.us/webinar/regi... @aaldef.bsky.social @korematsuctr.bsky.social

The Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality (@korematsuctr.bsky.social) at UCI Law, together with @newenglandinnocence.org & Friedman Kaplan Seiler Adelman & Robbins LLP, filed an amicus brief in Commonwealth v. Robinson before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. bit.ly/47Qc7tc

no surprised that brett ”almost certainly flunked his remedial classes” kavanaugh thinks the constitution authorizes a race-based federal “papers please” regime. quick, someone ask him what he thinks of the fugitive slave act.

Supreme Court Rules 6-3 That Fundamental Interests Of United States Of America Would Be Irreparably Harmed If It Race-Based Harassment And Detention By Masked Thugs Were Even Temporarily Halted

You can now register for the 14th Amendment Center’s webinars on birthright citizenship. The sessions will be held on September 16th and 17th with a line-up of experts. REGISTER NOW: howard.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

On the absurd DOJ argument that Mr. Abrego Garcia should be held in criminal custody because otherwise ICE might deport him, the judge notes that “At bottom, the Government asks the Court to save it from itself because it may suffer irreparable harm completely of its own making.”

Today’s unsigned, unexplained #SCOTUS ruling clearing the way for removals of migrants to third countries without any additional process is a disaster—not just on the merits, but because of the government misbehavior that it not only refuses to punish, but effectively rewards. Me, via “One First”:

Does this make America safer?

I'm reflecting on the 1965 debate between James Baldwin v. William F. Buckley Jr. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Tek...

If nobody knows his plans, does that include himself? Asking for the planet.

It is impossible not to read this in conjunction with the Supreme Court's heartrbreaking, awful decision in Skrmetti allowing states to deny transgender teens the health care they need.

“We’re not banning them from these swimming pools on account of race, we’re banning them on account of the melanin levels in their skin.”

Justice Sotomayor speaks for so many: “The Court abandons transgender children and their families to political whims. In sadness, I dissent.”

He said it. Yes.

Horrifying. We are here.

What stage of capitalism is "Taking money from cancer research to pay for military vanity parade"?

Please read this @dailyjournalcorp.bsky.social op-ed about our office’s unacceptably high atty caseloads & why we're limiting the # of new cases we take on. Thanks to @seattleulaw.bsky.social's Prof. Robert Boruchowitz & @korematsuctr.bsky.social's Prof. Robert S. Chang. tinyurl.com/PubDefDJ

Well - I had to cancel my ticket to see an early screening of the new John Wick spinoff this evening because of a last-minute amicus filing. No regrets. I'll get to the theater in the next week or so to see the film. Working to fight executive overreach isn't something that can wait.

The targeting of Venezuelan immigrants by the Trump administration today mirrors our country’s dark history of rounding up and incarcerating Japanese American families during World War II. Read about case & our amicus: bit.ly/aea-amicus

It was a privilege to work with co-counsel to represent @jacl-national.bsky.social and the 63 other organizations that signed onto this brief with an urgent reminder to the court and to educate the public about the terrible things that can result when courts fail to check Executive overreach.

Will we file 3 or 4 amicus briefs this week? Only time will tell.

“If the unitary executive theory is subject to exceptions for contexts in which the practical consequences of eliminating an agency’s independence would be too extreme, then it’s not much of a theory.” Today’s “One First” on #SCOTUS’s deeply flawed ruling last Thursday in Trump v. Wilcox:

He zigs … he zags … Wonder who is profiting from the market swings.

In-kind political donation from @nytimes.com

“No children are dying on my watch,” said Rubio. It's blatantly false. Credible estimates count 190K deaths so far. In Kenya, I am seeing devastating impact, incl this child's starvation & many deaths directly caused by Rubio’s actions. More in my @msnbc.com clip. www.instagram.com/atul.gawande...

My new opening line to people I’m trying to curry favor with: “I’m sorry I don’t have a plane to give you.” Love the acerbic wit of the South African president.

Even after being inured to the cruelty of this administration, thinking that they can't think of new ways to be gratuitously cruel, ...

Next year me is going to regret today me saying yes to writing an essay for a symposium that's not due until next year. But I didn't respond when a friend first asked me, and then when they followed up, I felt bad about not responding so I had to say yes.

Listening to the Boss. Hoping we can find our way back to the land of hope and dreams. brucespringsteen.net/news/2025/la...

Listening to Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" as I read the article about the president backing down from Ukraine cease-fire demand.

The Alien Enemies Act is unjust, racist, and ineffective.

Today's action is the single largest mass-illegalization event in US history. 350,000 people woke up this morning with legal status, living and working here with official permission. They'll go to bed as undocumented immigrants facing deportation.

Amicus forecast: looks like May 19 will be a good day to file an amicus brief.

this is a letter to the editor from a high school track runner who came in second to a trans girl in a race. her state house rep in maine started talking about it. so she wrote this: www.pressherald.com/2025/05/14/r...

This seems bad. Is this bad?

For "One First," I took a deeper dive into Friday afternoon's *very* significant #SCOTUS Alien Enemies Act ruling—including why it effectively freezes AEA removals for the foreseeable future and its (much) broader potential impact on *all* attempts to bring nationwide challenges to Trump policies:

Thank you American Community Media for inviting me to speak at your hosted media briefing. Though my eyes are closed on the cover image for the story, I assure you that my eyes were (mostly) open when I spoke. americancommunitymedia.org/media-briefi...

On May 8, Profs. @korematsuctr.bsky.social and Annie Lai filed SCOTUS amicus briefs defending TPS. In April, Chang, Prof. Susan McMahon, and the Korematsu Center filed five briefs backing First Amendment rights and birthright citizenship. Learn more: news.law.uci.edu/2025/05/13/u...

Let's be clear: Republicans don't want more 'parents' at home. They want more *women* at home. If you think this isn't about eradicating women from the public sphere, you haven't been paying attention

It's not every day that two colleagues from same school are counsel of record in separate filings at SCOTUS. @annie-lai.bsky.social represented immigration law scholars; Rose Cuison-Villazor and I represented members of Congress. Our briefs oppose the government's vacatur and termination of TPS.

With Rose Cuison-Villazor, I had the honor of representing 48 members of Congress on an amicus brief that emphasized the importance of separation of powers that requires that the Executive not usurp Congressional and Judicial authority. Brief here: www.law.uci.edu/centers/kore...

It was nice having a functional Establishment Clause while it lasted.

When we tear families apart, we tear at the fabric of our communities. Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s story reveals the cruelty of this administration’s immigration policies.

It's UC Irvine Giving Day. You won't find a match for the Korematsu Center on the UC Irvine School of Law Giving Day Page, but let me put one out there. If the Korematsu Center receives $5000 in gifts today, April 22, 2025, I'll match $5000. secure.give.uci.edu/donation/?CO...

READ Judge Charlotte Sweeney's full TRO here, ordering the Trump admin to give Venezuelan plaintiffs in Colorado 21 days' notice and due process before deportation under the Alien Enemies Act. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Coffee ice cream is a delightful breakfast food.

The Korematsu Center @ucirvinelaw.bsky.social filed 4 amicus briefs last week. Sure, 3 were nearly identical, in the cases on the EOs targeting law firms; the other on birthright citizenship. More on deck. Links to the briefs: news.law.uci.edu/2025/04/16/u...