YELLEN: “.. businesses feel paralyzed by the uncertainty about policies that represent the strong but really personal whims of a single individual.” @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Frozen and cut federal grants undermine the rule of law — and undercut American scientific leadership. We spoke with @aratip.bsky.social about the stakes for the future and why private investment matters, but won't fill the gap. From the @brennancenter.org: www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

Taking public safety seriously means following the evidence and starting local. Read more in the @brennancenter.org analysis that inspired this video, by me and @jchendrickson.bsky.social: www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

Introduced my daughter to the “no vehicles in the park” law school hypo and so far she’s concluded that the rule DOES apply to bicycles because “parks are for play and you can play without a bike.” It’s so exciting watching her learn to think through a problem; I’m so proud!

Today the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled “Blue City Chaos and Tragedy: How the Trump Administration is Addressing the Human Cost of Soft On Crime Policies.” This is a false premise, and the hearing included discussion of several bad ideas that won’t make Americans safer 1/5

FYI NJT commuters -- The M&E and Gladstone lines are a complete mess and running on a revised schedule until further notice. You might've missed this news as NJT did very little to warn riders in advance.

The Administration's plans to fight crime using the National Guard are not the way to build real, lasting safety. Here's what the evidence shows can work, even as we continue to see national declines in crime. New from the @brennancenter.org: www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

"DOJ has slashed $88 million in grant awards for substance abuse treatment, mental health services, and programs that team police with health professionals," a move likely to hurt people struggling with these problems *and* burden law enforcement: www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

This is interesting — in a paper out today, researchers created an alternate history to estimate what Trump's desired cuts to NIH would look like. Of 557 drugs approved 2000-2023, *more than half* are at least partially linked to NIH research that would have not happened under a 40% reduction.

If the Admin is serious about crime prevention & helping cities with crime rates, the work starts with listening to local leaders, following the evidence, & providing support, not with deploying the Guard. @amescg.bsky.social and I walk through the evidence in a new @brennancenter.org analysis:

The Administration's plans to fight crime using the National Guard are not the way to build real, lasting safety. Here's what the evidence shows can work, even as we continue to see national declines in crime. New from the @brennancenter.org: www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.

While the Federal Prison Oversight Act promises to bring much-needed accountability to U.S. prisons, it can only reach its full potential if Congress funds it and the Justice Department faithfully implements it. bit.ly/3V8SO6J

Not a single word, but when I'm tired I flip homophones (e.g., "hear" instead of "here"). Unfortunately I have two kids and am always tired.

Sometimes it's nice to remember that even Marcus Aurelius was like "you don't have to comment on everything bro"

Robert Jackson Bennett's "Drop of Corruption," the sequel to this year's Hugo winner ("The Tainted Cup"), is easily his best work to date, and I say this as a huge fan of pretty much everything he's written. Pick it up today if you're a scifi-fantasy reader and don't skip the Author's Note.

Today’s murder of Charlie Kirk is outrageous. It is part of a dangerous pattern of violence that threatens the safety of all communities. This violence is unacceptable and tears at the social fabric, and we must find a way to work together to end it.

New this week: Chicago likely has had fewer shootings through August year than any year since the mid-1960s. Gun violence remains a problem there, but I wrote about the city's encouraging trends and the data challenge of historically contextualizing this year. jasher.substack.com/p/contextual...

President Trump recently signed two executive orders to end bail reform, claiming it threatens public safety. But Brennan Center research shows no clear link between bail reform and crime rates: bit.ly/4dkG58o

“If you are looking for a lever to reduce crime nationally, bail reform is not a lever I would pull.” — @amescg.bsky.social in @washingtonpost.com. Brennan Center research shows that bail reform has no statistically significant relationship with crime rates.

The Trump Administration thinks bail reform is a threat to public safety and wants to force states to abandon laws that make our justice system fairer and more effective. As coauthor of one of the only national study of bail reform and crime, here's why he's wrong.

President Trump just signed 2 EOs to force Washington, D.C., and other cities from taking steps to substantially eliminate cash bail as a potential condition of pretrial release, threatening to withhold federal funding from cities that fail to end these policies www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

The FBI started publishing monthly crime data last week, so this week I wrote about what this new dataset brings (a lot!) and how cautious people should be when using it (a lot!). jasher.substack.com/p/the-10-dos...

The fight over science funding: Congress vs. the OMB arstechnica.com/science/2025...

Nobody will believe me but PANYNJ turned Newark (EWR) into a great airport. There’s even a well-stocked LEGO store in the United concourse! The only downside: all food seems to cost $20 now, with few exceptions.

Proud to see @brennancenter.org joining in defense of this strong, sensible policy and the state’s Tenth Amendment prerogative to opt out of assisting federal immigration enforcement.

Me trying to design and 3d print my own fountain pen parts

Over 5,000 people tuned in to hear about the dangerous legal theories underwriting the imperial presidency. You should, too: www.youtube.com/live/_QvxTc7... @sam-breidbart.bsky.social @janemanners.bsky.social @jdmortenson.bsky.social @wuc3.bsky.social @brennancenter.org

love this new york times clip. they recently did a story about how sesame street's set has changed over the years, along with our urban politics. IG nytimes

Today the FBI released year-end crime data on 2024, showing a record-breaking decline in murder rates alongside decreases in all seven major offenses. Murder rates are now below 2019 levels, reversing the 2020 spike. (See analysis by @jeffasher.bsky.social.) jasher.substack.com/p/murder-off...

New data from the FBI: Murder fell 15% in 2024, the fastest drop ever recorded & violent/property crime rates fell to levels not seen since the 1960s. Murder returned to pre-COVID levels in 2024 & is may be the lowest level ever recorded in 2025. jasher.substack.com/p/murder-off...

Still waiting for the actual data to come out, but the FBI reported that murder fell by 14.9% in 2024 while violent crime and property crime fell by 4.5% and 8.1% respectively. More shortly.

For years em-dashes have been an appellate lawyer/legal academic shibboleth so it's very disorienting to see them become an AI "tell"

Did you feel the North Jersey/Manhattan earthquake? Fill out the USGS “Did you feel it?” form and participate directly in SCIENCE - help them learn more about earthquakes! 🧪 earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...

Crime is down — so why cut federal programs that have contributed to the decline? bit.ly/3Upeuen

Easily the best dad joke I've seen in ages:

Federal funding cuts and budgetary "freezes" have hit science and technology especially hard — and we could be grappling with the consequences for decades. The annotated guide below includes one brief by Dr. Arati Prabhakar laying out the stakes. Short thread: www.brennancenter.org/media/14193/...

My colleague @lmillerkaralunas.bsky.social read all the amicus briefs opposing the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze so you don’t have to: www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res... @brennancenter.org

The executive branch's attempted freeze of trillions of federal dollars was a clear overreach, since Congress alone holds the authority to determine how federal dollars are spent and for whom. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

A former director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Dr. Arati Prabhakar: www.brennancenter.org/media/14193/...

Late yesterday, a strong slate of amicus briefs was filed in support of the New York AG's challenge to the Trump Administration's across-the-board freeze of federal funding. Former federal agency officials, scholars, and lawmakers among them! Here are some of the highlights... 🧵⬇️ @brennancenter.org

Watch this space next week...