Robert Richards
rrichard09.bsky.social
Robert Richards
@rrichard09.bsky.social

I study how people talk about politics and law and participate in governing their communities. Opinions expressed here are mine alone, not those of my employers or institutions.
https://rcrjr.wordpress.com

Political science 19%
Environmental science 17%
A dresser inside a museum in New York City has been discovered as a secret stop on the Underground Railroad — the first of its kind discovered in Manhattan in over 100 years
Another memorable ruling out of West Virginia, where Judge Goodwin — a Clinton appointee — excoriates the treatment of ICE detainees.

"This is not what civil enforcement looks like in a humane system of government under law."
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
While Stanford ends programs for first generation and underrepresented students, they maintain their legacy preferences in admissions…
Stanford is doing this because it wants to
They tried to prosecute members of Congress under the Smith Act. Absolute scenes
DOJ trying to indict opposition lawmakers for accurately stating the law is an authoritarian weaponization of the justice system.

Grand jurors returning a no bill is patriotism in action.

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Grand Jury Rebuffs Justice Dept. Attempt to Indict 6 Democrats in Congress www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
NEWS

The Trump administration tried and failed on Tuesday to secure an indictment in connection with a video featuring six Democratic lawmakers urging members of the military and intelligence communities not to comply with unlawful orders.

Full Story: nbcnews.to/4r4Ts3v

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

My first book, THE SCIENCE OF SECOND CHANCES, comes out in two weeks! 🎉🎉🎉

Many of you have asked what you can do to support the book. The best things you can do are (1) pre-order it, wherever you buy books, and (2) tell your friends about it.

Thank you!!🙏

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Bowie is pleased to have a new thing to devour. Honored to be included in a volume with so many brilliant colleagues.

global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Look at who is PHVing Abbe Lowell and team into MN to represent Don Lemon.

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

The FBI's Affidavit used to obtain the warrant for Fulton County ballots "instead of relying on the official transcript ... repeated an erroneous claim made by MAGA conspiracists."

From this thread by Tom Joscelyn, an analyst who has followed these matters closely⤵️
1. The FBI affidavit used to seize ballots and other materials from the 2020 election in Fulton County relies on debunked conspiracy theories. For example, it isn’t true that Fulton first “reported” 511,343 ballots and then “reported” 527,925. I’ll explain.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

In 2015, I interned with @maketheroadny.bsky.social as part of their Worker Rights Program. Today, I was proud to stand with them as an Assemblymember to demand the passage of New York for All to end NY's collaboration with ICE.

In this moment of crisis, we must be BOLD. ¡Sí se puede!
We now have confirmation that the Social Circle warehouse cost ICE $130 million, bringing the total spent on warehouses to $714 million. ICE is also reportedly planning on buying a second warehouse in Oakwood, GA and is finalizing the sale now.

Billions more will be spent on retrofitting/staffing.
1. The FBI affidavit used to seize ballots and other materials from the 2020 election in Fulton County relies on debunked conspiracy theories. For example, it isn’t true that Fulton first “reported” 511,343 ballots and then “reported” 527,925. I’ll explain.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

The supporting affidavits for the FBI's warrant to search the Fulton County election office—where agents seized 700 boxes containing ballots and other documents related to the 2020 election—have been unsealed. Read the affidavits, from @tylermcbrien.com.
Fulton Co. Election Office Search Warrant Affidavits Made Public
The release followed Judge J.P. Boulee’s order to unseal the docket on Feb. 7.
www.lawfaremedia.org

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

At 4:15 EST today, check out a conversation I'll be having with @simonwdc.bsky.social about the current moment in ICE enforcement, the rise in ICE detention, and ICE's new plan to literally warehouse immigrants. open.substack.com/live-stream/...
LIVE SOON: Live with Immigration Expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
Starting Feb 10 at 4:15 PM EST
open.substack.com
BREAKING: The supporting affidavit for the warrant to search Fulton County election records has been unsealed.

Read it via @lawfaremedia.org:

www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

It is out! We find that linked fate (or lack thereof) helps explain 2024 Trump support in young Latinos. @mattlamb.bsky.social @landgravephd.bsky.social spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

After a whirlwind year, ICE and CBP have a lot more resources—but also a lot more opposition.

On Lawfare Daily, @ericcolumbus.bsky.social sat down with @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social to discuss what is—and isn’t—likely to look different in the upcoming year of Trump administration immigration policy.
"If the government may simply seize *someone* without due process, there is no check on its ability to seize *anyone*."

Perhaps the most fundamental check against tyranny. And it is gravely threatened.
BONUS RULING: Judge Thomas Johnston, a George W. Bush appoiintee in West Virginia, used a recent ruling to warn of the dangers of defying due process for immigrants because of what it could also mean for Americans. It's worth a read.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
NEW: Federal judges are increasingly furious at what they see as a pattern / playbook of defiance by the Trump administration to court orders in immigration cases — in Minnesota and around the country.

Here’s a look at what they’re seeing: www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
How the Trump administration skirts — and defies — court rulings on ICE detentions
A POLITICO review of hundreds of cases brought by ICE detainees shows a pattern of noncompliance that has frustrated judges across the country.
www.politico.com
"A modern-day concentration camp ... People have been killed by the staff here." Irish citizen Seamus Culleton has been in ICE detention since September, despite having a valid work permit and his own business in the US.

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

I'm grateful a judge has terminated removal proceedings against Rümeysa Öztürk. But let’s be clear: she never should have faced removal in the first place.

Rümeysa is an example to us all of what it means to speak truth to power. Her courage and grace are inspiring.

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

This likely happened because a federal judge found that the termination of her student status was illegal and ordered it reinstated.
Tomorrow I will testify before subcommittee of House Judiciary Committee against the proposed "Preserving a Sharia-Free America Act," which would authorize exclusion/deportation of all or most non-citizen Muslim immigrants. My written testimony posted here: reason.com/wp-content/u...
reason.com
The Trump administration plans to rescind $600 million in public health funds from four states led by Democrats because it finds the grants “inconsistent with agency priorities,” according to documents reviewed by the NYT

Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/h...
Trump Administration to Cut $600 Million in Health Funding From Four States
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

NGO files disciplinary complaint w/Virginia State Bar alleging federal prosecutor who obtained warrant to search Wash Post reporter's home violated duty of candor in failing to notify court of applicability of the Privacy Protection Act (limiting searches of journalists' work product).
Bar Complaint Filed Over Search of Washington Post Reporter’s Home
www.nytimes.com
ICE has now spent over half a BILLION dollars just on purchasing warehouses around the country to convert into detention camps.

If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ICE to begin detaining immigrants inside Social Circle warehouse in April
Homeland Security plans to build warehouse detention facilities in other cities being met with opposition.
www.ajc.com
Check out Anna’s new book!
I don't have a publicist, therefore I am the publicist. New website for my forthcoming book. Please especially check out the Author Q&A at the end of the page (Why did i write the book? Who's it for?. Journos, pod-casters, museums can find my contact info & how to obtain a bound review copy. 1/
Book - Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship — Anna O. Law
www.annaolaw.com