Robert C. Richards

Robert Richards

@rrichard09.bsky.social

2.9K followers 8.3K following 470 posts

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

Videos

Political science 19%

Environmental science 17%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 3h

Today, I was proud to be in Little Village to honor Veterans Day and the life of Miguel Perez.

Governor Pritzker stands at a monument honoring Manuel Perez.

A person hands a placard to a family member of Miguel Perez

Gov. Pritzker, Sen. Duckworth and Rep. Garcia appear side by side while listen to a speaker.

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Rep. Veronica Escobar @repescobar.bsky.social · 7h

Are you interested in interning with my DC or El Paso office for Spring 2026? Applications for both offices close this month!

For more information on how to submit applications and learn more about the internship, visit my website: escobar.house.gov/services/int...

Internships

Congresswoman Escobar with Fall 2024 Washington, D.C. Interns Congresswoman Escobar offers both part-time and full-time internships in her El Paso office and full-time internships in Washington, DC of...

escobar.house.gov

Reposted by Steve Peers, Robert C. Richards, David Darmofal

Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 8h

Breaking: Mike Johnson just announced that he'll swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva on Wednesday at 4pm ET.

Reposted by Daniel W. Drezner, Robert C. Richards, Manisha Sinha , and 1 more Daniel W. Drezner, Robert C. Richards, Manisha Sinha, David Darmofal

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 10h

This is really something. Trump/GOP efforts to rig midterms running into serious trouble

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 10h

To our nation’s Veterans and their families: Thank you.

Thank you for answering the call to serve and for the sacrifices you have made in the name of freedom and safety for all Americans.

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Congressman Don Beyer @beyer.house.gov · 11h

This morning, I had the honor of joining the Veterans of Foreign Wars John Lyon Post 3150 in Arlington to pay tribute to those who have served our country.

Thank you to all who have served, and to the families who stand beside them.

Happy Veterans Day!

Reposted by Steve Peers, Robert C. Richards

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 14h

NEW: Campaign for Accountability files bar complaint against Lindsey Halligan, alleging that she violated multiple rules of professional conduct related to the prosecution of James Comey and Letitia James.

Read the complaint: www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

CfA - FL + VA Bar Complaint - Lindsey Halligan

www.documentcloud.org

Reposted by Patrick Dunleavy, Christopher Wright, Jonathan Hopkin , and 7 more Patrick Dunleavy, Christopher Wright, Jonathan Hopkin, Robert C. Richards, Lindsay M. Tedds, Jacob T. Levy, Rasmus K. Storm, Stephen Jones, Georg Weizsäcker, Roman Senninger

Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 14h

I wonder if the United States can learn anything from the last time a major industrialized country decided to isolate itself from the rest of the world?

Almost a decade after the Brexit vote, GDP in the UK is around 6-8% lower relative to peer countries. (Source: www.nber.org/papers/w34459)

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

U.S. Representative Al Green @algreen.house.gov · 15h

Today and every day, we proudly salute our nation’s brave veterans for having made incredible sacrifices.
We honor them by providing services for them. Click the link below to see some of the services provided for them at our VA hospitals. #HappyVeteransDay

www.va.gov/houston-heal...

Community Resource Reference Guide | Veterans Affairs

This resource page serves as a bridge between the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and our coalition partners, in our collective commitment to enhance accessibility to resources and care coordinat...

www.va.gov

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Robert C. Richards, Aaron Sojourner , and 2 more Brendan Nyhan, Robert C. Richards, Aaron Sojourner, Daniel Kuehn, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Trevon Logan @trevondlogan.bsky.social · 18h

This Veterans Day I want to acknowledge the Black veterans of WWII who fought fascism and nazism and came home to fight for civil rights and democracy here. New research shows Black veterans were critical in securing the voting rights currently under attack.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Homefront: Black Servicemembers and Black Voters in the Civil Rights Era

The role of Black World War II veterans in the Civil Rights Movement has been well documented, but the effect of Black military service on Black voting patterns remains unclear. Combining detailed in...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Brian L. Frye @brianlfrye.bsky.social · 1d

I couldn’t be more delighted to announce that I’ve accepted an offer to join the faculty of Tulane Law School. law.tulane.edu/news/tulane-...

Tulane Law Welcomes Professor Brian Frye to the Faculty

Tulane University Law School News

law.tulane.edu

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Will Jennings, Steven S. Smith , and 8 more Anna O. Law, Will Jennings, Steven S. Smith, American Library Association, Gernot Wagner, Robert C. Richards, Melanie C. Green, Aaron Sojourner, Michael Zimmer, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Susan Strasser

Ben Penn @benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 1d

Buried inside the deal to reopen government is a provision that would give Senators private right of action to sue for millions in damages over their phone records being analyzed by Jack Smith's team.
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Shutdown Deal Would Let Senators Sue Over Jack Smith Searches

Senators whose phone records were sought by Special Counsel Jack Smith would gain authority to sue for millions in damages under a provision buried in the Senate-advanced deal to reopen the government...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 1d

I'm struck by the vision and leadership that Dr. Susan Monarez could have provided for the CDC. Her remarkable resilience, in spite of what she has been through, is inspiring.
Our conversation: erictopol.substack.com/p/dr-susan-m... and a clip from it here

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Alicia Wanless @lageneralista.ca · 1d

In case you missed the DC launch, @carnegieendowment.org has you covered with the full video - wherein @benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org made the best of introductions and @verambergen.bsky.social adeptly dealt with my lack of answers: carnegieendowment.org/events/2025/...

The Information Animal: Are Humans in a Competition for Reality?

Join the Carnegie Endowment’s Technology and International Affairs Program for a conversation with Vera Bergengruen, national security reporter at The Wall Street Journal, and Dr. Alicia Wanless to di...

carnegieendowment.org

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Laurent Pech, Robert C. Richards , and 1 more Marc Lynch, Laurent Pech, Robert C. Richards, Daxton R. Stewart

Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 1d

Over the last 10 months, the federal government has cracked down on political expression with a persistence and viciousness reminiscent of some of the darkest periods of U.S. history. Welcome to the Third Red Scare.

The First Amendment Won’t Go Quietly

Welcome to the third Red Scare.

www.theatlantic.com

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Robert C. Richards, Andrew Jacobs , and 5 more Anna O. Law, Robert C. Richards, Andrew Jacobs, James Goodwin, Ann Bartow, Eric J. Segall, David S. Tanenhaus, David Darmofal

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 1d

New: The Supreme Court DENIES Kim Davis' request to overturn Obergefell, the marriage equality decision. No noted dissents. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...

DAVIS, KIM V. ERMOLD, DAVID, ET AL.
The motion of Foundation for Moral Law for leave to file a
brief as amicus curiae out of time is denied. The petition for
a writ of certiorari is denied.

Reposted by Will Jennings, Peter Thorne, Brendan Nyhan , and 10 more Will Jennings, Peter Thorne, Brendan Nyhan, Cathy N. Davidson, Robert C. Richards, Michael W. Kraus, Aaron Sojourner, McKenzie Wark, Anastasia Salter, Kate Starbird, Mark Rice, Ann Bartow, Henry Jones

Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 2d

Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.

He is a computer safety researcher.

And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.

In under 1600 words.

aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...

I Want You to Understand Chicago
Politics Chicago
2025-11-08

I want you to understand what it is like to live in Chicago during this time.

Every day my phone buzzes. It is a neighborhood group: four people were kidnapped at the corner drugstore. A friend a mile away sends a Slack message: she was at the scene when masked men assaulted and abducted two people on the street. A plumber working on my pipes is distraught, and I find out that two of his employees were kidnapped that morning. A week later it happens again.

An email arrives. Agents with guns have chased a teacher into the school where she works. They did not have a warrant. They dragged her away, ignoring her and her colleagues’ pleas to show proof of her documentation. That evening I stand a few feet from the parents of Rayito de Sol and listen to them describe, with anguish, how good Ms. Diana was to their children. What it is like to have strangers with guns traumatize your kids. For a teacher to hide a three-year-old child for fear they might be killed. How their relatives will no longer leave the house. I hear the pain and fury in their voices, and I wonder who will be next.

Understand what it is to pray in Chicago. On September 19th, Reverend David Black, lead pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, was praying outside the ICE detention center in Broadview when a DHS agent shot him in the head with pepper balls. Pepper balls are never supposed to be fired at the head because they can seriously injure, or even kill. “We could hear them laughing as they were shooting us from the roof,” Black recalled. He is not the only member of the clergy ICE has assaulted. Methodist pastor Hannah Kardon was violently arrested on October 17th, and Baptist pastor Michael Woolf was shot with pepper balls on November 1st.

Understand what it is to sleep in Chicago. On the night of September 30th, federal agents rappelled from a Black Hawk helicopter to execute a raid on an apartment building on the South Sho…

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 2d

ICYMI: I reviewed hundreds of internal FBI emails and documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

The records appear to undermine a core premise underlying the charges against James Comey.

My latest for @lawfaremedia.org:

www.lawfaremedia.org/article/more...

More Trouble for the Comey Indictment?

Public documents may undermine a core premise underlying the charges against James Comey.

www.lawfaremedia.org

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Kate Klonick @klonick.bsky.social · 2d

Judge Mark Wolf resigns from the District Court of Massachusetts and writes why in a powerful piece in the Atlantic.

One thing he doesn’t mention in his list of reasons but I’m sure is a factor:

Erez Reuveni was one of his law clerks.

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

Why I Am Resigning

A federal judge explains his reasoning for leaving the bench.

www.theatlantic.com

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Anna O. Law, Jennifer A. Richeson , and 3 more Joanna Bryson, Anna O. Law, Jennifer A. Richeson, Steve Peers, Robert C. Richards, W. Andy Knight

Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 2d

And now, if you read the devastating piece about what Venezuelan deportees endured at the El Salvador torture prison, read what incarcerated U.S. citizens endure in Alabama prisons.

State prisons in the U.S. that are massive systems of human rights violations.
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...

‘How is this possible?’: a new film looks inside the appalling abuses of the Alabama prison system

In the year’s most shocking documentary, The Alabama Solution, prisoners share astonishing footage in a plea for help

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Robert C. Richards, Henry Farrell

Timothy McBride @mcbridetd.bsky.social · 2d

Israeli Academics Find Themselves Isolated Despite Gaza Cease-Fire www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/w...

Israeli Academics Find Themselves Isolated Despite Gaza Cease-Fire

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

David Cole @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social · 2d

I look forward to defending free speech from its progressive critics — and conservative assailants == as the Tanner Letures Nov. 12 and 13 @princeton.edu

A timely topic, sadly

lectures.princeton.edu/lectures/202...

Tanner Lecture on Human Values: David D. Cole

Progressives have increasingly lost faith in the First Amendment—at least as it has been interpreted and applied by the Supreme Court. They argue that free speech has been “weaponized” by big busines...

lectures.princeton.edu

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 2d

And….scene.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/u...

After Law Firm Deals With Trump, D.C. Bar Warns of Ethical Jeopardy

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Sarah Fackrell @design-law.bsky.social · 2d

This may be a long shot but: Is anyone on here an expert the laws relating to Illinois non-profit corporations? I'm particularly interested in what information on such groups the public is entitled to.

I searched here and the results are pretty threadbare (no officers list, no documents, etc.):

apps.ilsos.gov

Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Timothy Hla @hlatim.bsky.social · 2d

A non biologic PCSK9 inhibitor could be a game changer! www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/h...

New Pill From Merck Could Slash Cholesterol Levels, Trials Show

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Robert C. Richards, Manisha Sinha

Anna O. Law @unlawfulentries.bsky.social · 2d

March 10 is the release date of the book that took me 16 years to research and write. Here's the PRE-ORDER page: global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Oxford University Press webpage of Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship--African Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants by Anna O. Law. paperback is $29.99

Reposted by Robert C. Richards, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 3d

Video on social media shows an immigration agent pulling a gun in Little Village and holding it to the side — which is not an appropriate or safe way to hold a gun. (Among other issues.)

Reposted by Steve Peers, Robert C. Richards

Lynda Lopez @lyndab08.bsky.social · 3d

“Next to the car, a man screamed and stripped off his shirt. Another woman spoke to him in Spanish, telling him to let her put water on his head. The man and the baby had both been hit by pepper spray.”