Cathy Gellis
@cathygellis.bsky.social
Lawyer, writer, all-around-great person
I mostly post about technology, law, and civil liberties (especially free speech), and how they intersect. And mostly at Techdirt: https://www.techdirt.com/user/cathy/
I also post silly things too.
I mostly post about technology, law, and civil liberties (especially free speech), and how they intersect. And mostly at Techdirt: https://www.techdirt.com/user/cathy/
I also post silly things too.
Pinned
Cathy Gellis
@cathygellis.bsky.social
· Jan 3
Oaths Of Office, And How Everyone Not Moving To Impeach Trump Is Violating Their Own
Until very recently the only member of Congress excused from not having moved to impeach Trump was Rep. Grijalva, because until someone swore her in there was nothing she could officially do. But f…
www.techdirt.com
A reminder: any member of Congress not impeaching is violating their own oath of office.
It's not optional.
www.techdirt.com/2025/11/26/o...
It's not optional.
www.techdirt.com/2025/11/26/o...
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
I love how National R’s are learning the lesson and name of Senator Louise Lucas that Youngkin learned over the course of his term.
I kinda think that anyone who has “gerontocracy Dems bad” arguments needs to wrestle with the spectacular legislative effectiveness of Lucas.
I kinda think that anyone who has “gerontocracy Dems bad” arguments needs to wrestle with the spectacular legislative effectiveness of Lucas.
February 7, 2026 at 12:34 PM
I love how National R’s are learning the lesson and name of Senator Louise Lucas that Youngkin learned over the course of his term.
I kinda think that anyone who has “gerontocracy Dems bad” arguments needs to wrestle with the spectacular legislative effectiveness of Lucas.
I kinda think that anyone who has “gerontocracy Dems bad” arguments needs to wrestle with the spectacular legislative effectiveness of Lucas.
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
Says something about the humanity of the people we imprison that Jeffrey Epstein had to know they wouldn't be as genial to a mass child rapist as male billionaires, influencers, and academics were.
February 7, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Says something about the humanity of the people we imprison that Jeffrey Epstein had to know they wouldn't be as genial to a mass child rapist as male billionaires, influencers, and academics were.
Every time I think I might like to watch the Olympics, nope, I'm reminded again and again why I ignore them.
Wow, NBC edited out the audience booing JD Vance at the Olympics. And this is one of the few remaining news outlets NOT owned by right-wing billionaire Trump sycophants
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
NBC appears to cut crowd’s booing of JD Vance from Winter Olympics broadcast
The US vice-president, JD Vance, was greeted by a chorus of boos during when he appeared at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan on Friday
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Every time I think I might like to watch the Olympics, nope, I'm reminded again and again why I ignore them.
Every time I think I might like to watch the Olympics, nope, I'm reminded again and again why I ignore them.
I cannot sufficiently underline how despicable it is that the IOC has required Haitian Olympic athletes to remove an image representing the leader of the Haitian Revolution (against SLAVERY) from their uniforms.
February 7, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Every time I think I might like to watch the Olympics, nope, I'm reminded again and again why I ignore them.
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
I cannot sufficiently underline how despicable it is that the IOC has required Haitian Olympic athletes to remove an image representing the leader of the Haitian Revolution (against SLAVERY) from their uniforms.
February 6, 2026 at 11:43 PM
I cannot sufficiently underline how despicable it is that the IOC has required Haitian Olympic athletes to remove an image representing the leader of the Haitian Revolution (against SLAVERY) from their uniforms.
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
The State Department directive applies to all the department's active official X accounts, including accounts for U.S. embassies & missions, ambassadors and department bureaus and programs, according to internal guidance seen by NPR. Anyone wanting to see older posts will have to file a FOIA request
The policy change orders the removal of any post made by official State Department accounts on X before President Trump returned to office in 2025. n.pr/3MhYNoP
State Department will delete X posts from before Trump returned to office
The policy change orders the removal of any post made by official State Department accounts on X before President Trump returned to office in 2025.
n.pr
February 7, 2026 at 2:05 PM
The State Department directive applies to all the department's active official X accounts, including accounts for U.S. embassies & missions, ambassadors and department bureaus and programs, according to internal guidance seen by NPR. Anyone wanting to see older posts will have to file a FOIA request
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
it’s a moral abomination that SCOTUS decided in Rucho that partisan gerrymandering is nonjusticiable.
but if it’s a question for state legislatures, well, you’ll never guess what L. Louise Lucas has on her business card
but if it’s a question for state legislatures, well, you’ll never guess what L. Louise Lucas has on her business card
February 7, 2026 at 2:27 PM
it’s a moral abomination that SCOTUS decided in Rucho that partisan gerrymandering is nonjusticiable.
but if it’s a question for state legislatures, well, you’ll never guess what L. Louise Lucas has on her business card
but if it’s a question for state legislatures, well, you’ll never guess what L. Louise Lucas has on her business card
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
These federal buildings have cells designed to hold a few people for a brief period; like a holding cell at a police station. Supposed to be 12 hours max, usually less.
People are being held in them for 7-10 days, jammed in like sardines. It’s a nightmare.
People are being held in them for 7-10 days, jammed in like sardines. It’s a nightmare.
Concentration camps: stories of as many as 50 people to a cell — men and women in some cases — with no windows and limited airflow, a single camera-monitored toilet, aluminum blankets, no showers and poor quality food.
ICE detainees from Maine being held under ‘inhumane’ conditions in Mass. facility, attorneys say
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said the allegations of overcrowding and lack of access to lawyers are false.
www.pressherald.com
February 7, 2026 at 2:55 PM
These federal buildings have cells designed to hold a few people for a brief period; like a holding cell at a police station. Supposed to be 12 hours max, usually less.
People are being held in them for 7-10 days, jammed in like sardines. It’s a nightmare.
People are being held in them for 7-10 days, jammed in like sardines. It’s a nightmare.
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
Wow, NBC edited out the audience booing JD Vance at the Olympics. And this is one of the few remaining news outlets NOT owned by right-wing billionaire Trump sycophants
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
NBC appears to cut crowd’s booing of JD Vance from Winter Olympics broadcast
The US vice-president, JD Vance, was greeted by a chorus of boos during when he appeared at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan on Friday
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Wow, NBC edited out the audience booing JD Vance at the Olympics. And this is one of the few remaining news outlets NOT owned by right-wing billionaire Trump sycophants
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
Reviewing video from Fulton County elections raid.
Taken aback by the dismissive & sneering attitude from FBI agents toward the cop politely asking to see the warrant.
Looked him up: He's an immigrant w/ a doctorate in philosophy. His thesis? "Force by police officers toward African Americans."
Taken aback by the dismissive & sneering attitude from FBI agents toward the cop politely asking to see the warrant.
Looked him up: He's an immigrant w/ a doctorate in philosophy. His thesis? "Force by police officers toward African Americans."
February 6, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Reviewing video from Fulton County elections raid.
Taken aback by the dismissive & sneering attitude from FBI agents toward the cop politely asking to see the warrant.
Looked him up: He's an immigrant w/ a doctorate in philosophy. His thesis? "Force by police officers toward African Americans."
Taken aback by the dismissive & sneering attitude from FBI agents toward the cop politely asking to see the warrant.
Looked him up: He's an immigrant w/ a doctorate in philosophy. His thesis? "Force by police officers toward African Americans."
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
I'm sorry to keep on harping on this, but Germany, the UK, France, and Italy all have economies bigger than Russia's. Russia's economy is about as big as Canada's. Japan has roughly the same population as Russia, with an economy 175% larger. So, why does Russia get to be the world power? 1/x
February 7, 2026 at 2:04 PM
I'm sorry to keep on harping on this, but Germany, the UK, France, and Italy all have economies bigger than Russia's. Russia's economy is about as big as Canada's. Japan has roughly the same population as Russia, with an economy 175% larger. So, why does Russia get to be the world power? 1/x
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
The Washington Post Editorial Board, trying to sell Bad Bunny to conservatives
February 7, 2026 at 1:51 PM
The Washington Post Editorial Board, trying to sell Bad Bunny to conservatives
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
At one point, the FBI supervisory agent tells Fulton Clerk of Courts Che Alexander that he won't be filling out any paperwork for her — and she won't know who FBI agents are who seized her records.
February 6, 2026 at 4:23 PM
At one point, the FBI supervisory agent tells Fulton Clerk of Courts Che Alexander that he won't be filling out any paperwork for her — and she won't know who FBI agents are who seized her records.
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
Chris Whipple said something in a NYT op-ed the other day that accords what I took away from his Vanity Fair profile of Susie Wiles. The reason she said so many batshit things to him is she doesn't understand that normies will recognize them as batshit.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...
February 7, 2026 at 1:23 PM
Chris Whipple said something in a NYT op-ed the other day that accords what I took away from his Vanity Fair profile of Susie Wiles. The reason she said so many batshit things to him is she doesn't understand that normies will recognize them as batshit.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...
This is how we got Brexit. Lots of people didn't mean it, they were just mad.
Just saw a lady quoted in a local small town paper say she signed the separatist petition even though she doesn’t want to separate but wants to “send a message” and I’m just beside myself
Like this isn’t a fucking joke lady
Like this isn’t a fucking joke lady
February 7, 2026 at 2:13 PM
This is how we got Brexit. Lots of people didn't mean it, they were just mad.
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
Reading this commentary by @ameliagentleman.bsky.social, I may have to update the message I send to decline without changes when invited to speak on a manel.
Considering using the line "This event seems as male as an Epstein dinner."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Considering using the line "This event seems as male as an Epstein dinner."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Sex and snacks, but no seat at the table: the role of women in Epstein’s sordid men’s club
Files reveal a world of flattery and fratboy tones, where rich men are cultivated and women provide services
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 1:23 PM
Reading this commentary by @ameliagentleman.bsky.social, I may have to update the message I send to decline without changes when invited to speak on a manel.
Considering using the line "This event seems as male as an Epstein dinner."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Considering using the line "This event seems as male as an Epstein dinner."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
Trust me, the woman of academia are not at all surprised by the number of academic men orbiting Epstein.
February 7, 2026 at 1:19 PM
Trust me, the woman of academia are not at all surprised by the number of academic men orbiting Epstein.
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
February 7, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
They didn't count on an 82 year old Black woman. Of course, they didn't.
I love her!
I love her!
February 7, 2026 at 12:52 PM
They didn't count on an 82 year old Black woman. Of course, they didn't.
I love her!
I love her!
Thinking about 19th Century England, when the aristocracy adopted strict rules of etiquette out of a sense of survival, because they realized that if they kept acting badly the proletariat was going to rise up and kick their ass.
This is bleak: Jes Staley, currently CEO of Barclays, reassuring Epstein that popular revolt against financial elites is unlikely because capitalism and pop culture have defanged social movements, leaving people more invested in consumption than justice.
February 7, 2026 at 1:35 PM
Thinking about 19th Century England, when the aristocracy adopted strict rules of etiquette out of a sense of survival, because they realized that if they kept acting badly the proletariat was going to rise up and kick their ass.
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
hard to think of a better example of "you may not believe in class war, but billionaires know they're in one" than this
This is bleak: Jes Staley, currently CEO of Barclays, reassuring Epstein that popular revolt against financial elites is unlikely because capitalism and pop culture have defanged social movements, leaving people more invested in consumption than justice.
February 7, 2026 at 3:53 AM
hard to think of a better example of "you may not believe in class war, but billionaires know they're in one" than this
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
Here are the district court judges from within the Fifth Circuit who—as of Judge Kaplan's 11/26/25 decision (listing all of the decisions)—agreed with the Trump admin's mandatory detention argument, in order of their appointment.
tl;dr: It was two Trump appointees.
tl;dr: It was two Trump appointees.
February 7, 2026 at 6:48 AM
Here are the district court judges from within the Fifth Circuit who—as of Judge Kaplan's 11/26/25 decision (listing all of the decisions)—agreed with the Trump admin's mandatory detention argument, in order of their appointment.
tl;dr: It was two Trump appointees.
tl;dr: It was two Trump appointees.
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
“Late Friday night, the Fifth Circuit adopted the extreme minority view—that the government can indefinitely detain without bond millions of non-citizens who have been here for generations; who have never committed a crime; and who pose neither a risk of flight nor any threat to public safety.”
208. The Fifth Circuit Jumps the Immigration Detention Shark
Late Friday, two of the nation's most right-wing circuit judges adopted an odious legal claim that district court judges from across the country (and ideological spectrum) have overwhelmingly rejected
www.stevevladeck.com
February 7, 2026 at 12:34 PM
“Late Friday night, the Fifth Circuit adopted the extreme minority view—that the government can indefinitely detain without bond millions of non-citizens who have been here for generations; who have never committed a crime; and who pose neither a risk of flight nor any threat to public safety.”
Reposted by Cathy Gellis
“CBS LA: Video shows immigration agents clashing with protesters in Ventura County”
This ICE-hole picked up this small woman in a hat and dress, then slammed her on the concrete. Then, when a male bystander tried to help her, they blasted him with pepper spray!
#FuckICE #ProudBlue #ICE
This ICE-hole picked up this small woman in a hat and dress, then slammed her on the concrete. Then, when a male bystander tried to help her, they blasted him with pepper spray!
#FuckICE #ProudBlue #ICE
February 7, 2026 at 3:44 AM
“CBS LA: Video shows immigration agents clashing with protesters in Ventura County”
This ICE-hole picked up this small woman in a hat and dress, then slammed her on the concrete. Then, when a male bystander tried to help her, they blasted him with pepper spray!
#FuckICE #ProudBlue #ICE
This ICE-hole picked up this small woman in a hat and dress, then slammed her on the concrete. Then, when a male bystander tried to help her, they blasted him with pepper spray!
#FuckICE #ProudBlue #ICE