Don Dechert
@dondechert.bsky.social
Lawyer, veteran. Ex-baby historian, current litigator, lapsed social scientist, still playing TTRPGs. Unabashedly pro-cat because cats are awesome. Various thoughts, some well articulated in 🇺🇲/🇩🇪.
📍Chicago, IL, Vereinigte Staaten, Terra
📍Chicago, IL, Vereinigte Staaten, Terra
Pinned
Don Dechert
@dondechert.bsky.social
· Dec 27
I'm a lawyer with a lot of interests. I went to law school after getting my MA in social science from U Chicago, which I got after transitioning from active duty Army to the Reserves. I still play TTRPGs (and have soft spot for Battletech). And cats are awesome. Manchmal auch auf Deutsch.
Reposted by Don Dechert
The rats are scrambling to protect their boy.
Shame on you Times for publishing this turd.
Shame on you Times for publishing this turd.
“The Trump administration was entirely correct to prioritize deportations after the collapse of immigration enforcement under his predecessors,” our columnist Ross Douthat writes, but “misplaced priorities and excessive brutality have created a debacle.”
Opinion | The Dream Palace of the Immigration Hard-Liners
Is this really the only way to enforce the law?
nyti.ms
January 28, 2026 at 3:49 AM
The rats are scrambling to protect their boy.
Shame on you Times for publishing this turd.
Shame on you Times for publishing this turd.
Reposted by Don Dechert
Free speech absolutism is so interesting
January 28, 2026 at 12:58 AM
Free speech absolutism is so interesting
Reposted by Don Dechert
These sorts of questions deserve more attention, if we’re discussing what to do now or what to do after.
A vast misinformation disparity exists between right and left, and these guys are likely on the far end of that.
A vast misinformation disparity exists between right and left, and these guys are likely on the far end of that.
I am very curious to hear what myths ICE/CBP guys tell each other while binge drinking in their hotel rooms. Do they think the legal observers are communists? Do they know they're breaking any laws? Do they think Trump has pardons in his desk drawer for them?
They've given the literal dumbest guys in America a military arsenal, a blank check, and immunity to do whatever they want. How fucking stupid do you have to be to break into a consulate?
January 28, 2026 at 12:37 AM
These sorts of questions deserve more attention, if we’re discussing what to do now or what to do after.
A vast misinformation disparity exists between right and left, and these guys are likely on the far end of that.
A vast misinformation disparity exists between right and left, and these guys are likely on the far end of that.
Reposted by Don Dechert
This is why I want Congress to conduct a criminal investigation on this issue: the failure to fully investigate Renee Good and Alex Pretti’s death was just the tip of the spear. The Trump Administration DOJ and FBI have not been conducting ANY investigations on officer-involved shootings.
January 28, 2026 at 12:27 AM
This is why I want Congress to conduct a criminal investigation on this issue: the failure to fully investigate Renee Good and Alex Pretti’s death was just the tip of the spear. The Trump Administration DOJ and FBI have not been conducting ANY investigations on officer-involved shootings.
Seems safe & legit.
January 28, 2026 at 12:27 AM
Seems safe & legit.
Reposted by Don Dechert
Important: Kash Patel’s egregiously anti-first-amendment statements here and Cam Higby’s claim to have “infiltrated” huge ICE-monitoring chats do NOT mean Signal is somehow “compromised.”
“An asshole manages to get added to some massive + intentionally minimally-screened chats” is not surprising.
“An asshole manages to get added to some massive + intentionally minimally-screened chats” is not surprising.
FBI is investigating Minnesota Signal groups tracking ICE, Patel says
FBI Director Kash Patel made the statement after right-wing media figures said they joined the chats and claimed participants were obstructing law enforcement.
www.nbcnews.com
January 27, 2026 at 1:23 AM
Important: Kash Patel’s egregiously anti-first-amendment statements here and Cam Higby’s claim to have “infiltrated” huge ICE-monitoring chats do NOT mean Signal is somehow “compromised.”
“An asshole manages to get added to some massive + intentionally minimally-screened chats” is not surprising.
“An asshole manages to get added to some massive + intentionally minimally-screened chats” is not surprising.
Reposted by Don Dechert
From "Minnesota Proved MAGA Wrong" by Adam Serwer.
Recommended. [gift link]
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Recommended. [gift link]
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
January 27, 2026 at 11:44 PM
From "Minnesota Proved MAGA Wrong" by Adam Serwer.
Recommended. [gift link]
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Recommended. [gift link]
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Reposted by Don Dechert
It's funny because higher education for cops, like all police reforms, has been tried before.
Look at these headlines from 1914 where people panicked classroom learning would make crime run rampant...and then think about how the NYPD just lowered education requirements. We're stuck in this cycle.
Look at these headlines from 1914 where people panicked classroom learning would make crime run rampant...and then think about how the NYPD just lowered education requirements. We're stuck in this cycle.
January 27, 2026 at 9:20 PM
It's funny because higher education for cops, like all police reforms, has been tried before.
Look at these headlines from 1914 where people panicked classroom learning would make crime run rampant...and then think about how the NYPD just lowered education requirements. We're stuck in this cycle.
Look at these headlines from 1914 where people panicked classroom learning would make crime run rampant...and then think about how the NYPD just lowered education requirements. We're stuck in this cycle.
Reposted by Don Dechert
More and more people are saying this (seriously today seems to be a turning point on discourse)
Abolish DHS. If you can imagine a world before Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, you can imagine a world without the Department of Homeland Security. My latest at @startribune.com. (gift link)
Perry: Abolish ICE? How about DHS altogether.
"We have models for how to structure federal immigration oversight that doesn't rely on an unaccountable masked secret police force running rampant in our streets," David M. Perry writes.
www.startribune.com
January 27, 2026 at 11:50 PM
More and more people are saying this (seriously today seems to be a turning point on discourse)
Reposted by Don Dechert
"10,109 doctoral-trained experts in science and related fields left their jobs last year as President Donald Trump dramatically shrank the overall federal workforce."
www.science.org/content/arti...
#edchat #HigherEd #AcademicSky #STEM #PhdChat #research #edtech
www.science.org/content/arti...
#edchat #HigherEd #AcademicSky #STEM #PhdChat #research #edtech
U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office
A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies
www.science.org
January 27, 2026 at 8:26 AM
"10,109 doctoral-trained experts in science and related fields left their jobs last year as President Donald Trump dramatically shrank the overall federal workforce."
www.science.org/content/arti...
#edchat #HigherEd #AcademicSky #STEM #PhdChat #research #edtech
www.science.org/content/arti...
#edchat #HigherEd #AcademicSky #STEM #PhdChat #research #edtech
Reposted by Don Dechert
Has anyone tracked how much this administration has spent? Like a running tab on the cost of all these cops and troops and missiles etc?
January 27, 2026 at 10:48 PM
Has anyone tracked how much this administration has spent? Like a running tab on the cost of all these cops and troops and missiles etc?
Reposted by Don Dechert
Just had an absolutely fascinating exchange with @hikikomorphism.bsky.social on the use of generative AI in law, which resulted in me crafting a question designed to trip an AI up in numerous ways; the AI correctly identifying those traps; and then getting the answer spectacularly wrong anyway. 1/x
modern deep research tools are pretty good. Out of curiousity, would you be willing to give me a question that would require nontrivial research? something you know the answer to, where the answer is tweet-length? I'll run it through a deep research tool and respond with the summarized output
January 27, 2026 at 10:31 PM
Just had an absolutely fascinating exchange with @hikikomorphism.bsky.social on the use of generative AI in law, which resulted in me crafting a question designed to trip an AI up in numerous ways; the AI correctly identifying those traps; and then getting the answer spectacularly wrong anyway. 1/x
Reposted by Don Dechert
Yikes. An attorney was sanctioned for filing an AI brief that contained fake cases and quotes. And instead of taking responsibility, she threw her law clerk under the bus.
The Opinion notes she "then fired a new lawyer rather than train this new lawyer"
Link:
www.law360.com/pulse/articl...
The Opinion notes she "then fired a new lawyer rather than train this new lawyer"
Link:
www.law360.com/pulse/articl...
Pulse
News and analysis on legal developments including litigation filings, case settlements, verdicts, regulation, enforcement, legislation, corporate deals, and business of law.
www.law360.com
January 27, 2026 at 10:22 PM
Yikes. An attorney was sanctioned for filing an AI brief that contained fake cases and quotes. And instead of taking responsibility, she threw her law clerk under the bus.
The Opinion notes she "then fired a new lawyer rather than train this new lawyer"
Link:
www.law360.com/pulse/articl...
The Opinion notes she "then fired a new lawyer rather than train this new lawyer"
Link:
www.law360.com/pulse/articl...
Reposted by Don Dechert
Fundraisers linked in comments
Current status of the fundraisers for those killed by ICE:
Renee Good: $1,499,580
Alex Pretti: $1,289,249
Keith Porter, Jr. $302,423
Parady La: $45,848
Heber Sanchez Dominguez: $47,991
Luis Beltrán Yanez Cruz: $18,640
Victor Manuel Diaz: $2,538
Geraldo Lunas: $2,260
Luis Gustavo Núñez: $1,935
Renee Good: $1,499,580
Alex Pretti: $1,289,249
Keith Porter, Jr. $302,423
Parady La: $45,848
Heber Sanchez Dominguez: $47,991
Luis Beltrán Yanez Cruz: $18,640
Victor Manuel Diaz: $2,538
Geraldo Lunas: $2,260
Luis Gustavo Núñez: $1,935
January 27, 2026 at 10:24 PM
Fundraisers linked in comments
Don't you want to see the demarche exchange over whether Art 31 of Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) applies (it does)?
1/27/2026 - Minneapolis
ICE just attempted an illegal entry into the ECUADORIAN CONSULATE to abduct someone
They did not have a warrant
ICE just attempted an illegal entry into the ECUADORIAN CONSULATE to abduct someone
They did not have a warrant
January 27, 2026 at 10:24 PM
Don't you want to see the demarche exchange over whether Art 31 of Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) applies (it does)?
Reposted by Don Dechert
Bruh
Opinion | To Avoid More Tragic Deaths, ICE Needs Higher Education and Training Standards
Higher ed can play an important role in making federal immigration enforcement safer. https://bit.ly/4bRR5fx
#EDUSKy #HigherEd #AcademicSky
Higher ed can play an important role in making federal immigration enforcement safer. https://bit.ly/4bRR5fx
#EDUSKy #HigherEd #AcademicSky
January 27, 2026 at 10:12 PM
Bruh
Reposted by Don Dechert
There are (fairly safe) special elections for the Minnesota House of Representatives today to replace two DFL members who have moved on to other offices. But even once they're sworn in, the House will be tied between Rs and Ds. One more DFL win in the House might have made a moratorium possible.
Minneapolis has seen a stunning 1,646% spike in calls from families who can't pay rent because they're afraid to leave their homes to work.
This is state violence manufacturing housing precarity in real time.
People should not be facing eviction when their city is under occupation.
This is state violence manufacturing housing precarity in real time.
People should not be facing eviction when their city is under occupation.
Hotline operators report flood of calls for rental assistance as residents hide during ICE surge
211 calls from Spanish-speakers have increased more than 1,600 percent and requests for rental assistance have more than tripled, according to Greater Twin Cities United Way. Local officials are pushi...
www.mprnews.org
January 27, 2026 at 10:13 PM
There are (fairly safe) special elections for the Minnesota House of Representatives today to replace two DFL members who have moved on to other offices. But even once they're sworn in, the House will be tied between Rs and Ds. One more DFL win in the House might have made a moratorium possible.
Oh man, those bring back some memories. One of the greatest inventions known to modern life.
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
The old familiar sting
January 27, 2026 at 10:10 PM
Oh man, those bring back some memories. One of the greatest inventions known to modern life.
Reposted by Don Dechert
As more false quotes, fake court cases and incorrect information appear in legal documents generated by artificial intelligence, state bar associations, state court systems and national law organizations are issuing guidance on its use in the legal field ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/01/27/r...
As AI-generated fake content mars legal cases, states want guardrails • Ohio Capital Journal
As more false quotes, fake court cases and incorrect information appear in legal documents generated by artificial intelligence, state bar associations, state court systems and national law…
ohiocapitaljournal.com
January 27, 2026 at 9:30 PM
As more false quotes, fake court cases and incorrect information appear in legal documents generated by artificial intelligence, state bar associations, state court systems and national law organizations are issuing guidance on its use in the legal field ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/01/27/r...
Reposted by Don Dechert
This is embarrassingly on-the-nose textbook “psychology of fascism” stuff. Bitter, impotent tools getting to feel powerful by proxy watching brutality done on their behalf.
Tim Pool: “I’m not licking the boot. It’s my boot. I voted for it. I’m the one stomping…”
This mindset is genuinely pathetic.
It’s an alpha fantasy: watching state violence and imagining you’re exercising power rather than the one submitting to it.
/1
This mindset is genuinely pathetic.
It’s an alpha fantasy: watching state violence and imagining you’re exercising power rather than the one submitting to it.
/1
January 27, 2026 at 1:00 PM
This is embarrassingly on-the-nose textbook “psychology of fascism” stuff. Bitter, impotent tools getting to feel powerful by proxy watching brutality done on their behalf.
Reposted by Don Dechert
I think what a lot of folks miss is how profitable deportation is for the corporations involved & the politicians they're backing.
Holding people, physically removing them, is cost for the taxpayer & profit into the pockets of the worst people you can imagine.
Holding people, physically removing them, is cost for the taxpayer & profit into the pockets of the worst people you can imagine.
January 27, 2026 at 9:12 PM
I think what a lot of folks miss is how profitable deportation is for the corporations involved & the politicians they're backing.
Holding people, physically removing them, is cost for the taxpayer & profit into the pockets of the worst people you can imagine.
Holding people, physically removing them, is cost for the taxpayer & profit into the pockets of the worst people you can imagine.
Reposted by Don Dechert
Who do you aspire to be a Temu of?
I think my best aspirational form is Temu @stevevladeck.bsky.social
I think my best aspirational form is Temu @stevevladeck.bsky.social
Someone sent me a screen of a Twitter weirdo I’d happily forgotten proclaiming Radley Balko is a low budget Popehat.
I beg your pardon, Popehat is a Temu Radley Balko.
I beg your pardon, Popehat is a Temu Radley Balko.
January 27, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Who do you aspire to be a Temu of?
I think my best aspirational form is Temu @stevevladeck.bsky.social
I think my best aspirational form is Temu @stevevladeck.bsky.social
Reposted by Don Dechert
as an university staff member:
GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE WITH THIS BULLSHIT
GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE WITH THIS BULLSHIT
Opinion | To Avoid More Tragic Deaths, ICE Needs Higher Education and Training Standards
Higher ed can play an important role in making federal immigration enforcement safer. https://bit.ly/4bRR5fx
#EDUSKy #HigherEd #AcademicSky
Higher ed can play an important role in making federal immigration enforcement safer. https://bit.ly/4bRR5fx
#EDUSKy #HigherEd #AcademicSky
January 27, 2026 at 9:04 PM
as an university staff member:
GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE WITH THIS BULLSHIT
GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE WITH THIS BULLSHIT
Reposted by Don Dechert
One time was enough thanks
not if I can help it
January 26, 2026 at 6:36 PM
One time was enough thanks
Reposted by Don Dechert
By the way, if anyone in the world should be doing an intellectual victory lap, it's @attackerman.bsky.social. Basically all of contemporary US history is a vindication of Ackerman Thought.
Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump
Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump [Ackerman, Spencer] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump
www.amazon.com
January 27, 2026 at 8:34 PM
By the way, if anyone in the world should be doing an intellectual victory lap, it's @attackerman.bsky.social. Basically all of contemporary US history is a vindication of Ackerman Thought.