julie niesen
@julieniesen.bsky.social
hurt a cop’s feelings & he paid my legal bills. police accountability advocate, former food writer (Gannett, NPR, Scripps) & tech marketer (Cisco, Zebra). Now: 3L, event pro, consultant & biz owner. formerly winemedineme.
In case you think I only rage and study, I also enjoy smart, horny girlypop and occasionally will do a whirlwind overnight to see it.
November 7, 2025 at 11:51 AM
In case you think I only rage and study, I also enjoy smart, horny girlypop and occasionally will do a whirlwind overnight to see it.
Reposted by julie niesen
Great and important reporting here. But the administration has been pretty clear about how these judges need to rule in order to keep their jobs. So I think we’re well beyond perception of fairness.
Immigration judges with prior immigrant defense work make up the largest share of those fired by the Trump admin. NPR identified 70 fired immigration judges. The changes have at least shifted perception of fairness in these courts
My latest investigation: www.npr.org/2025/11/06/g...
My latest investigation: www.npr.org/2025/11/06/g...
The DOJ has been firing judges with immigrant defense backgrounds
NPR's data analysis shows that the DOJ has tended to fire judges with immigrant defense backgrounds in its recent rounds of dismissals.
www.npr.org
November 7, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Great and important reporting here. But the administration has been pretty clear about how these judges need to rule in order to keep their jobs. So I think we’re well beyond perception of fairness.
I am heartened by this. A little.
BREAKING: An Illinois jury convicted a former sheriff’s deputy of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Sonya Massey, a Black woman who had called 911 asking for help.
Illinois deputy found guilty of murder in the shooting of Sonya Massey, a Black woman who called 911
An Illinois jury has convicted a former sheriff’s deputy of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Sonya Massey, a Black woman who called 911 for help.
bit.ly
October 29, 2025 at 7:48 PM
I am heartened by this. A little.
I’m just waiting for Farmer’s Insurance to go after a local council candidate.
Ohhhhhh my god. www.michiganpublic.org/politics-gov...
Campbell's Soup sues Michigan congressional candidate over logo
Campbell’s Soup filed a lawsuit Friday against a candidate running for Michigan's 13th Congressional District for trademark infringement and false endorsement.
www.michiganpublic.org
October 19, 2025 at 10:22 PM
I’m just waiting for Farmer’s Insurance to go after a local council candidate.
Reposted by julie niesen
Even if you're gonna say that "well that happened forever ago," I got into roller derby bc of my knitting group and my current team is getting into knitting bc of me.
Do you know how much rage you have to have to stab something with a needle 1000 times a night, every night, until you have a scarf?
Do you know how much rage you have to have to stab something with a needle 1000 times a night, every night, until you have a scarf?
October 19, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Even if you're gonna say that "well that happened forever ago," I got into roller derby bc of my knitting group and my current team is getting into knitting bc of me.
Do you know how much rage you have to have to stab something with a needle 1000 times a night, every night, until you have a scarf?
Do you know how much rage you have to have to stab something with a needle 1000 times a night, every night, until you have a scarf?
I am no cybersecurity professional but this is the biggest “no shit” I’ve read in a while.
October 11, 2025 at 6:11 PM
I am no cybersecurity professional but this is the biggest “no shit” I’ve read in a while.
And after all that: settled. But hey, I have it for next time. And happy to provide to whoever might need it.
Lawyers: notoriously bad at tech
Me: figuring out JavaScript commands to create dynamic exhibit stamps because nobody did it in pink yet and that’s what the local rules say I need fml
Me: figuring out JavaScript commands to create dynamic exhibit stamps because nobody did it in pink yet and that’s what the local rules say I need fml
October 11, 2025 at 6:08 PM
And after all that: settled. But hey, I have it for next time. And happy to provide to whoever might need it.
Lawyers: notoriously bad at tech
Me: figuring out JavaScript commands to create dynamic exhibit stamps because nobody did it in pink yet and that’s what the local rules say I need fml
Me: figuring out JavaScript commands to create dynamic exhibit stamps because nobody did it in pink yet and that’s what the local rules say I need fml
October 9, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Lawyers: notoriously bad at tech
Me: figuring out JavaScript commands to create dynamic exhibit stamps because nobody did it in pink yet and that’s what the local rules say I need fml
Me: figuring out JavaScript commands to create dynamic exhibit stamps because nobody did it in pink yet and that’s what the local rules say I need fml
Only charge he was convicted of was failure to disperse.
Great job @acluofky.bsky.social!
www.wvxu.org/local-news/2...
Great job @acluofky.bsky.social!
www.wvxu.org/local-news/2...
Jury finds Roebling protest journalist guilty of 1 misdemeanor, not guilty of 3 others
Covington Police arrested CityBeat photo intern Lucas Griffith during a march on the Roebling Bridge in July. The case has made national headlines and drawn protest from press freedom groups.
www.wvxu.org
October 2, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Only charge he was convicted of was failure to disperse.
Great job @acluofky.bsky.social!
www.wvxu.org/local-news/2...
Great job @acluofky.bsky.social!
www.wvxu.org/local-news/2...
So happy for @nixonnixoff.bsky.social and the team at Unit 221b on raising $5 million to make bad people sad.
techcrunch.com/2025/09/22/u...
techcrunch.com/2025/09/22/u...
Unit 221B raises $5M to help track and disrupt today’s top hacking groups | TechCrunch
The seed funding raise will help Unit 221B expand its threat intelligence platform, which tracks the English-speaking youth hacking phenomenon.
techcrunch.com
September 22, 2025 at 6:12 PM
So happy for @nixonnixoff.bsky.social and the team at Unit 221b on raising $5 million to make bad people sad.
techcrunch.com/2025/09/22/u...
techcrunch.com/2025/09/22/u...
Reposted by julie niesen
The Dept of Education is now accepting comments on a proposed rule that would overhaul Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and make it too expensive for students to go into work that threatens the Trump administration
Folks have til *Sept. 17* to oppose the changes
ballsandstrikes.org/legal-cultur...
Folks have til *Sept. 17* to oppose the changes
ballsandstrikes.org/legal-cultur...
The Trump White House Is Trying to Price Law Students Out of Public Service
A proposed Department of Education rule would make borrowers ineligible for loan forgiveness if the administration doesn’t approve of their work.
ballsandstrikes.org
September 15, 2025 at 4:44 PM
The Dept of Education is now accepting comments on a proposed rule that would overhaul Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and make it too expensive for students to go into work that threatens the Trump administration
Folks have til *Sept. 17* to oppose the changes
ballsandstrikes.org/legal-cultur...
Folks have til *Sept. 17* to oppose the changes
ballsandstrikes.org/legal-cultur...
THIS IS BAD
This week's "hate speech isn't free speech" calamity has, somehow, reached another new low: The president of the United States suggesting that speech he finds unfair to him is hate speech, and targetable by the Justice Department.
We are in deeply dangerous territory.
We are in deeply dangerous territory.
JON KARL: What do you make of Pam Bondi saying she's gonna go after hate speech? A lot of your allies say hate speech is free speech
TRUMP: We'll probably go after people like you because you treat me so unfairly. You have a lot of hate in your hate. Maybe they'll have to go after you.
TRUMP: We'll probably go after people like you because you treat me so unfairly. You have a lot of hate in your hate. Maybe they'll have to go after you.
September 16, 2025 at 3:29 PM
THIS IS BAD
This is how Olthaus’s counsel attempted to argue actual malice in my case.
With their whole chest. In multiple appeals. Loud wrong but insisted.
Just an audition for this kind of stuff.
With their whole chest. In multiple appeals. Loud wrong but insisted.
Just an audition for this kind of stuff.
So this Trump lawsuit is wacko for many, many reasons, but THIS IS NOT WHAT ACTUAL MALICE MEANS in the legal context. At all.
September 16, 2025 at 12:43 PM
This is how Olthaus’s counsel attempted to argue actual malice in my case.
With their whole chest. In multiple appeals. Loud wrong but insisted.
Just an audition for this kind of stuff.
With their whole chest. In multiple appeals. Loud wrong but insisted.
Just an audition for this kind of stuff.
This is a very weird partnership: a hair company and a bakery-cafe?
I don’t want hair treatment mist in my latte.
I don’t want hair treatment mist in my latte.
September 16, 2025 at 12:26 PM
This is a very weird partnership: a hair company and a bakery-cafe?
I don’t want hair treatment mist in my latte.
I don’t want hair treatment mist in my latte.
I cannot say this enough.
On the plus side, a bunch of people on the left who have not yet grasped it are about to viscerally understand why some of us, despite despising bigots to our very core, keep insisting that allowing the government to prosecute "hate speech" would be a bad idea.
Attorney General Pam Bondi: "There's free speech and then there's hate speech, and there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society...We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech."
September 16, 2025 at 12:05 PM
I cannot say this enough.
Reposted by julie niesen
We shouldn’t be cowed into silence. But they can ruin lives. So we should be prepared to rally in defense of the groups and individuals they do target. Pro bono legal teams in place. Funding. Publicity. Protests.
Look, they do not have the capacity or competence to do this at the scale they want you to fear they do, and your fear is precisely their greatest force multiplier. Everybody who is cowed into silence by their threats allows them a smaller pool to focus on.
Stephen Miler is open about what's coming: a federal law enforcement crackdown on its political opponents
September 15, 2025 at 9:53 PM
We shouldn’t be cowed into silence. But they can ruin lives. So we should be prepared to rally in defense of the groups and individuals they do target. Pro bono legal teams in place. Funding. Publicity. Protests.
….like, I’m trying to figure out the thought process behind this.
The Trump Administration is literally poisoning kittens.
And by “literally poisoning kittens,” I mean “literally poisoning kittens,” not just “really strongly metaphorically poisoning kittens.”
And by “literally poisoning kittens,” I mean “literally poisoning kittens,” not just “really strongly metaphorically poisoning kittens.”
September 14, 2025 at 12:55 PM
….like, I’m trying to figure out the thought process behind this.
Reposted by julie niesen
We’ve been living through 72 nonstop hours of this exact tweet
September 13, 2025 at 9:15 PM
We’ve been living through 72 nonstop hours of this exact tweet
I just know some poor young-ish marketer had to explain what an “Etsy witch” was to her much older exec team yesterday.
What a world.
(I don’t miss having to do that.)
What a world.
(I don’t miss having to do that.)
Seriously considering hiring some Etsy witches to help make sense of my AWS bill.
September 12, 2025 at 10:36 AM
I just know some poor young-ish marketer had to explain what an “Etsy witch” was to her much older exec team yesterday.
What a world.
(I don’t miss having to do that.)
What a world.
(I don’t miss having to do that.)
Reposted by julie niesen
“What radicalized you?” Bro I was told to treat people the way I would want to be treated in kindergarten and it made sense idk what else there is to say
November 19, 2024 at 3:56 AM
“What radicalized you?” Bro I was told to treat people the way I would want to be treated in kindergarten and it made sense idk what else there is to say
Typical.
Investigative reporter @bencamach0.bsky.social was sent a cease and desist letter by Santa Ana Police Officers Association on Aug. 27, demanding that he not attempt to contact any officers for comment, a routine newsgathering activity:
pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incident...
pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incident...
September 11, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Typical.
It’s almost like experience counts and being a career fed isn’t political or something.
The FBI right now could probably use all those experienced senior career professionals with decades of investigative experience that they fired for absolutely no reason.
September 11, 2025 at 12:28 PM
It’s almost like experience counts and being a career fed isn’t political or something.
I got into Yale!
Well. The Yale Law Journal. Don’t get too excited. ;)
Sarah Swan’s article, The Plaintiff Police, mentions Olthaus v. Niesen as an example of police litigating claims of defamation flowing from misconduct.
Really interesting read!
www.yalelawjournal.org/article/the-...
Well. The Yale Law Journal. Don’t get too excited. ;)
Sarah Swan’s article, The Plaintiff Police, mentions Olthaus v. Niesen as an example of police litigating claims of defamation flowing from misconduct.
Really interesting read!
www.yalelawjournal.org/article/the-...
The Plaintiff Police
In civil litigation, police most commonly appear as defendants. But police also act as plaintiffs, suing the individuals they police. This Article argues that these plaintiff police claims cause signi...
www.yalelawjournal.org
September 11, 2025 at 11:34 AM
I got into Yale!
Well. The Yale Law Journal. Don’t get too excited. ;)
Sarah Swan’s article, The Plaintiff Police, mentions Olthaus v. Niesen as an example of police litigating claims of defamation flowing from misconduct.
Really interesting read!
www.yalelawjournal.org/article/the-...
Well. The Yale Law Journal. Don’t get too excited. ;)
Sarah Swan’s article, The Plaintiff Police, mentions Olthaus v. Niesen as an example of police litigating claims of defamation flowing from misconduct.
Really interesting read!
www.yalelawjournal.org/article/the-...
Stellar explanation here and the points about LLM addiction are real. Look, it can be an OK tool but it doesn’t substitute for expertise or even the benefits we get from learning. And for god’s sake its writing is shit.
August 16, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Stellar explanation here and the points about LLM addiction are real. Look, it can be an OK tool but it doesn’t substitute for expertise or even the benefits we get from learning. And for god’s sake its writing is shit.