Matthew Schafer
@matthewschafer.bsky.social
Adjunct law prof Fordham Law; Scholar focusing on the intellectual history of press freedom: http://shorturl.at/bhsv7; rare book collector
Reposted by Matthew Schafer
Right after Renée Good’s disgusting murder, a ICE goon was filmed kicking her memorial candles.
Absolutely vile.
Absolutely vile.
January 8, 2026 at 12:04 PM
Right after Renée Good’s disgusting murder, a ICE goon was filmed kicking her memorial candles.
Absolutely vile.
Absolutely vile.
Remember, the GOP was outraged by a fake IRS army it said would go into US cities and hunt down and kill Americans in their communities.
But the GOP is cheering an actual army with very real guns that in fact is hunting down and, as of today, killing Americans in their communities.
But the GOP is cheering an actual army with very real guns that in fact is hunting down and, as of today, killing Americans in their communities.
January 8, 2026 at 3:30 AM
Remember, the GOP was outraged by a fake IRS army it said would go into US cities and hunt down and kill Americans in their communities.
But the GOP is cheering an actual army with very real guns that in fact is hunting down and, as of today, killing Americans in their communities.
But the GOP is cheering an actual army with very real guns that in fact is hunting down and, as of today, killing Americans in their communities.
Reposted by Matthew Schafer
not saying it can't get worse but this week really feels like a straightforward depiction of what worst-case 'post truth' information apocalypse ppl were warning of in the late 2010s
January 7, 2026 at 10:43 PM
not saying it can't get worse but this week really feels like a straightforward depiction of what worst-case 'post truth' information apocalypse ppl were warning of in the late 2010s
This is just beyond comprehension.
Her wife watched her die
January 7, 2026 at 10:44 PM
This is just beyond comprehension.
Jesus Christ
NEWS: In a heartbreaking video, after ICE shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis, a woman who was in the same SUV cries out: “They killed my wife. I don’t know what to do."
“We stopped to videotape, and they shot her in the head,” the distraught woman sobs.
www.advocate.com/news/minneso...
“We stopped to videotape, and they shot her in the head,” the distraught woman sobs.
www.advocate.com/news/minneso...
Distraught woman says ICE killed her wife in video after deadly Minneapolis shooting
“They killed my wife,” the distraught woman says, adding, “They shot her in the head.”
www.advocate.com
January 7, 2026 at 10:18 PM
Jesus Christ
Reposted by Matthew Schafer
The “prosecute the former regime at every level” candidate has my vote in 2028.
January 7, 2026 at 8:26 PM
The “prosecute the former regime at every level” candidate has my vote in 2028.
Reposted by Matthew Schafer
Samuel Alito flew two flags used by insurrectionists.
Clarence Thomas' wife plotted to overturn the 2020 election.
Both justices refused to recuse themselves from SCOTUS cases related to the January 6th plot.
It's a stain on our nation that this has effectively been forgotten.
Clarence Thomas' wife plotted to overturn the 2020 election.
Both justices refused to recuse themselves from SCOTUS cases related to the January 6th plot.
It's a stain on our nation that this has effectively been forgotten.
January 6, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Samuel Alito flew two flags used by insurrectionists.
Clarence Thomas' wife plotted to overturn the 2020 election.
Both justices refused to recuse themselves from SCOTUS cases related to the January 6th plot.
It's a stain on our nation that this has effectively been forgotten.
Clarence Thomas' wife plotted to overturn the 2020 election.
Both justices refused to recuse themselves from SCOTUS cases related to the January 6th plot.
It's a stain on our nation that this has effectively been forgotten.
Reposted by Matthew Schafer
The task is this: we are in trench warfare to reassert Congressional dominance. Every tool must be used, even the tools of the minority. The reading that changed my view on this was @joshchafetz.bsky.social’s Congress’s Constitution, www.amazon.com/Congresss-Co....
Congress's Constitution: Legislative Authority and the Separation of Powers
Congress's Constitution: Legislative Authority and the Separation of Powers [Chafetz, Josh] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Congress's Constitution: Legislative Authority and the Separation of Powers
www.amazon.com
January 4, 2026 at 2:19 PM
The task is this: we are in trench warfare to reassert Congressional dominance. Every tool must be used, even the tools of the minority. The reading that changed my view on this was @joshchafetz.bsky.social’s Congress’s Constitution, www.amazon.com/Congresss-Co....
The Constitution in fact prohibits the president from unilaterally taking over another country.
January 4, 2026 at 2:35 PM
The Constitution in fact prohibits the president from unilaterally taking over another country.
Reposted by Matthew Schafer
This is perhaps the most bonkers aspect of our truly bonkers constitutional moment.
I keep marveling at the construction of an overwhelmingly powerful unitary executive around someone who is almost entirely uninterested in the direction and priorities and welfare of the nation.
January 4, 2026 at 1:08 PM
This is perhaps the most bonkers aspect of our truly bonkers constitutional moment.
Reposted by Matthew Schafer
Trump: "We are going to run the country." What does that possibly mean?
January 3, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Trump: "We are going to run the country." What does that possibly mean?
Call me crazy, but I'd prefer to defend the Constitution rather than the abuse of it.
Trump on Democrats: "They should say 'great job.' They shouldn't say, 'Oh gee, maybe it's not constitutional.' You know, the same old stuff that we've been hearing for years and years and years."
January 3, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Call me crazy, but I'd prefer to defend the Constitution rather than the abuse of it.
Reposted by Matthew Schafer
fwiw it’s been about six weeks since Trump pardoned the former president of Honduras who had been convicted of trafficking drugs into the US
January 3, 2026 at 10:47 AM
fwiw it’s been about six weeks since Trump pardoned the former president of Honduras who had been convicted of trafficking drugs into the US
Reposted by Matthew Schafer
Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
January 3, 2026 at 10:52 AM
Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
Reposted by Matthew Schafer
Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth looked every Senator in the eye a few weeks ago and said this wasn’t about regime change. I didn’t trust them then and we see now that they blatantly lied to Congress.
President Trump said on Saturday that the U.S. had captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro. Follow live updates. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
January 3, 2026 at 10:37 AM
Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth looked every Senator in the eye a few weeks ago and said this wasn’t about regime change. I didn’t trust them then and we see now that they blatantly lied to Congress.
Reposted by Matthew Schafer
Kidnapping the leader of a foreign state without any declaration of war and announcing it via social media is full-on rogue state stuff. From the world’s number one superpower.
January 3, 2026 at 9:56 AM
Kidnapping the leader of a foreign state without any declaration of war and announcing it via social media is full-on rogue state stuff. From the world’s number one superpower.
The Constitution does say that only Congress has the power to declare war.
The Constitution does not say the President has immunity from criminal prosecution.
That's it; that's my rather compelling law review article.
The Constitution does not say the President has immunity from criminal prosecution.
That's it; that's my rather compelling law review article.
January 3, 2026 at 8:40 AM
The Constitution does say that only Congress has the power to declare war.
The Constitution does not say the President has immunity from criminal prosecution.
That's it; that's my rather compelling law review article.
The Constitution does not say the President has immunity from criminal prosecution.
That's it; that's my rather compelling law review article.
Reposted by Matthew Schafer
This feels like a culmination of several deep pathologies: congressional passivity, executive aggrandizement, national security exceptionalism, politics as theater, war as theater.
January 3, 2026 at 6:59 AM
This feels like a culmination of several deep pathologies: congressional passivity, executive aggrandizement, national security exceptionalism, politics as theater, war as theater.
Kavanaugh stop
Agents in Key Largo, Florida ripped this woman wearing medical scrubs out of her car as she screamed she is a US citizen. Agents cuffed her and put her in one of their cars.
She was eventually let go, per David Goodhue of the Miami Herald, who also took this footage:
She was eventually let go, per David Goodhue of the Miami Herald, who also took this footage:
December 3, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Kavanaugh stop
Reposted by Matthew Schafer
NEWS: The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored ALL previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge in Rhode Island last month.
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
December 3, 2025 at 10:18 PM
NEWS: The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored ALL previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge in Rhode Island last month.
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
Reposted by Matthew Schafer
Eleventh Circuit vacates panel opinion on Florida's anti-drag law, will rehear the case en banc.
December 1, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Eleventh Circuit vacates panel opinion on Florida's anti-drag law, will rehear the case en banc.
To state the obvious:
If you unilaterally decide a court order has no grounds and on that basis that you don't have to follow it, that is the definition of defying a court order.
If you unilaterally decide a court order has no grounds and on that basis that you don't have to follow it, that is the definition of defying a court order.
WELKER: Did you defy the court's order Madam Secretary?
KRISTI NOEM: No. That's one of the things we continue to face in this country -- activist judges who are using radical decisions that have no standing and no grounds
KRISTI NOEM: No. That's one of the things we continue to face in this country -- activist judges who are using radical decisions that have no standing and no grounds
November 30, 2025 at 4:34 PM
To state the obvious:
If you unilaterally decide a court order has no grounds and on that basis that you don't have to follow it, that is the definition of defying a court order.
If you unilaterally decide a court order has no grounds and on that basis that you don't have to follow it, that is the definition of defying a court order.
Reposted by Matthew Schafer
