Mike Lissner
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michaeljaylissner.com
Mike Lissner
@michaeljaylissner.com
750 followers 190 following 1.5K posts
Director of @free.law. Occasional long distance athlete. Woodworker. Adroitful dodger of questions.

Signal: mlissner.06
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michaeljaylissner.com
This is why we now have over 70 million cases in CourtListener. Hats off to the data team.
November 11, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
nycsouthpaw.bsky.social
"The United Kingdom is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes the attacks are illegal, sources familiar with the matter told CNN." www.cnn.com/2025/11/11/p...
Exclusive: UK suspends some intelligence sharing with US over boat strike concerns in major break | CNN Politics
The United Kingdom is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes ...
www.cnn.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:21 PM
michaeljaylissner.com
I’m quoted in an article about AI hallucinating cases. There is a way to fix this, and it’s to have a list of every case so that you can automatically check briefs for bad citations.

Right now, that’s impossible because Westlaw is the one creating the citations and they don’t share them. 1/
November 10, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
oaklandside.org
For 27 hours straight, a team of four scammers posing as Oakland police kept her on the phone and isolated, manipulating the John Muir elementary teacher into delivering nearly $70,000.
Bogus cops and crypto ATMs: Berkeley teacher scammed of her life savings
For 27 hours straight, a team of four scammers posing as Oakland police kept her on the phone and isolated as they worked their con.
oaklandside.org
November 10, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
americalabs.org
Such an effort, if detailed in a letter and signed by enough senators and shared privately with the leader, could be used to push a leader out while allowing them to save face and the humiliation of a public vote. (I don't know anyone who would go quietly.)
November 10, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
americalabs.org
Some folks are calling for Schumer's removal as Democratic Leader. Senate Democratic caucus rules, which hasn't changed since 2017, don't appear to allow removal, don't appear to allow no confidence votes, and generally contemplate elections only at congress's start or when vacancies occur. BUT...
Rules for the Democratic Conference | Senate Democratic Leadership
Senate Democratic Leadership
www.democrats.senate.gov
November 10, 2025 at 5:17 PM
michaeljaylissner.com
Schumer must go.
The biggest villain of them all, however, is someone who cast a kayfabe vote against the deal on Monday. No one bears the weight of the failed shutdown as much as Chuck Schumer. His “no” vote is particularly galling because it leaves only two options on the table. The first is that the eight Democrats who broke away from their party did so without his knowledge or consent, a conclusion that could only suggest that Schumer has lost control of his caucus. The second is that the moderates were negotiating with Schumer’s knowledge, approval, and encouragement and that the “no” vote was just to conceal that—and maybe as a kind of consolation prize to the other Democrats in his caucus. This suggests that Schumer has lost any ability to organize or think politically or strategically. Regardless of the reason, he needs to step down immediately.
November 10, 2025 at 9:22 PM
michaeljaylissner.com
This is a good reminder to check who you follow. At a glance, I follow about 2/3 men. Not great.
sarahjeong.bsky.social sarah jeong @sarahjeong.bsky.social · 1d
one time I pointed out that elon musk followed no women on twitter and he immediately followed caity weaver
November 10, 2025 at 8:30 PM
michaeljaylissner.com
We have a list of all the officially published legal decisions that are not free on PACER.

These are decisions that are supposed to be free — they're published as decisions! — but are not.

How do we use this to fix the problem?
November 10, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
bgrueskin.bsky.social
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…
November 9, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
joshchafetz.bsky.social
Great thread by one of the smartest Congress-watchers out there ...
americalabs.org Daniel Schuman @americalabs.org · 1d
Some thoughts on the CR/minibus.

1 The Dems negotiating with Rs were not freelancing. They coordinated with Sen Schumer. A few were ready to give in on day one, others worked to maximize appropriations wins.

Those voting for the 'deal' are the ones furthest away from electoral consequences.
November 10, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
rokhanna.bsky.social
Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced. If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?
November 10, 2025 at 2:25 AM
michaeljaylissner.com
A side point to be sure, but to resign as a judge so you can write behind a paywall is a choice.
klonick.bsky.social 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
November 9, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
powerguo.bsky.social
Absolutely correct! And correct me if I’m wrong but I remember people like Churchill at one point advocated summarily shooting all nazi officers above the rank of colonel, which makes the Nuremberg trials seem like a mass amnesty project
November 9, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
bencollins.bsky.social
“I want you to understand what it is like to live in Chicago during this time.”

aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
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.
November 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
ericmgarcia.bsky.social
Girl Scouts in a Chicago Suburb hosted a food drive. But the girls encountered masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with weapons.

"ICE turned it into a scary and what felt like an unsafe environment for us to be out with these kids"

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Masked ICE agents put damper on Oak Park Girl Scout food drive: ‘It’s heartbreaking as a mom’
Federal immigration agents were confronted in Oak Park on Saturday morning by residents blowing whistles as local Girl Scouts collect food for local pantries, rattling some girls and their parents.
chicago.suntimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
yappelbaum.bsky.social
BREAKING: Mark Wolf, appointed to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan, writes that he is resigning as a judge to have the freedom to speak out against the president's assault on the rule of law.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
November 9, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
jswatz.bsky.social
Hellbent on starving children. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...
Trump Administration Live Updates: Officials Demand States ‘Undo’ Work to Send Full Food Stamps
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
digiphile.bsky.social
“Most of the days the federal government has ever been shut down, Donald Trump was the president.”— @howtoreadthisch.art
www.howtoreadthisch.art/red-versus-b...
Pie Chart: Distribution of shutdown days since 1980 As of Nov. 8, 2025. Reagan G.H.W. Bush Trump (second term) Clinton Obama Trump (first term) Wikipedia
November 8, 2025 at 11:54 PM
michaeljaylissner.com
Remember to ask how you’d feel if he was bombing boats off of Europe.
bradheath.bsky.social Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 4d
The AP tracked down details of some of the people killed in President Trump's military strikes on drug smugglers he describes as narco-terrorists.

They were, with one exception, not high-level criminals. One was a fisherman. One was a bus driver; another a taxi driver.

apnews.com/article/trum...
November 8, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
bradheath.bsky.social
The AP tracked down details of some of the people killed in President Trump's military strikes on drug smugglers he describes as narco-terrorists.

They were, with one exception, not high-level criminals. One was a fisherman. One was a bus driver; another a taxi driver.

apnews.com/article/trum...
November 7, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
fishkin.bsky.social
Well over 150 UC law faculty have just made public this open letter to the UC Regents arguing, point by specific point, for why the Regents should not accept any of the major demands the Trump administration has made of UCLA.

We argue it's not a genuine settlement offer, but a form of extortion.
Home
UC Law Faculty to Regents: Resist the Unlawful Demands
sites.google.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
strandjunker.com
Let this sink in. The President of the United States is now appealing a court order forcing him to feed starving children.
November 7, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
kenwhite.bsky.social
This is actually a pretty standard and unremarkable move, as evidenced by Justice Jackson issuing it.

But most people won't believe that for several good reasons.
/1
stevevladeck.bsky.social Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 3d
#BREAKING: Justice Jackson has issued an "administrative" stay, temporarily pausing a district court order that would've required the USDA to continue using contingency funds to pay SNAP benefits.

The stay expires 48 hours after the First Circuit rules on USDA's request for a stay pending appeal.
November 8, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Reposted by Mike Lissner
juliedicaro.bsky.social
BREAKING: Judge Immergut issues a permanent injunction against Pete Hegseth and the deployment of the National Guard to Portland.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
CONCLUSION For the above reasons, this Court concludes that Plaintiffs have demonstrated that Defendants violated 10 U.S.C. § 12406 and the Tenth Amendment and satisfy the requirements for a permanent injunction. Therefore, this Court PERMANENTLY ENJOINS Defendants24 Pete Hegseth, the U.S. Department of Defense, Kristi Noem, and the U.S. Department of 24 As this Court may lack jurisdiction to enjoin President Trump in the performance of his official duties, see Franklin v. Massachusetts, 505 U.S. 788, 802–03 (1992) (plurality opinion); Mississippi v. Johnson, 71 U.S. (4 Wall.) 475, 501 (1866), this injunction applies only against the other Defendants. PAGE 105 – FINDINGS OF FACT & CONCLUSIONS OF LAW Homeland Security from implementing the following memoranda federalizing and deploying members of the National Guard in Oregon: 1. Defendant Secretary Hegseth’s September 28, 2025 Memorandum federalizing and deploying the Oregon National Guard, Ex. 1051; Homeland Security from implementing the following memoranda federalizing and deploying members of the National Guard in Oregon: 1. Defendant Secretary Hegseth’s September 28, 2025 Memorandum federalizing and deploying the Oregon National Guard, Ex. 1051; 2. Defendant Secretary Hegseth’s October 5, 2025 Memorandum federalizing and deploying the Texas National Guard, to the extent that it deploys members of the Texas National Guard in Oregon, Ex. 6; 3. Defendant Secretary Hegseth’s October 16, 2025 Memorandum to the extent that it authorizes the deployment of federalized members of the California and Texas National Guards to Oregon, Ex. 2; and 4. any memoranda deploying members of any other State’s National Guard to Oregon based on the same predicate conditions that were relied upon to authorize the above orders. This Court retains jurisdiction pursuant to the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651, to enforce the terms of this permanent injunction against any party.
November 8, 2025 at 1:01 AM