Ryan Thoreson
@ryanthoreson.bsky.social
Law prof teaching human rights, law and sexuality, con law & torts. 26.2 x 24. ⚖️ 🏳️🌈 🏃
Reposted by Ryan Thoreson
Wow — Newly-released State Department documents show that the Trump-Vance-Rubio administration literally only abducted Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk because she co-wrote an op-ed urging Tufts to follow student resolutions to acknowledge genocide in Gaza & divest from companies tied to Israel.
January 23, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Wow — Newly-released State Department documents show that the Trump-Vance-Rubio administration literally only abducted Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk because she co-wrote an op-ed urging Tufts to follow student resolutions to acknowledge genocide in Gaza & divest from companies tied to Israel.
As far as I can tell the Venn diagram of the people who said it was tyranny to regulate gas stoves and the people enthusiastically defending warrantless home searches and the arrest of critics is a perfect circle.
January 23, 2026 at 9:28 PM
As far as I can tell the Venn diagram of the people who said it was tyranny to regulate gas stoves and the people enthusiastically defending warrantless home searches and the arrest of critics is a perfect circle.
Reposted by Ryan Thoreson
This must be weird news to see if you’re one of the literally hundreds or even thousands of university administrators who preemptively censored faculty, scrubbed websites, changed the names of centers, etc.
Trump administration drops legal appeal over anti-DEI funding threat to schools and colleges. This leaves in place a federal judge's ruling that the anti-DEI effort violated the First Amendment and federal procedural rules. (Via AP) apnews.com/article/dei-... #ncpol #nced
Trump administration drops legal appeal over anti-DEI funding threat to schools and colleges
The Trump administration is dropping its appeal of a federal court ruling that blocked a campaign against diversity, equity, and inclusion threatening federal funding to the nation’s schools and colle...
apnews.com
January 23, 2026 at 1:45 PM
This must be weird news to see if you’re one of the literally hundreds or even thousands of university administrators who preemptively censored faculty, scrubbed websites, changed the names of centers, etc.
Reposted by Ryan Thoreson
My org @immcouncil.org represents those two gay men. They had been arrested on charges of sodomy by Iranian moral police, and fled the country seeking asylum. They face the death penalty if returned, yet the Trump admin denied their asylum claims in a kangaroo court process.
They are terrified.
They are terrified.
January 23, 2026 at 1:26 PM
My org @immcouncil.org represents those two gay men. They had been arrested on charges of sodomy by Iranian moral police, and fled the country seeking asylum. They face the death penalty if returned, yet the Trump admin denied their asylum claims in a kangaroo court process.
They are terrified.
They are terrified.
The only evidence right now that there is a just and merciful God.
Microsoft 365 down for thousands of users, Downdetector shows reut.rs/3NrNBGH
Microsoft 365 down for thousands of users, Downdetector shows
Microsoft's suite of productivity software was down for thousands of users on Thursday, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com.
reut.rs
January 23, 2026 at 1:16 AM
The only evidence right now that there is a just and merciful God.
Kicking off our first day of Gender, Sexuality and the Law!
a man and a woman are sitting next to each other and the woman is screaming and the man is saying whoo excited
Alt: Saved by the Bell GIF of Jesse Spanos saying I'm so excited I'm so scared
media.tenor.com
January 22, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Kicking off our first day of Gender, Sexuality and the Law!
*screams in US treaty avoidance*
Trump’s Board of Peace has now officially been recognized as an international organization, according to the White House.
January 22, 2026 at 2:02 PM
*screams in US treaty avoidance*
"We had run almost $1,000 simulations, and between $9 and $11 is a fair number for a banana."
Brooke Rollins is still at it!
"We had run almost 1,000 simulations, and between $3 and $4 is a fair number if you can have access to that food. I just saw new numbers that were run: a full day, meaning 3 full square meals and a snack, is about $15.64."
"We had run almost 1,000 simulations, and between $3 and $4 is a fair number if you can have access to that food. I just saw new numbers that were run: a full day, meaning 3 full square meals and a snack, is about $15.64."
January 21, 2026 at 7:59 PM
"We had run almost $1,000 simulations, and between $9 and $11 is a fair number for a banana."
I'm supposed to be back in France over spring break and it'll be just like I'm 20 and in grad school again (pretending to be Canadian because I am ashamed of my country's war of aggression).
January 21, 2026 at 6:05 PM
I'm supposed to be back in France over spring break and it'll be just like I'm 20 and in grad school again (pretending to be Canadian because I am ashamed of my country's war of aggression).
Reposted by Ryan Thoreson
I went to Minneapolis last week. What I saw was horrifying and inspiring in equal measure. Gift link to my latest column: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
Opinion | In Minneapolis, I Glimpsed a Civil War
www.nytimes.com
January 19, 2026 at 12:56 PM
I went to Minneapolis last week. What I saw was horrifying and inspiring in equal measure. Gift link to my latest column: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
Reposted by Ryan Thoreson
Really can't stand the self-abasement of takes posing as the reasonable middle by conceding it'd be a sensible policy to purchase / annex Greenland so long as it wasn't by force, as if any of the nonsense reasons are compelling. Stop it. There is no reasonable version, that would still be idiotic.
January 20, 2026 at 2:06 AM
Really can't stand the self-abasement of takes posing as the reasonable middle by conceding it'd be a sensible policy to purchase / annex Greenland so long as it wasn't by force, as if any of the nonsense reasons are compelling. Stop it. There is no reasonable version, that would still be idiotic.
Reposted by Ryan Thoreson
Judge Kacsmaryk rejects challenge by West Texas A&M University's LGBQT club to drag show ban, saying the First Amendment doesn't protect "self-expression in all forms, and certainly not the libertine 'expressive conduct' absolutism envisioned" by the group. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law – #168 in Spectrum WT v. Wendler (N.D. Tex., 2:23-cv-00048) – CourtListener.com
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW (Ordered by Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk on 1/17/2026) (vls)
storage.courtlistener.com
January 18, 2026 at 2:51 AM
Judge Kacsmaryk rejects challenge by West Texas A&M University's LGBQT club to drag show ban, saying the First Amendment doesn't protect "self-expression in all forms, and certainly not the libertine 'expressive conduct' absolutism envisioned" by the group. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Ryan Thoreson
"It was the most miserable day of my whole life. But I would do it again because I think that people need to know how evil ICE is and that this is happening." - Alice Valentine of St. Cloud, pepper sprayed and jailed by ICE for trying to protect immigrant neighbors
Queer trans ICE protester in small Minn. city recounts agents' violence and humiliation
Alice Valentine of St. Cloud was pepper sprayed and jailed by ICE for trying to protect immigrant neighbors.
www.thehandbasket.co
January 17, 2026 at 12:59 PM
"It was the most miserable day of my whole life. But I would do it again because I think that people need to know how evil ICE is and that this is happening." - Alice Valentine of St. Cloud, pepper sprayed and jailed by ICE for trying to protect immigrant neighbors
Reposted by Ryan Thoreson
Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system against your opponents is an authoritarian tactic.
The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.
The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.
Breaking news: The Justice Department has issued subpoenas for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey as part of an investigation alleging that they are impeding federal law enforcement officers’ abilities to do their jobs in the state.
Justice Dept. launches criminal investigation of Minnesota governor
The Justice Department has issued subpoenas for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey as part of an investigation into impeding law enforcement.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 16, 2026 at 11:46 PM
Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system against your opponents is an authoritarian tactic.
The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.
The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.
Again, nothing could prepare me better for politics in the 2020s than my degree in gender studies.
I have the utmost respect for Senator Kaine and Senator Warner but we do not need “coaching” on redistricting coming from a cuck chair in the corner. How about you all stay focused on the fascist in the White House and let us handle redistricting in Virginia. 10-1
January 16, 2026 at 11:46 PM
Again, nothing could prepare me better for politics in the 2020s than my degree in gender studies.
Reposted by Ryan Thoreson
Jotwell Worklaw:
Anne Marie Lofaso, Can You Hear Section 7 Now?, JOTWELL (January 15, 2026) (reviewing Stefan McDaniel, Rearticulating Labor Rights, 46 Berkeley J. Emp. & Lab. L. 177 (2025)), worklaw.jotwell.com/can-you-hear....
Anne Marie Lofaso, Can You Hear Section 7 Now?, JOTWELL (January 15, 2026) (reviewing Stefan McDaniel, Rearticulating Labor Rights, 46 Berkeley J. Emp. & Lab. L. 177 (2025)), worklaw.jotwell.com/can-you-hear....
January 15, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Jotwell Worklaw:
Anne Marie Lofaso, Can You Hear Section 7 Now?, JOTWELL (January 15, 2026) (reviewing Stefan McDaniel, Rearticulating Labor Rights, 46 Berkeley J. Emp. & Lab. L. 177 (2025)), worklaw.jotwell.com/can-you-hear....
Anne Marie Lofaso, Can You Hear Section 7 Now?, JOTWELL (January 15, 2026) (reviewing Stefan McDaniel, Rearticulating Labor Rights, 46 Berkeley J. Emp. & Lab. L. 177 (2025)), worklaw.jotwell.com/can-you-hear....
I’ll give him this, he has more fake peace prizes (2) than anyone else alive (0).
María Corina Machado on her meeting with Trump: “I presented the president of the United States with the Nobel Peace Prize”
January 15, 2026 at 9:59 PM
I’ll give him this, he has more fake peace prizes (2) than anyone else alive (0).
Reposted by Ryan Thoreson
This is a deanship that has already proven *extremely* difficult to fill over the last 5 years or so. Firing the incoming dean over an amicus brief is tantamount to saying you don't really care if the law school can continue to function.
The University of Arkansas's law school just withdrew the appointment of its new dean six days after hiring her because conservative politicians complained that she filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of transgender students
Culture warriors cancel new U of A law dean before she started - Arkansas Times
Culture warriors claim the scalp of Emily Suski, the would-be law school dean whose legal opinion on transgender athletes seems to have offended Arkansas officials.
arktimes.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:37 PM
This is a deanship that has already proven *extremely* difficult to fill over the last 5 years or so. Firing the incoming dean over an amicus brief is tantamount to saying you don't really care if the law school can continue to function.
I dread the release of fall 1L grades the way that other people dread the dentist.
January 15, 2026 at 6:03 PM
I dread the release of fall 1L grades the way that other people dread the dentist.
Reposted by Ryan Thoreson
This is not the language of the government of a free country.
January 14, 2026 at 1:16 PM
This is not the language of the government of a free country.
Out: Law School
In:
In:
January 13, 2026 at 6:47 PM
Out: Law School
In:
In:
Me: “What are your friends at preschool like?”
E: “They’re funny! And mean!”
Me: “Oh no! That sounds… like Daddy and Papa’s friends, actually.”
E: “They’re funny! And mean!”
Me: “Oh no! That sounds… like Daddy and Papa’s friends, actually.”
January 13, 2026 at 1:48 AM
Me: “What are your friends at preschool like?”
E: “They’re funny! And mean!”
Me: “Oh no! That sounds… like Daddy and Papa’s friends, actually.”
E: “They’re funny! And mean!”
Me: “Oh no! That sounds… like Daddy and Papa’s friends, actually.”
Our neighborhood churches continue to get it.
January 13, 2026 at 12:40 AM
Our neighborhood churches continue to get it.
Reposted by Ryan Thoreson
This is the sort of statement that was expected from every university president and law firm partner over the last year. That those statements weren’t made played a huge part in where we are now and people will remember.
Jerome Powell: "This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation."
January 12, 2026 at 1:45 AM
This is the sort of statement that was expected from every university president and law firm partner over the last year. That those statements weren’t made played a huge part in where we are now and people will remember.
Something about hearing this from a late night host really drives home what a dystopian moment we’re in.
Stephen Colbert on the ICE murder of Renee Nicole Good: “The message from this administration is clear. Only they determine the truth. And when their forces come to your city: obey or die. And if you die, you clearly didn’t obey. This should be an alarm bell for the entire country.”
January 10, 2026 at 1:14 AM
Something about hearing this from a late night host really drives home what a dystopian moment we’re in.