Thomas Leeper
@thosjleeper.bsky.social
Minnesota, data, transit/urbanism, miscellaneous ramblings
Reposted by Thomas Leeper
NEW: By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court blocks Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Chicago to assist immigration agents. A majority holds that he likely lacks authority to do so. Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch dissent. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
![The Government asked this Court to stay the District Court's order. After the response and reply were filed, JUSTICE BARRETT referred the application to the Court. We directed the parties to file supplemental letter briefs on an issue that the District Court had addressed but the parties' initial briefs had not: the meaning of the term "regular forces" in §12406(3). In its supplemental brief, the Government argues that the term refers to civilian law enforcement officers, such as those employed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Federal Protective Service.
Respondents, echoing the District Court, maintain that the term refers to the regular forces of the United States mili-tary.
We conclude that the term "regular forces" in §12406(3) likely refers to the regular forces of the United States mili-tary. This interpretation means that to call the Guard into active federal service under §12406(3), the President must be "unable" with the regular military "to execute the laws of the United States." Because the statute requires an assessment of the military's ability to execute the laws, it likely applies only where the military could legally execute the laws. Such circumstances are exceptional: Under the Posse Comitatus Act, the military is prohibited from "execut[ing] the laws" "except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress."
18 U. S. C. §1385. So before the President can federalize the Guard under §12406(3), he likely must have statutory or constitutional authority to execute the laws with the regular military and must be "unable" with those forces to perform that function.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6h7b2i6ttw3l4t7pvbvxdith/bafkreiftbhzwvn3vgwhqsi7k2paizvdw4t26ailljvovso3chqupnmj364@jpeg)
December 23, 2025 at 8:16 PM
NEW: By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court blocks Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Chicago to assist immigration agents. A majority holds that he likely lacks authority to do so. Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch dissent. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
Considering that the last time the street lights went out by my house, drivers just blew through the intersections at +10 over the speed limit obliviously, I might prefer cars to just brick themselves in such circumstances.
San Francisco had a citywide power outage yesterday. Traffic lights went dark. Waymos stalled mid-street.
It’s likely an under-tested edge case and one without a simple fix despite criticisms from the anti-tech crowd. When traffic lights die at a busy intersection, humans struggle too.
It’s likely an under-tested edge case and one without a simple fix despite criticisms from the anti-tech crowd. When traffic lights die at a busy intersection, humans struggle too.
December 21, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Considering that the last time the street lights went out by my house, drivers just blew through the intersections at +10 over the speed limit obliviously, I might prefer cars to just brick themselves in such circumstances.
Reposted by Thomas Leeper
Nothing radical about impeaching a criminal who commits new crimes every single day
Johnson: If we lose the House majority, the radical left will impeach President Trump.
December 21, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Nothing radical about impeaching a criminal who commits new crimes every single day
It's pretty notable that in some of the highest profile murders in the past year, police and FBI didn't actually find the perpetrators and in multiple cases didn't have any idea where they were located or even who they were before they were found by members of the public. It repeats.
Q: Has Kash Patel told you why it's been so difficult for the FBI to identify who the shooter is?
TRUMP: It's always difficult. So far we're done a very good job of it with Charlie, with the various times this has happened. You'll have to ask the school about that.
TRUMP: It's always difficult. So far we're done a very good job of it with Charlie, with the various times this has happened. You'll have to ask the school about that.
December 15, 2025 at 8:57 PM
It's pretty notable that in some of the highest profile murders in the past year, police and FBI didn't actually find the perpetrators and in multiple cases didn't have any idea where they were located or even who they were before they were found by members of the public. It repeats.
How in the world....
Please read this Facebook post from Darnella Frazier about her sister Rekeya, who is in federal custody.
For those who don't know, Darnella was the girl who shared the first viral video of George Floyd's murder.
For those who don't know, Darnella was the girl who shared the first viral video of George Floyd's murder.
December 15, 2025 at 12:51 AM
How in the world....
Multiple drivers failing to yield to a pedestrian on the left turn; driver in massive poor-visibility truck covered in snow. Pedestrian trying to cross five lanes of traffic at the only opportunity.
Seems like a culture of reckless driving in an environment of dangerous roadway design.
Seems like a culture of reckless driving in an environment of dangerous roadway design.
A driver hit a 67-year old woman as she had the walk sign at Belmont and Pulaski. Her condition is unknown. Hope she survives.
Woman run over in Belmont Cragin by driver of pickup truck with snowy windshield
A woman was run over by the driver of a pickup truck with snow partially covering his windshield as she crossed the street with the right-of-way.
www.nbcchicago.com
December 13, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Multiple drivers failing to yield to a pedestrian on the left turn; driver in massive poor-visibility truck covered in snow. Pedestrian trying to cross five lanes of traffic at the only opportunity.
Seems like a culture of reckless driving in an environment of dangerous roadway design.
Seems like a culture of reckless driving in an environment of dangerous roadway design.
Reposted by Thomas Leeper
The reason folks are focusing on DHS's refusal to honor Real IDs is that it means that the Trump regime is asserting the right to detain anyone in America, resident or visitor, without probable cause. It's an erasure of habeas corpus for all Americans.
bsky.app/profile/jare...
bsky.app/profile/jare...
Add to this that HSI just filed a declaration in our case challenging these policies saying they can’t trust REAL IDs as proof of status.
So showing your papers isn’t even enough to end the stop.
So showing your papers isn’t even enough to end the stop.
December 13, 2025 at 2:53 PM
The reason folks are focusing on DHS's refusal to honor Real IDs is that it means that the Trump regime is asserting the right to detain anyone in America, resident or visitor, without probable cause. It's an erasure of habeas corpus for all Americans.
bsky.app/profile/jare...
bsky.app/profile/jare...
Reposted by Thomas Leeper
this is a general warrant and it's specifically the kind of warrant the framers passed the 4th amendment to outlaw
WOW. @haleaziz.bsky.social with a new scoop: ICE now gets a running list of every person who is going to be taking a domestic flight inside the United States from the TSA and runs it through their database looking for targets. This explains the Babson College student's arrest.
Immigration Agents Are Using Air Passenger Data for Deportation Effort
www.nytimes.com
December 12, 2025 at 10:35 PM
this is a general warrant and it's specifically the kind of warrant the framers passed the 4th amendment to outlaw
If you drove drunk and the financial cost of complying with the sentence you received for that is overwhelming, then maybe you shouldn't be driving drunk? Because maybe you shouldn't drive drunk as a general rule?
This is a terrible argument from the ACLU.
This is a terrible argument from the ACLU.
The California ACLU is staunchly opposed to the ignition interlock device program and is a big reason that it has not been expanded. Despite the fact that California heavily subsidizes the cost for low-income drunk drivers, the ACLU says that the program is a form of "racialized wealth extraction."
December 12, 2025 at 8:33 PM
If you drove drunk and the financial cost of complying with the sentence you received for that is overwhelming, then maybe you shouldn't be driving drunk? Because maybe you shouldn't drive drunk as a general rule?
This is a terrible argument from the ACLU.
This is a terrible argument from the ACLU.
To the person who waited, behind a semi turning left, and decided despite the light turning red and despite being 50 ft back from the intersection that they should accelerate from zero, drive through the intersection, and then get annoyed at me for being in front of them in a crosswalk: a big F you.
December 12, 2025 at 6:28 PM
To the person who waited, behind a semi turning left, and decided despite the light turning red and despite being 50 ft back from the intersection that they should accelerate from zero, drive through the intersection, and then get annoyed at me for being in front of them in a crosswalk: a big F you.
Everyone who thinks this dude should be President needs to be on your permanent mute list.
For all Universal HC/Single Payer/M4A advocates.
What do the biggest, expensive hospital chains do. Do they opt out and only serve the rich ?
Who in the USA gov runs the program?
R U ok with having to see a primary care doc before you can see a specialist ?
What do the biggest, expensive hospital chains do. Do they opt out and only serve the rich ?
Who in the USA gov runs the program?
R U ok with having to see a primary care doc before you can see a specialist ?
December 11, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Everyone who thinks this dude should be President needs to be on your permanent mute list.
Minneapolis: absolute hell hole right now.
December 11, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Minneapolis: absolute hell hole right now.
Caving on the shutdown was totally worth it. Good job, Chuck. Incredible leadership.
The Senate on Thursday rejected legislation to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits, essentially guaranteeing that millions of Americans will see a steep rise in costs at the beginning of the year. https://to.pbs.org/4j0q4Z6
WATCH LIVE: Senate rejects both bills on ACA subsidies, all but ensuring premium hike in 2026
Senators rejected a Democratic bill to extend the subsidies for three years and a Republican alternative that would have created new health savings accounts — an unceremonious end to a monthslong effo...
to.pbs.org
December 11, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Caving on the shutdown was totally worth it. Good job, Chuck. Incredible leadership.
This is something else right here. Look at how much time, energy, and tax dollars were put into this without even the most basic premise for any of that activity.
Lawless idiocracy at taxpayer expense.
Lawless idiocracy at taxpayer expense.
This is really incredible. The government's battle to deport Abrego Garcia has apparently been based on a lie from the start. Not even the "gang affiliation" lie or the "human smuggling" lie, but the more basic assertion that he was ordered to be deported in the first place.
🚨Judge Xinis finds that, incredibly, Mr. Abrego Garcia was never ordered deported in 2019. She notes that every since this saga began all the way back in March, the government has NEVER been able to produce any evidence that the immigration judge actually issued a removal order.
December 11, 2025 at 6:17 PM
This is something else right here. Look at how much time, energy, and tax dollars were put into this without even the most basic premise for any of that activity.
Lawless idiocracy at taxpayer expense.
Lawless idiocracy at taxpayer expense.
"He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people." - some 200 year old nonsense not at all relevant today or part of our foundational national idea
December 10, 2025 at 11:09 PM
"He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people." - some 200 year old nonsense not at all relevant today or part of our foundational national idea
Brett Kavanaugh wants this to happen to you
VIDEO: An American citizen taken into custody by ICE Tuesday.
“He dragged me outside to the snow while I was handcuffed, restrained, helpless, and he pushed me to the ground and put me in a chokehold,” the man told me and a group of reporters.
1/3
“He dragged me outside to the snow while I was handcuffed, restrained, helpless, and he pushed me to the ground and put me in a chokehold,” the man told me and a group of reporters.
1/3
December 10, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Brett Kavanaugh wants this to happen to you
Reposted by Thomas Leeper
December 10, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Reposted by Thomas Leeper
Our new study provides rare causal evidence about NYC’s speed camera program. We find large reductions in collisions (30%) and injuries (16%) near intersections with cameras. www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... @astagoff.bsky.social ky.social @brendenbeck.bsky.social nbeck.bsky.social 🧪
Can speed cameras make streets safer? Quasi-experimental evidence from New York City | PNAS
Each year, approximately 40,000 people die in vehicle collisions in the United States,
generating $340 billion in economic costs. To make roads saf...
www.pnas.org
December 8, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Our new study provides rare causal evidence about NYC’s speed camera program. We find large reductions in collisions (30%) and injuries (16%) near intersections with cameras. www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... @astagoff.bsky.social ky.social @brendenbeck.bsky.social nbeck.bsky.social 🧪
I guess this has to be said because we're governed by weirdo morons, but the purpose of formula is not be "better" than breastmilk - whatever that might possibly mean. The purpose of formula is so that babies don't die of starvation.
RFK Jr: "All of the ingenuity of corporate America has not produced an infant formula that is superior in nutrition and all the qualities that we want to the infant formula that God made, which is the infant formula in a mother's breast."
December 8, 2025 at 9:27 PM
I guess this has to be said because we're governed by weirdo morons, but the purpose of formula is not be "better" than breastmilk - whatever that might possibly mean. The purpose of formula is so that babies don't die of starvation.
Reposted by Thomas Leeper
New York City went 12 days without a murder in November / December. That's tied for the longest stretch in history, according to the NYPD. As someone who was here when there were 6+ murders per day in this town, it continues to amaze me how safe the place is.
December 8, 2025 at 2:57 PM
New York City went 12 days without a murder in November / December. That's tied for the longest stretch in history, according to the NYPD. As someone who was here when there were 6+ murders per day in this town, it continues to amaze me how safe the place is.
Disappointing development for London. I absolutely loved having convenient access to moving Zipcar vans for micro-trips (like 20min to pick up some bulky object and bring it to my flat) and a dense network of cars for last-minute, unplanned journeys.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Zipcar user says closure of car sharing scheme may come at a cost
The mayor of London is being urged to help those affected by the potential closure of car sharing company Zipcar.
www.bbc.com
December 7, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Disappointing development for London. I absolutely loved having convenient access to moving Zipcar vans for micro-trips (like 20min to pick up some bulky object and bring it to my flat) and a dense network of cars for last-minute, unplanned journeys.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
There is no evidence that the death penalty works as a crime deterrent. People who say this kind of stuff don't care about evidence of what prevents crime or reduces recidivism.
They just fetishize violence, and should be labeled weirdos accordingly.
They just fetishize violence, and should be labeled weirdos accordingly.
A Palantir billionaire just called for public hangings.
“It's time to bring back masculine leadership to protect our most vulnerable,” writes Joe Lonsdale.
This is where Silicon Valley authoritarianism is heading:
www.thenerdreich.com/joe-lonsdale...
“It's time to bring back masculine leadership to protect our most vulnerable,” writes Joe Lonsdale.
This is where Silicon Valley authoritarianism is heading:
www.thenerdreich.com/joe-lonsdale...
Joe Lonsdale Calls For Public Hangings
Silicon Valley radicalization escalates
www.thenerdreich.com
December 7, 2025 at 12:25 AM
There is no evidence that the death penalty works as a crime deterrent. People who say this kind of stuff don't care about evidence of what prevents crime or reduces recidivism.
They just fetishize violence, and should be labeled weirdos accordingly.
They just fetishize violence, and should be labeled weirdos accordingly.
This is disgusting and obviously murder, but let's not forget the first strike is also illegal. The US military does not have Congressional authorization for war. This is all just murder. Calling it a war crime would elevate it to happening in a context of legality that the offense does not have.
December 6, 2025 at 4:01 PM
This is disgusting and obviously murder, but let's not forget the first strike is also illegal. The US military does not have Congressional authorization for war. This is all just murder. Calling it a war crime would elevate it to happening in a context of legality that the offense does not have.
Reposted by Thomas Leeper
I'm going to keep saying this in my effort to speak it into reality: Supreme Court should have at least 100 Justices with rotating panels (and maybe an en banc option). No single Justice should have so much power and they shouldn't be names everyone knows.
A court with a normal-ish conservative majority would have been tolerable. I'm not eager for court packing, impeaching justices, and other such options. But this court sticking around post-Trump is untenable. They've already torched their own legitimacy, the only question is what do we do about it.
Democrats need to lay the groundwork for reform by attacking the villains on the Supreme Court - loudly, angrily, personally, relentlessly. And they should start now.
paulwaldman.substack.com/p/democrats-...
paulwaldman.substack.com/p/democrats-...
December 5, 2025 at 10:41 PM
I'm going to keep saying this in my effort to speak it into reality: Supreme Court should have at least 100 Justices with rotating panels (and maybe an en banc option). No single Justice should have so much power and they shouldn't be names everyone knows.