Colin Cowperthwaite
@ccowperthwaite.bsky.social
NYC Public Defender @ Bronx Legal Aid // Columbia Law '24 // Kenyon College '18
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
Political violence disproportionately hurts people with less power, not people with more power. Political violence will disproportionately hurt people of color and women and LGBTQ people. It’s not fair, but that’s the way it works. Celebrating political violence means at best indifference to that.
Political violence is bad. It usually begets more political violence.
Celebrating political violence is bad. It usually encourages more political violence, against various targets.
Campus shootings are bad. They make everyone on campus less safe.
It's bad that what I wrote here is controversial.
Celebrating political violence is bad. It usually encourages more political violence, against various targets.
Campus shootings are bad. They make everyone on campus less safe.
It's bad that what I wrote here is controversial.
September 10, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Political violence disproportionately hurts people with less power, not people with more power. Political violence will disproportionately hurt people of color and women and LGBTQ people. It’s not fair, but that’s the way it works. Celebrating political violence means at best indifference to that.
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
10/10. Chef's kiss. No notes. 💯
September 6, 2025 at 11:30 PM
10/10. Chef's kiss. No notes. 💯
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
If the circumstances of deportation are going to be used as plea bargain fodder, then removal is punitive with all the rights attached thereto.
This is not just a removal subsequent to a conviction but removal (or a specific genus of removal) as the penalty for the conviction itself.
This is not just a removal subsequent to a conviction but removal (or a specific genus of removal) as the penalty for the conviction itself.
NEW: Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s defense team says that the government is attempting to coerce him to plead guilty to his criminal charges.
Per filing, the government promised to deport him to Costa Rica if he pleads guilty — and is now threatening to remove him to Uganda if he doesn’t accept the deal.
Per filing, the government promised to deport him to Costa Rica if he pleads guilty — and is now threatening to remove him to Uganda if he doesn’t accept the deal.
August 23, 2025 at 6:27 PM
If the circumstances of deportation are going to be used as plea bargain fodder, then removal is punitive with all the rights attached thereto.
This is not just a removal subsequent to a conviction but removal (or a specific genus of removal) as the penalty for the conviction itself.
This is not just a removal subsequent to a conviction but removal (or a specific genus of removal) as the penalty for the conviction itself.
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
We asked people who experienced "sweeps" of homeless encampments to write about it in their own words.
In Portland, Teresa Stratton told us about how her husband’s ashes were taken in a removal:
In Portland, Teresa Stratton told us about how her husband’s ashes were taken in a removal:
August 16, 2025 at 8:02 PM
We asked people who experienced "sweeps" of homeless encampments to write about it in their own words.
In Portland, Teresa Stratton told us about how her husband’s ashes were taken in a removal:
In Portland, Teresa Stratton told us about how her husband’s ashes were taken in a removal:
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
The DOJ says it will investigate a US citizen for saying “fuck Isr**l” to a guy in an IDF shirt.
Absolutely the most anti-free speech admin of my lifetime. Probably since the Red Scare, if not earlier.
Absolutely the most anti-free speech admin of my lifetime. Probably since the Red Scare, if not earlier.
August 1, 2025 at 9:48 PM
The DOJ says it will investigate a US citizen for saying “fuck Isr**l” to a guy in an IDF shirt.
Absolutely the most anti-free speech admin of my lifetime. Probably since the Red Scare, if not earlier.
Absolutely the most anti-free speech admin of my lifetime. Probably since the Red Scare, if not earlier.
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
This @today.yougov.com poll is why I'm going to become the Joker.
The US murder rate in 2024 was likely down nearly 30 percent relative to 2020 and down nearly 50 percent relative to 1990.
The US murder rate in 2024 was likely down nearly 30 percent relative to 2020 and down nearly 50 percent relative to 1990.
July 30, 2025 at 5:35 PM
This @today.yougov.com poll is why I'm going to become the Joker.
The US murder rate in 2024 was likely down nearly 30 percent relative to 2020 and down nearly 50 percent relative to 1990.
The US murder rate in 2024 was likely down nearly 30 percent relative to 2020 and down nearly 50 percent relative to 1990.
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
Posner, Chemerinsky, and the Perils of Dishonest and Dangerous Formalism: www.dorfonlaw.org/2025/07/posn...
Posner, Chemerinsky, and the Perils of Dishonest and Dangerous Formalism
As readers of this blog probably know, I was extremely fortunate to have a close relationship with retired judge Richard Posner, including h...
www.dorfonlaw.org
July 7, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Posner, Chemerinsky, and the Perils of Dishonest and Dangerous Formalism: www.dorfonlaw.org/2025/07/posn...
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
it’s absurd that NYT forced him to delete these skeets, which … convey the factual information that Zohran Mamdani is, in fact, a man of South Asian descent who was born and raised in Africa, and that the pseudonymous source of the hacked material is a white supremacist eugenicist.
July 4, 2025 at 3:05 AM
it’s absurd that NYT forced him to delete these skeets, which … convey the factual information that Zohran Mamdani is, in fact, a man of South Asian descent who was born and raised in Africa, and that the pseudonymous source of the hacked material is a white supremacist eugenicist.
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
There will now be 10,000 new ICE agents & 100,000 new detention beds--and few safeguards protecting people from constitutional violations by the feds.
Time for states to pass laws allowing people to sue fed agents. Read about it these "converse-1983" statutes here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Time for states to pass laws allowing people to sue fed agents. Read about it these "converse-1983" statutes here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
July 3, 2025 at 8:15 PM
There will now be 10,000 new ICE agents & 100,000 new detention beds--and few safeguards protecting people from constitutional violations by the feds.
Time for states to pass laws allowing people to sue fed agents. Read about it these "converse-1983" statutes here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Time for states to pass laws allowing people to sue fed agents. Read about it these "converse-1983" statutes here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
“In Cell 15, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia and 20 other Salvadorans were forced to kneel from approximately 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM, with guards striking anyone who fell from exhaustion. During this time, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was denied bathroom access and soiled himself…”
July 2, 2025 at 9:35 PM
“In Cell 15, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia and 20 other Salvadorans were forced to kneel from approximately 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM, with guards striking anyone who fell from exhaustion. During this time, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was denied bathroom access and soiled himself…”
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
Important @lioneltrolling.bsky.social: "The essence of Trump’s movement is an attack on the very concept of American citizenship" www.unpopularfront.news/p/death-to-a...
July 1, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Important @lioneltrolling.bsky.social: "The essence of Trump’s movement is an attack on the very concept of American citizenship" www.unpopularfront.news/p/death-to-a...
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
We are dismantling American higher education & scientific research & health care & all the other things to fund concentration camps
If the GOP reconciliation bill passes, ICE gets through FY2029:
- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.
- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.
‼️‼️
June 28, 2025 at 10:11 PM
We are dismantling American higher education & scientific research & health care & all the other things to fund concentration camps
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
Here's an angle on CASA I don't get: If Kavanaugh believes what he's saying -- that some major actions require a uniform nationwide SCOTUS preliminary ruling sooner rather than later -- shouldn't the Ct have expanded the question presented by the SG to address the merits, even on a stay posture?
June 27, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Here's an angle on CASA I don't get: If Kavanaugh believes what he's saying -- that some major actions require a uniform nationwide SCOTUS preliminary ruling sooner rather than later -- shouldn't the Ct have expanded the question presented by the SG to address the merits, even on a stay posture?
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
what’s funny is that if pro-cuomo centrist democrats were less myopic they might see that mamdani was running the kind of campaign that could help rebuild the party brand — accessible with an outsider persona and a focus on “kitchen table” issues.
June 25, 2025 at 1:34 AM
what’s funny is that if pro-cuomo centrist democrats were less myopic they might see that mamdani was running the kind of campaign that could help rebuild the party brand — accessible with an outsider persona and a focus on “kitchen table” issues.
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
The executive branch makes policy; the judicial branch red-light/green-lights the policy; the legislative branch turns the judgemaking machine on and off.
“The Roberts Court’s jurisprudence has cleared the way for the presidency to aggrandize its powers.” www.liberalcurrents.com/article-ii-a...
Article II as Suicide Pact
Justice Jackson's fear that "doctrinaire logic" could turn the Constitution into a "suicide pact" was warranted, but the Bill of Rights is not the problem.
www.liberalcurrents.com
April 30, 2025 at 11:02 AM
The executive branch makes policy; the judicial branch red-light/green-lights the policy; the legislative branch turns the judgemaking machine on and off.
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
This is fake news. JD Vance didn't read the court docs.
Here's what they actually say.
Abrego Garcia is not a "convicted gang member." He's never been charged or convicted of any crime. Police accused him of being MS-13 after stopping him & 3 others for allegedly loitering outside a Home Depot...
Here's what they actually say.
Abrego Garcia is not a "convicted gang member." He's never been charged or convicted of any crime. Police accused him of being MS-13 after stopping him & 3 others for allegedly loitering outside a Home Depot...
April 1, 2025 at 7:51 PM
This is fake news. JD Vance didn't read the court docs.
Here's what they actually say.
Abrego Garcia is not a "convicted gang member." He's never been charged or convicted of any crime. Police accused him of being MS-13 after stopping him & 3 others for allegedly loitering outside a Home Depot...
Here's what they actually say.
Abrego Garcia is not a "convicted gang member." He's never been charged or convicted of any crime. Police accused him of being MS-13 after stopping him & 3 others for allegedly loitering outside a Home Depot...
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
The US government just admitted to a federal court that it deported a father by mistake. It sent him to an el Salvadoran torture chamber and separated him from his US citizen family. Several DOJ lawyers have just now argued that the courts lack power to bring him home.
April 1, 2025 at 2:16 PM
The US government just admitted to a federal court that it deported a father by mistake. It sent him to an el Salvadoran torture chamber and separated him from his US citizen family. Several DOJ lawyers have just now argued that the courts lack power to bring him home.
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
Unidentified men grabbing someone off the street and putting her in a car because she wrote an op-Ed. This as flatly authoritarian as anything we’ve seen in this country in a very long time.
Video of the international student at Tufts being arrested by "federal authorities" in Massachusetts has been released and it's terrifying.
They're not even uniformed officers. Just secret police thugs in hoodies and masks.
From WCVB: youtu.be/PuFIs7OkzYY
They're not even uniformed officers. Just secret police thugs in hoodies and masks.
From WCVB: youtu.be/PuFIs7OkzYY
March 26, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Unidentified men grabbing someone off the street and putting her in a car because she wrote an op-Ed. This as flatly authoritarian as anything we’ve seen in this country in a very long time.
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
lol "due to the situation with the protesting" we're revoking your status as a legal permanent resident
![Shortly thereafter, before 8:00 p.m., an attorney, Nayantara Bhushan, called the
number from which the text had been sent and spoke with an individual who identified herself as
"Audrey," an agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a sub-component of ICE. She advised Attorney Bhushan that, "due to the situation with the protesting, the State Department was at liberty to revoke [Ms. Chung's] LPR status." The agent stated that there was an administrative
warrant for Ms. Chung's arrest.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qrllvid7s54k4hnwtqxwetrf/bafkreic3sxfpdcxhbwp4zeugzxspubkyky4jy2rp7x64itevxluaowlxgq@jpeg)
March 24, 2025 at 9:25 PM
lol "due to the situation with the protesting" we're revoking your status as a legal permanent resident
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
This is horrifying! Family members of some of the people sent to do hard labor in a Salvadoran prison by Trump confirm their loved ones weren't members of a gang.
One woman said her brother got a tattoo of a rose in Dallas, and because of that they accused him of being a gang member.
One woman said her brother got a tattoo of a rose in Dallas, and because of that they accused him of being a gang member.
March 18, 2025 at 1:54 AM
This is horrifying! Family members of some of the people sent to do hard labor in a Salvadoran prison by Trump confirm their loved ones weren't members of a gang.
One woman said her brother got a tattoo of a rose in Dallas, and because of that they accused him of being a gang member.
One woman said her brother got a tattoo of a rose in Dallas, and because of that they accused him of being a gang member.
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
Kidnapping students for thought crimes is not something democracies do. zeteo.com/p/breaking-d...
BREAKING: DHS Detains Palestinian Student from Columbia Encampment, Advocates Say
Agents told him his student visa was revoked. But he had a green card. Agents then said that was revoked too.
zeteo.com
March 9, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Kidnapping students for thought crimes is not something democracies do. zeteo.com/p/breaking-d...
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
Shall we look at the numbers from 2024 to 2025?
Grand Larceny (phone thefts): 204 to 147
Felony Assault: 102 to 85
Robbery: 91 to 51
Murder: 3 to 0
Ridership:
187,704,760 thru 3/2/24
197,533,179 thru 3/2/25
Crime way down. Ridership up.
Grand Larceny (phone thefts): 204 to 147
Felony Assault: 102 to 85
Robbery: 91 to 51
Murder: 3 to 0
Ridership:
187,704,760 thru 3/2/24
197,533,179 thru 3/2/25
Crime way down. Ridership up.
Through March 2, major felonies in the subway are down a whopping 30% this year compared with 2024. This appears to be the lowest crime rate in the subways in 10 years.
Details TK once the granular CompStat data is updated.
Details TK once the granular CompStat data is updated.
March 5, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Shall we look at the numbers from 2024 to 2025?
Grand Larceny (phone thefts): 204 to 147
Felony Assault: 102 to 85
Robbery: 91 to 51
Murder: 3 to 0
Ridership:
187,704,760 thru 3/2/24
197,533,179 thru 3/2/25
Crime way down. Ridership up.
Grand Larceny (phone thefts): 204 to 147
Felony Assault: 102 to 85
Robbery: 91 to 51
Murder: 3 to 0
Ridership:
187,704,760 thru 3/2/24
197,533,179 thru 3/2/25
Crime way down. Ridership up.
Reposted by Colin Cowperthwaite
These two articles in today's paper describe 55 guards criminally charged or placed on leave under investigation for murder and leading child gladiator fights. It's difficult to describe to outsiders how everyone who works in the punishment bureaucracy knows this is normal.
March 5, 2025 at 2:48 AM
These two articles in today's paper describe 55 guards criminally charged or placed on leave under investigation for murder and leading child gladiator fights. It's difficult to describe to outsiders how everyone who works in the punishment bureaucracy knows this is normal.