A few things I read while researching that were helpful to understanding the moment we're in. I thought this @jameeljaffer.bsky.social piece on media capitulations was very powerful. I'm also a sucker for a Learned Hand quote. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/o...

Axon (called Taser Intl back then) picked up the theory in the 2000s, blaming it after deaths involving Tasers and other law enforcement force. The company pushed it aggressively to law enforcement and medical examiners, suing MEs if they blamed Tasers and funding experts that believed in the idea

Almost 10 years ago, I sued the Missouri Dept of Corrections for refusing to allow me to be a press witness for executions after I had done reporting that they were not big fans of. The courts sided with us and the state agreed to settle rather than continue trying to fight. Good luck to the AP

and I *think* that this is the court case being referenced: casetext.com/case/matter-...

okay I've continued reading and came across this reference to a NY Post lawsuit:

when I eat too much popcorn at the alamo drafthouse

People in the top half of the piece: The audience should NOT be laughing at Serious Cinema

Directors in the bottom half of the piece: Yeah it's a mix of comedy and drama and I think it's funny www.nytimes.com/2025/01/14/s...

@matthewschafer.bsky.social not vital at all, but I've been reading the Power Broker, & this passage about public records had me curious about the state of open records laws back in the 1930s. I know NY's (and the Feds') laws came about in 60s/after. Know anything written about open records pre-60s?

*snaps suspenders and begins opening statement in a foghorn leghorn voice* now I may be a simple, freewheeling, small-town lawyer…

Tom Cotton? The NYTimes writer?

In an attempt to limit the paper trail, states often pay executioners and sometimes drug suppliers in cash. The federal judge was probing whether the state had complied with tax laws in these payments, and was dismissed shortly after.

. @jimmyjenkins.bsky.social reports that AZ's governor (D) has abruptly cut off an investigation by a former federal judge into the state's lethal injection practices and plans to resume executions. They did not like what the judge was looking into and what he found www.azcentral.com/story/news/p...

This courtroom sketch really looks like a Scooby Doo villain pointing at the Mystery Gang, explaining that they would have gotten away it too, if it weren't for those meddling kids: www.reuters.com/world/us/i-c...

This is Penelope. Right now she smells like Fritos

It took 4 years for the Louisville PD to investigate one of their cops shooting pepper balls at journalists. The PD claimed the investigation was exhaustive... turns out they had not even interviewed the journalists. (Which the police chief claimed they did) www.courier-journal.com/story/news/c...

In court, DOJ & BOP assured that the facility was "properly registered as a bulk manufacturer." The company is not properly registered to make drugs for use in humans or animals since it never registered with the FDA. DOJ declined to answer if they would be correcting this record

The first batch of execution drugs that the company manufactured ended up failing quality assurance testing. The Bureau of Prisons wasn't quite sure what to make of the failed test, but the company said it "spent some money on something related to filters" and made another batch.

The facility has never been inspected by the FDA. It's unclear if they adhere to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), since they don't actually normally make drugs. Here's how they describe their normal business in a state license application we got through an open records request