David Bernstein
@dbernsteinnyc.bsky.social
Public defender in NYC & suburbs since 2006. Deputy Attorney in Charge at The Office of the Appellate Defender. Opinions mine alone.
I mean, let’s be honest. This kind of thing probably gets said in sealed grand jury proceedings fairly often. Which is why grand jury proceedings should not be sealed.
I am a lawyer, and... Jesus Christ. This is unfathomable. My expectations for an insurance lawyer becoming a US Attorney were low, but not *this* low.
I’m not a lawyer but I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to tell the jury to “vote assuming we actually have a whole bunch more secret evidence”
November 18, 2025 at 2:09 AM
I mean, let’s be honest. This kind of thing probably gets said in sealed grand jury proceedings fairly often. Which is why grand jury proceedings should not be sealed.
👀
New data shows that the CCRB retroactively doctored public data for more than 10,000 misconduct allegations against NYPD officers.
hellgatenyc.com/ccrb-whitewa...
hellgatenyc.com/ccrb-whitewa...
The NYPD’s Watchdog Whitewashed More Than 10,000 Misconduct Allegations in Public Data, New Evidence Shows
Allegations of lying, sexual misconduct, bigoted statements, and racist policing were among those quietly reclassified by the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
hellgatenyc.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:54 PM
👀
In case you haven’t been paying attention, this is the kind of stuff our federal agents are doing now. Really scary.
NEW: Footage of a US citizen in Chicago being rammed then dragged from her car on her way to work.
Abducted, with no warrant, her family couldn’t find her for hours.
She was later released with NO CHARGE.
A DHS statement said she “violently resisted arrest, injuring two officers”.
You decide…
Abducted, with no warrant, her family couldn’t find her for hours.
She was later released with NO CHARGE.
A DHS statement said she “violently resisted arrest, injuring two officers”.
You decide…
November 3, 2025 at 11:41 PM
In case you haven’t been paying attention, this is the kind of stuff our federal agents are doing now. Really scary.
Shameful, inexcusable, unlawful behavior by the guy whose salary we are all paying.
Here’s a disturbing video from Evanston of a federal agent hitting a man on the ground as people yell that he can’t breathe.
November 1, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Shameful, inexcusable, unlawful behavior by the guy whose salary we are all paying.
Reposted by David Bernstein
Donald Trump has amassed the powers of a king, J. Michael Luttig writes. He won’t give them up easily:
President for Life
Donald Trump is trying to amass the powers of a king.
bit.ly
October 28, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Donald Trump has amassed the powers of a king, J. Michael Luttig writes. He won’t give them up easily:
This is unreal. This administration continues to find new ways to shock and new lows
September 19, 2025 at 11:35 PM
This is unreal. This administration continues to find new ways to shock and new lows
Chilling and shameful
#BREAKING: Over a (sharp) public dissent from the three Democratic appointees, #SCOTUS clears the way for the Trump administration to remove migrants to third countries *without* giving them an additional opportunity to contest whether they face persecution or other forms of mistreatment there:
www.supremecourt.gov
June 23, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Chilling and shameful
Reposted by David Bernstein
ACLU’s Know Your Rights library has great resources for people planning to protest this weekend:
www.aclu.org/know-yo...
Stopped by Police: www.aclu.org/know-yo...
Protestors’ Rights: www.aclu.org/know-yo...
Be safe out there.
www.aclu.org/know-yo...
Stopped by Police: www.aclu.org/know-yo...
Protestors’ Rights: www.aclu.org/know-yo...
Be safe out there.
June 12, 2025 at 8:54 PM
ACLU’s Know Your Rights library has great resources for people planning to protest this weekend:
www.aclu.org/know-yo...
Stopped by Police: www.aclu.org/know-yo...
Protestors’ Rights: www.aclu.org/know-yo...
Be safe out there.
www.aclu.org/know-yo...
Stopped by Police: www.aclu.org/know-yo...
Protestors’ Rights: www.aclu.org/know-yo...
Be safe out there.
One of those rare circumstances where the defense and prosecution agree an injustice has occurred, and the judge inexplicably refuses to act. As always, it boggles the mind.
Unreal. The Brox DA's office found this man innocent but "the presiding judge refused to dismiss the conviction, arguing that it would set a precedent to undo scores of other convictions. [He indicated] that if he did, the floodgates of other appeals would open."
www.amny.com/new-york/bro...
www.amny.com/new-york/bro...
The wrong man: Bronx native left devastated after judge denies exoneration following 30-year legal battle | amNewYork
Eduardo Caba was supposed to finally have a moment of salvation in a Bronx court on Monday afternoon following a three-decade legal battle over a crime he
www.amny.com
May 13, 2025 at 11:35 PM
One of those rare circumstances where the defense and prosecution agree an injustice has occurred, and the judge inexplicably refuses to act. As always, it boggles the mind.
Reposted by David Bernstein
The Knicks are one win away from their first conference finals appearance in 25 years‼️
May 13, 2025 at 2:18 AM
The Knicks are one win away from their first conference finals appearance in 25 years‼️
There aren’t enough hours in the day for the grift he wants to squeeze out of being a “public servant”
May 11, 2025 at 12:15 PM
There aren’t enough hours in the day for the grift he wants to squeeze out of being a “public servant”
Deeply disappointing and disheartening that these powerful firms are so readily giving up this really important work
Excuse me?
"Lawyers from Gibson Dunn explained that it was afraid of incurring Mr. Trump’s wrath if the firm was associated publicly with a lawsuit that sought to restore legal representation for unaccompanied immigrant children." 159/
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/b...
"Lawyers from Gibson Dunn explained that it was afraid of incurring Mr. Trump’s wrath if the firm was associated publicly with a lawsuit that sought to restore legal representation for unaccompanied immigrant children." 159/
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/b...
Some Giant Law Firms Shy Away From Pro Bono Immigration Cases
www.nytimes.com
May 7, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Deeply disappointing and disheartening that these powerful firms are so readily giving up this really important work
And… more about the cruelty currently pulsating through the government.
NEW: A federal judge raised alarm Friday that the Trump administration appeared to have deported a 2-year-old U.S. citizen to Honduras with "no meaningful process" — even as her father was fighting to keep her in the country.
Details w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social
www.politico.com/news/2025/04...
Details w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social
www.politico.com/news/2025/04...
April 26, 2025 at 2:16 AM
And… more about the cruelty currently pulsating through the government.
Hardly surprising that the government had no evidence whatsoever but glad to see a judge calling them out for it in such clear and stark terms.
NEW: In a SCATHING decision, Judge Briones of the Western District of Texas absolutely SAVAGED the government over this case, tearing to shreds ICE’s hearsay “evidence” that this husband and wife were in Tren de Aragua as “completely and wholly unsubstantiated” — and ordered their immediate release!
April 26, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Hardly surprising that the government had no evidence whatsoever but glad to see a judge calling them out for it in such clear and stark terms.
Cool, cool. Just as the Executive Branch should be working.
NBC News confirms: Gary Shapley, acting commissioner of the IRS, is being replaced after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent approached Trump to say that Shapley was appointed without his knowledge and at Elon Musk’s direction. @msnbc.com
April 18, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Cool, cool. Just as the Executive Branch should be working.
Reposted by David Bernstein
Over on The Hellsite, JD Vance has now functionally called for an end to due process for migrants. His argument is riddled with deceptions, bad faith, and embarrassingly awful logic. I think it needs a real response, so here's what I put up over there.
First, his 20 million number is fiction. 1/
First, his 20 million number is fiction. 1/
April 17, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Over on The Hellsite, JD Vance has now functionally called for an end to due process for migrants. His argument is riddled with deceptions, bad faith, and embarrassingly awful logic. I think it needs a real response, so here's what I put up over there.
First, his 20 million number is fiction. 1/
First, his 20 million number is fiction. 1/
Reposted by David Bernstein
Reposted by David Bernstein
NEW: In a major state con law ruling, the Michigan Supreme Court holds that mandatory life without parole sentences for anyone under age 21 violate the state's ban on "cruel or unusual" punishment -- extending a 2022 case that applied to 18 year olds. 1/ state-law-research.org/wp-content/u...
April 10, 2025 at 4:45 PM
NEW: In a major state con law ruling, the Michigan Supreme Court holds that mandatory life without parole sentences for anyone under age 21 violate the state's ban on "cruel or unusual" punishment -- extending a 2022 case that applied to 18 year olds. 1/ state-law-research.org/wp-content/u...
Blatantly and unapologetically illegal conduct from federal agents here.
“Mommy, no. Mommy.”
Daughter captures the moment masked ICE agents smash the window of her mother's car in order to take her into custody.
The government claims the 52-year old seamstress is an associate of the MS-13 gang.
www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/lo...
Daughter captures the moment masked ICE agents smash the window of her mother's car in order to take her into custody.
The government claims the 52-year old seamstress is an associate of the MS-13 gang.
www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/lo...
Rejected at her door, ICE nabs a Maryland woman in her car after smashing her window
Video shows a U.S. ICE agents breaking the window of a Maryland woman, Elsy Noemi Berrios, after failing to detain her at home.
www.thebaltimorebanner.com
April 10, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Blatantly and unapologetically illegal conduct from federal agents here.
April 5, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Shameful.
Sackets Harbor, NY is so small that there’s one pre k-12 school with 475 students. Three of those students were disappeared by ICE.
Here is a statement published today by school principal Jaime Cook:
Here is a statement published today by school principal Jaime Cook:
April 5, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Shameful.
So much winning!
NEW YORK (AP) — Dow drops 1,680 in its biggest wipeout since 2020 as fears of fallout from tariffs shake markets and S&P 500 sinks 4.8%.
U.S. And Global Markets Plunge After Trump Tariffs Heighten Chance Of Broader Trade War
The double-digit tariff hikes rippled through world markets and economists are warning that the risk of recession is climbing.
www.huffpost.com
April 3, 2025 at 8:17 PM
So much winning!
The cruelty is the point
Hard to watch: @newsweek.com posted footage of masked ICE agents arresting 50-year-old grandmother Angela Gonzalez, who'd been here since she was 11. She had a pending VAWA application, but other than that, had no options for a green card since she got here too late for the Reagan amnesty.
April 2, 2025 at 11:28 PM
The cruelty is the point
This thread reveals the absolutely terrifying way ICE is deciding who to deport without due process. Chilling.
NEW: @aclu.org obtained ICE's "Alien Enemies Act Validation Guide," confirming all it takes to be sent to rot in prison in El Salvador is being Venezuelan and 1) having a tattoo an ICE officer says is a "gang tattoo" and 2) displaying "logos," "symbols" or clothes an ICE officer says are gang signs.
March 30, 2025 at 7:59 PM
This thread reveals the absolutely terrifying way ICE is deciding who to deport without due process. Chilling.