Sarah Fackrell
@design-law.bsky.social
Professor of Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Tech. Currently writing about "Schedule A" litigation.
For more on #ScheduleA, see Part II(B) here: https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-138/the-counterfeit-sham/
For more on #ScheduleA, see Part II(B) here: https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-138/the-counterfeit-sham/
Pinned
Sarah Fackrell
@design-law.bsky.social
· Aug 11
storage.courtlistener.com
Honored to have my work cited by Judge Kness in a decision that concludes:
"[T]he Schedule A mechanism should no longer be perpetuated in its present form."
Eicher Motors Ltd, v. Schedule A, Defendants., No. 1:25-CV-02937, 2025 WL 2299593, at *1 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 8, 2025). #ScheduleA
"[T]he Schedule A mechanism should no longer be perpetuated in its present form."
Eicher Motors Ltd, v. Schedule A, Defendants., No. 1:25-CV-02937, 2025 WL 2299593, at *1 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 8, 2025). #ScheduleA
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
Northwestern’s leaders will likely try to justify their choice to appease fascist extortion with some BS about needing to help researchers get federal funds that were illegally withheld, so it’s important to note that virtually all of the researchers said not to.
So apparently the administrators at Northwestern have caved to the extortionist demands of the Feds. Faculty voted 595-4 AGAINST this measure.
November 29, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Northwestern’s leaders will likely try to justify their choice to appease fascist extortion with some BS about needing to help researchers get federal funds that were illegally withheld, so it’s important to note that virtually all of the researchers said not to.
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
On international students:
November 29, 2025 at 1:17 PM
On international students:
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
As a Jewish Northwestern faculty member, it adds insult to the injury of this abominable agreement that DOJ claims to have done this to protect the Jews.
You've heard of the Friday night news dump. Here's the Friday night of Thanksgiving wknd dump. For special circumstances, like when the faculty assembly votes 595-4 against paying to end a shakedown and you do it anyway. Link to agreement here: bulkmail.northwestern.edu/trk/click?re...
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 1:45 PM
As a Jewish Northwestern faculty member, it adds insult to the injury of this abominable agreement that DOJ claims to have done this to protect the Jews.
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
USPTO Seeks Applicants for Chief Administrative Trademark Judge at the TTAB
thettablog.blogspot.com/2025/11/uspt...
thettablog.blogspot.com/2025/11/uspt...
November 29, 2025 at 12:56 PM
USPTO Seeks Applicants for Chief Administrative Trademark Judge at the TTAB
thettablog.blogspot.com/2025/11/uspt...
thettablog.blogspot.com/2025/11/uspt...
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
A Dishonorable Strike
Indulging all assumptions in favor of the administration’s boat strikes, killing helpless men is murder
www.execfunctions.org/p/a-dishonor...
Indulging all assumptions in favor of the administration’s boat strikes, killing helpless men is murder
www.execfunctions.org/p/a-dishonor...
A Dishonorable Strike
Indulging all assumptions in favor of the administration’s boat strikes, killing helpless men is murder
www.execfunctions.org
November 29, 2025 at 4:26 AM
A Dishonorable Strike
Indulging all assumptions in favor of the administration’s boat strikes, killing helpless men is murder
www.execfunctions.org/p/a-dishonor...
Indulging all assumptions in favor of the administration’s boat strikes, killing helpless men is murder
www.execfunctions.org/p/a-dishonor...
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
Northwestern bent the knee, choosing to give in to extortion at the expense of academic freedom.
Among the provisions:
-Pay a big bribe
-Give the govt data on students
-Validate BS about "fighting antisemitism"
-Be cruel to trans students
What to do about Vichy universities (now, later, or both)?
Among the provisions:
-Pay a big bribe
-Give the govt data on students
-Validate BS about "fighting antisemitism"
-Be cruel to trans students
What to do about Vichy universities (now, later, or both)?
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Northwestern bent the knee, choosing to give in to extortion at the expense of academic freedom.
Among the provisions:
-Pay a big bribe
-Give the govt data on students
-Validate BS about "fighting antisemitism"
-Be cruel to trans students
What to do about Vichy universities (now, later, or both)?
Among the provisions:
-Pay a big bribe
-Give the govt data on students
-Validate BS about "fighting antisemitism"
-Be cruel to trans students
What to do about Vichy universities (now, later, or both)?
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
@mbkplus.bsky.social and I will have more thoughts on the podcast, but it's no coincidence that the two most draconian settlements were signed by *interim* university presidents.
Here’s the text of the Northwestern settlement with the DoJ, which includes a $75 million financial component / payoff (cc @profmarkovic.bsky.social):
November 29, 2025 at 2:28 AM
@mbkplus.bsky.social and I will have more thoughts on the podcast, but it's no coincidence that the two most draconian settlements were signed by *interim* university presidents.
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
Who is supporting these settlements? It’s generally not faculty or even long-time university administrators, it’s university boards and interim administrators who they’ve installed after admins with more of a fighting instinct have been forced out. There’s a playbook here.
@mbkplus.bsky.social and I will have more thoughts on the podcast, but it's no coincidence that the two most draconian settlements were signed by *interim* university presidents.
Here’s the text of the Northwestern settlement with the DoJ, which includes a $75 million financial component / payoff (cc @profmarkovic.bsky.social):
November 29, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Who is supporting these settlements? It’s generally not faculty or even long-time university administrators, it’s university boards and interim administrators who they’ve installed after admins with more of a fighting instinct have been forced out. There’s a playbook here.
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
A chapter in Hegseth’s book is literally titled “More Lethality, Less Lawyers.”
It’s almost as if there were signs!
It’s almost as if there were signs!
November 29, 2025 at 3:02 AM
A chapter in Hegseth’s book is literally titled “More Lethality, Less Lawyers.”
It’s almost as if there were signs!
It’s almost as if there were signs!
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
So apparently the administrators at Northwestern have caved to the extortionist demands of the Feds. Faculty voted 595-4 AGAINST this measure.
November 29, 2025 at 3:30 AM
So apparently the administrators at Northwestern have caved to the extortionist demands of the Feds. Faculty voted 595-4 AGAINST this measure.
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
Harvard Law School’s Jack Goldsmith:
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
November 29, 2025 at 4:25 AM
Harvard Law School’s Jack Goldsmith:
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
I do think formal and informal faculty groups need to be thinking about their boards, how they are constituted, and what routes to change exist. The time of assuming that faculty no-confidence votes mean anything has passed.
November 29, 2025 at 2:17 AM
I do think formal and informal faculty groups need to be thinking about their boards, how they are constituted, and what routes to change exist. The time of assuming that faculty no-confidence votes mean anything has passed.
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
BTW, any story about a possible Northwestern capitulation should include this detail (screenshot is from the oped linked below)
November 27, 2025 at 2:31 AM
BTW, any story about a possible Northwestern capitulation should include this detail (screenshot is from the oped linked below)
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
You've heard of the Friday night news dump. Here's the Friday night of Thanksgiving wknd dump. For special circumstances, like when the faculty assembly votes 595-4 against paying to end a shakedown and you do it anyway. Link to agreement here: bulkmail.northwestern.edu/trk/click?re...
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 12:34 AM
You've heard of the Friday night news dump. Here's the Friday night of Thanksgiving wknd dump. For special circumstances, like when the faculty assembly votes 595-4 against paying to end a shakedown and you do it anyway. Link to agreement here: bulkmail.northwestern.edu/trk/click?re...
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
Northwestern: We are only doing this because of government coercion.
Very helpful for any future faculty lawsuits in light of the caselaw on informal coercion / jawboning (e.g., NRA v. Vullo (2024))
Very helpful for any future faculty lawsuits in light of the caselaw on informal coercion / jawboning (e.g., NRA v. Vullo (2024))
November 29, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Northwestern: We are only doing this because of government coercion.
Very helpful for any future faculty lawsuits in light of the caselaw on informal coercion / jawboning (e.g., NRA v. Vullo (2024))
Very helpful for any future faculty lawsuits in light of the caselaw on informal coercion / jawboning (e.g., NRA v. Vullo (2024))
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
Announcing this not just on a Friday, but on the most holiday weekend of all Fridays, def shows how proud Northwestern’s admins must feel for caving in to bad faith attacks like this.
And, in the process, leaving all universities that still have a spine in more vulnerable positions than before.
And, in the process, leaving all universities that still have a spine in more vulnerable positions than before.
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Announcing this not just on a Friday, but on the most holiday weekend of all Fridays, def shows how proud Northwestern’s admins must feel for caving in to bad faith attacks like this.
And, in the process, leaving all universities that still have a spine in more vulnerable positions than before.
And, in the process, leaving all universities that still have a spine in more vulnerable positions than before.
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
Universities paying into the protection racket.
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Universities paying into the protection racket.
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
Ed Whelan was Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for OLC from 2001-2004, so when he suggests that laws of war have been violated by the executive branch, that’s… something
Does Pete Hegseth have a "golden shield" against prosecution in the form of a DOJ OLC opinion? Ed Whelan thinks not.
November 28, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Ed Whelan was Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for OLC from 2001-2004, so when he suggests that laws of war have been violated by the executive branch, that’s… something
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
Fuck, Northwestern just caved. Reading the deal now. ( www.northwestern.edu/president/do... )
www.northwestern.edu
November 29, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Fuck, Northwestern just caved. Reading the deal now. ( www.northwestern.edu/president/do... )
Was not expecting this Netflix series to just casually take a swipe at patent law.
November 29, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Was not expecting this Netflix series to just casually take a swipe at patent law.
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
Hagueseth
Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Hagueseth
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
🚨 Winter Storm Warning issued November 28 at 2:59PM CST until November 30 at 6:00AM CST by NWS Chicago IL 🚨
Additional Details Here.
Additional Details Here.
November 28, 2025 at 9:15 PM
🚨 Winter Storm Warning issued November 28 at 2:59PM CST until November 30 at 6:00AM CST by NWS Chicago IL 🚨
Additional Details Here.
Additional Details Here.
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
Somewhat related, my graphic design advice is that unless the image is a key point of your presentation, like it’s actually something you need to show people to get the point of your slide across, then don’t use one. Slides need to be functional, not overcrowded and “cute”.
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
November 28, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Somewhat related, my graphic design advice is that unless the image is a key point of your presentation, like it’s actually something you need to show people to get the point of your slide across, then don’t use one. Slides need to be functional, not overcrowded and “cute”.
Was not expecting this silly Christmas movie to just casually drop a line about how French wine producers are suffering due to tariffs.
November 28, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Was not expecting this silly Christmas movie to just casually drop a line about how French wine producers are suffering due to tariffs.
Reposted by Sarah Fackrell
I wrote an essay for @bostonreview.bsky.social about what I learned about close reading when I taught at West Virginia University
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
November 26, 2025 at 3:14 PM
I wrote an essay for @bostonreview.bsky.social about what I learned about close reading when I taught at West Virginia University
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...