Elizabeth Joh
@elizabethjoh.bsky.social
Law Prof at UC Davis Law; co-host of the 99pi Breakdown of the Constitution https://99percentinvisible.org/book-club/
Pinned
Constitution Breakdown #4: Janet Napolitano
Podcast Episode · 99% Invisible · 11/28/2025 · Bonus · 1h 22m
podcasts.apple.com
Hey all-a new @99pi.org Constitution Breakdown is out! @romanmars.bsky.social & I talk about Article 2, prize law, and boat strikes-and our special guest is former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano-listen & share!
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/9...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/9...
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
Holy crap chart from Gallup
December 19, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Holy crap chart from Gallup
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
More collective punishment from Kristi Noem: x.com/sec_noem/sta...
December 19, 2025 at 5:28 AM
More collective punishment from Kristi Noem: x.com/sec_noem/sta...
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
Sign of the times: the affidavit released by the Rhode Island attorney general tonight credits Reddit for this credible + helpful tip
December 19, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Sign of the times: the affidavit released by the Rhode Island attorney general tonight credits Reddit for this credible + helpful tip
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
Fox News reporting the suspected shooter connected to the Brown University mass shooting has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound
December 19, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Fox News reporting the suspected shooter connected to the Brown University mass shooting has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound
Yes. The law isn’t a thing “out there”; it lives or dies through our collective legitimation
NB: When I, a professor of law, profess that an act is unlawful, I am not doing it to inform the lawbreaker, but rather to inform you, the reader.
So the question “what, like you think he cares?” is inapposite. The question is whether *you* care. I think you should, which is why I bother.
So the question “what, like you think he cares?” is inapposite. The question is whether *you* care. I think you should, which is why I bother.
December 18, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Yes. The law isn’t a thing “out there”; it lives or dies through our collective legitimation
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
PSA: your graduate program, even if in the humanities, needs an AI policy. Now.
December 18, 2025 at 5:28 PM
PSA: your graduate program, even if in the humanities, needs an AI policy. Now.
Cool cool now we’re at the dystopian YA phase of the republic
Trump announces an "unprecedented four-day athletic event" with "one young man and one young woman from each state and territory"
December 18, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Cool cool now we’re at the dystopian YA phase of the republic
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
So, not a bonus. Robbing Peter to pay Paul, who are in this case the same person
Trump rebrands Congressionally-approved troop housing subsidy as ‘warrior dividend’ bonus
More than $2.9 billion in reconciliation funds was allocated to beef up troop housing allowances. Now it’s being used for $1,776 checks.
www.defenseone.com
December 18, 2025 at 3:40 PM
So, not a bonus. Robbing Peter to pay Paul, who are in this case the same person
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
This means-law firms are hiring based on exactly one semester’s worth of grades—and creating a high stakes, anxiety filled beginning to law school
In a first, many top law firms this year are recruiting summer associates during students' first semester. Some are dangling ‘jumbo offers’ and ‘loyalty’ bonuses for students who do two summer stints back-to-back, keeping them out of other firms' reach reut.rs/44U44cD
December 18, 2025 at 2:46 PM
This means-law firms are hiring based on exactly one semester’s worth of grades—and creating a high stakes, anxiety filled beginning to law school
Denaturalization quotas—
The guidance, issued on Tuesday to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field offices, asks that they “supply Office of Immigration Litigation with 100-200 denaturalization cases per month” in the 2026 fiscal year.
December 18, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Denaturalization quotas—
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
SCOOP: The Trump administration plans to ramp up efforts to strip some naturalized Americans of their citizenship, according to internal guidance obtained by The New York Times.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/u...
Trump Administration Aims to Strip More Foreign-Born Americans of Citizenship
www.nytimes.com
December 17, 2025 at 10:18 PM
SCOOP: The Trump administration plans to ramp up efforts to strip some naturalized Americans of their citizenship, according to internal guidance obtained by The New York Times.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/u...
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
President Trump says that checks for $1,776 each are going out to nearly 1.5 million servicemembers. I have questions.
+ When did Congress approve such a plan?
+ Where is the money coming from?
+ How is it non-taxable? Did Congress vote to do that?
I'm sure there must be specific bill text.
+ When did Congress approve such a plan?
+ Where is the money coming from?
+ How is it non-taxable? Did Congress vote to do that?
I'm sure there must be specific bill text.
December 18, 2025 at 3:15 AM
President Trump says that checks for $1,776 each are going out to nearly 1.5 million servicemembers. I have questions.
+ When did Congress approve such a plan?
+ Where is the money coming from?
+ How is it non-taxable? Did Congress vote to do that?
I'm sure there must be specific bill text.
+ When did Congress approve such a plan?
+ Where is the money coming from?
+ How is it non-taxable? Did Congress vote to do that?
I'm sure there must be specific bill text.
This is … a lot of yelling
December 18, 2025 at 2:18 AM
This is … a lot of yelling
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
NEW: CBP is doubling down on a surveillance strategy built around small, human-portable drones, pushing border enforcement toward a distributed surveillance network that can operate in harsh climes and mixed terrain to rapidly cue agents.
Border Patrol Bets on Small Drones to Expand US Surveillance Reach
Federal records show CBP is moving from testing small drones to making them standard surveillance tools, expanding a network that can follow activity in real time and extend well beyond the border.
www.wired.com
December 17, 2025 at 6:21 PM
NEW: CBP is doubling down on a surveillance strategy built around small, human-portable drones, pushing border enforcement toward a distributed surveillance network that can operate in harsh climes and mixed terrain to rapidly cue agents.
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
Per @garretthaake.bsky.social, the extremely tacky "presidential wall of fame" that lines the colonnade to the West Wing now has obviously-Trump-penned plaques insulting or praising the presidents.
December 17, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Per @garretthaake.bsky.social, the extremely tacky "presidential wall of fame" that lines the colonnade to the West Wing now has obviously-Trump-penned plaques insulting or praising the presidents.
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
More than 2,900 attorneys quit the Justice Department or were fired during the first 10 months of this year -- about triple the number who depart in a typical year. personnel records obtained by Reuters show.
December 17, 2025 at 11:45 AM
More than 2,900 attorneys quit the Justice Department or were fired during the first 10 months of this year -- about triple the number who depart in a typical year. personnel records obtained by Reuters show.
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
I remember writing years ago about a then-new initiative by Amazon to disrupt local government procurement of things like office and school supplies. Turns out Amazon's become very popular with school districts, and it's using dynamic pricing to rip those schools off.
prospect.org/2025/12/17/a...
prospect.org/2025/12/17/a...
Amazon Has Been Conning School Districts out of Millions - The American Prospect
Amazon Business is billed as a convenient one-stop shop for schools. Reality is more expensive.
prospect.org
December 17, 2025 at 2:16 PM
I remember writing years ago about a then-new initiative by Amazon to disrupt local government procurement of things like office and school supplies. Turns out Amazon's become very popular with school districts, and it's using dynamic pricing to rip those schools off.
prospect.org/2025/12/17/a...
prospect.org/2025/12/17/a...
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
It is international law 101 that a military blockade is not just a violation of the UN Charter, but a crime of aggression.
Unless that blockade is in response to an 'armed attack.'
None of President's Trump's list of complaints come close to an armed attack.
1/
Unless that blockade is in response to an 'armed attack.'
None of President's Trump's list of complaints come close to an armed attack.
1/
December 17, 2025 at 12:27 AM
It is international law 101 that a military blockade is not just a violation of the UN Charter, but a crime of aggression.
Unless that blockade is in response to an 'armed attack.'
None of President's Trump's list of complaints come close to an armed attack.
1/
Unless that blockade is in response to an 'armed attack.'
None of President's Trump's list of complaints come close to an armed attack.
1/
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
Under the expanded ban:
- 19 countries are subject to near-total bars on immigrant or non-immigrant visas.
- 19 countries are subject to near-total bars on immigrant visas and a bar on tourist, student, and exchange visitor visas.
- Turkmenistan is subject to a near-total bar on immigrant visas.
- 19 countries are subject to near-total bars on immigrant or non-immigrant visas.
- 19 countries are subject to near-total bars on immigrant visas and a bar on tourist, student, and exchange visitor visas.
- Turkmenistan is subject to a near-total bar on immigrant visas.
December 16, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Under the expanded ban:
- 19 countries are subject to near-total bars on immigrant or non-immigrant visas.
- 19 countries are subject to near-total bars on immigrant visas and a bar on tourist, student, and exchange visitor visas.
- Turkmenistan is subject to a near-total bar on immigrant visas.
- 19 countries are subject to near-total bars on immigrant or non-immigrant visas.
- 19 countries are subject to near-total bars on immigrant visas and a bar on tourist, student, and exchange visitor visas.
- Turkmenistan is subject to a near-total bar on immigrant visas.
Reposted by Elizabeth Joh
NEW: President Trump is expanding the previous 19-country travel ban to a whopping 39 countries (plus the Palestinian Authority), and appears to expand a block on legal immigration to now include spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizens, who were previously exempted.
December 16, 2025 at 8:32 PM
NEW: President Trump is expanding the previous 19-country travel ban to a whopping 39 countries (plus the Palestinian Authority), and appears to expand a block on legal immigration to now include spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizens, who were previously exempted.
One of those legal concepts that most people haven’t the slightest idea about but they should.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court rules that there are no 4th Amendment rights in your Google search terms. When you search on Google, you tell them your search terms; the government can get those queries without a warrant. The third-party doctrine applies.
www.pacourts.us/assets/opini...
www.pacourts.us/assets/opini...
December 16, 2025 at 8:09 PM
One of those legal concepts that most people haven’t the slightest idea about but they should.