Geoffrey T. Blackwell
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gtblackwell.atheists.org
Geoffrey T. Blackwell
@gtblackwell.atheists.org
2.5K followers 1.1K following 210 posts
Atheists.org Legal Director, #FirstAmendment attorney, co-host of @notsograndjury.bsky.social.

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
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gtblackwell.atheists.org
Geoffrey T. Blackwell @gtblackwell.atheists.org · Nov 22
One wall of the #JeffersonMemorial bears an inscription that I like a lot, for a couple reasons:

First, it amounts to Thomas Jefferson telling #originalists to grow up and put their big-boy pants on.

Second, it's a great object lesson in *why* originalism is both futile and self-defeating. (1/10)
Jefferson's statute inside the Jefferson Memorial, in front of a quote engraved on the wall. "I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."
Reposted by Geoffrey T. Blackwell
shakespeare.lol
Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once.
November 10, 2025 at 2:28 AM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
The @democrats.org know they just won an election, right? A win that sent a clear signal which side Americans are on in this? Did they forget that after only five days?!

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...
"Mr. King said that the length of the shutdown and the pain it was inflicting on Americans had changed the calculus for some of his Democratic colleagues, pushing them to support a deal with Republicans that would reopen the government without the extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies they had originally sought."
November 10, 2025 at 2:58 AM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
Schumer is "In danger of" looking out of touch?

That ship has long since sailed, @nytimes.com.
NY Times headline: "As Mamdani Surges Ahead, Schumer Risks Finding Himself Left Behind" Subhead: "The rise of Zohran Mamdani comes at a complicated moment for Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, who is in danger of looking out of touch back home."
November 6, 2025 at 2:12 PM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
Good to know he acknowledges that the shutdown is hurting his party. Maybe they can address the AHA concerns and get this resolved?

Probably not.
Trump's post: "TRUMP WASN'T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT," according to Pollsters.
November 5, 2025 at 3:33 AM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
#NotTheOnion

A guy is suing his former employer for not accommodating his religious belief that he should never be alone in a room with a woman to avoid "the appearance of evil."

So the argument is it's religious discrimination to *not* engage in gender discrimination.

Wild.
October 22, 2025 at 4:17 PM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
Just unreal.
annabower.bsky.social Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 29d
EXCLUSIVE: One Saturday afternoon in October, my phone lit up with a notification.

I glanced down at the message.

“Anna, Lindsey Halligan here,” it began.

So began my text exchange with the woman who is prosecuting the president's perceived political enemies.

www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...
"Anna, Lindsey Halligan Here." Anna Bower Monday, October 20, 2025, 5:40 PM Share On: f X inK My Signal exchange with the interim U.S. attorney about the Letitia James grand jury.
October 21, 2025 at 2:19 AM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
I feel so seen.
friendlyatheist.com Hemant Mehta @friendlyatheist.com · Oct 17
According to Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY), the "No Kings" rallies are being led by "far-left activists" like #ResistTrump and...

American Atheists.
October 17, 2025 at 8:16 PM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
Was there actually a time when being a lunatic disqualified you from polite society or are we now just far more aware of "polite" society's inner thoughts and they were always this way?
sharonk.bsky.social Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · Oct 12
thiel, man, what the fuck are you talking about
He describes the plot of Watchmen, a 1986 graphic novel involving superheroes grappling with moral questions about humanity against the backdrop of impending nuclear war: The antihero Ozymandias, the antichrist-type figure, is sort of an early-modern person. He believes this will be a timeless and eternal solution – eternal world peace. Moore is sort of a late-modern. In early modernity, you have ideal solutions, ‘perfect’ solutions to calculus. In late modernity, things are sort of probabilistic. And at some point, he asks Dr Manhattan whether the world government is going to last. And he says that ‘nothing lasts forever.’ So you embrace the antichrist and it still doesn’t work. Thiel later finds biblical meaning in the manga One Piece, discussing how he believes it represents a future where an antichrist-like one-world government has repressed science. He believes that the hero, Monkey D Luffy, represents a Christlike figure. In One Piece, you are set in a fantasy world, again sort of an alternate earth, but it’s 800 years into the reign of this one-world state. Which, as the story unfolds, gradually gets darker and darker. You sort of realize, in my interpretation, who runs the world and it’s something like the antichrist. There’s Luffy, a pirate who wears a red straw hat, sort of like Christ’s crown of thorns. And then towards the end of the story, transforms into a figure who resembles Christ in Revelation. Thiel, along with a researcher and writer at Thiel Capital, explored these ideas at greater length in an essay for the religious journal First Things earlier this month.
October 12, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey T. Blackwell
briankaylor.bsky.social
2nd meeting of White House's "Religious Liberty Commission" is occurring. I reported on problems with 1st meeting: publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/when-chris...
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is chair, which shows group is fraud. He doesn't believe in religious liberty: www.youtube.com/shorts/LZhNn...
September 8, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey T. Blackwell
ajfidalgo.com
I am constantly frustrated at the judiciary's and bar's unwillingness to take a stance against AI. Instead we get uncritical hype pitches disguised as seminars and CLEs, and otherwise crickets until it's a problem like this. Then suddenly the judicial claws come out like it's an isolated problem.
ericgoldman.bsky.social Eric Goldman @ericgoldman.bsky.social · Aug 16
Yet another hallucinated citations case. Sanctions this time include:

* lawyer kicked off the case
* lawyer must notify all judges in the lawyer's other cases nationwide
* lawyer must write to judges who were falsely cited
* lawyer reported to state bar

www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...

🤖😵
1. The pro hac vice status of Counsel shall be revoked and Counsel will be removed from this case; 2. Plaintiff’s Opening Brief shall be stricken; 3. Counsel will be ordered to promptly serve a copy of this Order on Plaintiff, who will in turn be afforded time to engage new counsel or proceed as a selfrepresented litigant; 4. Counsel will be ordered to write a letter to the three Judges to whom she attributed fictitious cases, Hon. Douglas L. Rayes, Hon. Michael T. Liburdi, and Hon. John Z. Boyle, notifying them of her use of fake cases with their respective names attached; 5. Counsel will be ordered to transmit a copy of this Order to every Judge who presides over any case in which Counsel is attorney of record; and 6. The Clerk of Court’s Office will be directed to serve a copy of this Order on the Washington State Bar Association, of which Counsel is a member.7 If Counsel is a member of any other state’s bar, she shall serve a copy of this Order on that state’s bar office.
August 16, 2025 at 11:07 PM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
I guess I always assumed he would draw like an uncoordinated five-year-old but it's weird to see proof of it in the goddamn @nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/u...
Trump Says He Doesn’t ‘Draw Pictures.’ But Many of His Sketches Sold at Auction.
www.nytimes.com
July 18, 2025 at 9:23 PM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
I'm curious to see what #copaganda CBS replaces the @colbertlateshow.bsky.social with.
July 18, 2025 at 2:32 AM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
This provision in the Senate version of the bill would violate the #FirstAmendment guarantee of access to the courts. At least, if would under any sane judicial interpretation. With the extremist Supreme Court we have now, though? Who's to say?
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · Jun 13
As I just flagged, this has been replaced with something which is arguably worse; requiring that basically every plaintiff seeking a preliminary injunction against the federal government pay millions or billions of dollars in "security" to pay for "costs" to the federal government if they later win.
June 13, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey T. Blackwell
skepchick.org
With anti-Trump protests ramping up, I’ve seen some misinformation being spread even by people with good intentions. So here’s a quick correction on what the science says about dealing with tear gas 🧪 skepchick.org/2025/06/how-...
How to ACTUALLY Deal with Tear Gas
Transcript: Hello from California, where things are finally getting spicy. In case you missed it, Donald Trump ordered the National Guard to go help our secret police disappear people off the stree…
skepchick.org
June 13, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey T. Blackwell
billcorbett.bsky.social
We need answers about what happened on Alderaan and assurances from the Empire that it won’t happen again.
June 13, 2025 at 2:52 PM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
Looks like I'll be watching the "Mitchell" episode of #MST3K tonight.

www.al.com/life/2025/05...
‘Walking Tall' actor, known for James Bond roles, dead at 89: ‘A beacon of kindness and generosity’
The Texas native played both a good guy and bad guy in Bond franchise.
www.al.com
May 15, 2025 at 5:18 PM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
I was really pulling for Pizzaballa in the #conclave. He assured me personally that his #pope name would be Strombol I.
May 8, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey T. Blackwell
atheists.org
If the head of the White House Faith Office can sell supernatural blessings, so can we.

ACT NOW, and we'll throw in magical cures* for ANY NUMBER of ailments!!

Our faith tell us that together, with your $$$, we will stop bed wetting for good 💦 🛏️

*while supplies last
April 1, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey T. Blackwell
atheists.org
This Court has consistently put the speculative "rights" of religious groups ahead of the civil rights and safety of millions of Americans. More from our Legal Director @gtblackwell.atheists.org
March 31, 2025 at 5:59 PM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
She thinks she's soooo cute.
Nina being adorable
March 27, 2025 at 11:05 PM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
"Stop everything you're doing, but do it in a way that doesn't interfere with the stuff you were doing that people liked."
marisakabas.bsky.social Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · Mar 20
BREAKING— Trump’s executive order dismantling the US Dept. of Education just dropped.

“Closure of the Department of Education would drastically improve program implementation in higher education.”
Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to enable parents, teachers, and
www.whitehouse.gov
March 20, 2025 at 9:30 PM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
I'm sure this is fine. Those door panels were probably just impeding the vehicle's efficiency.

finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-r...
Tesla Recalls More Than 46,000 Cybertrucks Over Panel Detachment Issue
Tesla is recalling more than 46,000 Cybertrucks after regulators warned an exterior panel could detach, potentially raising the risk of a crash.
finance.yahoo.com
March 20, 2025 at 6:51 PM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
I'm so glad we're still being led by a generation that came of age when there was lead in house paint.
March 15, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey T. Blackwell
piatpod.bsky.social
#GodAwfulMovies 497: “Suing The Devil”
(2011) is ready on @Patreon.

🔊: www.patreon.com/posts/124070...

This week, American Atheists legal director Geoff Blackwell joins us for possibly the least accurate courtroom drama in all of cinematic history.
Suing the Devil | God Awful Movies
Get more from God Awful Movies on Patreon
www.patreon.com
March 10, 2025 at 7:24 PM
gtblackwell.atheists.org
Having spent part of my childhood in Kansas City, and now being a Philly resident, I should care about the game tonight.

Yet I do not.
February 10, 2025 at 12:03 AM