Shobha Mahadev
@mahadevshobha.bsky.social
Petite brown girl lawyer who loves dessert and her family, and believes that accountability and change do not come from criminal legal systems. Clinical law professor training the next generation of lawyers for change. Views my own.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/12/u...
I think I'm going to cry. And then I'll go back to being royally pissed off.
I think I'm going to cry. And then I'll go back to being royally pissed off.
WLS: Judge orders release of hundreds arrested in Illinois immigration crackdown | CNN
A federal judge ordered the release of hundreds of people arrested as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Illinois, according to CNN affiliate WLS, dealing a blow to federal ef...
www.cnn.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:10 PM
www.cnn.com/2025/11/12/u...
I think I'm going to cry. And then I'll go back to being royally pissed off.
I think I'm going to cry. And then I'll go back to being royally pissed off.
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
If you’re trying to catch up on what went down with #SNAP late last night at #SCOTUS, here’s my attempt to read the breadcrumbs on the “administrative stay” issued by Justice Jackson—and why a justice so critical of the Court’s grants of emergency relief to Trump still granted temporary relief here:
190. SNAP WTF?
A very quick explainer on why Justice Jackson issued an "administrative stay" in the SNAP case late on Friday night, and on what's likely to happen next
www.stevevladeck.com
November 8, 2025 at 12:18 PM
If you’re trying to catch up on what went down with #SNAP late last night at #SCOTUS, here’s my attempt to read the breadcrumbs on the “administrative stay” issued by Justice Jackson—and why a justice so critical of the Court’s grants of emergency relief to Trump still granted temporary relief here:
Thank you @gshans.bsky.social for laying out the threats we face in clinical legal education--and pointing out the need for support and community to fight against them.
Today for @lpeblog.bsky.social I have a short piece on clinical academic freedom and the challenges we face in vindicating our rights as clinical faculty amid political interference. This piece stems from an Essay I have forthcoming on the topic in 2026. lpeproject.org/blog/clinics...
Clinics Under Fire: Defending Legal Education from Political Interference
While legal clinics have long been vulnerable to pressure from outside forces, recent attacks by the federal government represent an alarming new level of interference. Protecting clinical work now…
lpeproject.org
November 5, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Thank you @gshans.bsky.social for laying out the threats we face in clinical legal education--and pointing out the need for support and community to fight against them.
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
“They literally ushered us into the street to protest and immediately after started beating the shit out of us.”
State Police Led Broadview Protesters Into Street And Attacked Them, Demonstrators Say
Protesters have said state and local police officers have attacked them and tried to stifle their attempts to speak and protest freely outside the Broadview ICE facility. Police accused protesters of ...
blockclubchicago.org
October 17, 2025 at 11:49 PM
“They literally ushered us into the street to protest and immediately after started beating the shit out of us.”
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
Every single word of this.
October 12, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Every single word of this.
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
federal agents stealing children and sending them south. where have i heard about that before?
ICE kidnapped a 7th-grader with a pending asylum claim and spirited him out of state without notifying his parents, seemingly with the cooperation of the local police in Everett, MA.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/12/m...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/12/m...
October 12, 2025 at 11:36 PM
federal agents stealing children and sending them south. where have i heard about that before?
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
Greatest city on this goddamn planet. ✊
Chicago is officially one of the top 10 happiest cities in the world
The Windy City is all smiles in 2025
www.timeout.com
October 12, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Greatest city on this goddamn planet. ✊
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
Had you told me that one day I’d be approvingly citing Bill Kristol’s quoting of the Pope … But when they’re right, they’re right (both Kristol and Pope Leo of Chicago).
Pope Leo quotes Hannah Arendt:
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist."
www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist."
www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...
Pope Leo calls for news agencies to stand as bulwark against "post-truths," lies and manipulation
Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the "ancient art of lying" and manipulation.
www.cbsnews.com
October 13, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Had you told me that one day I’d be approvingly citing Bill Kristol’s quoting of the Pope … But when they’re right, they’re right (both Kristol and Pope Leo of Chicago).
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
Painful to hear the fear in her voice as she says, "let them know." And as others have noted, this seems to violate Judge Ellis's order issued just yesterday about arresting journalists & also about unnecessary physical force. (See 1(a) and 1(h) of order). storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
October 10, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Painful to hear the fear in her voice as she says, "let them know." And as others have noted, this seems to violate Judge Ellis's order issued just yesterday about arresting journalists & also about unnecessary physical force. (See 1(a) and 1(h) of order). storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
Brett Kavanaugh: “The Govt sometimes makes brief investigative stops …”
October 9, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Brett Kavanaugh: “The Govt sometimes makes brief investigative stops …”
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
PRESIDENT: We're defending the courthouse.
COURT: Wait, our courthouse?!
COURT: Wait, our courthouse?!
Chicago federal court chief judge says she has not requested National Guard for courthouse
October 9, 2025 at 2:32 PM
PRESIDENT: We're defending the courthouse.
COURT: Wait, our courthouse?!
COURT: Wait, our courthouse?!
Civil Rights Lawyer Bryan Stevenson on How America’s Story Should Be Told www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...
“We dishonor those who came before us if in this moment of crisis we remain silent...."I don’t think it’s just unempathetic. I don’t think it’s just cowardly. I think it’s dishonorable.”
“We dishonor those who came before us if in this moment of crisis we remain silent...."I don’t think it’s just unempathetic. I don’t think it’s just cowardly. I think it’s dishonorable.”
Civil Rights Lawyer Bryan Stevenson on How America’s Story Should Be Told
www.nytimes.com
October 8, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Civil Rights Lawyer Bryan Stevenson on How America’s Story Should Be Told www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...
“We dishonor those who came before us if in this moment of crisis we remain silent...."I don’t think it’s just unempathetic. I don’t think it’s just cowardly. I think it’s dishonorable.”
“We dishonor those who came before us if in this moment of crisis we remain silent...."I don’t think it’s just unempathetic. I don’t think it’s just cowardly. I think it’s dishonorable.”
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
"I was talking to [my client detained in the Broadview, IL facility], and his tone changed, and someone asked him who he was talking to,” [Attorney] Herrera said. “And he said, ‘a lawyer.’ And then he told me later that he was made to get off the phone.”
prospect.org/justice/2025...
prospect.org/justice/2025...
How ICE Hides Detainees From Their Lawyers
‘It seems like cruelty is the point,’ one attorney said.
prospect.org
October 6, 2025 at 7:39 PM
"I was talking to [my client detained in the Broadview, IL facility], and his tone changed, and someone asked him who he was talking to,” [Attorney] Herrera said. “And he said, ‘a lawyer.’ And then he told me later that he was made to get off the phone.”
prospect.org/justice/2025...
prospect.org/justice/2025...
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
Listen to every word she says.
October 3, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Listen to every word she says.
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
"[W]e must all stand up and speak out. Be loud, for America."
Be Loud — For America
open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Be Loud — For America
open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Be Loud — For America
By Governor JB Pritzker
open.substack.com
September 22, 2025 at 2:51 AM
"[W]e must all stand up and speak out. Be loud, for America."
Be Loud — For America
open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Be Loud — For America
open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
When we get to pleading in my first-year Civil Procedure class, my students often ask me just how over the top a complaint would have to be for a judge to strike it without even being *asked* to do so.
Thanks to President Trump, we have an answer:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Thanks to President Trump, we have an answer:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com
September 19, 2025 at 5:22 PM
When we get to pleading in my first-year Civil Procedure class, my students often ask me just how over the top a complaint would have to be for a judge to strike it without even being *asked* to do so.
Thanks to President Trump, we have an answer:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Thanks to President Trump, we have an answer:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
#BREAKING: With no explanation (save for a solo concurrence by Justice Kavanaugh), #SCOTUS has frozen lower-court rulings that had enjoined allegedly suspicion-less arrests as part of "roving" immigration patrols in California.
Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson, dissents:
Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson, dissents:
www.supremecourt.gov
September 8, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Right. Because this was the plan.
NEW: Holding the government to account is becoming more difficult as some of America’s largest law firms are avoiding clients Trump might perceive as enemies or take on cases involving environmental protections, LGBTQ+ rights and police accountability.
By @mtredden.bsky.social
By @mtredden.bsky.social
Trump’s War on Big Law Means It’s Harder to Challenge the Administration
Some of America’s largest law firms are refusing to take pro bono and paid legal work from groups that seek to hold the government to account on issues like environmental protection, LGBTQ+ rights…
www.propublica.org
August 6, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Right. Because this was the plan.
Good luck to my students (and everyone) taking the bar exam this week. This country needs ethical, compassionate lawyers who will defend the rule of law and the most vulnerable among us.
July 29, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Good luck to my students (and everyone) taking the bar exam this week. This country needs ethical, compassionate lawyers who will defend the rule of law and the most vulnerable among us.
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
Among other good reasons, the chilling effects of a world in which non-citizens didn’t have 1A rights would be quite extreme…
Yes, the First Amendment protects noncitizens, too—and this has been the law for eighty years, even if many people are suddenly pretending it’s an open question. www.harvardmagazine.com/2025/07/aaup...
Are Noncitizens’ Speech Rights Protected? | Harvard Magazine
Harvard faculty testify in a federal lawsuit over free speech and deportations.
www.harvardmagazine.com
July 11, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Among other good reasons, the chilling effects of a world in which non-citizens didn’t have 1A rights would be quite extreme…
Governors, Use Your Clemency Powers www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/o...
Opinion | Governors, Use Your Clemency Powers
www.nytimes.com
July 11, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Governors, Use Your Clemency Powers www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/o...
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
Greetings from Chicago City Hall, where today's meeting of the City Council is underway.
Up for a vote: $24.3M to resolve 3 police misconduct lawsuits; to allow alderpeople to ban new short-term rentals on home-sharing platforms & to allow Chicago's top cop to declare a snap curfew @wttw.bsky.social
Up for a vote: $24.3M to resolve 3 police misconduct lawsuits; to allow alderpeople to ban new short-term rentals on home-sharing platforms & to allow Chicago's top cop to declare a snap curfew @wttw.bsky.social
June 18, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Greetings from Chicago City Hall, where today's meeting of the City Council is underway.
Up for a vote: $24.3M to resolve 3 police misconduct lawsuits; to allow alderpeople to ban new short-term rentals on home-sharing platforms & to allow Chicago's top cop to declare a snap curfew @wttw.bsky.social
Up for a vote: $24.3M to resolve 3 police misconduct lawsuits; to allow alderpeople to ban new short-term rentals on home-sharing platforms & to allow Chicago's top cop to declare a snap curfew @wttw.bsky.social
Proud to have my roots in LA and my heart in Chicago. This administration's attacks on protesters and vulnerable people are unconstitutional and immoral.
June 8, 2025 at 4:14 AM
Proud to have my roots in LA and my heart in Chicago. This administration's attacks on protesters and vulnerable people are unconstitutional and immoral.
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
Reposted by Shobha Mahadev
SCOTUS' shadow docket order granting DOGE unprecedented access to Americans' social security records *before the merits of the case are decided* is infuriating. Here is the order and I'll post some key portions from Justice Jackson's outstanding dissent below. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
www.supremecourt.gov
June 7, 2025 at 1:49 PM
SCOTUS' shadow docket order granting DOGE unprecedented access to Americans' social security records *before the merits of the case are decided* is infuriating. Here is the order and I'll post some key portions from Justice Jackson's outstanding dissent below. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...