Jack Castonguay, PhD, CPA
@profjackc.bsky.social
Accounting professor at Hofstra University. Marathon runner. Dog dad. Nerd. Reads constitutional law books for fun. Opinions expressed are my own and do not represent the views of my organizations or employers.
I wish this was unbelievable but given who runs the defense department this is 100% believable.
November 20, 2025 at 7:52 PM
I wish this was unbelievable but given who runs the defense department this is 100% believable.
I banned laptops and phones in my classes this year. It works.
It's time to remove laptops from classrooms.
24 experiments: Students learn more and get better grades after taking notes by hand than typing. It's not just because they're less distracted—writing enables deeper processing and more images.
The pen is mightier than the keyboard.
24 experiments: Students learn more and get better grades after taking notes by hand than typing. It's not just because they're less distracted—writing enables deeper processing and more images.
The pen is mightier than the keyboard.
November 20, 2025 at 3:19 PM
I banned laptops and phones in my classes this year. It works.
Google (via NYT) is reporting that its new Gemini model is 72% accurate. Another way to phrase that is it is wrong 28% of the time. And its accuracy report is from benchmark testing - essentially a controlled environment like a test track, not a real road. Horizontal AI has a long way to go still.
November 19, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Google (via NYT) is reporting that its new Gemini model is 72% accurate. Another way to phrase that is it is wrong 28% of the time. And its accuracy report is from benchmark testing - essentially a controlled environment like a test track, not a real road. Horizontal AI has a long way to go still.
Reposted by Jack Castonguay, PhD, CPA
Mafia governance in action
"the only offer on the table was that I needed to resign by 5pm that day or the DOJ would basically rain hell on UVA... If I did not resign that day, I was told that the DOJ would extract/block hundreds of millions of dollars from UVA before they would even negotiate."
"the only offer on the table was that I needed to resign by 5pm that day or the DOJ would basically rain hell on UVA... If I did not resign that day, I was told that the DOJ would extract/block hundreds of millions of dollars from UVA before they would even negotiate."
November 14, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Mafia governance in action
"the only offer on the table was that I needed to resign by 5pm that day or the DOJ would basically rain hell on UVA... If I did not resign that day, I was told that the DOJ would extract/block hundreds of millions of dollars from UVA before they would even negotiate."
"the only offer on the table was that I needed to resign by 5pm that day or the DOJ would basically rain hell on UVA... If I did not resign that day, I was told that the DOJ would extract/block hundreds of millions of dollars from UVA before they would even negotiate."
Reposted by Jack Castonguay, PhD, CPA
Jim Ryan's letter is not just surreal and troubling; it provides a series of deeply sobering lessons—about the perils facing public universities today; about what it means to "work with" this Department of Justice; & about what leadership does (and doesn't) entail at this especially fraught moment.
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
November 14, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Jim Ryan's letter is not just surreal and troubling; it provides a series of deeply sobering lessons—about the perils facing public universities today; about what it means to "work with" this Department of Justice; & about what leadership does (and doesn't) entail at this especially fraught moment.
I spoke with CFO Dive about the recent CR and what it means for the FASB.
The good: it continues to fund FASB. The bad: it is another instance of Trump & this Congress politicizing capital market institutions that have largely been insulated from politics.
www.cfodive.com/news/fasb-in...
The good: it continues to fund FASB. The bad: it is another instance of Trump & this Congress politicizing capital market institutions that have largely been insulated from politics.
www.cfodive.com/news/fasb-in...
FASB’s tax rules avert funding threat
The spending bill that ended the federal government shutdown did not include an earlier proposal requiring FASB to withdraw its income tax disclosure standards.
www.cfodive.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:12 AM
I spoke with CFO Dive about the recent CR and what it means for the FASB.
The good: it continues to fund FASB. The bad: it is another instance of Trump & this Congress politicizing capital market institutions that have largely been insulated from politics.
www.cfodive.com/news/fasb-in...
The good: it continues to fund FASB. The bad: it is another instance of Trump & this Congress politicizing capital market institutions that have largely been insulated from politics.
www.cfodive.com/news/fasb-in...
This is by definition a violation of free speech - not to mention a blatant assault on knowledge, academic freedom, intelligence, & the free exchange of ideas, of which college is designed for. Conservatives & conservative states support free speech as long as it’s speech they like, otherwise this
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Texas A&M adopts policy requiring professors to get OK from school president to discuss certain race and gender issues.
November 14, 2025 at 1:08 AM
This is by definition a violation of free speech - not to mention a blatant assault on knowledge, academic freedom, intelligence, & the free exchange of ideas, of which college is designed for. Conservatives & conservative states support free speech as long as it’s speech they like, otherwise this
Reposted by Jack Castonguay, PhD, CPA
"You know us...So please trust us now when we say that what is happening in the Chicago area is wrong."
Powerful letter from retired Chicago broadcast journalists about what ICE/CBP is doing to our city: "it is terror"
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/13/l...
Powerful letter from retired Chicago broadcast journalists about what ICE/CBP is doing to our city: "it is terror"
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/13/l...
November 13, 2025 at 8:20 PM
"You know us...So please trust us now when we say that what is happening in the Chicago area is wrong."
Powerful letter from retired Chicago broadcast journalists about what ICE/CBP is doing to our city: "it is terror"
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/13/l...
Powerful letter from retired Chicago broadcast journalists about what ICE/CBP is doing to our city: "it is terror"
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/13/l...
This is disgusting. There is no amount of moral depravity that will make them disagree with the president.
Megyn Kelly: "I know somebody very close to this case…Jeffrey Epstein, in this person's view, was not a pedophile…He was into the barely legal type, like he liked 15 year old girls…He wasn't into like 8 year olds…There's a difference between a 15 year old and a 5 year old."
November 13, 2025 at 7:33 PM
This is disgusting. There is no amount of moral depravity that will make them disagree with the president.
Reposted by Jack Castonguay, PhD, CPA
The thing to understand about this is that this catastrophe in the UK has redounded to the political benefit of the very same people and political movement that pushed for it! Extremely perverse.
I wonder if the United States can learn anything from the last time a major industrialized country decided to isolate itself from the rest of the world?
Almost a decade after the Brexit vote, GDP in the UK is around 6-8% lower relative to peer countries. (Source: www.nber.org/papers/w34459)
Almost a decade after the Brexit vote, GDP in the UK is around 6-8% lower relative to peer countries. (Source: www.nber.org/papers/w34459)
November 11, 2025 at 5:23 PM
The thing to understand about this is that this catastrophe in the UK has redounded to the political benefit of the very same people and political movement that pushed for it! Extremely perverse.
Reposted by Jack Castonguay, PhD, CPA
New: The Supreme Court DENIES Kim Davis' request to overturn Obergefell, the marriage equality decision. No noted dissents. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...
November 10, 2025 at 2:31 PM
New: The Supreme Court DENIES Kim Davis' request to overturn Obergefell, the marriage equality decision. No noted dissents. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...
Elon Musk getting his pay package approved by Tesla shareholders is the equivalent of the Blue Jays now offering Vladimir Guerrero Jr. an addition 10 years and $1 billion on top of his current 14-year $500M deal that takes him through age 40. It’s nonsensical & won’t make him perform better.
November 7, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Elon Musk getting his pay package approved by Tesla shareholders is the equivalent of the Blue Jays now offering Vladimir Guerrero Jr. an addition 10 years and $1 billion on top of his current 14-year $500M deal that takes him through age 40. It’s nonsensical & won’t make him perform better.
Supporting tax preparation goliaths like Intuit over American taxpayers seems spot on for this administration.
We have the ability to let Americans file taxes online for free. Trump wants Americans to pay outside firms to do it for them instead.
abcnews.go.com/amp/US/wireS...
We have the ability to let Americans file taxes online for free. Trump wants Americans to pay outside firms to do it for them instead.
abcnews.go.com/amp/US/wireS...
IRS Direct File won't be available next year. Here's what that means for taxpayers
The Trump administration has decided not to offer the IRS' electronic tax filing system for free next year, and its future is unclear
abcnews.go.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Supporting tax preparation goliaths like Intuit over American taxpayers seems spot on for this administration.
We have the ability to let Americans file taxes online for free. Trump wants Americans to pay outside firms to do it for them instead.
abcnews.go.com/amp/US/wireS...
We have the ability to let Americans file taxes online for free. Trump wants Americans to pay outside firms to do it for them instead.
abcnews.go.com/amp/US/wireS...
Reposted by Jack Castonguay, PhD, CPA
If nothing else, the Trump administration is doing wonders to highlight the importance of jury trials.
November 6, 2025 at 10:59 PM
If nothing else, the Trump administration is doing wonders to highlight the importance of jury trials.
Merriam Webster seems to disagree with the Solicitor General on whether or not a tariff is a tax.
November 5, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Merriam Webster seems to disagree with the Solicitor General on whether or not a tariff is a tax.
Reposted by Jack Castonguay, PhD, CPA
Sam Corcos, who entered government with DOGE earlier this year, decided to kill DirectFile after one meeting with with tax software lobbyists.
www.wired.com/story/doge-d...
www.wired.com/story/doge-d...
November 4, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Sam Corcos, who entered government with DOGE earlier this year, decided to kill DirectFile after one meeting with with tax software lobbyists.
www.wired.com/story/doge-d...
www.wired.com/story/doge-d...
Reposted by Jack Castonguay, PhD, CPA
Hey folks, hoping to leverage some collective wisdom: I’m looking for resources or opportunities for undergraduate law students who have an interest in writing. So things like essay contests, journals that accept undergraduate submissions, other publication avenues, etc.
November 3, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Hey folks, hoping to leverage some collective wisdom: I’m looking for resources or opportunities for undergraduate law students who have an interest in writing. So things like essay contests, journals that accept undergraduate submissions, other publication avenues, etc.
They aren’t even trying to hide the corruption any more.
Q: On the pardon of Changpeng Zhao, Binance has significant business interests with World Liberty Financial, the president family's crypto company. How do you respond to criticisms that this is a corrupt act?
LEAVITT: I would respond and say the president is exercising his constitutional authority
LEAVITT: I would respond and say the president is exercising his constitutional authority
October 23, 2025 at 7:41 PM
They aren’t even trying to hide the corruption any more.
Bravo UVA.
October 17, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Bravo UVA.
Reposted by Jack Castonguay, PhD, CPA
The Republicans attacks on the No Kings protests are sickening.
To them, only pro-Trump speech is protected. If you oppose Trump - you "hate America" or you're a "terrorist".
What they're trying to do is simple: suppress turnout this weekend. Don't let them win.
To them, only pro-Trump speech is protected. If you oppose Trump - you "hate America" or you're a "terrorist".
What they're trying to do is simple: suppress turnout this weekend. Don't let them win.
October 17, 2025 at 4:53 PM
The Republicans attacks on the No Kings protests are sickening.
To them, only pro-Trump speech is protected. If you oppose Trump - you "hate America" or you're a "terrorist".
What they're trying to do is simple: suppress turnout this weekend. Don't let them win.
To them, only pro-Trump speech is protected. If you oppose Trump - you "hate America" or you're a "terrorist".
What they're trying to do is simple: suppress turnout this weekend. Don't let them win.
Reposted by Jack Castonguay, PhD, CPA
“The Government sometimes makes brief investigative stops. . . . If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U. S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, they promptly let the individual go.”
Justice Kavanaugh in Vasquez Perdomo:
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
Justice Kavanaugh in Vasquez Perdomo:
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
Extraordinary NEW story: We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. @nicolefoy.bsky.social w/ photos by @sbmaneyphoto.bsky.social
More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...
www.propublica.org
October 16, 2025 at 11:15 PM
“The Government sometimes makes brief investigative stops. . . . If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U. S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, they promptly let the individual go.”
Justice Kavanaugh in Vasquez Perdomo:
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
Justice Kavanaugh in Vasquez Perdomo:
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
Reposted by Jack Castonguay, PhD, CPA
Justice Brett Kavanaugh: “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen...they promptly let the individual go."
The reality: Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents.
A must read from the very talented @nicolefoy.bsky.social:
The reality: Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents.
A must read from the very talented @nicolefoy.bsky.social:
More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...
www.propublica.org
October 16, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Justice Brett Kavanaugh: “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen...they promptly let the individual go."
The reality: Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents.
A must read from the very talented @nicolefoy.bsky.social:
The reality: Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents.
A must read from the very talented @nicolefoy.bsky.social:
Reposted by Jack Castonguay, PhD, CPA
Re Brown, here’s a letter signed by a number of Brown alums who are law professors - there are a lot of us! (With huge thanks to @courtneygjoslin.bsky.social among others for organizing)
Proud to join this group of 39 Brown University alumni who are law professors in urging the university to reject the Trump-Vance presidency's enforced loyalty "compact": drive.google.com/file/d/1COIp...
October 16, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Re Brown, here’s a letter signed by a number of Brown alums who are law professors - there are a lot of us! (With huge thanks to @courtneygjoslin.bsky.social among others for organizing)
Reposted by Jack Castonguay, PhD, CPA
Again, it is a full-blown federal felony crime for anyone in the White House or Executive Office of the President to order tax investigations into anyone.
And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.
And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.
October 16, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Again, it is a full-blown federal felony crime for anyone in the White House or Executive Office of the President to order tax investigations into anyone.
And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.
And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.
It looks likely the Supreme Court will gut provisions requiring racial representation for Black voters and take us back to an era of Jim Crowe and apartheid in the south. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if they found poll taxes and literacy tests legal. We are going backwards into segregation.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear arguments in a challenge to Louisiana’s congressional map, a legal battle over whether states can use race as a factor in drawing electoral lines. Here's what to know.
Will the Voting Rights Act Be Gutted? Supreme Court Could Decide Its Future.
If the justices decide that lawmakers cannot consider race in drafting maps, redistricting could result in congressional seats flipping from blue to red throughout the country.
nyti.ms
October 15, 2025 at 8:12 PM
It looks likely the Supreme Court will gut provisions requiring racial representation for Black voters and take us back to an era of Jim Crowe and apartheid in the south. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if they found poll taxes and literacy tests legal. We are going backwards into segregation.