B.J. Priester
@redpenoflex.bsky.social
Professor of Law and Associate Dean; criminal law, criminal procedure, fandom and constitutional interpretation. Executive Editor, FANgirl Blog and Co-host, Hyperspace Theories podcast.
Reposted by B.J. Priester
This entire argument by Louisiana and the conservatives questions are premised on an erasure of Congress’ enforcement power under the 14th & 15th Amendments.
Literally swinging for the fences to wipe out the premise for the legitimacy of Congress’ power to enact civil rights statutes.
Literally swinging for the fences to wipe out the premise for the legitimacy of Congress’ power to enact civil rights statutes.
October 15, 2025 at 3:43 PM
This entire argument by Louisiana and the conservatives questions are premised on an erasure of Congress’ enforcement power under the 14th & 15th Amendments.
Literally swinging for the fences to wipe out the premise for the legitimacy of Congress’ power to enact civil rights statutes.
Literally swinging for the fences to wipe out the premise for the legitimacy of Congress’ power to enact civil rights statutes.
Reposted by B.J. Priester
Louisiana: "The plaintiffs came in and said 'we want a second majority-minority district."
KBJ: "NO THEY DID NOT. They said our votes are being dilluted."
Louisiana: "That's the same thing."
KBJ: "No it's not. ... trust me on this."
:)
KBJ: "NO THEY DID NOT. They said our votes are being dilluted."
Louisiana: "That's the same thing."
KBJ: "No it's not. ... trust me on this."
:)
October 15, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Louisiana: "The plaintiffs came in and said 'we want a second majority-minority district."
KBJ: "NO THEY DID NOT. They said our votes are being dilluted."
Louisiana: "That's the same thing."
KBJ: "No it's not. ... trust me on this."
:)
KBJ: "NO THEY DID NOT. They said our votes are being dilluted."
Louisiana: "That's the same thing."
KBJ: "No it's not. ... trust me on this."
:)
Reposted by B.J. Priester
Yes. Very casually turning the SSFA into a determination that any statute addressing race discrimination must be time-bound. Just absolutely untrue. An utter usurpation of Congress’ enforcement power under the 14th & 15th Amendments.
Justice Kavanaugh in the Callais oral argument keeps alluding to some longstanding requirement of strict scrutiny that use of race have a time limit. This is invented.
October 15, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Yes. Very casually turning the SSFA into a determination that any statute addressing race discrimination must be time-bound. Just absolutely untrue. An utter usurpation of Congress’ enforcement power under the 14th & 15th Amendments.
Reposted by B.J. Priester
Chicago, Illinois, 2025:
"They had the Black people in one van, and the immigrants in another van."
"They was bringing the kids down, had them zip-tied to each other."
"I kept asking, 'What is the morality?' One of them laughed. He said, 'Fuck them kids.'"
abc7chicago.com/post/ice-chi...
"They had the Black people in one van, and the immigrants in another van."
"They was bringing the kids down, had them zip-tied to each other."
"I kept asking, 'What is the morality?' One of them laughed. He said, 'Fuck them kids.'"
abc7chicago.com/post/ice-chi...
ICE agents raid South Shore apartments; Trump says Chicago could become military training ground
ICE agents raided a South Shore apartment building overnight as the city braces for a possible military deployment.
abc7chicago.com
October 2, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Chicago, Illinois, 2025:
"They had the Black people in one van, and the immigrants in another van."
"They was bringing the kids down, had them zip-tied to each other."
"I kept asking, 'What is the morality?' One of them laughed. He said, 'Fuck them kids.'"
abc7chicago.com/post/ice-chi...
"They had the Black people in one van, and the immigrants in another van."
"They was bringing the kids down, had them zip-tied to each other."
"I kept asking, 'What is the morality?' One of them laughed. He said, 'Fuck them kids.'"
abc7chicago.com/post/ice-chi...
Reposted by B.J. Priester
What Trump has wrought: a reversal of attitudes on immigration. Now we're an immigrant nation again, we need more immigrants to maintain our economy, and Trump's persecution of immigrants is just wrong.
September 27, 2025 at 3:43 PM
What Trump has wrought: a reversal of attitudes on immigration. Now we're an immigrant nation again, we need more immigrants to maintain our economy, and Trump's persecution of immigrants is just wrong.
Reposted by B.J. Priester
I think we should also ridicule Miller here, not fear him. His fascist cosplay is absurd. He thinks tweeting in a clipped, military-sounding tone will frighten us. Oooo, he said "utilized"! Scary! Meanwhile their efforts to prosecute foes are imploding in buffoonery and Trump is polling in the 30s.
After Miller tweeted that calling ICE is "incitement to violence," I directly asked Bannon if this means the government will be unleashed on groups that describe ICE that way. "Yes," Bannon told me, adding that Miller is "in charge." You can read that exchange in this link: bsky.app/profile/greg...
While the senile old man rides in carriages around castles, builds his ballroom, puts gold on everything, plans parades, attends a variety of sporting events, threatens people, and reads the scripts put in front of him, this psychopath is the one actually running the country.
September 27, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I think we should also ridicule Miller here, not fear him. His fascist cosplay is absurd. He thinks tweeting in a clipped, military-sounding tone will frighten us. Oooo, he said "utilized"! Scary! Meanwhile their efforts to prosecute foes are imploding in buffoonery and Trump is polling in the 30s.
Reposted by B.J. Priester
"The list of culprits for destroying the Justice Department and the politically driven prosecutions of the second Trump administration must include John Roberts, their chief enabler." Great piece by @cristianfarias.com
nymag.com/intelligence...
nymag.com/intelligence...
John Roberts Wrote Trump a Permission Slip to Indict Comey
Political targets of the Justice Department can thank the chief justice.
nymag.com
September 27, 2025 at 4:29 PM
"The list of culprits for destroying the Justice Department and the politically driven prosecutions of the second Trump administration must include John Roberts, their chief enabler." Great piece by @cristianfarias.com
nymag.com/intelligence...
nymag.com/intelligence...
Reposted by B.J. Priester
How weak were the Comey charges? One was rejected and the others got 14/23 votes, barely clearing the ham sandwich threshold www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...
September 27, 2025 at 4:17 PM
How weak were the Comey charges? One was rejected and the others got 14/23 votes, barely clearing the ham sandwich threshold www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...
Reposted by B.J. Priester
Since none of that is happening, all of that is illegal
None of these words are in the Bible ... or the Constitution.
September 27, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Since none of that is happening, all of that is illegal
Reposted by B.J. Priester
The Constitution is colorblind except immigration enforcement.
September 8, 2025 at 7:48 PM
The Constitution is colorblind except immigration enforcement.
Reposted by B.J. Priester
It's not the most important part of the issue but Kavanaugh saying "well they should just sue if they're the victims of excessive force from ICE" when he himself has previously voted to bar lawsuits against federal officers for violations of the 4th Amendment in immigration cases takes chutzpah.
September 8, 2025 at 5:06 PM
It's not the most important part of the issue but Kavanaugh saying "well they should just sue if they're the victims of excessive force from ICE" when he himself has previously voted to bar lawsuits against federal officers for violations of the 4th Amendment in immigration cases takes chutzpah.
Reposted by B.J. Priester
so Justice Kavanaugh seems to have cited a DOJ number unsupported by any source without saying where he got it to reach a constitutional conclusion based in part on that number being accurate.
Just got off the phone with @klasfeldreports.com about this figure. It comes from an unsourced claim in the opening brief attributed to DHS data, with the claim that there are 4 million undocumented immigrants in CA, 2 million of which are in the Central District.
The figure's likely off, BUT...
The figure's likely off, BUT...
September 8, 2025 at 9:23 PM
so Justice Kavanaugh seems to have cited a DOJ number unsupported by any source without saying where he got it to reach a constitutional conclusion based in part on that number being accurate.
Reposted by B.J. Priester
SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in a college applicant's file is blatantly unconstitutional
ALSO SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in targeting whom to detain and deport is cool cool cool
ALSO SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in targeting whom to detain and deport is cool cool cool
September 8, 2025 at 4:43 PM
SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in a college applicant's file is blatantly unconstitutional
ALSO SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in targeting whom to detain and deport is cool cool cool
ALSO SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in targeting whom to detain and deport is cool cool cool
Reposted by B.J. Priester
#SCOTUS all-but overruled a unanimous, 90-year-old precedent through an unexplained "administrative" stay this morning, and that's only the second-most-problematic thing it did before lunchtime.
September 8, 2025 at 4:17 PM
#SCOTUS all-but overruled a unanimous, 90-year-old precedent through an unexplained "administrative" stay this morning, and that's only the second-most-problematic thing it did before lunchtime.
Exactly this 💯
A couple more thoughts on this. There is exactly one crime defined in the U.S. Constitution: treason. The first definition is levying war against the United States. Trump is explicitly threatening that.
U.S. soldiers are not only permitted, they are *obliged* to refuse an order to commit treason.
U.S. soldiers are not only permitted, they are *obliged* to refuse an order to commit treason.
The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city.
This is not a joke. This is not normal.
Donald Trump isn't a strongman, he's a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.
This is not a joke. This is not normal.
Donald Trump isn't a strongman, he's a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.
September 6, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Exactly this 💯
Reposted by B.J. Priester
This is very much worth reading. Explains the insane national guard loophole about troops still under the command of their state, and why Trump's scheme amounts to Texas invading Illinois.
Really important piece by @andycraig.bsky.social in @theunpopulist.net about Trump's leaked plans to deploy a red state's National Guard against a blue state.
Trump’s Leaked Plan to Deploy the Texas National Guard Against Illinois Will Tear Apart the Union
If it goes forward, it will plunge the country into an unprecedented constitutional crisis
www.theunpopulist.net
September 5, 2025 at 6:05 PM
This is very much worth reading. Explains the insane national guard loophole about troops still under the command of their state, and why Trump's scheme amounts to Texas invading Illinois.
Reposted by B.J. Priester
NEW: DC grand jurors reject more Justice Dept cases
Former DOJ attorney: “Not only have I never heard of this happening, I've never heard of a prosecutor who's heard of this happening”
www.cbsnews.com/news/d-c-gra...
Former DOJ attorney: “Not only have I never heard of this happening, I've never heard of a prosecutor who's heard of this happening”
www.cbsnews.com/news/d-c-gra...
D.C. grand jurors reject latest wave of Justice Dept. indictment requests
One former federal prosecutor said of the indictment denials by D.C. grand juries that he's "never heard of this happening."
www.cbsnews.com
September 3, 2025 at 10:12 AM
NEW: DC grand jurors reject more Justice Dept cases
Former DOJ attorney: “Not only have I never heard of this happening, I've never heard of a prosecutor who's heard of this happening”
www.cbsnews.com/news/d-c-gra...
Former DOJ attorney: “Not only have I never heard of this happening, I've never heard of a prosecutor who's heard of this happening”
www.cbsnews.com/news/d-c-gra...
Reposted by B.J. Priester
🚨BREAKING: Cleta Mitchell thinks President Donald Trump may declare a national emergency to allow him to take control of national elections. Her comments will add to growing concern that Trump is plotting a way to use his power over the military and federal law enforcement to rig next year’s vote.
Cleta Mitchell Thinks Trump Will Use Emergency Powers to Take Control of Elections
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
September 3, 2025 at 9:42 PM
🚨BREAKING: Cleta Mitchell thinks President Donald Trump may declare a national emergency to allow him to take control of national elections. Her comments will add to growing concern that Trump is plotting a way to use his power over the military and federal law enforcement to rig next year’s vote.
Reposted by B.J. Priester
Via "One First," my quick stab at the legal authority President Trump will likely claim allows him to deploy un-federalized Texas National Guard troops to Illinois; why such a deployment without Illinois's consent *ought* to be unlawful; and the options Illinois will have for litigating that issue:
176. Illinois v. Texas
A quick look at President Trump's (apparent) plan to send uninvited and un-federalized Texas National Guard troops into Illinois—and how it could (and maybe should) quickly end up in the Supreme Court
www.stevevladeck.com
September 3, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Via "One First," my quick stab at the legal authority President Trump will likely claim allows him to deploy un-federalized Texas National Guard troops to Illinois; why such a deployment without Illinois's consent *ought* to be unlawful; and the options Illinois will have for litigating that issue:
Reposted by B.J. Priester
BREAKING: Federal Circuit, 7-4, rejects Trump’s tariffs under the IEEPA, affirming the lower court’s decision against Trump. www.cafc.uscourts.gov/opinions-ord...
August 29, 2025 at 9:48 PM
BREAKING: Federal Circuit, 7-4, rejects Trump’s tariffs under the IEEPA, affirming the lower court’s decision against Trump. www.cafc.uscourts.gov/opinions-ord...
Reposted by B.J. Priester
39th & 40th Congress: we are writing these constitutional amendments to give the federal government the power to address racial inequities and enforce a set of national civil rights
Roberts Court: but what if you didn't
Roberts Court: but what if you didn't
the position of the roberts court is both that racism isn’t real and that the constitution mandates a colorblindness so strict that it neither recognizes nor can act on social inequalities. incidentally, this is essentially the court’s holding in plessy v. ferguson.
August 2, 2025 at 12:14 AM
39th & 40th Congress: we are writing these constitutional amendments to give the federal government the power to address racial inequities and enforce a set of national civil rights
Roberts Court: but what if you didn't
Roberts Court: but what if you didn't
Reposted by B.J. Priester
There was a LOOOOONG delay in issuing the supplemental briefing order, burying it on a Friday in August rather than at the end of the Supreme Court term when everyone was paying attention.
****Breaking:**** Supreme Court, in Order Asking for Additional Briefing in Louisiana Voting Case, Appears to Put the Constitutionality of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act into Question electionlawblog.org?p=151301
Breaking: Supreme Court, in Order Asking for Additional Briefing in Louisiana Voting Case, Appears to Put the Constitutionality of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act into Question #ELB
The Supreme Court just issued this order: Louisiana had to create that second majority-minority district in order to comply with the Voting Rights Act, as it had been found to face Section 2 VRA liabi...
electionlawblog.org
August 1, 2025 at 9:39 PM
There was a LOOOOONG delay in issuing the supplemental briefing order, burying it on a Friday in August rather than at the end of the Supreme Court term when everyone was paying attention.
Reposted by B.J. Priester
The Supreme Court knocked down one of the two pillars of the Voting Rights Act in 2013 in the Shelby County case. It has now gone out of its way to consider whether it should knock down the other, by rescheduling arguments in a case it could have resolved in June under existing precedent.
****Breaking:**** Supreme Court, in Order Asking for Additional Briefing in Louisiana Voting Case, Appears to Put the Constitutionality of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act into Question electionlawblog.org?p=151301
Breaking: Supreme Court, in Order Asking for Additional Briefing in Louisiana Voting Case, Appears to Put the Constitutionality of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act into Question #ELB
The Supreme Court just issued this order: Louisiana had to create that second majority-minority district in order to comply with the Voting Rights Act, as it had been found to face Section 2 VRA liabi...
electionlawblog.org
August 1, 2025 at 11:10 PM
The Supreme Court knocked down one of the two pillars of the Voting Rights Act in 2013 in the Shelby County case. It has now gone out of its way to consider whether it should knock down the other, by rescheduling arguments in a case it could have resolved in June under existing precedent.
Reposted by B.J. Priester
😬The Supreme Court will consider whether the intentional creation of a majority-minority congressional district violates the 14th or 15th Amendments.
If the answer is yes, SCOTUS will effectively declare that what remains of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional. This is very, very ominous.
If the answer is yes, SCOTUS will effectively declare that what remains of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional. This is very, very ominous.
August 1, 2025 at 9:39 PM
😬The Supreme Court will consider whether the intentional creation of a majority-minority congressional district violates the 14th or 15th Amendments.
If the answer is yes, SCOTUS will effectively declare that what remains of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional. This is very, very ominous.
If the answer is yes, SCOTUS will effectively declare that what remains of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional. This is very, very ominous.
Reposted by B.J. Priester
🚨BREAKING: The U.S. Supreme Court escalated the high-stakes redistricting battle in Louisiana by ordering new legal briefings on whether intentionally creating a second majority-Black congressional district — to comply with the Voting Rights Act — might violate the U.S. Constitution.
SCOTUS Could Be Set to End Key Protection for Minority Voters
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
August 1, 2025 at 9:52 PM
🚨BREAKING: The U.S. Supreme Court escalated the high-stakes redistricting battle in Louisiana by ordering new legal briefings on whether intentionally creating a second majority-Black congressional district — to comply with the Voting Rights Act — might violate the U.S. Constitution.