Kelly Orians
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yoyokellyo.bsky.social
Kelly Orians
@yoyokellyo.bsky.social
Lawyer, Clinical Prof at @uvalaw.bsky.social (visiting at @gwlaw.bsky.social ‘25-‘26), Ruth wrangler / interpreter. She / Her.
Happy last class of the semester! Wrapped the term with a parole hearing for our client who has served half a century in prison - and before that, two tours in Vietnam. Special appearance by a UVa law student @kirkwolff.bsky.social who testified as an expert in veterans affairs!@gwlaw.bsky.social
November 19, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Reposted by Kelly Orians
New Orleans in 2025 has had the 2nd fewest murders since 1970. fewest shootings in decades, fewest carjackings & car thefts since 2013, and fewest vehicle burglaries since before 2011.

Relative to 2022/2023 peak:
Shootings -60%
Murders -57%
Carjackings -78%
Vehicle burglaries -68%
Car thefts -67%
The Department of Homeland Security will deploy 250 federal immigration agents to Louisiana in a massive immigration enforcement operation according to the Associated Press.

The New Orleans Police Department will hold a briefing with Border Patrol about the operation this week.
November 18, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Reposted by Kelly Orians
A New Orleans man who spent three decades in prison before his murder conviction was vacated won election to serve as the city’s chief criminal court record keeper, despite the state challenging his past. https://cnn.it/48iwvTi
November 16, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Hell yea, Calvin! Or should I say, Mr. Clerk of Court.
November 16, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Reposted by Kelly Orians
Correction. Our costume was: "ALLEGED assault with a deli weapon, AN ALLEGATION ULTIMATELY REJECTED BY A JURY OF HIS PEERS AFTER CAREFUL DELIBERATION."
Our couple’s costume this year is: “Assault with a deli weapon.”

Happy Halloween to everyone except ICE, the National Guard, and other federal law enforcement occupying our city. #FreeDC
November 6, 2025 at 8:11 PM
For the record: @tframpton.bsky.social and I would never had made light of this terrifying situation if we had bothered to take the time to hear from the victim.

That being said, we are available for in court reenactments.
November 4, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Reposted by Kelly Orians
Our couple’s costume this year is: “Assault with a deli weapon.”

Happy Halloween to everyone except ICE, the National Guard, and other federal law enforcement occupying our city. #FreeDC
October 31, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Parole board hrgs are tough. Esp in Virginia where your client isn’t present, & instead meets separately, w/o you. I wish all my clients had the beautiful network loving and wise women that showed up for our client today. Once again, very grateful for my @gwlaw.bsky.social student’s persistence.
October 20, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Recap of the last 2 weeks: 6 visits to clients in federal prisons in 3 states, with 8 students, while 6ish months pregnant… with 3 court appearances mixed in….grateful to still have the energy for this, for @gwlaw.bsky.social for supporting the work, and for my student’s dedication and compassion.
October 15, 2025 at 4:22 PM
A great day in court! So thrilled for our client who will get home just in time for his first Thanksgiving with his family in 16 years. And I am so proud of the 9 law students (7 at @uvalaw.bsky.social & 2 at @gwlaw.bsky.social) who worked so diligently for 2+ years to secure a sentence reduction.
October 9, 2025 at 9:11 PM
So proud of the 8 law students (6 at @uvalaw.bsky.social and 2 at @gwlaw.bsky.social) who put 2+ years pursuing a sentence reduction for a client under D.C.’s Second Look Law. GW Law 3Ls Zoe Jacobs and Nick Teachenor’s professionalism and preparation during today’s 3 hour hearing was extraordinary.
October 7, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Invite me to your health related emergencies.
I had a bogus Friday night.

Many thanks to the wonderful professionals at Washington Hospital Center, and to the other ER patrons, for their prompt diagnosis of "oh god, that finger's jacked up." And to @yoyokellyo.bsky.social for her ability to find joy in unpleasant circumstances.
September 28, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by Kelly Orians
I was back at 26 Federal Plaza today, where an ICE agent violently threw this bereft woman to the ground in front of her kids. She had not touched him. She did not pose any threat. She had to be taken to the hospital. (🎥: Elias Eliahu)
September 25, 2025 at 6:03 PM
I wasn’t here looking for it (though I love it when I see it), but for people keeping track of DC federal grand jury ‘no true bills,’ I think there was just another one. I’m sitting in magistrate court on another case, no press or observers, and the AUSA just reported no true bill in U.S. vs. K.B.
September 18, 2025 at 6:24 PM
In this house, we believe . . . HURTADO V. CALIFORNIA (1884) WAS WRONGLY DECIDED AND GRAND JURY DISCRETION IS A STRUCTURAL FEATURE OF AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN
September 7, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Thank you, D.C. Grand Jurors.
by my count, this makes seven confirmed no true bills from grand juries, plus three other felony cases dismissed (two gun cases, one assault of a federal officer), plus two cases downgraded from felony assault on federal officers to misdemeanor
The DC US Attorney's Office has filed to dismiss assault charges against Christian Enrique Carías Torres, the moped driver arrested by Logan Circle
September 6, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Thousands take to the street (in D.C. heat) to protest the federal takeover. #FreeDC
September 6, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Reposted by Kelly Orians
DC residents and allies across the country will rise up on Saturday to demand an end to DC's occupation.

BE THERE! Get your friends, neighbors, congregation, and community to join the national event this Saturday at 11 AM in Malcolm X Park. Sign up at bit.ly/we-are-all-dc
September 3, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Your crim law professor and your other crim law professor are having a baby . . . ✨❤️

@tframpton.bsky.social
August 30, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Reposted by Kelly Orians
We strongly object to the proposed ban on camping on public property in the city.

This inhumane policy was condoned by the current right wing Supreme Court in the Grant’s Pass decision, which Chief Kochis sites in his justification for the policy.

Homelessness is solved by housing, not policing.
awwww the police chief wants a new ordinance 🥺 as a treat 🥺 while unhoused people are under unprecedented, violent attack merely two hours north of us 🥺
c-ville.com/cpd-chief-wa...
August 30, 2025 at 5:11 PM
From a student: “federal prosecutors can indict a ham sandwich, but not the man who threw it.” (Kirk Wolff, UVa Law).
August 27, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Reposted by Kelly Orians
Good morning to everyone except the ATF and MPD officers who just kidnapped someone around the corner. Terrorizing everyone as little kids walked to the elementary school around the corner.
August 27, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Reposted by Kelly Orians
The Parole Board (which took the time to directly address those viewing on YouTube to explain "medical furlough") just granted relief to Kentrell Parker.

You can read about his extraordinary story here: lailluminator.com/2024/03/30/l...
August 13, 2025 at 4:32 PM
"It's up to us, that the buck stops with us, that we can't just trust the system to right itself, that the Constitution doesn't enforce itself . . . I know I sound like I'm flag waving. It's the Fourth of July, but this is absolutely, 100%, what I believe." - Meg Garvey, 20 year public defender.
Hurricane Katrina helped change New Orleans' public defender system : Consider This from NPR
In 2006, Ari Shapiro reported on how Hurricane Katrina made an already broken public defender system in New Orleans worse. The court system collapsed in the aftermath of the storm.Katrina caused horri...
www.npr.org
August 6, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Reposted by Kelly Orians
For no particular reason, here's a chart of Louisiana's congressional delegation, by race, for every Congress since the Civil War. Top red line = end of Reconstruction; bottom red line = Voting Rights Act of 1965.
August 2, 2025 at 2:00 AM