Michael Froomkin

Hate the voice. Love the message.

Miami Beach had its rainbow sidewalk torn up brick by brick with backhoes yesterday.

It really is bonkers how scary rainbows are to the far right.

via wsvn

Kenneth W. Simons

Jotwell Torts:
Kenneth W. Simons, Does the Hand Formula Express Efficiency or Justice? Or Both?, JOTWELL (October 6, 2025) (reviewing Emad H. Atiq, The Disaggregated Hand Formula, 114 Cal. L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2026), available at SSRN (Mar. 1, 2025)), torts.jotwell.com/does-the-han....

I’m a US citizen and a veteran. ICE arrested me for no reason. Jailed for three days without an explanation or ability to notify anyone, George Retes argues the only path to healing starts with the government taking accountability for its actions.

No one is safe. Presumably the goal is we should get docile after some softening up. But I don't think this will work. And turning it up to fatalities will make people really angry. newsletter.ofthebrave.org/p/im-a-us-ci...

Breaking: Trump Used AI to Scan U.S. Generals’ Faces for Loyalty — and to Root Out Whistleblowers On the Jewish Day of Atonement, America Must Reckon With a President Who Never Repents

Not at all my idea of a reliable source, but @levparnas.bsky.social claims Trump admin is using AI-assisted facial expression detection software to identify 'disloyal' people who disagree with them at meetings such as the recent one with the military.

levremembers.substack.com/p/breaking-t...

I don’t mean to overreact or anything, but this is the commander-in-chief telling military personnel that Democrats are a problem to be dealt with.

The million dollar question that I haven't seen anyone aggressively addressing.

Would make much more sense if he were talking about the Epstein files, "insurrectionists all over the place. The politicians are afraid for their lives. That’s the only reason they say there’s nothing happening."

Forgot to mention the tariffs although I guess they are not going to survive this regime, even though the ill effects will endure. How true that is of the massive new budget for ICE brownshirts and detention camps is also I suppose uncertain.

This Trump administration policy of generating an artificial civil war on the basis of big lies is of course meant to be frightening but it is also anti-American, unlawful, stupid and pursued by wildly unpopular people.

Federal tactics on Portland protesters escalate, hours after judge rules against Trump Hours after a federal judge paused the Trump administration’s plans to deploy 200 members of the Oregon National Guard to Portland, federal law enforcement officers escalated the tactics used on prote...

Trying to create cause for intervention: "Outside the [ICE] facility, federal officers pushed crowds of protesters hundreds of yards down city streets and fired tear gas, flash-bang grenades and pepper balls without any clear signs of provocation."
www.opb.org/article/2025...

Does this undermine Florida's argument in court that it does not need to produce an environmental impact statement because the federal government was not paying for the site?

‘The president is unhinged’: Trump’s online behavior grows increasingly odd The US president’s recent behavior is strange to many, from reposting a false AI video of himself to confusing comments during press conferences

Yes, it's notably worse than before. But basically no reaction among GOP. Can there be any posts that will produce consequences short of posting CSAM?

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Firsf I'd heard of it.

www.tallahassee.com/story/news/l...

Bad PR about continuing to build the giant garish White House ballroom during the government shutdown perhaps?

Broadview ICE facility, agents at center of criminal investigations, village officials say The Village of Broadview has opened three criminal investigations into conduct by ICE agents at the west suburban facility.

Broadview officials said Tuesday they have opened three criminal investigations into actions by [ICE] agents and the [DHS] around their facility in the west suburb.

... about ... the use of chemical agent and tear gas on protesters outside.
www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...

This is the third video of this type (violent assault and battery by federal agents for no more provocation than 1st Am speech) I've seen about Illinois today. Brutal stuff.

How do we stop it?

And if we can't, both acquiesce and more muscular resistance lead to bad places.

A great deal turns on which one of these two is ultimately proved correct. So far, the No's have it.

Trump goes dark for 72 hours stirring fresh suspicion on the left President Donald Trump hasn't appeared in public since Tuesday, igniting fresh speculation that something is awry.

I'd bet these absences are related to medical treatment, but this self-proclaimed transparent admin keeps mum, opening the door to conspiratorial theories about hiding his death to protect the MAGA movement. Fear of looking weak trumps any desire for sympathy?

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

I deeply wish there was something I could disagree with in this essay. But yes, our existing constitutional order was supposed to prevent what we see around us (if we're paying attention) and it has failed us.

Yes, but who would have standing to sue if they do it anyway?

Pritzker-Warnock 2028

Pick the explanation for spraying a nonviolent protestor in the face at short range: 1. ICE et al feel impervious. 2. Hiring thugs from the bottom of the barrel. 3. Leadership says to step up provocations in hope of a violent reaction. 4. All of the above.

Rampant megalomania.

Despite everything to date, I did a doubletake on this one, wondering if it could possibly be real. It's well beyond the realm of parody and into the realm of...I don't even know, padded rooms?

I'm teaching quite a lot of new regulations, not to mention the Trump Executive Orders which vary greatly in their legality. And 50% of non military discretionary spending was impounded this fiscal year. Haven't read this AEI piece but general quality of their output tanked several years ago.

The “Moral Monsters” Among Us Immigrants are dying now. Will people of good conscience speak up?

"detainee deaths have accelerated during President Donald Trump’s second term, with 17 already since his inauguration. During the Biden administration, there were 26 deaths in 48 months... During Trump’s term, that rate has nearly quadrupled."

www.thebulwark.com/p/the-moral-...

Tactical probes to expose gaps in national defense. Exposing more weakness in US commitment to NATO. More than distractions these demonstrate what's up if Ukraine falls which is why it's not an either/or but a both/and. Countries are dangerous when feeling cornered and the oil bombing is working.

Very painful to read because this history does more than rhyme.