Andrew Quemere

Why Things Are The Way They Are Right up front, I want to state that this is a very personal post. While it obviously draws from my many years of writing for Techdirt, I want to make it perfectly clear that I am expressing my own…

In "Why Things Are the Way They Are" @timcushing.bsky.social responds to people yelling at him for becoming all political and stuff. This is an important piece about making sure we don't let others frame the debate for us. I go back to it often.

www.techdirt.com/2025/10/17/w...

Donald Duck giving Mickey Mouse a blowjob in front of a crowd at Disney World

This is really gross from CNN. This is basically just an ad for Trump's corrupt new visa. Zero mention that this is in any way controversial.

Investigation underway after death of inmate at Suffolk County House of Correction The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, along with the Boston Police Department, is investigating the incident.

A man incarcerated at the Suffolk County jail in #Boston “became unresponsive” and died Sunday night after corrections officers “detained” him.

The story does not say whether the COs used force on him, but it seems likely because the sheriff's office claims he assaulted officers.

#Massachusetts

YouTube video by PBS NewsHour Trump's tariffs raise costs for stores and restaurants that import Italian pasta

Trump take pasta

@mtsw.bsky.social

If you're a party to any legal proceeding, you need a lawyer. Like, a real human lawyer. We should be making public provision for the poor to lave legal representation, though that sort of assumes that the legal system should serve the poor, and, well...

Labor trafficking visa applicant detained at routine ICE check-in The family has a pending T visa case, which is for survivors of labor trafficking. People waiting for their cases to be adjudicated can legally remain in the country, so it’s unclear why he was detain...

“The family has a pending T visa case, which is for survivors of labor trafficking, through Quichimbo. … People waiting for their cases to be adjudicated can legally remain in the country, so it’s unclear why the couple has been detained on two separate instances.”

#Massachusetts #AbolishICE

The solution to people not being able to afford counsel is to fund representation for indigent people, not tell them to go pro se and file slop generated by ChatGPT.

Mass. courts weigh AI efficiency, ethics angles - CommonWealth Beacon Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Kimberly Budd noted questions surrounding the reliability, confidentiality and cost of using GenAI in courtrooms.

#Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Kimberly Budd “said the technology has the potential to help those who can’t afford lawyers.”

wtf, no it doesn't!

YouTube video by Some More News George W. Bush Was A Bad President And Guy - SOME MORE NEWS

NEW EPISODE: Let's look at the disastrous presidency of George W. Bush, an eight-year period filled with so many failures that we need two episodes to cover everything. Part Two coming next week!

youtu.be/IvYAqC0_HXI

Allston car wash workers speak out about their detention A seventh employee, the only one sent out of New England, was released Saturday.

“More than a month after several employees’ sudden detention at an Allston car wash, the seven who have been released spoke out about what happened when immigration enforcement agents detained them at their jobs.”

#Massachusetts #AbolishICE

“This case is about whether the public has the right to know about alleged criminal misconduct by police officers,” Quemere told The Shoestring after Wednesday’s hearing. “I believe the public should have a right to know.”

Quemere pointed out that on the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office’s website, news bulletins about cases the office is prosecuting include “the very types of information they’re saying we shouldn’t have access to.” “For them to say it’s not about protecting police officers when they’re happy to release that information about other people, and they don’t even have to be asked to do it — it’s hard to take that seriously,” Quemere said.

Thanks to @theshoestring.bsky.social for interviewing me about my public records lawsuit against the Northwestern District Attorney's Office.

theshoestring.org/2025/12/10/n...

MAGAZINER: How many veterans have you deported?

NOEM: We haven't deported veterans

MAGAZINER: We are now joined on Zoom by a combat veteran you deported to Korea

It's important to understand that the reason the district attorney's office withheld those names was completely preposterous.

It cited an exception that explicitly says it does not apply to records related to a police misconduct investigation as a justification for withholding those very records.

Hanley said that Sullivan’s office provided the names of officers who were accused of misconduct in internal investigations because that information is not CORI. He pointed to one Brady disclosure that prosecutors disclosed without redactions, noting that the information was “pretty damaging to [the] police officer.” According to the disclosure, Amherst police officer John Chudzik was found in 1999 to have testified untruthfully in a drunk-driving case. “The officer is identified by name,” Hanley said. “And I suggest that this shows the good faith … that the Norfolk [sic] DA’s office was acting with when it is trying to thread this needle. [It’s] not just anything bad about police officers [that] we’re not going to show.”

What Hanley didn’t say was that at first, Sullivan’s office didn’t provide that officer’s name either. When the Dump requested the Brady disclosures in January 2022, prosecutors initially blacked out the names of every police officer, whether they had been charged with crimes or faced internal investigations for alleged misconduct. At the time, Sullivan’s office cited the Public Records Law’s privacy exemption—even though this exemption explicitly says that it “shall not apply to records related to a law enforcement misconduct investigation.” It wasn’t until May 2024 when Sullivan’s office agreed to provide the Dump with the names of officers who faced internal investigations. The reversal came about only after thr SJC ruled in a separate case that the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office couldn’t invoke the privacy exemption to conceal the names of officers in records related to a misconduct investigation of a fatal police shooting.

One really shocking argument the district attorney's office made in my lawsuit is that it was acting in good faith because it gave me the names of officers accused of administrative violations.

But at first, the DA's office withheld those names too! It only provided them after a court ruling.

HUGE. Judge Xinis grants the writ of habeas corpus and orders that the government "SHALL release [Kilmar] Abrego Garcia from ICE custody immediately."

etting aside the extraordinary judicial determinations that DHS sworn declarations are unreliable, that the candor of its agents is open to question, and that sworn testimony of its CBP chief contained knowing falsehoods, the Court closes with a focus on the prosecutions of Briggs and the other five Broadview arrestees from September 27. These five prosecutions were highly unusual in this district for several reasons. A “no bill” vote by a grand jury was virtually unheard of in this district until Operation Midway Blitz. The last and only one the Court can remember was from the early part of this century. Then, in the past two months, at least three have occurred. In two of those (Collins and Robledo), the Court obtained sworn confirmation that video backed up the affiants’ allegations in the felony complaints – yet the grand jury refused to find probable cause. That is a sobering event for a magistrate judge – i.e., this Court – who signed those complaints and thus made a finding that the complaint allegations did establish probable cause.

The magistrate judges handling Midway Blitz prosecutions are absolutely aware of what's going on. This is from another magistrate judge's opinion dismissing a case with prejudice: "A “no bill” vote by a grand jury was virtually unheard of in this district until Operation Midway Blitz."

Screenshot of linked court document: "The Government explained that the motion to dismiss the complaint was prompted after a federal grand jury returned a “no bill” and refused to indict Mr. Griffin within the time allowed by the Court [Dkt. 17]"

Another prosecution in Chicago for assaulting federal law enforcement has fallen apart after a grand jury refused to indict storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

“A letter attached to the wrongful death lawsuit claims Officers Champagnie and Farley lied to a superior officer about terminating their pursuit, even accelerating to speeds of over 90 miles per hour, in violation of department procedure.”

“The lawsuit said a supervisor instructed the officers to terminate the pursuit, an order the officers allegedly ignored. According to a Suffolk County District Attorney's office investigation from April, video shows a police car trailing not far behind the speeding Hyundai with its lights on.”

“Police allege the Hyundai, driven by a 17-year-old boy from Roslindale, was stolen and connected to other nefarious activities. … The lawsuit says Winslow was in the back seat, getting a ride home, and had nothing to do with any alleged activities the Hyundai was involved in.”

Lawsuit says Boston officers ignored orders before deadly 2024 pursuit that killed 3 teens "Troy Winslow was robbed of his life and his endless potential," the lawsuit states. "The family continues to mourn the child he was and the man he would have become."

“Family members of Troy Winslow, a 15-year-old who died, along with two other teens, in a Dorchester crash allegedly stemming from a #Boston police pursuit in 2024, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the department, city, and state last week.”

“The wait time is part of a larger, systemic problem uncovered by a 25 Investigates review: While police departments are mandated to complete internal investigations within 90 days, there is no deadline on discipline.”

25 Investigates: Boston Police Department’s delayed discipline problem Seven years, four months, and six days. That is the length of time the Boston Police Department allowed an internal affairs (IA) case to linger before finally disciplining an officer accused of lying ...

“Seven years, four months, and six days. That is the length of time the #Boston Police Department allowed an internal affairs (IA) case to linger before finally disciplining an officer accused of lying on the job and numerous other infractions.”

#Massachusetts #mapoli

GLASHEEN: Antifa is our primary concern right now. That's the most immediate violent threat we're facing

BENNIE THOMPSON: Where is antifa headquartered?

GLASHEEN: ... ... ... we are building out the infrastructure right now

THOMPSON: What does that mean?

@whipkclark.bsky.social, @sethmoulton.bsky.social, @moulton.house.gov, @neal.house.gov, @trahan.house.gov

They also voted in support of this—Katherine Clark voted for it despite having a trans daughter.

Katherine Clark, Seth Moulton, Richard Neal, and Lori Trahan voted yes.

All of them like the idea of Trump having this money to spend on war.

#Massachusetts #mapoli

Judge hears arguments about whether Northwestern DA must release names of cops charged with crimes For years, DA David Sullivan has spent taxpayer money to fight against police transparency

NEW: My lawyer told a judge on Dec. 3 that Northwestern DA David Sullivan’s office is legally required to disclose the names and case numbers of cops who have been charged with crimes like possession of child pornography, assault and battery, and driving under the influence.

#Massachusetts #mapoli

congrats to the pro-disease crowd for successfully bringing back measles, really well done 👍