Laurence H. Tribe

“This is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law. Defendants have made a range of arguments that . . risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power—to the detriment of this nation.” — Trump-appointed U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut (Oct. 4, 2025).

This federal judge appointed by President Trump found his claims of “chaos“ in Portland, Oregon “untethered to the facts.“

Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Seizure of Oregon National Guard for Portland Deployment Read more here.

www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Get ready to read this new book by the great @barbmcquade.bsky.social
bsky.app/profile/barb...

Well done, Barb. Much needed and none too soon! Congratulations 🎉🎊

In a decision issued October 1, 2025, Reagan-appointed U.S. District Judge William Young includes a postcard sent to him saying “Trump has pardons and tanks ... what do you have?" He responds "Alone, I have nothing but my sense of duty. Together, We the People ... have our magnificent Constitution."

Why Democrats Should Shut Down the Government Guest Submission from Josh Gohlke

“A government shutdown could draw precious attention to the regime’s worst outrages and persuade more Americans that they have a viable alternative. It could even help Democrats gain enough power to do more than yell and scream about it.”

open.substack.com/pub/harrylit...

Opinion | The Retribution Has Begun

“When historians look back on this moment in American history, the date that may stand out to them is . . . Sept. 15, when [VP Vance] promised that the federal government would use the assassination [of Charlie Kirk] to begin cracking down on leftist organizations.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/o...

Psychedelics Blew His Mind. He Wants Other Philosophers to Open Theirs.

The very label “mind-ALTERING” drugs assumes a specific baseline.

This fascinating feature by the author of the forthcoming book, “The Frenchmen” — a great read about the French philosophers who changed American culture — is eye-opening and mind-bending but sober:

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/21/b...

“No doubt the spirit and energy of the world is what is acting in us, as the sea is what rises in every little wave; but it passes through us; and, cry out as we may, it will move on. Our privilege is to have perceived it as it moved.”

— George Santayana, “Skepticism and Animal Faith” (1923)

Hobart, New York: where the REAL Supreme Court holds court . . .

Seeing Enemies Everywhere The government’s working definition of “hate speech” now seems to include anything that offends Donald Trump personally—including late-night comedy.

“The idea that speech or thought contrary to the government line could trigger punishment is the dream of autocrats. Eventually, it makes enemies of everyone.”
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Court Rules Against Arts Endowment on Trump’s ‘Gender Ideology’ Order

This victory for freedom of artistic expression and the 1st Amendment was clearly right and will very likely be upheld on appeal . . . but the struggle will probably be over a stay of any injunctive relief, and if it’s stayed then irreparable harm will occur anyway.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/a...

Opinion | Jimmy Kimmel Should Have Strong Odds at the Supreme Court He should sue the Trump administration.

Agreed! In today’s Supreme Court, Jimmy Kimmel would have an extremely strong First Amendment claim against Trump’s FCC for pressuring Disney and ABC to censor fully protected commentary by firing Kimmel. Either 8-1 or 9-0.
www.politico.com/news/magazin...

Exactly right!

And remember:

it’s not just corporations, it’s wealth however packaged that drives politics —

— unless effectively constrained by law as made by and for ordinary people, not just the wealthy or the elite

Havel’s insight must never be forgotten. Tim Snyder kept it alive. Asha Rangappa has reinvigorated it

Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison for Plotting Coup in Brazil

Lest we forget:

This is what justice in a constitutional republic looks like!

Trump’s plot to overturn the 2020 election included calls to hang Pence, parallel to Bolsonaro’s calls to kill his opponent.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/w...

Undaunted from the Bench Sotomayor pulls back the curtain on MAGA Supreme Court hackery

Thank heaven Jennifer Rubin left the Washington Post, where Jeff Bezos would’ve refused to run so forthright an endorsement of Justice Sotomayor’s irrefutable refutation of six of her colleagues and her scathing but totally warranted takedown of Justice Kavanaugh!

open.substack.com/pub/contrari...

Majority of Brazilian Supreme Court panel convicts Bolsonaro of attempting a coup The majority of a panel of Brazilian Supreme Court justices has voted to convict former president Jair Bolsonaro of attempting a coup to remain in office despite his 2022 electoral defeat, in a ruling...

OK, I’ll admit it: Envying Brazil its seemingly principled Supreme Court wasn’t on my bingo card. Like, not ever.
apnews.com/article/braz...

Opinion | Charlie Kirk Was Practicing Politics the Right Way

WTF? Does “the right way” to “practice politics” include lying re factual matters (eg saying Black Women have too little brainpower to be “taken seriously”)? Mourning Kirk’s murder & defending his right to make his wild claims doesn’t excuse praising his political MO

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/o...

Opinion | Charlie Kirk’s Horrific Killing and America’s Worsening Political Violence

“This is a moment . . .for restraint, rather than cycles of vengeance or the suspension of civil liberties, as some urged on Wednesday.” To blame the assassin, as we must, isn’t to absolve those whose violent rhetoric set a tone that encouraged violent action.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/o...

Opinion | Enough With the Trump Era Compulsion

“The deference and latitude that Congress and the Supreme Court have granted the executive will not necessarily snap back as soon as a new president is in office; dismantled institutions and discarded habits will not magically reconstitute themselves.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/o...

Opinion | Enough With the Trump Era Compulsion

Calling this “the Trump era” is just a catchall for whatever is happening and an explanation for none of it.

We need a bigger . . . concept

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/o...

Your Brain Has a Reality Check System—Here’s How It Works Seeing and imagining use similar brain machinery. New research reveals the brain circuit that identifies what is real, which may help scientists understand conditions such as schizophrenia

Maybe Trump and at least some Trumpettes lack a fully operational “reality signal” in their neural networks. Not kidding!
www.scientificamerican.com/article/newf...

substack.com/@marienewman...

Should Democrats Shut Down the Government? It’s the only way they can fight back against the Trump catastrophe

I’m with Robert Reich and Ezra Klein: Don’t cooperate with the fascists by giving them the votes they need to keep their corrupt and tyrannical regime running and violating people’s rights as they entrench their power:

open.substack.com/pub/robertre...

Supreme Court Lifts Restrictions on L.A. Immigration Stops

The 3-justice dissent was right:“We should not have to live in a country where the government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish and appears to work a low wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, [we] dissent.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/u...

Opinion | How to Cut the Prison Population, Save Money and Make Us Safer

“Older people are much less likely to commit crime than the young. They are also much more expensive to lock up.” So much for long sentences, much less lifelong sentences, as crime-reduction measures!

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/o...

Justice Breyer Defends Judge Accused of Defying Supreme Court Order

Justice Breyer was right to come to Judge Young’s defense; Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh were wrong to impugn Judge Young’s integrity or his fidelity to Supreme Court precedent. They were badly out of line.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/06/u...