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Amy P.

@amyephillips.bsky.social
1.8K followers 2.2K following 1.5K posts

Appellate public defender. Broadway superfan. #FOIA nerd. #DCStatehood 🏳️‍🌈 🇵🇸 😷 She/her. Personal account. (@amyeph from Twitter)

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Reposted by Amy P.
Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Here's a gift link to my 9/11 essay in the NYT. Civil libertarians long warned that before giving government new powers, we should consider how an administration with authoritarian ambition might abuse them. We were told that America was too exceptional to elect such a person. Well here we are.
nytimes.com
Opinion | Civil Libertarians Knew This Would Happen. We Should Have Listened. (Gift Article)
The civil libertarians’ warnings have come true.
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Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 11/09/2026
AN URGENT EXCLUSIVE: Ahmed Soliman, the 30-year-old gay man ICE expelled in April to Equatorial Guinea, a country he has no ties to, was arrested this morning and cannot be located, his attorneys say. They fear he may be in one of EG's torture prisons. prospect.org/2026/09/11/i...
prospect.org
Immigrant Trump Sent to African Hotel Prison Arrested After Speaking With Media, Lawyers Say - The American Prospect
Ahmed Soliman’s attorneys fear he may have been sent to one of Equatorial Guinea’s notorious torture prisons.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Thousands of immigrants did the hard, dirty work of clearing rubble and toxic dust and debris from Ground Zero. Many were undocumented laborers sent to work every day with no special PPE, and got cancer as a result. Now some of those same people are living in fear of ICE. www.npr.org/2026/09/11/n...
npr.org
They cleaned up ground zero. Now many are hiding from ICE
After 9/11, thousands of rescue and cleanup crews went to work at ground zero. They were exposed to toxic debris and experienced psychological trauma. Today, many say they live in fear of deportation.
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
There's no forgiving this. No living it down. It's a stain on our humanity. When all this is over, the monsters who did this should be pariahs. And the soulless thugs who cheered it on while dehumanizing Haitian immigrants should be reminded of what they did every day of their lives.
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speedway22.bsky.social @speedway22.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The Guardian just reported that there were 50,000 ICE ‘arrests’ in July, this is escalating rapidly and DHS is trying to be quieter about it now www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
ICE arrested 50,000 people in July – quietly the biggest month in Trump’s second term
Administration moved away from high-profile raids that defined immigration enforcement approach last year but still deported record number of people
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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 26/08/2026
Dolly Parton is credited in at least 37 research papers on the COVID vaccine, including the first phase I trial results published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2020.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 23/08/2026
here is the thing. if you tell me that you believe that race is a biological category and that it is a guide to the objective superiority and inferiority of groups of people, i am not calling you a racist to *insult* you, i am calling you a racist because it best describes your beliefs.
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Jenn @jennburrill.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Officials are force-feeding hunger strikers in ICE detention One detainee told Jose Olivares that after being shackled & forced to take a gastronasal tube down his nose and throat, he would lay in his cell at night & “swallow his own blood” ✏️ José Olivares for @theguardian.com
ms.now
‘TORTURE’: New report exposes force-feeding in ICE detention centers
According to an investigation by The Guardian’s Jose Olivares, detainees are being force-fed in some ICE detention centers. Similar cases span over a decade, but the administration’s “aggressive crack...
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Reposted by Amy P.
Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Monday is the deadline for public comment! The Heritage Foundation has been mobilizing its members to leave comments in favor of the rule change, so every unique comment matters (don’t use a form letter or copy/paste—similar comments are batched and treated as one).
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Reposted by Amy P.
Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
There's an OMB rule change that would require political oversight of scientific grants, and could pull any that don't "reflect presidential priorities" Another country has tried this before! It was the USSR and it was called Lysenkoism. By @thsaey.bsky.social www.sciencenews.org/article/omb-...
sciencenews.org
Here’s what happens when you put politicians in charge of science
Proposed federal rules would rely on political appointees to decide how a lot of U.S. science gets done. History shows the consequences of such actions.
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Reposted by Amy P.
Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 05/07/2026
ICE flights. Saturday, July 4, 2026. At least 85 flights on 28 planes. At least 12 removal flights, 6 to Mexico alone. One year ago today, ICE sent 8 men to South Sudan. Only 3 have been released. Still jailed: Enrique Arias-Hierro, Kyaw Mya, Nyo Myint, Thongxay Nilakout & José Rodriguez-Quiñones.
An ADSBx map of the Americas showing 28 planes doing dozens of flights branching out from Louisiana and Texas toward northern cities (round-up flights), Central America (removal flights), and going between ICE detention hubs (shuffle flights).
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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
2/2 And while I'm at it: Reminder that DC has more residents than two entire states w total of 3 Reps and 4 US Senators (WY and VT, closing in on ND). We pay *more* federal tax per capita than any other jurisdiction—really, top even NY and CA. And have zero vote in Congress. Statehood for DC.
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 29/06/2026
BREAKING: More than 100 Venezuelans who were deported from the U.S. hours before the earthquakes are missing after their hotel collapsed.
bit.ly
More than 100 Venezuelans who were deported from the US hours before the earthquakes are missing
Survivors say more than 100 people just deported from the United States were being held in a hotel when earthquakes struck Venezuela, setting off a scramble to find survivors and bodies buried in the rubble.
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Reposted by Amy P.
Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
And make no mistake, when the Klan was ranting about unassimilable immigrants in the 1920s, they were very much talking about Italians whom they attacked as Catholic pawns of the pope, as a "criminal race" whose members were all tied to the mafia, and as a non-white threat to white women.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Meanwhile, here’s how Ohio’s governor, a Republican, responded to today’s decision.
X post from Jonathan Martin: Ohio Governor Mike DeWine issued the following statement on the Supreme Court of the United States' decision in Mullin v. Doe, regarding Temporary Protected Status (TPS):

"Today, the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling allowing Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to be canceled or expire.   

"Today’s decision is a legal decision.  As I have stated in the past, the policy to remove these individuals from this country is a mistake.

"As a result of today’s ruling, the over 10,000 Haitians who have been living in Ohio (mostly in the Springfield area) legally through TPS will now be here illegally and will be subject to immediate deportation. This also means that while these Haitians were working and contributing to our community and economy yesterday, today it is now illegal to employ them."The situation in Haiti could hardly be much worse.  The violent gangs run most of the country.  The government barely functions.  And, the economy is in shambles.
"Further, our federal government has an advisory against traveling to Haiti, and our Federal Aviation Administration prohibits U.S. carriers from flying there because of the danger to planes of being shot at by the gangs. 

"But, more importantly, changing the immigration status of these individuals is not in the best interest of the United States nor Ohio."
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Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
9 years ago, NBC gave this woman $20 million a year to host a morning talk show and be one of the top faces of its news division.
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ACLU of Massachusetts @aclum.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
This is a devastating decision for our cherished Haitian and Syrian communities in Massachusetts and across the country. SCOTUS ignored the blatant racism that has always motivated this administration's horrific treatment of Haitians, including the decision to revoke TPS. apnews.com/article/immi...
apnews.com
The Supreme Court lets the Trump administration end legal protections for Haitians and Syrians
The Supreme Court is allowing the Trump administration to end legal protections for migrants fleeing violence and natural disaster in Haiti and Syria, exposing hundreds of thousands more people to pot...
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Reposted by Amy P.
Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
With seven decisions with the *same* 6-3 lineup over the last three days, I really can't wait for all of the hot takes from the folks who keep insisting that #SCOTUS *isn't* defined by its ideological division.
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Assigned Media @assignedmedia.org · 23/06/2026
Hilary Cass climbed out from under the bridge she calls home to tell the BBC there's no evidence of any harms to trans young people from puberty blockers. Infuriating! Evan Urquhart has more here: assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...
assignedmedia.org
Hilary Cass Admits Finding No Evidence of Harm From Puberty Blockers - Assigned Media
The report Dr. Cass authored, which claimed the research base was insufficient to prove a benefit of puberty blockers but found no harms from treatment, has been a key factor in the denial of care for...
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Reposted by Amy P.
Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
NEW: Colorado prison officials and judges are largely violating the spirit of the state's restrictions on solitary confinement. A package of reforms passed over the last decade but the state is still subjecting people with severe mental illness to these torturous conditions. An important read:
boltsmag.org
Colorado Limited Solitary for People with Mental Illness. But Judges Still Routinely Approve It.  - Bolts
Despite a 2021 law meant to curb solitary confinement in local jails, judges almost always grant requests to isolate people with serious mental illness, often because there's nowhere else to send them...
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Sharon 🪳🌹 @sharonk.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
there's something remarkable how on a scientific level we're performing what would essentially be miracles and on a cultural/political level, we're going in reverse
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Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
This is the one where they prisoner had a 5th Cir. decision *in his hand* that said prison officials could not cut off his locs, and they threw it in the trash along with his locs. Today SCOTUS holds he cannot sue to be compensated for this clear and obvious violation of his constitutional rights.
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Micah Lee @micahflee.com · 23/06/2026
I know this has been pointed out many times by many people but I just want to reiterate: Anthropic is basically using Kurt Vonnegut's drawing of an asshole as the Claude logo
Kurt Vonnegut's asshole drawingAnthropic's Claude logo
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Reposted by Amy P.
Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Stephen Miller was reportedly the driving force behind the DOJ's recent memo authorizing states to institutionalize people with disabilities rather than fund community-based care
news.bloomberglaw.com
Stephen Miller Said to Drive DOJ Memo Eroding Disability Rights
White House adviser Stephen Miller was the driving force behind the Justice Department’s recent memo authorizing states to institutionalize people with disabilities rather than fund community-based ca...
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Reposted by Amy P.
Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
It’s a lot more than this. But, also, it’s this. www.lawdork.com/p/kennedy-ce...
It was what a resigned, petty loss looks like.

[Photo of the front of the Kennedy Center with the white tarp still there. You can see “THE JOHN F. [TARP] MING ARTS” there.]

But, it was also what a win looks like.
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Reposted by Amy P.
The IMEU @theimeu.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Israel kidnapped Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya from his post as the director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital over 500 days ago. Now, it’s holding him in solitary confinement. Israel is holding Dr. Abu Safiya captive without any charges. That’s a war crime.
theguardian.com
Israel puts Palestinian doctor in solitary confinement after 17 months held without charge
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya now in cell barely big enough to sit in, says son, after UN experts demanded his release in March
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Reposted by Amy P.
David_j_roth @davidjroth.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Cops busting through a barricade that they set up is pretty tough to misinterpret.
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Lupita Nihongo @otsumamiboy.blacksky.app · 31/05/2026
The most strategic fumble I’ve witnessed among dem leaders is letting their cops beat up their constituents. And it’s been going on for years and weakening us all. It leaves people with few options but to lose faith in the entire system. And faith is all you got because there isn’t very much proof
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Reposted by Amy P.
Ash Preston @theashpreston.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
You know what we don't talk enough about? Queen & Annie Lennox/David Bowie rehearsing 'Under Pressure' in 1992. So much going on! Everyone's clothes, Bowie with a lit cig throughout, where Annie PROPER GOES FOR IT, George Michael singing along in the background. The amazing vocals. Yes, please!
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Reposted by Amy P.
jackie techila @jackietechila.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
death camps in all but name "Nine of the deaths were of Hispanic men who had arrived in the U.S. from four countries, the AP found. One man was a Chinese citizen. Their average age was 32. [...] seven of the 10 had no record of violent crimes in the U.S."
apnews.com
ICE detainees are dying by suicide at an 'alarming' rate, an AP investigation finds
Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees are taking their own lives at a pace that’s unprecedented in the agency’s two-decade history, highlighting what experts call failures in care and oversigh...
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Reposted by Amy P.
The Intercept @theintercept.com · 24/05/2026
The first known sanction of its kind held CoreCivic responsible for destroying video in a case alleging wrongful death of an ICE detainee.
interc.pt
Judge Sanctioned Private Prison Giant for Destroying Evidence in ICE Death Suit
In a wrongful death suit about an ICE detainee, a judge wrapped CoreCivic responsible for destroying video — the first-known such sanction.
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Reposted by Amy P.
Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
In normal times, the fact that government officials at HHS blatantly lied to the public and got caught would be a scandal of unusual size. Everyone involved in this disinformation scheme against the people of the United States should be held accountable.
nbcnews.com
No child deaths definitively linked to Covid shots, FDA says
The agency’s analysis contradicts claims made by former vaccine chief Dr. Vinay Prasad.
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Reposted by Amy P.
Dom Ervolina @dominicervolina.com · 22/05/2026
This is monstrous, evil shit "Cemetery officials confirmed to Task & Purpose that the pages were unpublished” to meet recent orders by President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth targeting race and gender-related language and policies in the military."
Missing in Action: Women Service Members "Delisted"
from Arlington National Cemetery Website
by kellibusey
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This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.

Friday, May 22, 2026 at 5:57:28a PDT

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When visiting Arlington National Cemetery this Memorial Day you won't find Purple Heart recipient Nicole Leanne Gee, U.S. Marine Corps
(1998-2021) on it;s website, She was delisted.

When visiting Arlington National Cemetery Memorial this weekend you can easily locate male
servicemembers graves and history on it's website but not cisgender female, transgender, or
minority veterans.

You won't find Purple Heart recipient Nicole Leanne Gee, U.S. Marine Corps (1998-2021) on it's
website despite being interred there and credited along with her team with saving 124,000 lives. She was delisted.
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Reposted by Amy P.
Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
BREAKING: SCOTUS will not stop Tennessee from killing Tony Carruthers on Thursday against questions of whether he is competent to be executed. There were no noted dissents.
(ORDER LIST: 608 U.S.)
TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2026
25-7377
(25A1255)
CERTIORARI DENIED
CARRUTHERS, TONY V. TENNESSEE
The application for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to Justice Kavanaugh and by him referred to the Court is denied. The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.
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Reposted by Amy P.
Steven Hale @iamstevenhale.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Tennessee prison officials won’t say whether the drug they’re going to use in a lethal injection on Thursday are expired. nashvillebanner.com/2026/05/19/t...
nashvillebanner.com
Tennessee officials silent on status of pentobarbital - Nashville Banner
Tennessee prison officials refuse to confirm the lethal injection drugs they plan to use to execute Tony Carruthers this week are expired.
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Matt Cameron @mattcameron.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
if you are hearing the word "remigration" for the first time and wondering if it is even an English word--it's not. It's a concept so extreme that MAGA borrowed it from European fascists and neo-Nazis. Stephen Miller was an early American adopter
stephen miller post in which he RTs Trump and promotes the far-right European concept of "remigration" as the "plan to end the invasion of small town America"
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Deb Golden @debgoldendc.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
For any DC resident voting right now, AG Scwalb personally told me he wouldn't interfere in how Children's Hospital dealt with these issues. Not his priority he said.
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Alan Elrod @aselrod.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
This is outrageous. It’s just pure largesse for the president’s family, cronies, and street thugs. The corruption is mind-blowing.
According to ABC, the settlement would create a
"commission" with "total authority" to settle
"claims" brought by those who allege such weaponization. Per ABC, this not only includes the insurrectionists; it could even settle purported claims by "entities associated with President Trump himself." By all indications it would operate with little-to-no congressional oversight.In our interview, Raskin pointed out other glaringly corrupt aspects to this. He noted that Treasury's Judgment Fund is supposed to dole out its settlements and lawsuit judgments in accordance with actually existing court or administrative proceedings involving genuine victims of the government. As Raskin's staff notes, depending on the details, the relevant agencies and government officials must sign off on these payments, and they're disclosed to Congress and the public.But with the new fund, it's not clear the payments will look anything like this. It appears to transfer control over its payments to Trump alone, Raskin's staff says, and decouples them entirely from all those agency processes.

"The Judgment Fund exists to settle valid judgments against the United States government," Raskin told me. Trump and his allies, Raskin said, are "trying to take money from the Judgment Fund while eliminating any controls and oversight" and putting it under Trump's "direct unilateral control."

On top of that, Raskin added, this circumvents Congress in another way, since Congress never voted to create a fund structured this way.
Which potentially renders it unconstitutional, too.Ultimately, this story also helps explain the sordid political economy of MAGA fascism. As writer John Ganz has explained, Trump uses the government in various ways to support his coalition's "material basis." For instance, the massive scaling up of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Ganz notes, functions as "an employment program for the
Trumpenproletarian mob," as a key component of the "class composition of actually existing fascism."

This new MAGA slush fund seems very much in this vein, particularly if it hands out payments to January 6 rioters. As Raskin put it to me, Trump and his lawyers "are figuring out a way to refund the January 6 militia, presumably to get them ready for the next round of battle."
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Innocent🕷Abroad @jjgass.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Johnson is defending insider trading & self-interested legislation. Politicians could put their money in index funds or blind trusts if they need extra income. Letting them trade individual stocks is necessary only if they “need” to make above-market gains illicitly.
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Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 16/05/2026
Terrific follow-up from @nickjudin.bsky.social on the two brothers, Israel and Max Makoka, high school students who came here legally and spent a week in ICE detention. One detail stood out also: Who flew 16yo Max to a Texas children’s home? DELTA. www.mississippifreepress.org/shackled-iso...
mississippifreepress.org
Shackled, Isolated and Pressured to Self-Deport: Makoka Brothers Recount ICE Arrests
After their arrests by ICE in Mississippi, brothers Israel and Max Makoka share their stories of detention and isolation.
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Nicole Foy @nicolefoy.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
This story, gutting on so many levels, all started with a traffic stop by Baldwin County, Alabama sheriffs. They're part of the 287g program. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
washingtonpost.com
She was deported without her toddler. Then ICE blamed her for his killing.
ICE accused Wendy Hernandez Reyes of leaving her child with a violent uncle, but she says her son would still be alive if officers hadn’t detained and deported her.
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Ursula K. Le Guin Bot @leguinbot.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
No darkness lasts forever. And even there, there are stars.
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Sean McKnight @ynot1989.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Virginians, scream this into the ear of your state reps until they restore the districts you voted for.
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees isn't some Kristof hallucination, it's been documented for years. No one is even attempting to refute this stuff, they're basically just saying that the allegations are so severe that they can't be true. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/o...
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I Scare You Like Sound Dog @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 15/05/2026
MPD does this every year and it’s literally a policy to surveil and police the Blackest parts of the city without concern for any constitutional protections.
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KatherineHawkins @krhawkins.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
politico.com
How ICE defies judges’ orders to release detainees, step by step
A POLITICO review of hundreds of cases brought by ICE detainees shows a pattern of noncompliance that has frustrated judges across the country.
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Shambling Corpse of Randy Herman @randyhermanlaw.com · 21/04/2026
In 2004, a teenager in Garner, NC was killed while walking in his neighborhood. No explanation has ever been offered. It now seems like he was probably killed by a cop. @gregdoucette.bsky.social say the thing
wral.com
2004 Garner murder case: Officer placed on leave, considered person of interest in homicide
Two decades after a Garner teen died while walking down a neighborhood road, investigators are taking the case in a new direction, one that involves a police officer.
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Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Huge! Supreme Court records online, for free. 1830-2019 Trial transcripts, evidence, and procedural documents that travel with each case Briefs: petitions, responses, amicus filings, and appendices submitted by litigants and by third parties Opinions for cases heard by the Supreme Court
The collection covers three kinds of materials:

The first is the official records from the lower court(s): the trial transcripts, evidence, and procedural documents that travel with each case up through the federal judiciary. 
The second is the briefs: the petitions, responses, amicus filings, and supporting appendices submitted by the litigants themselves and by interested third parties. These briefs are the raw material of American constitutional argument. They capture the perspectives of individuals, corporations, civil society organizations, and government agencies pressing their cases before the nation’s highest court. 
The third category is the opinions (for cases that are heard by the Supreme Court): the ultimate decisions reached by the highest court in the United States, demonstrating the logic and reasoning of the court.
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Mitch Ryals @mitchryals.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
In the race for D.C.'s congressional delegate, Brooke Pinto has received nearly $170k from donors with histories of giving to Donald Trump and other Republicans. washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7832...
washingtoncitypaper.com
Republican Donors Line Up For Brooke Pinto
Pinto’s campaign for congressional delegate has received nearly $170,000 from donors with histories of contributing to Donald Trump and other Republicans.
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Jason D. Salvagni @salvagni.org · 14/04/2026
Find you someone who loves you as much as @mayorbowser.dc.gov & Brooke Pinto love cops.
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