Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 6hThis is an astonishing self-own by the Internal Revenue Service that will keep scores of hardworking, tax-paying, non-refund-seeking immigrants from paying billions in federal taxes. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/b...nytimes.comTrump Administration Prepares to Ask Tax Filers if They Are U.S. Citizens (Gift Article)The new question, included on a draft version of the primary tax form, comes as part of an anti-immigrant turn at an agency that long prioritized tax administration. 65222
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 8hQuestion (4) is breathtaking: “Please tell us all the ways you want us to rule for you, independent of the actual legal issues in the case.” 2287
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 13hOne big takeaway from this hearing is that Barack Obama and Joe Biden did a world of good to the D.C. Circuit when they appointed former trial judges to it. And with good reason, Judges Robert Wilkins, Michelle Childs, and Florence Pan have all been lighting into the Justice Department quite a bit. 212027
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 29/09/2026Every so often, I’m reminded that Gannett was specifically recruiting for and hired a “conservative opinion editor”—I imagine to commission pieces such as this one. www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...usatoday.comGas prices are brutal. Giving Democrats Congress would be worse | OpinionRepublicans have let conservatives down on gas prices and the SAVE Act. But staying home in midterm elections would put their biggest wins at risk. 0204
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 28/09/2026Judges won't save us, but I imagine any media organization or broadcast network that derives part of is revenue from political and government ad spending has standing to sue over the propaganda ads the White House is running on friendly networks in the lead-up to the election. Maybe. 0181
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 28/09/202610-year-old: My beautiful tan is going to go away with this weather. Me: Tell me about it. 1160
Reposted by Cristian FariasThe New Yorker @newyorker.com · 26/09/2026“I simply do not believe that Nolan simply and accidentally drowned. . . . And nobody saw anything? And no one knows anything,” the mother of a Black teen-ager who died this summer on a boating trip in Mississippi said. www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...newyorker.comNolan Wells’s Family Still Wants AnswersA Mississippi grand jury declined to bring charges in connection with the death of a Black teen-ager during a boating trip, but it’s still unclear exactly how he died. 48329
Reposted by Cristian FariasAlondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 27/09/2026The idea that people want AI oversight to happen "all of a sudden" ignores years of research, warnings, and policy efforts. The delay hasn’t been a lack of awareness; it’s been because of years of industry lobbying against regulation, political resistance, and inaction. 36931241
Reposted by Cristian Fariasemptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Read @courtwatch.bsky.social review the stories that don't get told as corporate media (in this case, McClatchy) lays off all the legal journalists. www.courtwatch.news/p/the-rabbit...courtwatch.newsThe Rabbit Hole: Covering What McClatchy Will MissWith the private equity-owned newspaper chain laying off 90 reporters, we look at the court stories they’ll miss. 318390
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 27/09/2026I can't stop, won't stop writing about Nolan Wells. 2409
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 26/09/2026Wow, in the middle of a nor’easter, all the swim bros and swim gals are like vultures waiting in the wind and rain for the pool to open. Ask me how I know. (I was watching them from the car, leave me alone.) 1180
Reposted by Cristian FariasSteve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 25/09/2026The last two sentences are … direct. Link: www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p... 36898164
Reposted by Cristian FariasKyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 24/09/2026JUST IN: A federal judge has issued a permanent injunction upbraiding ICE for mass arrests that have strained detention facilities and forced detainees all over the country into "overcrowded, squalid, and degrading rooms for excessive periods of time" www.nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/defaul... 9733481040
Reposted by Cristian FariasSam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Heidi Overton said yesterday of Mifepristone that “according to FDA standards, the drug is safe and effective as labeled today.” She said something similar about vaccines. Don’t be fooled. That’s exactly the same as Brett Kavanaugh saying Roe v. Wade “is settled as a precedent of the Supreme Court.” 713437
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 24/09/2026While we were sleeping: Trump judge Timothy Kelly in Washington issued a temporary restraining order restoring White House press pass access to CNN, MSNOW, and Politico. Notably, his order is entirely on due process, not First Amendment, grounds. But it’s still early days.storage.courtlistener.comOrder on Motion for TRO AND Set/Reset Deadlines – #24 in CABLE NEWS NETWORK, INC. v. TRUMP (D.D.C., 1:26-cv-03287) – CourtListener.comTemporary Restraining Order. See Order for details. Signed by Judge Timothy J. Kelly on 9/24/26. (lctjk2) (Entered: 09/24/2026) 0252
Reposted by Cristian FariasNiko Bowie @nikobowie.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Deep dives like this really put into perspective what Chief Justice Rehnquist was doing in 2000 when he resurrected the Court’s precedents of the 1870s and 1880s, writing that their authors “had intimate knowledge and familiarity with the events surrounding the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment.” 10715242
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 24/09/2026This severe fall weather on the very first day of fall is extremely rude and uncalled for and a slap in my (glowing, bronzed) face. 1120
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 23/09/2026The state of Mississippi won’t have the last word about Nolan Wells. 081
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 23/09/2026Thank you. It’s not even my favorite lift—far from it—but it’s a great newsletter name for a shredded legal journalist. 060
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 23/09/2026I’ve watched too many grieving Black mothers take their grief public, in search for answers and justice, but I’ve never seen what Nolan Wells’s mother does here — stopping and correcting an NBC News interviewer about how to refer to her son. Rightfully so, the interview ended shortly thereafter. 2246
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 23/09/2026Katy Tur liked the name of my newsletter. From today: 1120
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 23/09/2026I turned on my long-dormant Substack to have occasional conversations with fellow nerds who care about law and politics, democracy, and being swole. Thank you to @stevevladeck.bsky.social for agreeing to nerd out with me this morning. I contained myself and did not bring up Younger abstention!open.substack.comThe Missouri Mess: Live with Cristian Farias and Steve VladeckA recording from Cristian Farias and Steve Vladeck's live video 25811
Reposted by Cristian FariasPhil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 22/09/2026A federal judge has ordered Texas to air condition all of the state’s prisons by the end of 2029 High temperatures violate the Constitution’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment, the judge ruled.texastribune.orgTexas ordered to air condition all prisons by the end of 2029High temperatures violate the Constitution’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment, the judge ruled. Just over a third of Texas prisons are fully air conditioned. 722872702
Reposted by Cristian FariasSteve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Confused about what the Eighth Circuit did last night in the Missouri redistricting case—or what happens now? Join @cristianfarias.com and me for a Substack Live at 8:45 ET to cover the details: open.substack.com/live-stream/... And/or read my explainer post: www.stevevladeck.com/p/252-the-ei...open.substack.comLIVE SOON: The Missouri Mess: Live with Cristian Farias and Steve VladeckStarting Sep 22 at 8:45 AM EDT 612128
Reposted by Cristian FariasAaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 21/09/2026NEW: @apnews.com confirms that ICE has begun electronically "disappearing" people in the agency's custody who have final orders of removal. As of last week, anyone jailed by ICE with a final order of removal will NOT appear in the ICE Online Detainee Locator System, making them effectively vanish.apnews.comAP Exclusive: ICE hides locations of thousands of detainees with final removal ordersU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stopped publicly revealing where it is holding most detainees who are subject to final deportation orders, in a move that has made it harder for lawyers an... 18845842937
Reposted by Cristian FariasJosh Block @joshablock.bsky.social · 21/09/20261. Under what possible procedural mechanism can a court of appeals affirm a TRO and remand for entry of a *permanent injunction* when there hasn’t even been an answer to the complaint? 2. This just openly defies Kavanaugh’s stay of the order until disposition of a cert petition. 65425
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 20/09/2026The only reason he’s changing it up is his co-partisans on the Supreme Court, which let him get away with the ballroom that’s also now an underground military complex. 2181
Reposted by Cristian FariasProfessa Murray @kalimurray.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Yeah: the Unitary Executive theory of removals is dumb because the President must faithfully execute the laws—including civil rights law—and firing people because of race and gender violates civil rights law. People really need to read Federalist Paper No. 69. 731176
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 18/09/2026In a Manhattan federal courtroom today, a lawyer for the Trump administration argued that Article II of the Constitution lets the president fire a federal employee because he’s Black, and there’s nothing a court can do about it. www.politico.com/news/2026/09...politico.comDOJ says recent Supreme Court ruling shields Maurene Comey firing 22417216
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 18/09/2026Rest in peace, Duncan Sheik. I’m so glad your one hit song had us in a chokehold for so long—and that life gave you so much fulfillment other than being a dreamy one-hit-wonder. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/a...nytimes.comDuncan Sheik, Who Traded Pop Stardom for Broadway, Dies at 56 (Gift Article)Weary of the heartthrob label after his 1996 hit “Barely Breathing,” he pivoted to musical theater and won two Tonys for composing “Spring Awakening.” 0211
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 17/09/2026This is an issue @knightcolumbia.org, which filed an amicus brief and also argued the case, has been litigating for many, many years. Of note: There’s a pending cert petition on warrantless border searches, brought by a U.S. citizen and immigration lawyer. pacificlegal.org/wp-content/u...pacificlegal.org 1168
Reposted by Cristian FariasElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · 15/09/2026It looks like we’re *finally* at the magic Purcell point where Kavanaugh thinks we’re too close to the election for his party to rig it. 23684103
Reposted by Cristian FariasSam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Yup. I always told my staff at HHS OGC that their jobs helped people live longer, better lives. Gutting the administrative state puts lives in danger. 17220
Reposted by Cristian FariasGabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 11/09/2026DC Cir. holds that Trump administration had no authority to order a Michigan power company to keep operating a coal power plant that was scheduled to decommission in 2025 and be replaced by renewable energy. DOE gets no deference under Loper Bright Enters. media.cadc.uscourts.gov/opinions/doc... 339098
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 10/09/2026These are not serious people: "At a minimum, an alien could not qualify as an 'inhabitant,' at the time of the Founding, without establishing a residence within a jurisdiction and an intent to remain there indefinitely." From Donald Trump's new proposed Census rules:federalregister.govDecennial Census of the Population of Americans; Proposed Residence Criteria and Proposed Regulations for Demographic QuestionsThe Census Bureau is proposing to add two new parts to the Code of Federal Regulations governing the decennial census of population and housing. First, the Census Bureau is proposing to add a part out... 151
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 10/09/2026The same John Roberts that blocked the citizenship question from the 2020 Census ruled, in the very same case, that a citizenship question is perfectly legal under the Constitution and laws. From Trump's new proposed rulemaking aiming to overhaul the Census: www.federalregister.gov/documents/20... 48027
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 10/09/2026How I read this: The Supreme Court takes the rule it announced in Moore v. Harper—which shot down the so-called independent state legislature theory—seriously and as binding on rogue state legislatures. 04311
Reposted by Cristian FariasLawrence Hurley @lawrencehurley.bsky.social · 10/09/2026JUST IN: Just minutes after Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins filed at SCOTUS, the court, with no noted dissents, blocks his attempt to use a newly drawn GOP map that the Missouri Supreme Court said he couldn't: 412337
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 09/09/2026Day 1 of school: Kids up early, excited, fed, all dressed up and ready to go with an hour to go. Day 2 of school: Kids must be dragged from beds and there’s much teeth-pulling to go around. I love parenthood. 3200
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 08/09/2026We did it, Joe: First and only outdoor swim of the season. 1120
Reposted by Cristian FariasElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · 05/09/2026I'm about to go on with @joyannreid.bsky.social with @cristianfarias.com to talk about his excellent article about Nolan Wells. I linked it here in my newsletter. Also, my newsletter is out and I was very mean to the Dems who voted for House resoultions. www.thenation.com/article/poli...thenation.comA New Theory of John Roberts’s JurisprudenceIn this week’s Elie v. U.S., our justice correspondent explains why he thinks Roberts rules the way he does. Plus: Elie mourns the end of summer—and the world. 937892
Reposted by Cristian FariasNew York Magazine @nymag.com · 03/09/2026As the investigation drags on, and internet sleuthing fills the void, justice for Nolan Wells requires getting to the truth and nothing but.nymag.comWhat We Owe Nolan WellsAs the investigation drags on, and internet sleuthing fills the void, justice for Nolan Wells requires getting to the truth and nothing but. 0154
Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 03/09/2026This essay is about many things: A mother’s search for answers. An investigation that drags on. About the Black journalists and content creators keeping the story alive. And about Mississippi—the Blackest state in the nation and a history of inflicting pain on and denying justice to Black people. 0177
Reposted by Cristian FariasCristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 03/09/2026I wrote about Nolan Wells—and about how the truth, and nothing but the truth, is the one thing his family is rightfully demanding. They deserve nothing less. Not many of my peers are covering this story, so here I attempt to make sense of the vacuum, legal or otherwise. nymag.com/intelligence...nymag.comWhat We Owe Nolan WellsAs the investigation drags on, and internet sleuthing fills the void, justice requires getting to the truth and nothing but. 0188