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Devon Unger (He/Him)

@devonunger.bsky.social
587 followers 676 following 917 posts

Staff Attorney at the West Virginia Innocence Project, WVU Sports Fan, among other things.

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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
Equal Justice Initiative @eji.org · 21/09/2026
On this day in 2011, Georgia executed Troy Davis despite new evidence of his innocence. The evidence was so compelling that three of his jurors urged the government to stop the execution.
calendar.eji.org
Sep. 21, 2011 | Troy Davis Executed in Georgia Despite Evidence of Innocence
Learn more about our history of racial injustice.
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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
treb @treblaw.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
why is ESPN having Ted Cruz on one of its most popular shows
awfulannouncing.com
Lead 'College GameDay' producer Jim Gaiero taken off show
Jim Gaiero, a lead producer for ESPN's "College GameDay," was taken off the show earlier this month, Awful Announcing has learned.
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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
They were never going to prosecute him. Because they don’t believe that undocumented people have basic human rights. www.propublica.org/article/doj-...
propublica.org
Trump’s DOJ Blocked Serious ICE Shooting Charge Over Federal Prosecutor’s “Strongest Possible” Objections
A prosecutor planned to file civil rights charges — similar to those brought against the officers who killed George Floyd — against an ICE agent. In an email we exclusively obtained, he reveals that T...
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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
A running theme in my new series on the wrongful conviction of Chris Duncan is the way forensic charlatans Steven Hayne and Michael West were portrayed as pioneering gurus by some media outlets. This gave them credibility with judges and juries. Some of my favorite examples follow . . .
radleybalko.substack.com
The framing of Chris Duncan
Part One: “You won’t believe the videotape we have.”
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Devon Unger (He/Him) @devonunger.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The Punishment Bureaucracy
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Devon Unger (He/Him) @devonunger.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
The "plead out to time served" is a VERY common move DAs use to make wrongful convictions go away without having to take any responsibility for the harms they've caused, and which deny the innocent compensation for those miscarriages. Just look at the long list of examples in the comments here:
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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
A horrific article abt a woman caught up in the childcare sex abuse panic of the 1980s and 90s, who even the police did not think was guilty, but whose subsequent exoneration still faces pushback. Why? It seems in no small part to deny her compensation, and for prosecutors to avoid admitting error.
Ms. Smith would remain convicted, but her sentence would be reduced to time served. She would forgo any attempt to challenge
the outcome or win compensation, but she would remain free. Ms. Smith was tormented by the choice between signing the deal and going back to prison. "To this day, I still don't think I did the right thing," she says. "I really don't, because I want my name
cleared."The exoneration cleared the way for Ms. Smith to seek
compensation. She fantasized about being able to help her children — to pay off her eldest's house and car and hire a lawyer to extricate her struggling youngest from legal trouble and child support debt. Maybe there would be enough, she hoped, to fulfill
her lifelong dream of visiting the Vatican. Ohio law is intended to make compensation for exonerees straightforward and quick, especially when the local prosecutor poses no objections. Under the law, Ms. Smith would receive at least $1 million. Mr. Tomlinson told the court he believed she had
been wrongfully imprisoned and deserved recompense. But then she ran into opposition from the state attorney general, Dave Yost, who stepped in and had Mr. Tomlinson's statements
stricken from the record.Mr. Rosenbaum, for his part, advanced a new argument: The exoneration should not have occurred, he said, because it had cleared the way for Ms. Smith to sue him and several others
involved in her prosecution. They were joined in their opposition by Tony Cillo, a Republican who had recently defeated Mr. Tomlinson, a Democrat, in his bid for re-election. Mr. Cillo called the exoneration "one of the most
flagrant frauds upon the entire state of Ohio" and a conspiracy to
"acquit and pay" Ms. Smith.
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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Have the Supreme Court's conservatives ever voted collectively against the Republican Party's electoral interests? Even the tariffs "departure" fits the mold.
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Devon Unger (He/Him) @devonunger.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Sachh Kirk
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Devon Unger (He/Him) @devonunger.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
www.wvgazettemail.com/news/kanawha... George was a man who spent his life fighting for justice on behalf of those most in need. I had the opportunity to work with him a few times in my career, and I know I am a better lawyer because of those experiences. He will be sorely missed.
wvgazettemail.com
George Castelle, long-time public defender who brought down Fred Zain, dead at 77
George Castelle, Kanawha County’s chief public defender from 1989 to 2015, who garnered national recognition for his work in the 1990s on behalf of inmates wrongly convicted on evidence provided
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Devon Unger (He/Him) @devonunger.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
It is absolutely wild to watch grand juries perform the function they were intended to perform.
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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
When your government says it’s planning to open multiple prisons that will house up to 3,000 children, it’s time to demand a new government. There is no context in which this is legitimate or acceptable.
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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Private prisons making $1.4 billion charging corrupt ICE bureaucracy $307,000 “per bed” as top 15 cops in San Francisco make average of $700,000 is why shifting resources from systems of incarceration to systems of care is one of the most popular policies in 40 years of polling.
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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
Ernest "Dead" Penfold @penfoldsfiv.eurosky.social · 12/08/2026
the media when the centrist loses by 1% vs the media when the leftist loses by (less than) 1%
bluesky post by Politico saying "Progressives didn't get the big election night they wanted" referring to Abdul el-Sayed defeating Haley Stevens in the MI Senate primary and linking to their story with that headline.bluesky post by Politico with the text "The far left hits a wall" referring to David Crowley defeating Francesca Hong in the WI Governor Primary and linking to their story with that headline
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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
Kevin Collins @kwcollins.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Birthdate and name matches are causing US Citizens to get arrested in error by ICE as they board airplanes. This is the same level of rigor they're bringing to claims of fraudulent voting, and is obvious as an error-prone method to anyone who has taken an introductory stats class.
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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg 🇵🇸 @elizabethweill.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Shaken Baby Syndrome was once considered to be virtually unassailable evidence of abuse is now, in the words of one New Jersey judge, increasingly understood to be “akin to ‘junk science.’” theappeal.org/danyel-smith...
theappeal.org
After More Than 20 Years in Prison, Georgia Man Wins New Trial in “Shaken Baby” Case
A Georgia judge ordered a new trial for Danyel Smith, who was convicted of a crime that may have never occurred.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
people with chronic pain warned us at the time but the criminalization of women and minority people’s pain after the opioid crisis is a public health disaster. I’ve had friends denied pain management after hysterectomies, dental extractions and broken bones.
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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
Tracy Jan @tracyjan.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
His conviction was thrown out after a prosecutor admitted he had failed to turn over key fingerprint evidence. Eligible for up to $480K in state compensation, he hasn't received a cent. The Louisiana attorney general has opposed 22 of 23 compensation claims by wrongfully convicted people.
propublica.org
He’s Eligible for Up to $480,000 After Being Wrongly Imprisoned for 42 Years. The State Says No.
Elvis Brooks’ case was an egregious example of a wrongful conviction, civil rights attorneys said. But Louisiana’s attorney general maintains that Brooks and other exonerees are guilty — and therefore...
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Devon Unger (He/Him) @devonunger.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
The fun thing about the Epstein banking stuff is that a whole lot of it has been public record for a good while. @alabseries.bsky.social did a whole episode in 2020 on the NYDFS case against Deutsche Bank for their relationship with Epstein.
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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
Kylie Eleison @gonebabygone.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
The way student discomfort became valid the second it became right-coded, you have to laugh
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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 27/07/2026
GM CEO Mary Barra is introducing Trump at his rally. Something to keep in mind if you're in the market for a vehicle anytime soon.
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Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 25/07/2026
Lemme tell you about the angel of history being blown backwards into the future: The shackles these people have been put in are Hiatt brand, same company founded in 1780 to mass produce shackles for slaver ships.
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Devon Unger (He/Him) @devonunger.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Political malpractice.
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Devon Unger (He/Him) @devonunger.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
www.tiktok.com/t/ZTAj7jTUv/
tiktok.com
This place is lit! @Billy Bob’s Wonderland for #BillyCon in West Virginia. #billybobswonderland
TikTok video by Tony Tone Loco
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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
Lee Drutman @leedrutman.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
More than 500 scholars agree: "We write to urge Congress to do what most democracies have already done: adopt proportional representation." proud to be among them. medium.com/@scholars-re...
medium.com
Letter to Congress: End the Redistricting Wars by Adopting Proportional Representation
Gerrymandering persists because single-member districts allow it.
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Devon Unger (He/Him) @devonunger.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
It’s almost like these cases are being brought in bad faith, solely to harass the people targeted.
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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Does not get more dystopian than living in a society that INCENTIVIZES PEOPLE TO SET WILDFIRES
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Mekka Okereke @mekka.mekka-tech.com · 17/07/2026
In the USA, Black people are 7X more likely to be wrongfully convicted of a crime than white people. Not arrested. Convicted. 50% of the people exonerated post-conviction, are Black. Many of the Black men you see in Rikers are innocent men on their way to being wrongfully convicted.
penncapital-star.com
Report: Black people far more likely to be wrongly convicted than whites | Friday Morning Coffee • Pennsylvania Capital-Star
More than 3,200 people have been exonerated since 1989. More than half of them are Black, according to a new study
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Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof @evanbernick.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
I need people to understand that this administration’s litigating position is (1) federal law currently mandates the detention, without bond, of every noncitizen who is allegedly unlawfully present and (2) constitutionally, they don’t get a day in court. they’re generally losing, but they’re trying.
Ochoa Ochoa v. Noem: Due Process
Having concluded that Ochoa Ochoa's detention is discretionary and not
mandatory, the court turns to whether it violates due process. "Procedural due
process imposes constraints on governmental decisions which deprive individuals of liberty' or 'property' interests within the meaning of the Due Process Clause of the
Fifth or Fourteenth Amendment." Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 332 (1976).
"Freedom from imprisonment-from government custody, detention, or other forms
of physical restraint-lies at the heart of the very liberty that [the Due Process
Clause] protects." Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678, 690 (2001).
To support its argument that Ochoa Ochoa has limited due process rights in
the detention context, Respondents rely on Dep't of Homeland Sec. v. Thuraissigiam, where the Supreme Court held that a petitioner who was still "at the threshold of initial entry," though technically in the country, could still be treated as "an alien
seeking initial entry." 591 U.S. 103, 114 2020) holding that a noncitizen detained "within 25 yards of the border" is treated as if stopped at the border and had not acquired due process protections). Contrary to Respondents' position, Thuraissigiam held only that noncitizens detained close to the border "shortly after unlawful entry"
have not yet "effected an entry." Id. at 140; see also Shaughnessy v. United States, 345 U.S. 206, 212 (1953) (explaining that noncitizens "on the threshold of initial entry
stand[] on a different footing" than those who have "passed through our gates").
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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
I guess it's something the judge called it out, but fake citations routinely get lawyers sanctioned and that should have happened here. The standard of conduct for DOJ lawyers should be *higher* than for private attorneys, not lower.
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Devon Unger (He/Him) @devonunger.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Real government waste.
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James Hell Brooks @kleinman.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
The entire credibility of judicial review rests on the fact that there's a reasoning behind orders that can be applied going forward. Otherwise it's just arbitrary rule by ayatollahs, which happens to be what the Supreme Court is right now.
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Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Never pays to bow down, buddy
share.google
UAW President Shawn Fain explains why he supports Trump's tariffs
Shawn Fein supports auto industry tariffs but calls broad tariffs "reckless."
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Reposted by Devon Unger (He/Him)
Andrew Donaldson @four4thefire.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
We as a people keep ourselves in this doom loop re: homelessness/people in crisis of policies to keep them "out of sight/out of mind" that don't fund the expensive part of keeping them out of sight, which puts them back in sight, lather, rinse, repeat westvirginiawatch.com/2026/07/10/m...
westvirginiawatch.com
Morgantown City Council moves to eliminate ‘hostile architecture’ • West Virginia Watch
Morgantown, West Virginia, has taken a step away from park benches and other equipment designed to discourage unhoused people and others from resting or lying down.  Morgantown City Council voted 5-2 ...
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West Virginia Watch @westvirginiawatch.com · 09/07/2026
A sweeping lawsuit over the state of West Virginia’s overburdened child welfare system can move forward, a federal judge ruled Thursday, reports @lorikerseywv.bsky.social.
westvirginiawatch.com
Federal judge denies West Virginia request to pause child welfare lawsuit  • West Virginia Watch
A sweeping lawsuit over the state of West Virginia’s overburdened child welfare system can move forward, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
They’re trying to deport the men who witnessed the killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. newrepublic.com/article/2129...
newrepublic.com
Texas ICE Killing Darkens: Rep Says Witnesses Pressured to Self-Deport
There were three others in the van with the man shot by ICE in Houston this week. A represenative for the families tells TNR that the government is pressuring these potential witnesses to self-deport.
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Devon Unger (He/Him) @devonunger.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
This is just standard casino stuff, but it’s not actually worth nearly as much as free drinks and a comped suite.
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Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Agree. We’ve been reporting lately on ICE ramping back up to 11, but the trump administration is trying to do it without Minnesota type headlines. The secret police are trying to be more… secret
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Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
This morning, I attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the Chicago Torture Justice Memorial on Chicago’s South Side. In a moment when the Trump regime is seeking to erase histories of oppression, Chicago is honoring a promise to police torture survivors that many of us fought for.
A large crowd of people, some of whom are holding shovels, participate in a groundbreaking ceremony in an open field in Chicago.
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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.blacksky.app · 08/07/2026
the more accurate read of Slaughter imo is that the Republican justices on the Court stole a bunch of power *for themselves* and deigned to share some of that power with Trump ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/supre...
ballsandstrikes.org
The Conservative Justices Attached Some Major Strings to the Latest Decision On Presidential Power
The Supreme Court is not only transferring political power from Congress to the executive branch. It is also reserving a ton of political power for itself.
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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 07/07/2026
Incredible news. Illinois Governor Pritzker has signed a law removing testosterone HRT from the PDMP program, a program other states can use to access people's prescription records across state lines. It will protect trans people in IL from places like TX. Subscribe to support our journalism.
erininthemorning.com
IL Gov. Pritzker Signs Law Protecting Trans Patients By Removing Testosterone from Govt. Monitoring Program
Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) could be exploited to carry out anti-trans attacks. Illinois just made it harder to do.
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Devon Unger (He/Him) @devonunger.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
My @defector.com subscription is some of the best money I spend on media. There are so many great folks producing great work there. I would pay the same just to read @davidjroth.bsky.social.
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Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
this countrys fetish for punishing those we decide are unworthy of help at the expense of all of us is so completely bat shit
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Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
The idea of the Supreme Court dissenters that citizenship is a “privilege” that only some deserve rather than a basic right for everyone born in the U.S. is in accord with the view that suffrage is a also privilege rather than a universal right. In both cases, they think universality demeans them.
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Tom Moroney @etmcalifornia.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
"Trump v. Barbara is the stupidest Supreme Court case in recent memory: the nation’s nine fanciest lawyers spending God knows how many hours pondering a question about the Fourteenth Amendment’s meaning that a bright sixth-grader could have answered without difficulty in roughly 30 seconds."
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Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
2 more thoughts on birthright: 1. The movement to overturn Roe and Humphrey's Executor was built over decades. It took an enormous amount of effort to manufacture that sense of scholarly viability (see: Teles, Hollis-Brusky). The right got 5-4 on birthright with a sloppy last-minute scramble
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