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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Adventures in Being K’s Dad. K is my son, an adult with autism & his dad’s best pal. My boy loves the beach most of all. It brings him peace & relaxation. And my wife has for years found opportunities to get him to one beach or another as often as she can. They’re beach buddies, & I love that.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Writing a brief at the beach before the family awakens.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

On this date in 1925, a jury in Dayton, TN, found schoolteacher John Scopes guilty of violating the Butler Act by teaching evolution. The judge fined Mr. Scopes $100. The Tennessee Supreme Court later vacated the fine on a technicality. Yay appellate courts. #AppellateSky

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

The Pennsylvania Capitol as seen from my office window, obscured by Canadian wildfire smoke.

Photo of Pennsylvania Capitol dome shrouded in smoke.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Oral argument this afternoon in the New York Appellate Division in Manhattan. Best courtroom around. Always glad to work with my partner, Joanna Diakos #AppellatePlaces.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Adventures in Being K’s Dad. I’ve written about my son, an adult with autism and his dad’s best pal. My boy loves the swings, so I take him to the playground a lot, including this morning. Truth be told, his old man has a hectic week coming up, and this time is a morale boost. Thanks, Sonny Boy.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

I love living in a place with so much history. One hundred sixty-one years today, President Lincoln’s funeral train arrived in Harrisburg for a day. This is the train at the old train station, which was a few blocks east of the current train station.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

I don’t know how you spent your Sunday, but my boy and I started the day visiting the final resting place of Nancy Kulp, Miss Jane Hathaway from “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Her grave is in the Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania. If you’re of a certain age, you’ll get it.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Oral argument this morning in the Pennsylvania Superior Court.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

This is Market Square in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 165 years ago today, Abraham Lincoln stopped here to offer some remarks on his way to Washington for his first inauguration. My office is in the building in the background with the top floors clad in gray. I so love the history of this area.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Happy 55th anniversary to “Tapestry.” I wish I’d held up as well, but then I didn’t start out nearly as beautiful.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

Today, I offer a pat on the back to the folks who designed the Miami International Airport. We spent yesterday in the terminal waiting for a flight to Baltimore after a short cruise to The Bahamas. (You may recall that our son is an adult with autism, his dad's best pal, and an ardent beach boy. 1/

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

One hundred sixty-two years ago today, President Lincoln stood up in Gettysburg—just 30 miles down the road from where I sit to write this—and gave a two-minute talk that the world will never forget. Yes, it was the only time a lawyer didn’t use all the time allotted to him. #FOLO

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

I’ve written here about my son, a young man with autism and his dad’s best pal. K’s interest in Halloween generally focuses on the party that they have at his day program, but my wife likes to put together creative costumes. Enjoy (see below and comments).

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

I don't really challenge the First Department's courtroom for its beauty, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's Harrisburg courtroom is pretty close.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

Oral argument in the Susquehanna County Court of Common Pleas in Montrose, PA.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

We take our sons to HersheyPark to ride the coasters, have lunch and appreciate the warmth of easy friendship. I ride with the boys. S holds our things and waits at ride exits. She is a fierce advocate for her son, and I think the only things she fears are roller coasters.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

My wife decided our boy needed Biscuit because, well, a boy and his dog and all of that, and our boy is afraid of the real ones. So she sent me off to toy stores to find our boy’s new, best and animatronic friend. 2/

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

100 years ago today, a Tennessee jury convicted John Scopes of violating the Butler Act, a statute that forbid teaching evolution. I should note that an appellate lawyer persuaded the Tennessee Supreme Court to vacate the judgment (albeit on a technicality). famous-trials.com/scopesmonkey...

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Today is the birthday of his great-great grandmother, and so I took some time to tell him about her. How she was born 148 years ago and came from Russia to Canada as a young girl. How she met my great grandfather in the very small Jewish community in Chatham, New Brunswick, in the 1890s. 2/

Old, black-and-white photo of the author's great grandmother on her wedding day.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Adventures in Being K’s Dad. As I’ve written, K is my son, an adult with autism and his dad’s best pal. Let me tell you about K and his cousin, J. J is three and a half years older than K. When they were kids, she took a real interest in him, even though he wasn’t interactive like other kids. 1/

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Adventures in Being K's Dad. I've written here about my son, an adult with autism and his dad's best buddy. Today is our boy's birthday and, as parents do on such occasions, I'm reflecting on him and our time together. There's a lot I could write, but I'll focus on one thing. 1/

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Being impatient, I drafted a proposed order requiring the baby to be born by the next day & left it for the judge. He didn’t say anything, & I assumed he wasn’t amused. But later that day he came by my desk, dropped the signed order on my desk & told me to file it in the clerk’s office. 2/

Order requiring baby to be born by next day.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Adventures in Being K’s Dad. I’ve written here about my son, an adult with autism and his dad’s best pal. My dad loved opera. On my dad’s birthday and on the anniversary of his death, my boy and I listen to some of Dad’s favorite arias. Yesterday was such an anniversary. 1/

The author’s son listening to opera in the car.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

I've written here about my octogenarian Jewish mother in Toledo who eagerly awaits the results of appeals I've worked on and complains about delay. I visited her this past weekend, and she asked about a case I recently argued and when I'll get a decision. She wasn't satisfied. #AppellateSky

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

When you’re getting ready for oral argument and your best pal needs a swing, you practice answering hard questions at the New Cumberland Borough Park.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

Adventures in Being K’s Dad. I’ve written here about my son, a young man with autism and his dad’s best pal. Pretty much every weekend, we go out for breakfast. My boy is non-speaking, but he knows how to order. In fact, he’s an impressive communicator (And, you bet his old man is proud.)

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

From the Second Circuit's opinion today in Öztürk v. Hyde. Is there a typo in the highlighted section or have I just missed this turn of phrase ("The argument runs the government head into the 'general rule ...")

Section of opinion using the phrase "The argument runs the government head into the 'general rule that appellate
courts should avoid determining jurisdictional issues on a petition for
mandamus.'”

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

When you’re standing alone in your office practicing for an oral argument…

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Adventures in Being K's Dad. I've written here about my son, an adult with autism and his dad's best pal. Pretty much every weekday, I drive my son 25 miles to his day program. It's our time to listen to music, to giggle and ... (1/)

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Today marks the (formal) end of Autism Awareness & Acceptance Month here in the states. I've written here about my son, K, a 30-year-old man with autism and his dad's best pal. I hope you won't mind my sharing a bit more. 1/

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

But there's one thing the transcript doesn't tell: who was this "Ms. Wilson" who kept answering questions when the government's counsel, Sarah Harris, was at the lectern? Seems like she should have let Ms. Harris do the answering. 2/

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

Autism describes a spectrum, and so one ought to avoid generalizing about it, and one ought never describe it as invariably a dark cloud over people who are somehow doomed never to engage with or contribute to the world. 1/

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Then-Secretary of State William Seward's house stood where the Court of Claims is now. Just after 10 p.m. on April 14, 1865, Lewis Powell, an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth (who was at Ford's Theatre) attacked Secretary Seward and a number of other people at this house. 2/

Secretary of State William Seward's house in Washington.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

If you have business today at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims or its neighbor, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, give a thought to what happened on roughly the site of those buildings 160 years ago tonight. 1/

Court of Claims Building, Washington, D.C.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

Adventures in Being K’s Dad. I’ve written here about my son, a young man with autism and his dad’s best pal. I worked in DC all this week, so this weekend is devoted to my boy. My favorite time.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

When the elevator to the appeals court courtroom is padded…

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Adventures in Being K's Dad. I've written here about my son, a young man with autism and his dad's best pal. Today is World Autism Awareness and Acceptance Day, and perhaps you'll indulge me in a few words about the parents of kids with autism. 1/

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Adventures in Being K’s Dad. I’ve written here about my son, an adult with autism and his dad’s best buddy. When the weather allows, my boy and I spend a lot of time at the playground. He loves the swings, and I love to watch his joy. 1/

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

Adventures in Being K's Dad. I've written here about my son, an adult with autism and his dad's best pal. I had lunch this past weekend with an old friend whose adult daughter is now a speech/language pathologist. 1/

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

Adventures in Being K’s Dad. I’ve written here about my son, a young man with autism and his dad’s best pal. We like to think of our boy as a carrier of joy. He’s a pretty happy guy, and he smiles and giggles a lot. People often see him and smile at his happiness. 1/

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Sure they get you a cake and decorate your office for your birthday, but does anyone think to wish you well the next day on the 47th anniversary of your bar mitzvah? Oy gevalt.

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

The Pa. Supreme Ct. heard oral arguments in Philadelphia today. As always, a lot to learn from the advocacy. A few. 1. If you’re going to call a judge by name, know how to pronounce it. Justice Dougherty’s name isn’t pronounced like “Doherty.” It’s like “Dockerty.” 1/

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

I've mentioned here my octogenarian Jewish mother in Toledo who listens to livestreams of my oral arguments and then calls me to let me know how the judges behaved. (Spoiler: Not well if any of the judges asked hard questions of her baby boy.) 1/

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Adventures in Being K’s Dad. I’ve written here about my son, a young man with autism and his dad’s best pal. I start most of my days with my boy. He lives at home, and, on weekdays, he attends a day program in Carlisle, about 25 miles from our house. 1/

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drfine.bsky.social @drfine.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Adventures in Being K’s Dad. I’ve written here about my son, a young man with autism and his dad’s best pal. My boy and I have a tradition, now five years old, to visit diners and other breakfast restaurants. We call it “The Fine Men’s Dining Tour.” 1/

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