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Owen Barcala

@obarcala.bsky.social
8.4K followers 1.5K following 5.1K posts

I would prefer not to. NM civil litigator. Trials, appeals, plaintiff, defense, you name it. Opinions are my own, not my firm's #USMC

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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 33m
Realizing I have the same taste in suits as the president and vowing to change
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 2h
There are about 15 states where the NFA restrictions still apply, however, due to state laws that require following the federal permitting process. So don't go out and buy a suppressor before checking.
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 2h
ATF just announced that they will no longer enforce NFA requirements for short barreled rifles or suppressors after deciding not to appeal this decision. www.atf.gov/news/press-r...
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 5h
Right, sorry, I meant counsel as meaning that she worked there as a lawyer, didn't realize that would be confusing with the head position title called Counsel
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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 6h
Beyond this thread, it should be noted that the Supreme Court did vacate the Ninth Circuit's order here — www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?... — and Arizona proceeded to carry out one of the most horrifyingly botched executions in the modern era of executions. www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jimd...
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 6h
I knew SCOTUS vacated it, but I was wondering about how the execution went. Horrifying that it took them two hours and fifteen injections. I guess he was right to question the credentials the people who would perform the execution.
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 6h
South Carolina executed two prisoners by firing squad in 2025. Both of them were given the option to choose between electrocution, lethal injection, or firing squad. Seems sensible.
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 6h
This was a case where the inmate was attempting to get information on the drugs to be used, the source, the amounts, and who would administer them. The opinion's insistence that the execution method be "foolproof" seems pretty important given recent events cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 6h
"Sure, firing squads can be messy, but if we are willing to carry out executions, we should not shield ourselves from the reality that we are shedding human blood. If we...cannot stomach the splatter from an execution carried out by firing squad, then we shouldn’t be carrying out executions at all."
If some states and the federal government wish to
continue carrying out the death penalty, they must turn away
from this misguided path and return to more primitive—and
foolproof—methods of execution. The guillotine is probably
best but seems inconsistent with our national ethos. And the
electric chair, hanging and the gas chamber are each subject
to occasional mishaps. The firing squad strikes me as the
most promising. Eight or ten large-caliber rifle bullets fired
at close range can inflict massive damage, causing instant
death every time. There are plenty of people employed by the
state who can pull the trigger and have the training to aim
true. The weapons and ammunition are bought by the state in
massive quantities for law enforcement purposes, so it would
be impossible to interdict the supply. And nobody can argue
that the weapons are put to a purpose for which they were not
intended: firearms have no purpose other than destroying
their targets. Sure, firing squads can be messy, but if we are
willing to carry out executions, we should not shield
ourselves from the reality that we are shedding human blood.
If we, as a society, cannot stomach the splatter from an
execution carried out by firing squad, then we shouldn’t be
carrying out executions at all.
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 7h
Considering the news, I want to share this dissent in the 9th Circuit, suggesting that maybe all executions should be by firing squad. "If we as a society want to carry out executions, we should be willing to face the fact that the state is committing a horrendous brutality on our behalf."
Whatever the hopes and reasons for the switch to drugs,
they proved to be misguided. Subverting medicines meant to
heal the human body to the opposite purpose was an
enterprise doomed to failure. Today’s case is only the latest
in an unending effort to undermine and discredit this method
of carrying out lawful executions. Another symptom of the
problem is the decade-long inability (or perhaps
unwillingness) of California state officials to come up with an
execution protocol, effectively putting the state’s death
chamber out of commission. See Jones v. Chappell, No. CV
09-02158-CJC, slip op. at 5 n.7 (C.D. Cal. July 16, 2014).
Old age, not execution, is the most serious risk factor for
inmates at the San Quentin death row. Then, again, you get
odd cases like that of Russell Bucklew, who obtained a stay
of execution on the ground that the drugs that would be used
to kill him would cause a lingering, painful death. See
Bucklew v. Lombardi, 134 S. Ct. 2333, 2333 (2014).Whatever happens to Wood, the attacks will not stop and
for a simple reason: The enterprise is flawed. Using drugs
meant for individuals with medical needs to carry out
executions is a misguided effort to mask the brutality of
executions by making them look serene and peaceful—like
something any one of us might experience in our final
moments. See Callins v. Collins, 510 U.S. 1141, 1143 (1994)
(Scalia, J., concurring in denial of certiorari) (“How enviable
a quiet death by lethal injection . . . .”). But executions are,
in fact, nothing like that. They are brutal, savage events, and
nothing the state tries to do can mask that reality. Nor should
it. If we as a society want to carry out executions, we should
be willing to face the fact that the state is committing a
horrendous brutality on our behalf.
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 7h
I think we have an answer to the mysterious signature redaction. For whatever reason, they were trying to hide the fact that the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) is involved. Suzanne Drouet is counsel at OPR.
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 7h
I've used it, like "papering the file." Making sure you have documented what happened in a case and why to avoid being blamed for something later.
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 8h
The only non-crazy thing I can think of is if they think the identity would be a disclosure of something that happened at the grand jury
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 9h
From reporting at the time ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/07/25/i...
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 10h
In 2025, ICE attorneys started refusing to identify themselves in immigration hearings, but doing this in actual federal court seems like a new step
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Honestly, including Arizona State as an elite university gives it away
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Yeah, if you looked at mine you'd think I had a fascination with women's clothes
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
They got me
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
This is how all the truest expertise is created--a teenager with a weird obsession
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
This wasn't a heated text he shot off. He sat down and wrote a memo saying he was paying her for favors, printed it, then took a picture of it to send to her. The guy was creating half a dozen pieces of evidence.
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Seems like you've gotta really despise someone to go out of your way to make paper and electronic evidence inplicating yourself in a crime just so the other person knows you're implicating them too
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Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
11th Cir.: it violated clearly established law for FBI agent to fail to engage in reasonable efforst to avoid error in leading a no-knock dawn raid that ended up at the wrong house. No QI; Bivens case can proceed against FBI agent. media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...
Agent Guerra’s conduct was “simply not ‘consistent with a reasonable effort to ascertain and identify the place intended to be searched.’” Hartsfield, 50 F.3d at 955 (quoting Maryland v. Garrison, 480 U.S. 79, 88 (1987)). Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, a reasonable jury could fairly conclude that Agent Guerra failed to engage in reasonable efforts to avoid error, and, therefore, violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights. Such plain incompetence has clearly violated the Fourth Amendment 9The prior panel opinion also did not meaningfully engage with the striking similarities between this case and our decision in Hartsfield, 50 F.3d at 955. See Martin I, 2024 WL 1716235, at *5. USCA11 Case: 23-10062     Document: 78-1     Date Filed: 10/07/2026     Page: 37 of 50 23-10062  Opinion of the Court 37 since at least 1995 when we decided this materially similar precedent. See id. See also Mullenix v. Luna, 577 U.S. 7, 12 (2015) (“Put simply, qualified immunity protects ‘all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law.’”) (quoting Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 341 (1986)).10
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
The world needs more QI references
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Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 07/10/2026
lol
Screenshot of a message from Kimberly Guilfoyle to Eric Deters, published in the Wall Street Journal. Within a text bubble, it says: "What a nightmare you'll literally cost me my ambassadorship stop writing"
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
One of the great privileges of being a dad is hearing your baby fart from across the room and then hitting your wife with, 'Was that you?'
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
You can't even reliably put your thumb in your own mouth, how are you batting away this spoon like a black belt
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
You don't really realize how strong an infant can be until you're trying to get her to eat half a bean and she's stiff-arming you like a D1 athlete
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Oh didn't like my Trump vs US opinion? Well try this 150 page blog post where Kagan and Sotomayor can't immediately point out how I'm misreading sources and twisting the history
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
These books are sold as an inside look at the judicial process, but they're really just a way for the justices to launder their opinions to the public without the possibility of pushback or fact checking Explaining your decisions is what the decisions are for
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Ban all justices from publishing books, not because they're a vehicle for bribes but because they're all self-indulgent dreck
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Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Fed. judge accuses ICE agents of "apparently perjurious testimony," fabrication of evidence, false statements, fundamental misconceptions about ICE agents' authority, and more. Case involves the accidental arrest of a U.S. citizen who had to get stitches. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
So, the thought is that after issuing a fraudulent arrest warrant stating that petitioner’s information was part of the system when it was not and indicating that he could be biometrically identified even though they had not collected the information to make a positive match, Cuni attempted to reconcile these falsehoods by subsequently collecting the information, adding it to those systems and, after issuing the warrant, searching the databases again to “find” him.
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Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Fed. judge grants a habeas petition for immediate release (after 13 months) of an LPR who ICE was holding w/o bond bc even after ordering a hearing "Petitioner’s uncontested evidence on the systematic bias of the immigration judges is compelling." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
When an individual is at risk of indefinite detention, due process requires at least more than skimming the record for the first time at a twenty-eight minute hearing. However, as Petitioner does not press this argument, the Court need not base its decision on this issue. Therefore, this Court holds that the immigration judge’s decision failed to comply with this Court’s previous order and due process. The evidence before the immigration judge on both the flight risk and dangerousness determinations was plainly deficient of standard for clear and convincing evidence. 3.4 Petitioner’s Case Warrants Immediate Release Petitioner argues that he should be released because “[r]emand for a second bond hearing . . . would not adequately remedy the government’s constitutional violation” and “credible evidence suggests that the immigration court system across the country is systematically rigging bond hearings against noncitizen detainees.” ECF No. 24 at 19–20.  Respondents do not argue regarding the specific remedy proposed.  Because Petitioner’s uncontested evidence on the systematic bias of the immigration judges is compelling, the Court agrees. Therefore, the Court will order that Petitioner be immediately released.
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Rose petals? Get out of my shop
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I don't think any of these people know what an "American style" cookie is
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Carol Rosenberg @carolrosenbergfeed.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Breaking news: A military judge has thrown out yet another confession in the 9/11 case, ruled it was involuntary.
nytimes.com
Judge Throws Out Another Confession in Sept. 11 Case (Gift Article)
Prosecutors have long considered the defendants’ admissions during interrogations in 2007 to be their best evidence.
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I think the Comey seashells case was Dreeben
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Trying to recall the Trump 2 cases he's handled. He filed the Wilmer Hale case on the law firm executive orders, he argued for Lisa Cook at SCOTUS, he was the amicus for the Eric Adams dismissal, he was on the Hannah Dugan defense team... I know there are others I can't remember
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Suuuuper interesting, I was not tracking this. The judge found the law criminalizing noncitizen voting is a voter qualification statute, and therefore outside of Congress’s power. Surprisingly, this is an issue of first impression! Decision is here: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
The best reading of the actual statute that underpins this criminal case yields an inescapable
conclusion: 18 U.S.C. S 611 is a voter qualification statute, and the Constitution does not authorize
Congress to legislate voter qualifications for federal elections. Except for very specific constitutional
provisions (that cannot support this statute; we will go through them, Congress has no power to say
who can vote or who cannot vote in federal elections-that foundational power is reserved for the States,
and limits Congress.
Some legal principles are so fundamental that they form American constitutional bedrock, and
this case reveals a big one: When you're prosecuted based on a law that Congress did not have the
authority to pass, the prosecution cannot stand. That principle in federal law harkens back to cases
like Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137, 180 (1803), and United States v. Hudson, 11 U.S. 32, 34 (1812), and
has had explicit and unbroken support in criminal cases since Ex Parte Siebold, 100 U.S. 371, 376-77
(1879) ("An unconstitutional law is void, and is as no law. An offence created by it is not a crime. A
conviction under it is not merely erroneous, but is illegal and void, and cannot be a legal cause of
imprisonment."). The principle is so fundamental that it even predates our constitutional republic; it
lies at the very heart of our constitutional heritage. See, e.g., Bayard v. Singleton, 1 N.C. 5, 9-10 (1787) (striking down a legislative act as unconstitutional and holding that a court cannot enforce an
unconstitutional law in any type of proceeding). This principle acts as a shield for every person facing
criminal prosecution in the United States, citizen and non-citizen alike. That shield protects the
Defendant here, and none of the Government's arguments break through it.
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I think you could charitably infer from his comments that he was considering it because it was asking for forgiveness (and how could the defense object to that?), which was somewhat mitigating after the family was asking for the max
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I don't know much about the facts of the case, but I'll note that he got the presumptive sentence for a manslaughter conviction, 10.5 years, so it's not like the court hammered him after seeing the video. But the state asked for 9, so maybe a little increase.
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The parts of the video that were "real" footage was permissible, but recreating the victim through AI video was fundamental error. Conviction affirmed, sentence vacated, remanded for resentencing.
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Presenting the statement as coming from the victim himself "erases the interpretive distance between the family’s belief about what the victim would have said and the victim’s own voice and opinions." And it "clearly impacted the sentencing judge," who said he "loved it" and felt it was "genuine"
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The closest comparison the court could find was Rose, a case where the family presented photos of the victim's young sons at his gravesite. That was "uncomfortably close," but at least it presented a real event. The AI video "does not reflect actual events," it was the "imaginings" of his sister
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Defendant argued it was inadmissible because it carried "undue emotional weight," having the statements appear to be from the decedent rather than a family member The state said it was fine because it's what the victim's sister believed he would say and it was "probably accurate"
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The video was presented pursuant to the AZ Victims' Bill of Rights, which gives victims a statutory right to address the court for sentencing in connection with certain crimes. It's a little nebulous because the statements aren't evidence, they don't have to be disclosed, and they aren't under oath
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Judge: Wow, I loved that completely made up testimony that you just fed me, I've really gotten to know the victim through CGI
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Correction to my first post, sounds like it was the deceased family members' lawyer who presented the AI video, not the state. The video seems to be a mix of real footage and AI impersonation. Even the opinion doesn't seem sure what was "real."
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"Because Horcasitas did not object to the AI video at sentencing, we review only for fundamental error" *stares directly into the camera*
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Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Arizona Court of Appeals reverses sentencing of defendant where the state presented an AI video of the deceased addressing the court, and lawyers everywhere breathe a sigh of relief Here is the opinion - coa1.azcourts.gov/Portals/1/Op... apnews.com/article/ariz...
apnews.com
Sentence tossed in Arizona case where deceased victim was depicted speaking in AI-generated video
An Arizona man’s 10-year manslaughter sentence has been tossed in a case where a video generated by artificial intelligence portrayed the deceased victim addressing a judge before the punishment was i...
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Roger Parloff @rparloff.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Here's Judge Edelman's full ruling dismissing *with prejudice* the case against Reflecting Pool defendant David Hearn because "no crime had been committed." www.documentcloud.org/documents/28...
documentcloud.org
Order dismissing case with prejudice United States v. David Hearn (2026 CF2 010237)
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