iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

I did my work on the case helping make the argument that this man shouldn't be killed and went back to law school. The next year, I started my clerkship in Alabama. A couple of months after arriving, I turned on the local news to hear that they had executed this man. I will never forget that.

100

The trial transcript was also pretty eye-opening to a law student. The crime itself was awful in ways that make it easy to inflame a jury. A lot of stuff got said to the jury that I was being taught in school wasn't supposed to be said.

100

His confession - especially against the backdrop that his IQ was, at most, around 75 - raised a lot of questions. But his conviction wasn't the issue. The only thing being appealed was his sentence.

100

Pam Hicks @pamhicks.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

When I was a 2L summer associate, I worked on a death penalty appeal. I will never forget the case. The big issue was whether his IQ was 69 or in the low 70s. Because if it was less than 70, he couldn't be executed. This seemed crazy - what really is the difference between an IQ of 69 and, like, 73?

100

It's particularly frustrating because in addition to degrading a real public service they are doing it so that you have to pay a subscription fee to them for connectivity. It's a walled garden that decreases public safety.

080

Reposted by Pam Hicks

Rude Law Dog @esghound.com · 23/09/2026

Requiring AM radio is actually good, it's the FEMA mandated public notification backstop. You all sound like anti regulation lunatics melting down about the 13 dollars in parts needed to install backup cameras. This isn't anti-EV agitprop, you have brainworms

2164493

Pam Hicks @pamhicks.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Turns out the most profitable way to make television programs is to air episodes weekly with ads. Interesting.

11546

Pam Hicks @pamhicks.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I can't read the article because of the paywall, but the EPA could never do anything of the sort. It's not a legislature. The most it can do is change a regulation and regulations can be changed by the next Administration.

080

Reposted by Pam Hicks

August J. Pollak @augustjpollak.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

There's never talk about "fairness" when some schools have fencing teams and pools and computer labs and some schools hold classes in trailers. Never about how 1 in 9 schoolchildren live in poverty. But it's always a "fairness" issue when a school has a trans athlete or too many black students.

424471

Pam Hicks @pamhicks.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

FWIW, I'm enjoying it. It is not XCOM, but it is a good star wars tactics. Not nearly hard enough to be XCOM. The characters - even the ones you create - really come to life. The game play loop reminds me a lot of Midnight Suns without the cards. Not surprising since it's the same dev team.

Pam Hicks @pamhicks.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

As a former DOJ atty and agency counsel, this is so depressing. Fed Programs and Civ Appellate filed so many well written briefs on our cases. Sometimes we won, sometimes we lost, but the brief was never just embarrassing.

150

Reposted by Pam Hicks

Reconstructionist @unavaleable.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

I think overhauling federal hiring practices and procedures is a do-or-die step for the next administration. You cannot rebuild the federal government without rebuilding the federal workforce, and USAJobs et al is just not fit for purpose

2054375

Pam Hicks @pamhicks.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Englebert reports to and works for Silver.

Meredith Shiner @meredithshiner.com · 26/08/2026

Reposted by Pam Hicks

Men’s leagues would literally never stand for this happening to their athletes in their arenas and there’s so much to unpack about the W, its origin story, how our society views women and this current political moment in this idiot-bigot not incurring a lifetime ban.

536281

Reposted by Pam Hicks

Rep. Mike Thompson @mikethompson.house.gov · 26/08/2026

It’s SMART Gun Storage Week. If you own a firearm, be a responsible gun owner and store your firearms safely. #BeSMART

065

Reposted by Pam Hicks

lauren @lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com · 23/08/2026

the ball-knowing trans women will continue until league morale improves

8106089

Pam Hicks @pamhicks.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Thank god these women came out to protect the WNBA, a thing they definitely care a lot about and aren't just using to score some bullshit point about a non-existent problem that they have made up in their head.

050

Reposted by Pam Hicks

William Gibson @greatdismal.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

The idea of AI “hallucinating” is one I wish I’d had!

994523732

Reposted by Pam Hicks

jenny tightpants @jtp.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

learning that the WNBA news cycle about trans people involves zero trans people feels like coming accross a cartoon dust cloud that dissipates to reveal there's only one guy in it kicking his own ass

245222852

Pam Hicks @pamhicks.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Big Mystics fan. They are such a talented team and also almost all of them are like 23 years old. So if you lose, you lost to a bunch of kids. Meanwhile, they feel no pressure whatsoever. Their one weakness is they don't have a WNBA-level PG, they patch it by playing Soni in that position as needed.

110

Pam Hicks @pamhicks.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I think a really understated factor when talking about white voters is religion. Almost a third of all people in Missouri identify their religion as one of the evangelical denominations. Whereas only 16% in Illinois describes their religion as evangelical and only 20% in Minnesota.

011

Reposted by Pam Hicks

Lauren Theisen @laurentheisen.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

on Sophie Cunningham and a trans controversy that doesn't involve any actual trans people: defector.com/the-right-ha...

This rhetoric is ideal for listeners who believe trans women are an issue that they're supposed to care about, but don't actually have any real-world experience with them. The hypothetical trans girl who's supposedly causing all this trouble in the WNBA is the perfect tool for the conservative movement. She can't fight back, she can't disprove anyone's assumptions, and she can't garner sympathy when she's the target of hate. The perfect trans girl is the one who only exists in the imagination of the loudest cis people. Her monstrousness, the need to "protect young girls in a locker room" from her, gives them permission to enact policies that in reality only harm the anonymous girls, cis and trans, who want to play sports without the invasive scrutiny of gender-obsessed adults.

4244151076

Pam Hicks @pamhicks.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

I think Jackie makes more sense (and not just because I hope Kelsey stays with the Fever), but because Soni is already a great shooting guard and they need a PG. I expect them to draft a PG next year with Chicago's pick, but they could still use a vet as well and Jackie is obviously awesome.

Pam Hicks @pamhicks.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

I'm genuinely upset that I understand that sentence.

040

Pam Hicks @pamhicks.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

The Fever org, head coach, & star player have all spent a month saying how sick they are of the internet crap and to please pay attention to the basketball. Over the last week they have played great only to have this hijack the news. Cap issues aside, I don't see Sophie on this team next year.

000

Pam Hicks @pamhicks.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

As much as I hate them, I have been impressed by the job Amazon Prime does on WNBA games. But I wouldn't want them to do the World Series because the World Series should be on broadcast television for everyone. I am so sick of needing 5 streaming services to follow 1 sport.

051

Reposted by Pam Hicks

Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

tfw the splitting headache from the heatwave is replaced by the splitting headache from the smoke

1853

Pam Hicks @pamhicks.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Making arguments you shouldn’t because you like the intellectual challenge of saying no really means yes is also an extremely lawyer-brained thing to do. And lawyers doing it also end up looking bad.

110

And I am yet to be convinced that some money or even their gobs and gobs of money come anywhere near what something like Friends made. Not the same environment, but that's mostly because they changed the model to this and it is just less profitable for everyone, including the makers.

020

That's right, they are really decimated. I think they'd be in playoff contention, potentially without those injuries. Real shame, although it's great to see how well they do in ticket sales. They showed out in Montreal for them last night.

No Kiki, no Slim. Really tough.

100

The Tempo-Wings is tons of fun. Tempo putting up a good fight despite being so beaten up. Rather have a cavity filled with no novocaine than watch that Valks game. Not my kind of ball.

The Almighty Tallest @spooknine.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Reposted by Pam Hicks

My advice for dating is simple and foolproof: get a dog. Take the dog out to places. Meet people who like dogs. If you don't end up in a relationship after that, you still have a dog which is the most important part anyway.

422334

Pam Hicks @pamhicks.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

One of my proudest academic achievements was the 95/100 on my Hamlet plot test without ever having read the play. Teacher said it wasn't even possible to pass it. I read nothing about it, scraped by on context clues.

Pam Hicks @pamhicks.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Seerat's piece here is very good. I have been very impressed recently with how she has written and spoken about the "hurricane discourse" (her term) around Caitlin. I think it helps that she clearly loves basketball and watching CC play. Anyway, the WNBA players rock and deserve better leadership.