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Reposted by Patrick Jaicomo

Bryce Tuttle @bryce-tuttle.com · 19/01/2026

Excellent piece on the problems with federal immunity doctrines from @ij.org’s Anya Bidwell and @pjaicomo.bsky.social—folks who have been litigating these issues before SCOTUS and other courts for years news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Renee Good’s Family Will Hit Federal Immunity Wall if They Sue

Opinion: The ICE officer who shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis last week stands in the shadow of federal protection. Minnesota should join other states in passing remedies that empower survivors a...

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Andrew Wimer @andrewwimer.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Welcome to 2026, here’s 5 @ij.org cases to watch this year. First up, our case against 4th Amendment violating immigration enforcement in Alabama.

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Anthony Sanders @ijsanders.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Congratulations to @pjaicomo.bsky.social & my other @ij.org colleagues for their win at SCOTUS in Martin v. US today! On a very minor point, I'll note that Justice Gorsuch introduced a honey-do list into the U.S. Reports. (Although this part went against an argument IJ made.)

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Sometimes the Louisiana criminal justice system throws up cases you can hardly believe (remember overdetention?) Here: a judge says “use my donor’s ankle monitoring company or stay in jail.” H/t @pjaicomo.bsky.social www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/unp...

2006, lawyers Christian Helmke and Leonard Levenson founded ETOH, a company that supplies ankle monitors to defendants in various proceedings before the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court (OPCDC).
Ankle monitors are GPS devices for supervising defendants' compliance with curfew and geographical restrictions. Defendants pay for their own ankle monitors, which cost about $300 per month. ETOH was one of three providers of ankle monitors to OPCDC.
In 2016, Paul Bonin was elected as a judge on the OPCDC. During his campaign, Bonin accepted donations totaling $3,550 and a loan of $1,000 from Helmke and Levenson through their law firms. Levenson is Judge Bonin's former law partner. Before serving on the district court, Judge Bonin had been a state appellate judge for eight years. Levenson and Helmke had donated $5,100 to his election campaigns for that position.
When ordering ankle monitoring, Judge Bonin regularly directed defendants to make arrangements with ETOH. He did not disclose the availability of other providers. After defendants obtained monitors, ETOH sent monthly reports to Judge Bonin about their payment status. Judge Bonin

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

The federal gov't has taken the unusual step of filing an uninvited cert-stage amicus in Goldey v. Fields, asking #SCOTUS to expand #FederalImmunity - here, to ensure there's no remedy for excessive force against prison inmates. I have a lot of thoughts, but here are 5. 1/6

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

On 3/7, @ij.org filed our merits brief in Martin v. US. We explain why the gov’t can’t claim #SovereignImmunity for intentional torts committed by FBI agents raiding the wrong house. This case is about one of the last threads of federal accountability. The gov’t’s trying to cut it.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Today, #SCOTUS denied cert. in @ij.org wrong-house raid #QualifiedImmunity case, Jimerson v. Lewis. Justices Sotomayor and Jackson would grant. Remember, Jimerson involved an *admitted* #FourthAmendment violation. The application of QI means the raid was reasonably unreasonable.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

Happy Washington’s Birthday to all who celebrate the real holiday. Happy “Presidents’ Day” to all the participation-trophy people.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

My biggest criticism of Ilan and Randy’s anti-birthright-citizenship theory is that it discards the post-war context. If jurisdiction is really about allegiance, it seems incredible that the 14th Amendment’s drafters wouldn’t have spelled that out. Why? 1/6 www.nytimes.com/2025/02/15/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | Trump Might Have a Case on Birthright Citizenship

People here illegally haven’t entered the social compact with the people of the United States.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

So, is the D.C. U.S. Attorney not permitted to practice in the District Court of D.C.? (This is from U.S. v. Padilla, 1:21-cr-00214 - the case in which the D.C. U.S Attorney dismissed the case while he was still the defendant’s counsel of record.)

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Our new paper proves that § 1983 and its Notwithstanding Clause displace #QualifiedImmunity. Textualists should be troubled greatly that the congressionally enacted text of § 1983 precludes extra-textual defenses. Yes #SCOTUS upholds QI. As @ij.org has said for years, QI must go.

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Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Whole lotta big cases coming the federal judiciary's way.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

ATTN: LAW REVIEWS My @ij.org colleague Daniel Nelson & I have submitted our article "Section 1983 (Still) Displaces Qualified Immunity." Building on the work of Will Baude and Alex Reinert, we trace the history of #QualifiedImmunity and import of its lost "Notwithstanding Clause." 1/

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Ari Cohn @aricohn.com · 04/02/2025

A whole bunch of people who were totally cool with posting the addresses of NIH/CDC employees during COVID are now absolutely apoplectic that people would publish the mere names of people forcing their way into government agencies and accessing sensitive data. Weird, huh?

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

BEHOLD, THE CONSTITUTIONAL SEPARATION OF POWERS: - Legislative Branch: “The President can just do whatever.” - Executive Branch: “The courts will stop me if this is wrong.” - Judicial Branch: “We defer to Congress and the President.”

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

Robert E. Lee was a traitor to the United States.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

I’ve been suing the federal gov’t for abuses since Obama. Trump came in; people said gov’t would accept accountability. It didn’t. Biden came in; people said gov’t would accept accountability. It didn’t. Trump’s back. People say gov’t will accept accountability. It won’t …

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Update on the grant of certiorari in @ij.org #WrongHouseRaid case, Martin v. U.S.: 1. #SCOTUS will likely be hear the case this term, between 4/28 and 4/30. 2. The Court has appointed an amicus to argue QP1 (below), since the gov't did not defend the 11th Cir.'s Supremacy Clause bar.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

WATCH: Here's the new @ij.org case video (starring @kinger-dc.bsky.social) explaining our lawsuit against the City of Norfolk's use of Flock Cameras to create an unconstitutional, digital panopticon. This system of cameras tracks every driver, wherever he goes. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Mc3...

youtube.com

Flock's Creepy Surveillance System Coming to a City Near You

YouTube video by Institute for Justice

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Jared @jaredmcclain.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

They just granted cert in our Georgia Wrong House Raid case!!! www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?...

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SCOTUSblog @scotusblog.com · 27/01/2025

The justices on Monday evening fast-tracked the briefing for a dispute over an FBI SWAT raid on the wrong house and the right to sue the federal government for error. Martin v. United States will likely be argued in April, before the end of the 2024-25 term.

scotusblog.com

Justices take up case on right to sue over mistaken SWAT raid - SCOTUSblog

The Supreme Court will weigh in on whether a Georgia family whose home was mistakenly raided by an FBI SWAT team can sue the federal government for the error. Just over six hours after the justices is...

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Anthony Sanders @ijsanders.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Option 5: Cert will be granted on an accelerated briefing schedule later this afternoon with the case squeezed into this term.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

THE U.S. SUPREME COURT HAS GRANTED CERT IN @IJ.org CASE MARTIN V. UNITED STATES!!!

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Via this morning's Orders List, #SCOTUS has now relisted both of @ij.org's #WrongHouseRaid cert. petitions for a THIRD time. That could mean several things, but it's a little curious that the cases are in a group of 15 cases that have been relisted three times. We keep waiting.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

My @ij.org colleague Jaba and I will be speaking at Civil Rights Etouffee in New Orleans on VALENTINES DAY! Who doesn't love constitutional rights? So, if you want some CLE credits and to hear about developments in civil rights law, click the link. eventbrite.com/e/civil-righ...

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Most normal people expect that, if a SWAT team raids the wrong house, the gov't is responsible for the costs. But courts around the U.S. have held the opposite, employing a variety of immunities to leave the burden on innocent families. Two @ij.org petitions ask SCOTUS to step in:

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Someone should update the U.S. Court’s website, which says the Supreme Court accepts 100-150 cases every year. This term, it has accepted 67, and it remains to be seen whether it will accept any more. (Though it’s already scheduling cases for next term.)

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Imagine simultaneously thinking that the federal criminal justice system: 1) is so corrupt that it's perpetrating a "grave national injustice" by convicting and punishing innocent people And still 2) ensuring it has access the "essential tool" of killing people as punishment.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Via this morning's Orders List, the Supreme Court has again relisted BOTH of @ij.org's wrong-house raid cert petitions. This could mean a number of different things, but the most important one for now is that the Court is still considering whether to hear one or both of these important cases.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

The birthright citizenship executive order is unconstitutional, but I wonder what creative arguments it might provide for federal criminal defendants who satisfy any of the characteristics of persons the federal government now disclaims jurisdiction over. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

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Short Circuit @shortcircuitij.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

It's our latest episode of Unpublished Opinions! There's courts and technology, a "livecast" of the TikTok ruling, free speech & tiers of scrutiny, Fourth Amendment poverty, & sundry other flotsam & jetsam. With @pjaicomo.bsky.social & Diana Simpson. ij.org/podcasts/unp...

ij.org

Unpublished Opinions 11 | Bush v. Gore Energy - Institute for Justice

In our first episode of 2025 we “livecast” a Supreme Court opinion whose release happened to cross into our pre-scheduled recording slot—the ruling in the […]

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

🧵As we await decisions on the #SCOTUS relists of @ij.org’s #WrongHouseRaid cert. petitions, I want to highlight how these cases expose a judicial hypocrisy. Factually, they’re similar. SWAT teams raided the wrong house without checking the address. Legally, they’re distinct. 1/8

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

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Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Via John Elwood, I learn that SCOTUS has relisted this 4A-related case. Doesn't mean they'll grant it, but often means it's at least in play or of interest to some Justices. supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24...

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

This is Karen Jimerson. A SWAT commander ordered the night-time raid of her home without first checking the address. And though the commander conceded he violated the #FourthAmendment, the 5th Cir. granted him #QualifiedImmunity. @ij.org filed cert. #SCOTUS has relisted the case.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

The doctrine of #QualifiedImmunity has no basis in law or history. It's purely a creation of judicial policy that overrides the plain statutory text Congress enacted after the civil war to broadly ensure a remedy for rights violations. Harlow v. Fitzgerald and Pierson v. Ray must be overruled.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

On Monday, #SupremeCourt relisted both of @ij.org's pending cert. petitions challenging grants of immunity to police for #WrongHouseRaids on innocent families. - Martin v. U.S. (24-362) - Jimerson v. Lewis (24-473) This means that there is some interest in the cases at #SCOTUS. There should be!

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CJ Ciaramella @cjciaramella.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

Law nerds, this is a case of first impression in Nevada regarding civil forfeiture and federal adoption of local cases. Order here: ij.org/wp-content/u...

ij.org

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Jared @jaredmcclain.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

The SWAT commander who ordered this raid on the wrong house conceded his mistake was unreasonable. The Fifth Circuit granted him qualified immunity anyway because he didn’t do EVERYTHING wrong. SCOTUS will now consider our cert petition again at its next conference.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

#SCOTUS has relisted BOTH of @ij.org's #WrongHouseRaid cases for this Friday's conference. 1. Martin v. U.S. (11th Cir. barring FTCA w/#SovereignImmunity) 2. Jimerson v. Lewis (5th Cir. barring 1983 w/#QualifieidImmunity) The relists indicate someone at the Court is interested...

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

What's more romantic than learning about #CivilRights on Valentine's Day? Join me and my @ij.org colleague Jaba on 2/14 in New Orleans at the Civil Rights Etouffee CLE. We will be presenting on panels about #FirstAmendment retaliation and #QualifiedImmunity. www.etouffeelaw.com #LawSky

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

HEY LITIGATORS: Does the January billable-hour reset get you down? Come work with me at @ij.org. We litigate the exciting constitutional cases that drove you to go to law school. And we don't have billable hours. We're hiring! #lawsky instituteforjustice.applytojob.com/apply/kygr4B...

instituteforjustice.applytojob.com

Litigation Attorney - Institute for Justice - Career Page

The Institute for Justice, a nonprofit public interest law firm is hiring for a litigation attorney with at least three or more years of experience.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

Our Martin #WrongHouseRaid cert. petition appeals the 11th Cir.'s application of the #SupremacyClause to bar the application of . . . a *federal statute* to the actions of FBI agents. As a result, @ij.org's petition is supported by a bipartisan, bicameral group of Congress members as amici. 1/4

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

instituteforjustice.applytojob.com

Litigation Attorney - Institute for Justice - Career Page

The Institute for Justice, a nonprofit public interest law firm is hiring for a litigation attorney with at least three or more years of experience.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

If you’re not hip to @ij.org’s Bound by Oath Podcast, it’s an excellent long-form podcast. This season we are diving deep into #PropertyRights. Listen below!

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

2025: Here’s to making the world just a little bit better with @ij.org. ij.org/support/give...

ij.org

Give Now - Institute for Justice

Support IJ today with an online donation.

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Patrick Jaicomo @pjaicomo.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

In filing our very-short reply brief in support of cert. in @ij.org’s #QualifiedImmunity #WrongHouseRaid case Jimerson v. Lewis, I discovered that our printer’s machines can only bind a minimum of 4 pages. So, these booklets have a couple blank pages. #AppellateSky

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Ending the year with the same story I’ve been writing about my entire career. Kentucky police shot and killed a man while serving search warrant in the middle of the night. They appear to have had the wrong address. www.kentucky.com/news/state/k...

kentucky.com

Search warrant was for different address than where Kentucky police shot, killed man

A man was shot and killed by police in Laurel County after they say he pointed a gun at officers. But the search warrant was for a different house, records show.

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