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A Public Defender

@pubdef.bsky.social
407 followers 463 following 410 posts

A California public defender.

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Reposted by A Public Defender
Jessica Pishko @jesspish.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Police have killed nearly 1000 people this year so far. That doesn't include deaths in custody.
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Maybell Romero @maybell.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
People following the Cornell case keep asking the same questions about Jane Doe. Why did she text one of the men afterward? Why didn't she call it rape right away? Why didn't she see herself as a victim from the start? My last three articles take these questions on. 🧵
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James Ryan @jdryan08.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
NYC spends approximately $200,000 a year for every inmate in the corrections system. It spends about $27,000 a year for every student enrolled in CUNY.
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Jonathan Larsen @jonathanlarsen.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
NEW: Mike Rogers is campaigning against Abdul el-Sayed based on what el-Sayed supporter Hasan Piker has said. But who's looking at the anti-American radicals supporting Rogers? They’re not hard to find. I found some because I’ve already reported on them.
jonathanlarsen.substack.com
Rogers Touts Backer Who’s “Not Necessarily” on America’s Side
“Whose side do we wanna be on?” backer of GOP Senate candidate asked, “Not the United States of America, necessarily.”
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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
a Sunday reminder for Washingtonians out there Washington is the only state where a MAJORITY of the state Supreme Court is on the ballot, all at once a very rare situation no party label on the ballot but candidates are still aligned with parties! important to learn: boltsmag.org/your-state-b...
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
This is pretty fucking wild. I had assumed in a worst case scenario he would target blue zip codes and toss ballots based on technicalities but this is even worse than I imagined.
Not only is this system astonishingly untested, USPS has simultaneously implemented an
impracticable zero percent failure rate.
13 When ballots are submitted to USPS in large-volume
batches, if any one ballot in the batch cannot be verified against the Portal, all ballots in that
batch will be rejected. For example, if a state election official brings a batch of 10,000 ballots to
USPS and USPS is unable to match just one of those ballots against the Portal – because, for
example, someone has recently changed their name after marriage or they’ve moved – then
USPS would refuse to mail the remaining 9,999 ballots as well. As the whistleblower notes,
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Hormuz crossings: @bloomberg.com
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Freedom of the Press Foundation @freedom.press · 26/08/2026
Are you a journalist who uses FOIA or other public records laws in your reporting? Then you could win $25,000 through our new journalism award, the Penlight Prize. But the deadline is approaching fast! Watch @trevortimm.bsky.social to learn more, and apply today!
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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 24/08/2026
Underappreciated: US farmland *already substantially produces energy, not food*, and does so very inefficiently. Corn ethanol (~40% of all US corn) requires about 100 times more land per vehicle-mile driven than solar photovoltaics -> electric vehicles. Shifting corn to solar *would free up land*.
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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
My paper w/ @robmickey.bsky.social & @dziblatt.bsky.social--on how Black migration via the Great Migration led northern cities to replace mayors with appointed city managers--has found a home at Journal of Historical Political Economy (JHPE) ungated page proofs: drive.google.com/file/d/1bFea...
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Mom for Ghoulberty👻 @fakegreekgrill.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Only Ohioans would pay him for sex.
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Abdul El-Sayed @abdulelsayed.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Does it ever feel like you're in a cage being watched? Well, you are. By Flock cameras, thanks to Mike Rogers.
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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Last week I posted these national results and messed up the local ones (used US pop as the per cap base for each state). Here are the revised real police spending per 100K. The unit here is state-level aggregates of local (city and county but not state or fed) spending. No real defund anywhere.
Generally upward sloping lines, though some are flat from ~2000 onwards. No noticeable drops.Generally upward sloping lines, though some are flat from ~2000 onwards. No noticeable drops.Generally upward sloping lines, though some are flat from ~2000 onwards. No noticeable drops, except in MI and NJ, and even then well above 1980s and 1990s.Generally upward sloping lines, though some are flat from ~2000 onwards. No noticeable drops, except NY, and still well above all 1980, 1990, and most 2000 levels.
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CalMatters @calmatters.org · 16/08/2026
US DOJ finds 'unbroken pattern' of sexual abuse by California prison staff A two-year federal investigation found decades of staff sexual abuse against incarcerated women at California correctional facilities.
cal.news
US DOJ finds 'unbroken pattern' of sexual abuse by California prison staff
A two-year federal investigation found decades of staff sexual abuse against incarcerated women at California correctional facilities.
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T. Greg Doucette @gregdoucette.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Future POTUS and Congress will need to enact large middle-class tax hikes, and likely couple it with even further entitlement cuts Normally it wouldn't "really" matter with the dollar as the reserve currency, the petrodollar system, etc -- but Trump is f*cking that up in addition to spending $$$$$
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404 Media @404media.co · 15/08/2026
Flock told 404 Media in an email it never executed the partnership with Nexar. But the presentation still shows Flock’s ambitious plan to conscript rideshare and delivery drivers to collect license plate data for its network. www.404media.co/flock-pitche...
404media.co
Flock Pitched a Plan To Turn Uber and Lyft Drivers Into Roaming Surveillance Vehicles
A Flock presentation shows the company planned to use around 350,000 Uber, Lyft, and delivery drivers to collect license plate data for its surveillance system.
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Jesse Coburn @jessecoburn.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
You and I — all of us taxpayers — funded this $533 million artillery plant outside of Dallas. It hasn’t produced a single usable shell. Yet the defense contractor, General Dynamics, has never been held publicly accountable. Nor has it had to pay a penny back… 1/
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
The third category of alleged "excesses" are simply real issues the right disagrees with. However you feel about the slogan "defund the police," shifting police resources to social spending isn't particularly radical — and the need for police reform is still urgent. Also, it didn't happen!
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 02/08/2026
New: We found 50 cops who misused Flock cameras and other license-plate readers for personal purposes, often to spy on their girlfriends or ex-wives. He "watched every single move I made. ... Who do you turn the chief of police in to?" wapo.st/3S6rTuo
wapo.st
She left her ex. He secretly tracked her through a network of policing cameras.
Flock’s array of license-plate cameras was built to fight crime. But at least 50 law enforcement officers were charged with or accused of misusing it and other systems.
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David Combest @decombest.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Alice Sebold, the Wrong Man and Syracuse’s Buried Rape Crisis — ProPublica www.propublica.org/article/alic...
propublica.org
The Wrong Man: The Bestselling Author, the Exoneration and the Rape Crisis the Police Ignored
Five years after Anthony Broadwater was belatedly cleared for the sexual assault of Alice Sebold, the questions of how he came to be wrongly convicted and how one or more serial rapists operated for y...
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Reposted by A Public Defender
Ken Schwencke @schwanksta.com · 01/07/2026
🚨 We analyzed the Supreme Court’s decisions over the past 20 years and found that for the first time, the court issued more consequential rulings on its “shadow docket” (unsigned orders often decided without arguments) than the traditional merits docket. www.propublica.org/article/supr...
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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
This also means that the GOP has still not flipped any legislative seat anywhere in the country since the fall of 2024. Dems have flipped roughly 30 in that period.
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loreleikelly @loreleikelly.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
😶 Democratic Absences Mean Trump Lawyer Is Now a Judge for Life. Reminder that the Dems could have changed the outcome of Trump's disastrous budget bill with the # who died in office. newrepublic.com/post/211954/... via @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com
Democratic Absences Mean Trump Lawyer Is Now a Judge for Life
Justin Smith, 41, was confirmed to a lifetime federal judgeship after multiple Democrats missed the vote.
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Danielle Welch for Congress (NY-03) @votewelch.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Here's your weekend update, NY-03! Early voting has begun, which means it is time to replace The Fellowship Foundation's Tom Suozzi with a real Democrat (me)! Early voting: 6/13-21 Election day: 6/23 Learn more: votewelch.com
Image of Stefon from SNL'S "Weekend Update" sketch. 

Text reads:
DC's hottest new club is C Street. This place has everything.  Weird interventions. Congressmen with nothing to hide but their address and cheap rent. Prayer breakfasts celebrating Capitalist Jesus.
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Reposted by A Public Defender
Thor Benson @thorbenson.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Well my guillotine company goes public next week
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Freedom of the Press Foundation @freedom.press · 07/06/2026
Lawmakers must reject VPN bans to ensure that U.S. journalists can rely on this important privacy tool, and that all Americans remain free to access information online. Now is not the time to outlaw resources that can keep our freedoms secure.
freedom.press
How journalists rely on VPNs to protect press freedom
Recent attempts to ban VPNs to stop users from evading age-verification laws are a growing threat to journalism
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
New jail construction is quietly booming across the United States. inthesetimes.com/article/no-n...
inthesetimes.com
No New Beds
How one coalition is challenging the construction of mega-jails in Georgia.
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404 Media @404media.co · 01/06/2026
The exploit shows the extreme risk of offloading technical support to AI.
404media.co
Hackers Simply Asked Meta AI to Give Them Access to High-Profile Instagram Accounts. It Worked
The exploit shows the extreme risk of offloading technical support to AI.
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Sheryl Weikal says Prosecute ICE @leftistlawyer.com · 17/05/2026
And for the people STILL arguing with me... perkinscoie.com/insights/upd...
perkinscoie.com
Federal Court Rules Client’s Use of Generative AI Is Not Privileged | Perkins Coie
Key TakeawaysThe U.S.
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Sheryl Weikal says Prosecute ICE @leftistlawyer.com · 17/05/2026
Well, it happened. A client disregarded my advice about using generative AI and guess what? It gave them bad advice AND the judge ruled that by using it, Client waived confidentiality and ordered us to turn a bunch of private stuff over. STOP USING GENERATIVE AI FOR LEGAL THINGS. I BEG YOU.
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Sheryl Weikal says Prosecute ICE @leftistlawyer.com · 17/05/2026
For people telling me I'm wrong, that generative AI is private and intended for use as a lawyer, this is from ChatGPT's Terms of Use:
You must not use any Output relating to a person for any purpose that could have a legal or material impact on that person, such as making credit, educational, employment, housing, insurance, legal, medical, or other important decisions about them.YOU ACCEPT AND AGREE THAT ANY USE OF OUTPUTS FROM OUR SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND YOU WILL NOT RELY ON OUTPUT AS A SOLE SOURCE OF TRUTH OR FACTUAL INFORMATION, OR AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE.Our use of content. We may use Content to provide, maintain, develop, and improve our Services, comply with applicable law, enforce our terms and policies, and keep our Services safe. If you're using ChatGPT through Apple's integrations, see this Help Center article for how we handle your Content.
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Matt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Retractions never get proportional attention. This one should.
arstechnica.com
Influential study touting ChatGPT in education retracted over red flags
The retracted study on ChatGPT in education was already cited hundreds of times.
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 30/04/2026
Great opportunity for Platner fans to rank @andrealaflamme.bsky.social #2 and Mills fans to rank her #1! Or @davidcostello.bsky.social for these two slots, if you prefer. 🖖🏽
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The Asheville Blade @avlblade.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Thread. Expanded police surveillance, backed by federal funds, again moving forward, with all Asheville city council members but Roney supportive. Council set to vote on it in May. Comes after APD, surveillance corporations got nearly an hour for presentations. No public comment allowed. #avlgov
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Grudgie the Wail @grudgie.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
For the “tone down the rhetoric” crowd, Trump literally posted Obama’s address and the next day a 1/6 guy armed to the teeth showed up casing the residence.
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Naomi Kritzer @naomikritzer.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
One of the question I had after reading this article was, "how much DID this lady look like the photo that the AI thought she was her?" This article doesn't provide the photo, but the WEBP coverage did. www.the-independent.com/news/world/a...
the-independent.com
Grandma jailed after AI error linked her to crime in state she never visited: lawyer
The charges were later dismissed after bank records showed she was in Tennessee at the time
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 21/04/2026
Today is the last day of voting on Virginia's temporary redistricting referendum. Starting in March, a group that received donations from Peter Thiel mailed ads targeting Black voters that falsely compared the proposal to the Jim Crow era.
motherjones.com
A Republican dark money group blankets Virginia with deceptive mailers ahead of redistricting vote
Ads targeting Black voters compare Virginia's redistricting referendum to Jim Crow.
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TommyBoy @tampatom69.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Well, at least the BBC is covering this.
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Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof @evanbernick.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
The California Bar Court’s opinion is 128 pages long discipline.calbar.ca.gov/portal/Docum...
discipline.calbar.ca.gov
State Bar Court Portal
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Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Among a mountain of bad-faith factual claims and frivolous constitutional arguments, Eastman's ultimate plan was for VP Pence (or Sen. Grassley) to *knowingly violate the Electoral Count Act* and let SCOTUS block any subsequent lawsuits on political question grounds. Just shit from start to finish.
An email from Eastman describing the plot.
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 02/04/2026
The shopping list included luxury items like $6.9 million for lobster tail, $15.1 million in ribeye steak, and $2 million for Alaskan king crab, as well as musical instruments ($21,750 for a custom handmade Japanese flute), ice cream machines ($124,000), and sushi prep tables ($26,000).
motherjones.com
The Trump administration is slashing food stamps. Here's what they're buying instead.
A handmade Japanese flute. Fruit basket stands. Sushi prep tables. While four million Americans face losing food assistance, the Pentagon recently had its largest single-month spending spree on…
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🎃 Imani Gandy Corn 🎃 @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 31/03/2026
The Supreme Court did not strike down conversion therapy bans today. Not nationwide. Not in Colorado. Not anywhere. Here's what actually happened in Chiles v. Salazar—and why the coverage you're seeing serves the conservative legal movement more than it serves you.
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Mondoweiss @mondoweiss.net · 30/03/2026
BREAKING: Israel's Knesset has passed a law to execute Palestinian detainees. Death by hanging. Mandatory sentencing. No pardon. 90 days to carry out. It applies through military courts with a 96% conviction rate. It does not apply to Israelis.
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Phoenix Calida @phoenixcalida.latinsky.app · 28/03/2026
"I was pulling my hair out, ripping my skin off. I think at one point I didn’t eat for most of the day because I told myself I don’t eat unless I get something right. I have to do this" www.wired.com/story/ai-tea...
wired.com
Parents Fell in Love With Alpha School’s Promise. Then They Wanted Out
In Brownsville, Texas, some families found a buzzy new school’s methods—surveillance of kids, software in lieu of teachers—to be an education in and of itself.
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David at FOIAball @foiaball.com · 26/03/2026
Wanna know if your school uses Flock? Through records requests and audit logs, FOIAball found over 75 universities that have surveillance cameras installed on campus. There's almost certainly many, many more. www.foiaball.com/p/flock-came...
foiaball.com
Here are 75 universities that use Flock
There's certainly many, many more.
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Mississippi Free Press @mississippifreepress.org · 24/03/2026
OPINION: "When the Japanese Americans arrived at temporary detention facilities, euphemistically called 'assembly centers,' hastily constructed on fairgrounds, racetracks and other government property, they were shocked to be body-searched, fingerprinted and interrogated," Susan H. Kamei writes.
buff.ly
Opinion | Japanese Americans Used Nature to Cope With Unjust Imprisonment
Susan H. Kamei writes about how interned Japanese Americans embraced art and crafting during their unjust imprisonment.
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Mississippi Free Press @mississippifreepress.org · 16/03/2026
The SAVE America Act proposes to require nationwide new proof-of-citizenship requirements for voting that have already been passed in several states. Obtaining the necessary documents under the SAVE Act is not as easy as it might sound. www.mississippifreepress.org/the-biggest-...
mississippifreepress.org
The Biggest Change to Voting in Republican Election Bill Could Burden Many US Voters
The SAVE America Act proposes to require nationwide new proof-of-citizenship requirements for voting that have already been passed in several states.
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Pacific Antifascist Research Collective @pacantifa.is · 08/01/2026
A thread of ICE and CBP sex offenders and credibly accused sex pasts. Content-warning descriptions of abuse Yuma Sector CBP agent Ramon Marquez, 31, was arrested in May 2025 and has been charged with 15 felonies including 14 counts of sexual conduct with a 16-year-old between Dec 2024 and Apr 2025.
Ramon Marquez mug shotRamon Marquez in his CBP Honor Guard uniform
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Simple information about what the SAVE Act would actually do to American voters. Tens of millions would lose their right to vote unless they spend lots of $$$ and jump through bureaucratic hoops before November.
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