Sign in

Reynolds Holding

@renholding.bsky.social
91 followers 210 following 51 posts

Research Scholar and Editor-at-Large, Columbia Law School. Former Reuters Breakingviews, ABC News, Time, Legal Affairs, SF Chronicle. Newsletter, Better Judgment: Dispatches on the law and justice, renholding.substack.com.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Think it's hard to upend a democracy through democratic means? Think again. A new book recounts how it happened--and how it could happen again. My review: renholding.substack.com/p/how-to-dis...
renholding.substack.com
How to Dismantle a Democracy
A new book traces Adolf Hitler’s destruction of German democracy in only 53 days—with disturbing echoes of now.
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Entertaining court opinions are a good thing, but what the heck was this judge thinking? My latest piece: open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
The 53-Year-Old Virgin
This judge may find out what it's like to be Steve Carell
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Federal judges are on a roll. Why are they letting a bunch of far-right state attorneys general push them around now? My latest piece: open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Climate Cowards
Federal judges are folding under political pressure from state AGs
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
A terrific review from top lawyer Mark Pomerantz of my new book, Better Judgment: clsbluesky.law.columbia.edu/2026/03/02/b...
clsbluesky.law.columbia.edu
Better Judgment: A Review of Reynolds Holding’s New Book on Three Extraordinary Judges
Better Judgment, by Reynolds Holding, is a fascinating and detailed look at three distinguished federal district judges: Carlton Reeves (S.D.Miss.), Jed Rakoff (S.D.N.Y.), and Martha Vazquez (D.N.M…
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Thanks so much to the great Ray Brescia @raybresia.bsky.social and Legal AF for having me on to discuss my new book, Better Judgment: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzIW...
youtube.com
The SECRET Force CRUSHING Trump in the COURTS
YouTube video by Legal AF
000
Reposted by Reynolds Holding
Ray Brescia @raybrescia.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
Thoroughly enjoyed my conversation on @legalafmtn.bsky.social with @renholding.bsky.social discussing his @ucpress.bsky.social book Better Judgment: How Three Judges Are Bringing Justice Back to the Courts. youtu.be/zzIWPygWo7Q?...
youtu.be
The SECRET Force CRUSHING Trump in the COURTS
YouTube video by Legal AF
011
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Courts get the go ahead to defend against the administration’s assaults. Will it make a difference? The State of the Union may tell us, say I: open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Tonight Show
At the State of the Union address, will Trump or John Roberts blink first?
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
Why judges with the loudest voices on the right are unlikely to land on the Supreme Court. My latest piece: open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Robe Show
If strident judges are auditioning for the Supreme Court, they’re going about it all wrong
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
A recent Supreme Court case tells us why any defense of the ICE agent who gunned down Renee Good won't fly. My latest piece: open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Good Grief
The Supreme Court tells us why the defense of a fatal ICE shooting is nonsense
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
New research on the 14th Amendment suggests birthright citizenship can't possibly mean what Trump thinks it means open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Plain Meaning
If Trump were right about birthright citizenship, some lawmakers would have been bounced
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Federal prosecutors are abusing indictments to seek revenge, and ordinary people on grand juries are refusing to play along. It's an inspiration for us all, say I: open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
The Power of No
Grand juries are reminding us that if we won’t say it, who will?
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Great stuff from Lawfare. Have a listen to my conversation with Roger Parloff and Judge Jed Rakoff about my new book, Better Judgment, available here: a.co/d/aa3MOcE Lawfare Daily: The Besieged District Judges, with Reynolds Holding and Judge Jed Rakoff www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...
lawfaremedia.org
Lawfare Daily: The Besieged District Judges, with Reynolds Holding and Judge Jed Rakoff
010
Reposted by Reynolds Holding
Lawfare @lawfaremedia.org · 03/12/2025
On Lawfare Daily, @rparloff.bsky.social spoke to @renholding.bsky.social and Judge Jed Rakoff, about Holding's recent book "Better Judgment: How Three Judges Are Bringing Justice Back to the Courts," the role of district judges in our justice system, and attacks those judges are enduring today.
12711
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
A federal judge quit to speak his mind about Trump and the state of the nation, leaving behind a remarkable career of doing justice. Shouldn't we want people like that to stay on the bench? My latest: open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Lone Wolf
Will a newly retired judge become Trump’s top critic or just a voice in the wilderness?
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
In 2023, Joe Biden was just trying to wipe away student loans. Now, for this president and this Supreme Court, it’s the rule of law itself that seems the target. Major questions, elastic principles, and my new piece: open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Supreme Hypocrisy
Conservative justices’ shift from restraint comes at the worst possible time
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
My take on the prosecutors bounced last week for mentioning Jan. 6: Airbrushing the facts makes judges' hardest job -- sentencing -- even harder. open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Riot Act
Lies about January 6 portend trouble for fair sentences
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
I had a great discussion on Slate's Amicus podcast about Better Judgment, my new book about federal judges standing up for the rule of law right now. Please take a look and have a listen: slate.com/podcasts/ami...
slate.com
These Three Judges Might Just Restore Your Faith in the Courts
Reynolds Holding’s new book details how a trio of judges are trying to protect democracy.
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Great review of my book, Better Judgment, about “three dynamic federal judges who embody [Holding’s] case for a strong, intact judicial branch that keeps oligarchies at bay while protecting the constitutional rights of individuals,” says Harvard Magazine bit.ly/47zShBK
bit.ly
Must-Read Harvard Books Winter 2025 | Harvard Magazine
From aphorisms to art heists to democracy’s necessary conditions
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
Trump is conning us about the need for troops in cities like Portland, but his fantisies are no match for the factual record courts are building, say I: open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Fact Check
The courts are building an unprecedented record of presidential misdeeds
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
Federal judges are flawed heroes for sure and, in some cases, deeply so. But by and large, Republican and Democrat, they are giving us hope, and they are doing it with dignity rather than rancor. My new post: open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Courts at Their Best – and Worst
Judges can give us hope despite the deeply flawed among them
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
This is a terrific book. I was slow in getting to it, but the wait was well worth it. Read it.
041
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
In the James Comey prosecution, the next move is up to the judge, and he should do what another federal judge did seven years ago: call out the lying. Here’s my latest newsletter — with an excerpt from my new book, Better Judgment a.co/d/1doNEfU: open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Pure Gaslighting
What the judge hearing the case against James Comey should say
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
Here’s my piece on why the absence of “respectfully” in Supreme Court dissents, and the sudden resistance of grand juries to indicting “ham sandwiches,” matter: open.substack.com/pub/renholdi... And don't miss my new book, here: a.co/d/2Tuhko9. Please leave a review!
open.substack.com
No Time for Respect
Supreme Court justices and grand juries are telling us enough is enough
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
To read what it's like for federal judges -- on the record -- to defend democracy and the rule of law every day against these abuses, please see my new book, Better Judgment, available here: a.co/d/1LLzvki
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
To read what it's like for federal judges -- on the record -- to defend democracy and the rule of law every day against these abuses, please see my book, Better Judgment, available here: a.co/d/1LLzvki
a.co
Better Judgment: How Three Judges Are Bringing Justice Back to the Courts
Better Judgment: How Three Judges Are Bringing Justice Back to the Courts - Kindle edition by Holding, Reynolds. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Better Judgment: How Three Judges Are Bringing Justice Back to the Courts.
020
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
Here’s another excerpt from my new book, Better Judgment, available at a.co/d/1LLzvki. This passage describes Judge Jed Rakoff attempting to hold Citigroup accountable for its role in the financial crisis. open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Neither Admit Nor Deny
A judge takes to task a bank at the heart of the financial crisis
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
My book is out, so happy pub day to me. The best argument for why we should not give up on the courts is revealed in the stories of the three remarkable judges I portray in the book. open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Read This Book
How three judges are bringing justice back to the courts
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
The swaggering terror that the Trump administration inflicts on immigrants every day feels deeply creepy in a way that abuses of the George Floyd era did not. open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Make the Bullies Pay
The U.S. Supreme Court has made it way too hard for victims to win damages from the government agents who abuse them.
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
America needs a smart and authoritative person whose job is to explain what the courts do. Let's call him the Chief Justice of the United States. open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Speak Up, John Roberts
The chief justice needs to set us straight on the role of the courts
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
Sky falling or not, federal judges are struggling with a new and unnerving reality. The latest from me: open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Bench Pressed
Judges are feeling the weight of ugly threats and emergency deadlines
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
There is something perverse about punishing the victim for the raw transgressions of a public servant, a United States president no less, but that may be what our world now requires. Putting a Price on Surrender open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Putting a Price on Surrender
Giving in to a lawless president has become far too easy
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
When it comes to this Supreme Court, at this moment, under this president, the justices need to wake up and seriously consider how their words and decisions are playing in public. Tin-Eared Justice open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Tin-Eared Justice
How the Supreme Court sounds to people matters
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
On gender transition and other divisive issues of culture and politics, It’s not just what the Supreme Court says that’s important but also how the justices say it. Here’s may latest piece, and thanks for reading. open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Killing Us Softly With Its Words
Maybe a little understatement from the Supreme Court is OK
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
The Lander arrest and similar moves are only the half of it --ICE is hell bent on snatching all sorts of people out of New York's courts: renholding.substack.com/p/iced-out-o...
renholding.substack.com
ICE'd Out of Court
A DOJ lawsuit aims to put immigrants seeking justice in peril
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Trump’s war on immigrants threatens to stop people from seeking justice and the courts from performing the most basic elements of their job. Read about the latest lawsuit from Trumpland. open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
ICE'd Out of Court
A DOJ lawsuit aims to put immigrants seeking justice in peril
020
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Oh look, an actual book. It's pretty good, timely at least, and you can pre-order it here: www.ucpress.edu/books/better...
030
Reposted by Reynolds Holding
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 09/06/2025
Newsom: "Arrest me. Let's just get it over with, tough guy. I don't give a damn ... Tom, arrest me. Let's go."
1011313057998
Reposted by Reynolds Holding
Steven Beschloss @stevenbeschloss.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Terry Moran told the truth and ABC News appallingly suspended him. So-called journalistic “neutrality” serves a fascist regime. This is why we need independent media.
26594168
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
We’re so focused on how government and this administration fails us that we often don’t notice when public officials actually do their jobs. Here’s a reminder — with a nod to the Big Exception open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Government Works – for Now
With at least one obvious exception
010
Reposted by Reynolds Holding
David Ryan Miller @davidryanmiller.com · 04/06/2025
When a federal judge starts a ruling about the government's actions with an extended retelling of Kafka's "The Trial," you know the state of democracy in the good old US of A is in tip-top shape 🙃
7454108
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
My take on last week's important Supreme Court ruling about who the president can fire open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Favoring a President Over Precedent
Under this Supreme Court, executive excess seems A-OK
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
My latest piece. Thanks for reading. open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Trust Is for Suckers
An essential legal presumption is all but dead
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Shareholders are up in arms about shady health insurance, say I. My latest newsletter. Thanks for reading. open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
The Deadly Business of Health Insurance
Shareholders blame UnitedHealth for its CEO’s murder
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
My latest newsletter. Thanks for reading. open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
Legal Ethics Are Mightier Than Trump
Prodded by the courts, government lawyers can still do the right thing
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Here's my latest piece. I hope you like it, and thanks for reading. open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
America’s Lethal Politics – Again
What Sarah Palin’s trial is really about
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
Better late than never: This is the message Columbia should have sent from the get-go, when the administration started slapping it around: www.columbia.edu/content/trad...
columbia.edu
Tradition, Innovation, and Growth | Columbia University in the City of New York
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
We Are Living in 1803 Now
The Supreme Court should be better than this
010
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
A Lesson for the Resistance
Law firms can teach universities a thing or two
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
A Delicious Twist of the Knife
The president's past proves inconvenient
000
Reynolds Holding @renholding.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
open.substack.com/pub/renholdi...
open.substack.com
That Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge
Fortunately, the Big Lie doesn’t work in court—yet
000