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Sam Rubinstein

@samrubinstein.bsky.social
290 followers 548 following 93 posts

Lawyer. Suffering Mets fan. Dog dad. He/him 🏳️‍🌈

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Reposted by Sam Rubinstein
Making a free cycling game @dfeldman.org · 28/08/2026
Tennessee has proposed renaming the Nashville airport after Dolly Parton Of the 523 airports with scheduled passenger service in the US, 119 are named after a man. None are named after a woman. Dolly Parton would be the first.
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Ossoff does something very effective here that is rarely seen when members of congress do questioning: he leads the witness, and he repeatedly re-asks the question when the witness fails to answer, rather than just moving on.
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
I took all my law school notes on my laptop. My handwriting sucks and I learn nothing from highlighting cases. I would have been really hurt by this U Chicago laptop ban. It also requires students who need disability accommodations to have to go ask for special permission.
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Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Donald Trump came one vote away from getting the Supreme Court to say that the 14th Amendment does not guarantee birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented and temporary immigrants, a view held only by fringe far-right nativists until VERY recently. This is shocking. I am stunned.
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Ashton Pittman @ashtonpittman.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Anger over the police killing of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley is mounting in the small town of Senatobia, Mississippi. Hundreds took to the streets in protest and police tear-gassed a crowd outside the Walmart where an officer shot the infant. Officials are not releasing bodycam or security footage.
mississippifreepress.org
Anger Mounts in Senatobia Over Police Killing of 1-Year-Old Kohen Wiley
Protests broke out in Senatobia, Mississippi, amid mounting anger over the police killing of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley.
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Zohran, please make the Mets win next. Thank you.
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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
This is truly one of the worst things the court has done — both in terms of legitimacy and in terms of the law — since I have been covering the court.
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
For no particular reason, just remembering that Maine has ranked choice voting for federal races, and a strong independent candidate would not be a spoiler.
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Reposted by Sam Rubinstein
The New York Times @nytimes.com · 28/05/2026
A program that gave women in Flint, Michigan, money during pregnancy and after childbirth significantly improved their health and that of their newborns, according to a new study published Wednesday.
nyti.ms
In Flint, Cash for Pregnant Women Leads to Better Outcomes for Babies
New research suggests money with no strings attached can promote better health, but other studies have seen mixed results.
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Rick Hasen @rickhasen.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Justice Alito complaining about the Court granting a stay without any reasoning is, shall we say, rich? He's been in the majority in scores of such cases, many involving elections.
J USTICE ALITO , dissenting.The Court’s unreasoned order granting stays in this caseis remarkable.
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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
In Louisiana and likely Alabama, actual, cast votes are going to be tossed out as officials speed ahead with new (or previously enjoined) maps. This is such an extreme use case for the Purcell principle that the court ignoring it here signifies that it was always a made-up toy, not law.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
This is a very smart move. If the president sues himself, is there a “controversy” between the parties? I’m not sure!
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
I’m very excited about this new wall art I purchased for my home office. Sadly though, I don’t think it will uncurse the Mets.
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
With the daily news cycle being so atrocious, I like baseball because it gives me something to root for and distract me. But thanks to my dad I ended up a Mets fan, so that isn’t happening…
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Michael C. Dorf @dorfonlaw.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Don't get me wrong: I'm relieved that this case is shaping up as either 8-1 or 7-2 against the Trump executive order. But the case is a gift to the Supreme Court. By rejecting an outlandish position, it will earn credibility as apolitical, even as the Overton window moves far to the right.
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Kyle Barry @kylecbarry.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
BREAKING: The PA Supreme Court holds that mandatory life without parole sentences for all "felony murder" convictions -- a sentence more than 1,000 people in PA are serving -- violates the state constitution's "cruel" punishment ban. This is GROUNDBREAKING: www.pacourts.us/assets/opini...
CHIEF JUSTICE TODD           OPINION No. 3 WAP 2024 Appeal from the Order of the Superior Court entered June 13, 2023, at No. 1008 WDA 2021, Affirming the Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County entered December 19, 2016, at No. CP-02-CR-0016878-2014. : : : : : : : : : : : ARGUED:  October 8, 2024 DECIDED:  MARCH 26, 2026 In this appeal by allowance, we granted allocatur to consider whether a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for a felony murder conviction violates the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution or Article I, Section 13 of the Pennsylvania Constitution.1  For the reasons that follow, we determine that a mandatory life without parole sentence for all felony murder convictions, absent an assessment of culpability, is inconsistent with the protections bestowed upon our citizens under the “cruel punishments” clause of our Commonwealth’s organic charter.2  Thus, we reverse the order of the Superior Court, vacate Appellant’s judgment of sentence, and remand for resentencing.  However, as we have done under similar circumstances, we stay our order for 120 days to provide a reasonable amount of time for the General Assembly to consider remedial measures.
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Thank god for Jackson saying, why are we talking about Bruen and the civil war in this case at all?? This is a simple statutory interpretation case?! Exactly right.
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Deeply disappointed in people deciding that they can turn the other cheek and ignore Nazism
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Nominating this guy would be an unmitigated disaster. Janet Mills should drop out and clear the way for someone else to take him on. If she had the juice she wouldn’t be trailing by a wide margin.
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Non-doom post: we saw Pillion this weekend and it was so good.
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Reposted by Sam Rubinstein
Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
congress sounds cool i wish it was real
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Reuters @reuters.com · 28/02/2026
Exclusive: Prior to Iran attacks, CIA assessed Khamenei would be replaced by hardline IRGC elements if killed, sources say reut.rs/4l9SCAs
reut.rs
Exclusive: Prior to Iran attacks, CIA assessed Khamenei would be replaced by hardline IRGC elements if killed, sources say
In the run-up to the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Saturday, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency assessed that even if Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the operation, he would likely be replaced by hardline figures from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), two sources briefed on the intelligence said.
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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
The judges in WV have seen enough. They say that if the ICE continues detaining people in ways they have unanimously deemed illegal they will start issuing civil fines and contempt findings — including against state officials who help them carry it out. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
When you’re trying your hardest to lose your base of support
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Reposted by Sam Rubinstein
Adam Klasfeld @klasfeldreports.com · 25/02/2026
"We must reject political violence of any kind," says Trump, who pardoned hundreds of violent rioters who participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection that he inspired.
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Very overdue. Really wish there would be a bipartisan bill transferring control of DC local parks to DC govt
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
look at my country man, we’re getting out-No Kings’d by the fuckin’ british
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
We really need to prioritize moving immigration courts out of DOJ and making them an independent Article I court like bankruptcy courts
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Reposted by Sam Rubinstein
Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
BREAKING: Judge issues TRO reining in tactics against peaceful protesters and journalists at Portland OR ICE facility. Judge Michael Simon bars use of crowd control munitions against people who don't pose physical threat. Doc: https//www.documen...
documentcloud.org
DickinsonTRO020326
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Daniel Suitor @danielsuitor.com · 03/02/2026
This is unreal. An AUSA talking like that in open court is about as close as you can come to a total breakdown. Never heard of anything like it.
SHOCKING FEDERAL COURT MOMENT: DOJ attorney Julie Le, "The system sucks, this job sucks" to Judge Jerry Blackwell who pressed her on why so many court orders are being ignored by ICE/Trump admin. She asked to be held in contempt just so she could get 24 hours of sleep. @FOX9
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Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof @evanbernick.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
This is the direct result of a judicial order. Law isn’t magic but it can be powerful stuff.
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Joanna Schwartz @jcschwartzprof.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
Extraordinary opinion for extraordinary times.
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Jake Tapper, long-suffering Philly sports fan @jaketapper.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
DOJ has since killed this link. This is what was there:
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AkivaMCohen @akivamcohen.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
wooooow
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Nick Miroff @nickmiroff.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
BREAKING Greg Bovino has been removed as Border Patrol "commander at large" and will return to El Centro Calif, where he is expected to retire soon. A stunning turnaround after Pretti killing. Bovino's traveling blue city crackdown is over www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
theatlantic.com
Gregory Bovino Gets Demoted
The Border Patrol chief was the public face of a traveling immigration crackdown on cities governed by Democrats.
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Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
JUST IN: 8th Circuit enters stay keeping freeze on Minn. fed judge's order reining in DHS tactics v. immigration-enforcement protesters. Majority Shepherd (GWBush)/Stras(Trump) says injunction too broad. Partial dissent: Gruender (GWBush). Doc: www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
documentcloud.org
TincherStayCA8012626
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
A TRO issued—apparently ex parte (without notice and opportunity to respond)—against the federal government to stop it from destroying evidence of a homicide. Take a moment to appreciate how extraordinary that is.
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Most Americans have no idea that if a federal agent beats you up with no justification, you can’t just sue them for damages. As a lawyer one of my abiding hopes for this period is to raise longstanding wonky legal problems like this in the popular conscience and finally address them.
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Reposted by Sam Rubinstein
Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
BREAKING: MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension & Hennepin DA file fed lawsuit dmeanding immediate access to federal evidence in DHS agent's deadly shooting of observer during immigration enforcement operation Sat. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... Earlier: www.politico.com/news/2026/01...
storage.courtlistener.com
#1 in Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension v. Noem (D. Minnesota, 0:26-cv-00628) – CourtListener.com
COMPLAINT against All Defendants (filing fee $ 405, receipt number AMNDC-12575332) filed by Hennepin County Attorney's Office, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Filer requests summons issued....
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Senate Dems should demand: 1. Private right of action against fed officers (Bivens) 2. Ban on immigration arrests at schools, courts, hospitals, churches 3. Strengthening immigration arrest warrant requirements and right to counsel 4. Repeal or limit insurrection act
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
The bespoke “the president can fire anyone unless it affects our pocketbooks” exception
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Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Justice Jackson takes an interesting stand today. SCOTUS often waives the filing fees for indigent parties—but refuses to do so after they file multiple "frivolous" petitions. Jackson says that's unfair and dissents from the practice moving forward. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...
JUSTICE JACKSON, dissenting from denial of motion for
leave to proceed in forma pauperis.
To file a petition in this Court, litigants must pay a $300
fee, along with the (much higher) cost of printing 40 bound
copies of their filing. Litigants who cannot afford the filing
fee and the cost of printing can request to proceed in forma
pauperis. The Court largely grants these requests, allowing
those litigants to file for free, but our openness to indigent
litigants has its limits. In fact, the Court sometimes imposes blanket filing bars that prohibit litigants from filing
any more in forma pauperis petitions in noncriminal matters going forward, regardless of the merits of their claims. I believe that when balancing prisoners’ access to judicial
review, on the one hand, and reducing our administrative
burden, on the other, we should err on the side of keeping
our courthouse doors open. For a system designed to administer justice, reflexively rejecting (potentially meritorious) petitions from incarcerated litigants has a cost that is
much too high when compared to the (meager) administrative efficiency gains. Nor should we forget the role that indigent incarcerated litigants have played in the development of important constitutional doctrines—and through
habeas proceedings no less. See, e.g., Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U. S. 335 (1963); see also Sindram, 498 U. S.,
at 181 (Marshall, J., dissenting).
Accordingly, I would not apply the filing bar that the
Court imposes for frequent “frivolous” filers to prisoners
who, like Howell, seek to proceed in forma pauperis.
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
Every time Apple updates their iOS it gets worse. This new liquid glass thing is horrible.
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Courthouse News @courthousenews.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Third Circuit paves the way for Mahmoud Khalil’s rearrest @uebey.bsky.social www.courthousenews.com/third-circui...
courthousenews.com
Third Circuit paves the way for Mahmoud Khalil’s rearrest and deportation
In a 2-1 ruling, the appellate panel ruled that the lower court judge protecting Khalil from removal lacked the jurisdiction to interfere in the proceedings.
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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 15/01/2026
Just astonishing good news. We are on the way to end Multiple Sclerosis. University research delivers. Always has. Now a cabal in the White House is shattering it.
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Sam Rubinstein @samrubinstein.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Article claims that Dem leadership is trying to add body cam and training requirements to DHS funding bill. That’s not gonna get the job done like a cause of action for constitutional violations. www.politico.com/news/2026/01...
politico.com
‘Abolish ICE’? Many Democrats are ready to fund it — with conditions
It's not clear a Homeland Security funding bill can get done, but furious negotiations are underway.
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Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Six leading medical organizations plan to ask the courts to throw out revisions to the childhood vaccination schedule announced last week by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other federal officials. (Gift link) www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/h...
nytimes.com
Medical Groups Will Try to Block Childhood Vaccine Recommendations
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
It would take a two-word amendment to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to subject ICE agents and other federal law enforcement officers to the same liability for constitutional violations that local and state officers currently face. If Congress actually cared about what it's seeing, it could pass that overnight.
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