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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Oh man, this is heartbreaking to read. As a parent of small kids, I can't even imagine how awful it must be to be subject to processes like this. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

theatlantic.com

Hundreds of Thousands of Anonymous Deportees

Amid the president’s fast-moving deportation campaign, the stories of most people being swept up are missed.

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Whenever dealing with hyper-technical UK grade descriptors or academic promotion criteria, I always want to shout Aristotle at them: Precision is not to be sought for alike in all discussions people! We must look for precision in each class of things just so far as the nature of the subject admits!

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

Autumn is a good time for a jab 💉🛡️

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Joshua G. Schraiber @jgschraiber.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Actually, the rest of that section also screams "SCOTUS is losing legitimacy in the eyes of the District Courts"

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lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Philosophy is structurally unable to acknowledge that "I dunno, man, maybe?" is objectively speaking the correct answer to most of our questions.

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Good read. Besides rejecting short-termism, we also need to reject the nihilistic worldview on which there are no principles only power and any lie or harm is ok if it helps your side. Rhodes is right we need a vision of a valuable & fair future worth sacrificing for www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | We’re Trapped in Trump’s Reality. This Is How We Escape It.

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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Was reminded of Bentham’s argument that fear of crime can be a worse harm than crime itself. Everyone can be affected by fear of crime but relatively few people experience serious crime. And fear of crime can easily be manipulated for nefarious purposes.

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

Hi Crim Theorists: Great discussion happening rn at PEASoup of Elise Sugarman's fantastic paper in Free & Equal abt correspondence btw mens rea & actus reus--and what it shows abt culpability, diff prosecution strategies & more. (Online debate can be good actually!) peasoupblog.com/2025/08/free...

peasoupblog.com

Free & Equal – Elise Sugarman’s “Supposed Corpses and Correspondence” with a précis from Gabriel Mendlow

PEA Soup is pleased to announce our discussion from Free & Equal, on Elise Sugarman’s “Supposed Corpses and Correspondence” with a précis from Gabriel Mendlow. Critical Précis…

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

I defy you to name a worse topic for your neighbors at the cafe table next to you to be loudly pontificating about you while you're trying to get work done than the importance of investing in innovation to the future of the company.

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Yes the world is nuts right now. Unrelatedly, AI has some very fun uses. Here is Perplexity's pretty great rhyming summary of my lecture handout on fraud under the UK's Fraud Act 2006. Will it help my students remember the elements of s.2 fraud better? Let's find out next term...

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Renee DiResta @noupside.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

Explaining to the normies that memes are political propaganda and it’s taking over (present tense) the Republican Party in the year of our lord 2025… I imagine it’s needed, but man www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | Trolling Democracy

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Jamal Greene @jamalgreene.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

It has been overshadowed because the law is silly and there’s so much other lawlessness, but there is no legal justification whatsoever for the president deeming this not to be an enforceable law, and companies relying on that representation do so at their peril.

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

Saddened to read about the attack on protesters at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law yesterday (where we have close project partners). Authoritarian tactics hit close to home wherever they're used. Faculty statement: readers-attend-gcb.craft.me/dmm5PvKWlJ9h2M

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

Thoughtful article: "Addressing Deskilling as a Result of Human-AI Augmentation in the Workplace" 4.4 especially interesting discussion of how AI can reduce work satisfaction (esp for creatives) and how augmentation can be a first step towards substitution. ceur-ws.org/Vol-3901/sho...

ceur-ws.org

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Eric Columbus @ericcolumbus.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

The best solution for nationwide injunctions is for Congress to provide for such requests to be adjudicated by three-judge panels, as proposed by former 5th Cir judge (and my former colleague) Gregg Costa. Congress can still do this after today’s decision. harvardlawreview.org/blog/2018/01...

harvardlawreview.org

An Old Solution to the Nationwide Injunction Problem - Harvard Law Review

Samuel Bray’s Multiple Chancellors: Reforming the National Injunction addresses what has increasingly become the recipe for legal challenges to federal policies. File suit in...

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Seems right. Though isn't that just how it goes when the methodology is analogical and historical? Some of originalism's defenders say it better constrains judges and leaves less room for implementing the court's own political or policy preferences. But maybe it just makes it easier to hide them.

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Jackson seems right on the impact of CASA. Kavanaugh's attempt to soften the blow by pointing out that preliminary class-wide relief can still be granted on a regional or national basis isn't very convincing. As Jackson points out, it means anyone's rights can be threatened if they haven't sued yet.

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

Some good stuff here. I liked the point about how many jobs aren't so much about just producing text but standing behind the words and taking responsibility for them. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/m...

nytimes.com

A.I. Might Take Your Job. Here Are 22 New Ones It Could Give You.

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

I'm increasingly worried about one second-order effect of students relying on AI so much: that it undermines their CONFIDENCE to be able to distinguish smart-sounding but mediocre sludge from actually persuasive writing.... 1/3

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

"ChatGPT, Claude and Deepseek may 'look smart–but when complexity rises, they collapse'." I try to get my students to see that the point of the exam is not to produce text that looks smart but to actually BE persuasive to a smart human. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

When billion-dollar AIs break down over puzzles a child can do, it's time to rethink the hype | Gary Marcus

The tech world is reeling from a paper that shows the powers of a new generation of AI have been wildly oversold, says cognitive scientist Gary Marcus

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alice @alicebennett.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

pretty shitty that young people now have to learn with both a 24/7 torrent of entertainment microtargeted to their neuroses in their pocket and a learning environment full of chirpy little prompts to press a button and fake their homework so they can spend a little more time in the neurosis torrent

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Move fast+break things & creative disruption (themes we're starting to see echoed in uni management speak) means not respecting stakeholders enough to go through the normal processes of identifying and collaboratively solving problems and justifying the proposed changes to those affected by them.

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Thought UK friends might be curious to see some empirical research on whether adopting rightwing policies actually helps mainstream political parties. Hint: it doesn't (Thx to a lovely colleague for these) What else to do instead? Maybe defend an alternative vision or just change the convo?

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

My favorite bit from this was abt how analytics-driven creation only recreates past successes."Jurassic Park was at least new, interesting, and exciting, Jurassic World was just a bunch of eye candy on a screen, re-hashing a familiar formula. Dopamine, not depth." www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-age-of...

forkingpaths.co

The Age of the Surefire Mediocre

Why have so many aspects of our lives converged toward boring sludge?

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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Thanks so much to everyone who followed along. If you appreciate our live court coverage, I hope you'll consider donating to help support our independent, non-profit newsroom. Thanks to those who have already given. We couldn't do it without you!! givebutter.com/journalism/a...

givebutter.com

Lawfare's Nonpartisan Journalism and Expert Analysis

Support the impactful and trustworthy coverage of Lawfare

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Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 09/05/2025

Quite a finding from Judge Sessions: "Her continued detention potentially chills the speech of the millions and millions of individuals in this country who are not citizens. Any one of them may now avoid exercising their First Amendment rights for fear of being whisked away to a detention center."

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Bradley P. Moss @bradmossesq.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

I am going to keep saying this until I am blue in the face: if we survive all this, and that’s a non-trivial if right now, it will take a generation to fix the damage. By that point, China will have surpassed us.

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Just a side note to say that this isn't half bad as a description of a core pillar of academia's mission: we need "independent universities to guard objective truth and provide forums for dissent to authority".

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Was watching Booker w my kids and the rendition of John McCain's story was so moving--about his cellmate who started sewing another American flag right after the guards attacked him for having a flag hidden. The kids were riveted. Duty, Honor, Country. So nice to get to tell them about these ideas

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

For adjudication, we're told it's all about what the judge had for breakfast. Wonder what effect it has on the criminal law when legislators are prohibited from drinking tea or coffee. publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbi...

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Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

One thing that most people are missing in the group text scandal: The Trump officials don’t appear clear on what *exactly* Trump approved, which is a huge problem in using military force. Stephen Miller says “as I heard it … green light.” 😱😬 www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/six-short-...

doomsdayscenario.co

Six Short Thoughts on the Most Insane Trump Story of All Time

Trump's "Team of Amateurs" Screwed Up in the Most Hilarious (and Troublesome) Way

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

A helpful clear-eyed analysis. The simplicity and force of the answers is also excellent. A model to emulate in today's noisy media chaos. www.politico.com/news/magazin...

politico.com

If Trump Defies the Courts, Here’s What a Judge Can Do

A former federal judge weighs in on the escalating tension between the White House and the judiciary.

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Marty Lederman @martylederman.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Hope this is a helpful explainer.

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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

I mention this partly because one of my schticks is that among the best things the government can do for population health is to stop doing things that cause stress-related disorders.

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Paul Gowder @gowder.io · 17/03/2025

This part requires particular emphasis. The whole goddamn point of judicial process is to ensure---both for the individual and the public at large---that the state is actually doing what it says it's doing and to the right people.

You do not know who was on those two planes to El Salvador. The individuals who arranged the deportation claim that the deportees were "foreign alien terrorists," but we have no way of knowing whether this is true. They also claim that they were “monsters,” which is not true. We do not know the names of the human beings who were deported. We cannot therefore know whether they were foreigners or American citizens. As to whether they were terrorists: they were not convicted of any crimes, and so it is hard to know whether or how this would be true. There is no doubt that their rights were violated. But your rights have been violated as well. If you do not know the details about operations that forcibly remove human beings from the territory of the United States, you do not have a responsive government. And you are therefore at risk.

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

At least the writers of this (awful) TV show aren't stringing this out with a long "will they/won't they" (obey judicial orders) plot arc that makes you watch a whole season before getting to what's been hinted at all along.

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Some useful public philosophy to be done here responding to this Dark Enlightenment stuff. Like, is "Enlightenment" really any part of these ideas? And haven't they largely been tried before to great social/moral detriment which the actual Enlightenment was a response to? www.ft.com/content/0221...

ft.com

The strange political philosophy motivating Musk

Inside the rise of the Dark Enlightenment’s ‘neo-reactionary movement’

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Jamal Greene @jamalgreene.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

I appreciate Josh's elevation of the term "anti-constitutional," which is different from "unconstitutional." Deciding not to spend appropriations because you don't feel like it isn't some outré theory of the Constitution. It's just an assertion of power, a rejection of constitutionalism altogether.

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Sean Casten @seancasten.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

8. In other words: a representative government, based on the rule of law survives only so long as there is sufficient virtue in those tasked with carrying out those laws. And those moment we lose that virtue, we lose our liberty as well.

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Sean Casten @seancasten.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

14. Which brings back to Madison's full quote. The central thesis of a representative democracy is not that the leaders will be virtuous but that the public will be. Read the whole thing:

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Alex Sarch @should-b-workin.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Excellent thread. It is up to us, the people, to have the wisdom + virtue to pick wise + virtuous leaders. If our tv, news, social media, online lives + general politics melt our brain to such an extent we can't be wise + virtuous enough to manage that, the experiment in democracy crumbles.

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