Woodrow Wilson's war at home "Silencing 'Fighting Bob'" details how the government targeted anti-war critics like Sen. Robert La Follette.

From Cato colleague Brandan Buck: In no subsequent era in American history has constitutional liberty come under as much pressure as in World War I. A new book recounts the Wilson administration's vicious propaganda campaign against three anti-war groups as well as Sen. Robert LaFollette.

Johnson: No amendments for FISA extension Johnson is preparing to push the legislation through the House Rules Committee this afternoon.

If I were a House member who took my oath to uphold the Bill of Rights seriously, I'd be inclined to offer a motion to vacate the chair after this comment/threat. #FISA

My latest on #FISA Section 702 developments, ICYMI.

www.cato.org/blog/fisa-re...

Public Comment re: Review of State Bar Complaints and Allegations Against Department of Justice Attorneys Federal prosecutors are “one of the most powerful peace-time forces known to our country”—and one of its least accountable.

Cato’s @foxmike90.bsky.social and Matthew Cavedon on a new attack on accountability: "DOJ is attempting to compel state bars to suspend independent investigations. It seeks to ensure that federal prosecutors are held to a lower ethical standard than every other licensed attorney in the country."

The Other Declarations of 1776 - Institute for Justice 1776 was a big year. All Americans know what those four digits mean: the birth of the United States. Here at IJ we’re celebrating just […]

For those who want a primer on Declarations of Rights in 1776, here is a 🧵of the posts I wrote in the lead up to our conference. First, an overview of the birth of written constitutions & their accompanying rights protections in and around that year. 1/7

ij.org/cje-post/the...

It’s an honor for Cato to stand alongside several other leading free expression organizations in this cause.

Extrajudicial Violence Risks Making the U.S. a Global Pariah In the Caribbean Sea and at home, the Trump administration has acted outside the law.

Now reprinted at Cato: my piece this week on how extrajudicial violence has come to be a signature policy of the U.S. government both internationally, with the boat bombings, and domestically, with the permission given ICE agents to unleash street violence with impunity.

The Failure of the Henchman Strategy: Pam Bondi and the Cost of Political Incursion It is the responsibility of senators to rigorously scrutinize the next attorney general nominee, ensuring they confirm someone who possesses no history of prosecutorial misconduct and who pledges to p...

My colleague @foxmike90.bsky.social has written a response to Trump's firing of Pam Bondi. Her 14-month tenure saw the departure of large numbers of qualified federal lawyers as she pursued the mission of turning DOJ "into a direct instrument of the White House" and settling political scores. /1

GOP-led states that cooperate with ICE surrender their power The framers of our Bill of Rights understood that policing is largely local, and keeping that authority where it belongs should be a consistent priority.

My former @cato.org colleague & friend @cob.bsky.social has a co-authored piece with Patrick Jaicomo of the Institute of Justice on the short sighted partnership by Red state officials with armed, coercive #ICE agents. A terrible precedent they will regret.

A Few Key Points on Trump's New Elections Executive Order Trump is clearly frustrated with Congress’s inability to pass new election laws. He doesn’t interpret this as a mandate to go back to the legislative drawing board, but rather a license to legislate w...

My colleague Stephen Richer, former Maricopa County Recorder, has some reactions to Trump's new mail voting E.O. from the standpoint of an experienced administrator in Arizona, a state whose permitted vote-by-mail timeline Trump seems to imagine he can block.

Welcoming my new Cato colleague Molly Nixon, an expert on executive power. Expecting great things from her!

From FBI Assessment to FISA §702 Query: AI-Assisted Predicate Laundering The absence of a warrant requirement leaves the constitutional protection of US persons entirely dependent on executive branch oversight that has been systematically removed.

Want to see how a single FBI agent using a frontier #AI agent could engage in predication laundering to open bogus investigations on individuals or groups, including conducting #FISA Section 702 database queries? Read on. cc: @anthropic.com

www.cato.org/blog/fbi-ass...

ACLU, Cato join forces to support defendant’s 2A case at top NC court The ACLU of North Carolina and the libertarian Cato Institute are working together to support a challenge of North Carolina’s law banning felons from possessing guns.

Stoked to see @cato.org & @aclu.org coming together to defend a person's Second Amendment rights in North Carolina.

cc: @stephengutowski.bsky.social

Stephen Miller allegedly urged Department of Homeland Security agents to “force confrontations” with protesters in Minneapolis in order to win a “PR battle." trib.al/NcbpdiX

Screenshot reading, "Today, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Abouammo v. United States, a case that could fundamentally redefine where the federal government is permitted to prosecute American citizens. At the heart of the dispute is whether the government can manipulate venue by trying a defendant in a jurisdiction where no criminal act occurred. Ahmad Abouammo was accused of providing false invoices to federal agents as they sat in his Seattle home. Although Mr. Abouammo’s crime was committed entirely within the Western District of Washington, the government brought charges in the Northern District of California, where federal investigators were based. Mr. Abouammo was convicted following a jury trial and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed his conviction. The Ninth Circuit’s decision ignores the historical roots of the Constitution’s Venue and Vicinage Clauses. These provisions were established by the Framers to prevent the very gamesmanship seen today—a practice tracing back to the British Crown’s attempts to ship colonists overseas for trial, thereby stripping them of a local jury. The government’s position invites a dangerous precedent where prosecutors can choose a favored forum simply by dispatching agents from a specific district. This practice bypasses the constitutionally assigned role of the local jury as the conscience of the community in favor of a jury pool that may be more aligned with the government’s narrative. While it’s never possible to predict outcomes from oral arguments alone, the questions posed by the justices were encouraging. Cato filed an amicus brief in support to Mr. Abouammo. Mike Fox Legal Fellow Project on Criminal Justice Cato Institute"

Statement by Mike Fox @foxmike90.bsky.social, legal fellow at Cato's Project on Criminal Justice, on today's oral argument in Abouammo v. U.S. "At the heart of the dispute is whether the government can manipulate venue by trying a defendant in a jurisdiction where no criminal act occurred."

@foxmike90.bsky.social spoke with @kelseyreichmann.bsky.social about Vice President JD Vance saying federal agents have "absolute immunity" and the challenges victims face when attempting to hold law enforcement accountable.

Full @sidebarcns.bsky.social episode: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

@foxmike90.bsky.social of @cato.org spoke with @kelseyreichmann.bsky.social about the history of Section 1983, which empowers people to sue state and local government officials who violate their constitutional rights.

Sidebar on immunity and accountability: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

My latest on the #FISA Section 702 reauthorization debate, exclusively in @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social

The Remedy-Free Zone: Reclaiming State Power to Curb Federal Misconduct State-law remedies merely provide a way to enforce existing federal rights; an unconstitutional act is, by definition, outside the scope of lawful authority.

From my colleague @foxmike90.bsky.social: a wall of immunity currently protects federal agents who violate constitutional rights. As the George Retes and René Quiñonez cases show, if we're not going to get remedies under federal law, we need remedies under the laws of states like California.

Villarreal v. Alaniz Priscilla Villarreal is a popular citizen-journalist in Laredo who posts frequently about local police activity.

Cato had urged the Supreme Court to reverse the Fifth Circuit's ruling in Villarreal v. Alaniz, applying a Texas law criminalizing the obtaining of info from government employees (otherwise known as "reporting"). Alas, the Court declined review this morning, over Justice Sotomayor's dissent. /1

@cato.org legal fellow @foxmike90.bsky.social spoke with @kelseyreichmann.bsky.social about why proposals to reform qualified immunity could hurt rather than help.

Full @sidebarcns.bsky.social episode on immunity and accountability for federal law enforcement: open.spotify.com/episode/3nJO...

@foxmike90.bsky.social of @cato.org spoke with @kelseyreichmann.bsky.social about the history of Section 1983, which empowers people to sue state and local government officials who violate their constitutional rights.

Full @sidebarcns.bsky.social episode: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

@foxmike90.bsky.social of @cato.org spoke with @kelseyreichmann.bsky.social about Boule, Bivens, the Current Supreme Court and why it's so difficult to hold law enforcement — particularly federal agents — accountable.

Full episode: open.spotify.com/episode/3nJO...

Armed With Impunity | Sidebar by Courthouse News YouTube video by Courthouse News

@foxmike90.bsky.social of @cato.org talked to @kelseyreichmann.bsky.social about JD Vance's comments on "absolute immunity" for the ICE agent who shot Renée Good and the complexities associated with holding officers accountable.

Full @sidebarcns.bsky.social episode: youtu.be/zXc40aYqzDY?...

Proud of my Cato Institute colleague David Bier who stood his ground at a hearing today and talked back to bloviating Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana). David responds to the clip and furnishes receipts. @cato.org

KENNEDY: You said, 'Republicans think can troll their way to ethnic cleansing.' Did I read that correctly?

BIER: DHS tweeted for 100m deportations. That would be ethnic cleansing!

K: You don't think it's hyperbolic?

B: I think advocating 100m deportations is ethnic cleansing. Yes. Your time is up

The Illusion of Reform: Why DHS Restraints Fail Without a Path to the Courthouse Imagine a legal system that proscribed theft and murder as crimes but stripped away any penalty for committing such acts. In such a vacuum, the only remaining check on power is an offender’s own consc...

“Without a statutory path for victims to sue individual agents who violate their rights, any new restrictions are purely advisory. They are toothless concessions offered to an administration that has already displayed a penchant for flouting constitutional constraints.” @foxmike90.bsky.social #law

We're Not Out of the Woods on the Law Firm Revenge Orders The Trump administration has dropped its appeals in the four cases arising from revenge orders against law firms for assisting Trump opponents. But we’re not out of the woods.

New from me at Cato: "We’re Not Out of the Woods on the Law Firm Revenge Orders". Reflects the ongoing twists and turns of the story at least through noon today! /1

Justice Jackson’s Harvard Thesis Predicted Cases Like Hunter v. United States The Supreme Court heard arguments today in Hunter v. United States, a case about when people can be forced to yield their rights through a plea “agreement.” It’s a case that, for at least one of the C...

Assembly-line criminal justice: "Justice Jackson’s Harvard Thesis Predicted Cases Like Hunter v. United States" [colleagues Kayla Susalla and Matthew Cavedon, Jurist]

When the State Threatens Death to Buy a Conviction We must ask ourselves what it says about our pursuit of justice when the truth is something bought with the threat of a needle.

“The death penalty is increasingly used not as a punishment for the ‘worst of the worst,’ but as a pretrial pressure mechanism to keep defendants jailed for years and force them into submission.” @foxmike90.bsky.social @cato.org #law