Legal journalist and beachgoer. I write and talk about courts, the law, and the politics shaping them in a number of places. Working on a new thing. Signal: cristianfarias.33https://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3mvt6spo35c2oIn a Manhattan federal courtroom today, a lawyer for the Trump administration argued that Article II of the Constitution lets the president fire a federal employee because he’s Black, and there’s nothing a court can do about it. https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/18/maurene-comey-firing-lawsuit18 Sep 2026 22:12 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvt6spo35c2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3mvskhllgpc2dRest in peace, Duncan Sheik. I’m so glad your one hit song had us in a chokehold for so long—and that life gave you so much fulfillment other than being a dreamy one-hit-wonder. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/arts/music/duncan-sheik-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.CFE.lBto.zOq3EJtmT0P_&smid=nytcore-ios-share18 Sep 2026 16:08 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvskhllgpc2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3mvqis7dq622bThis is an issue @knightcolumbia.org, which filed an amicus brief and also argued the case, has been litigating for many, many years. Of note: There’s a pending cert petition on warrantless border searches, brought by a U.S. citizen and immigration lawyer. https://pacificlegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Anibowei-v.-Blanche_Petition-for-Certiorari_8.14.26.pdf [contains quote post or other embedded content]17 Sep 2026 20:32 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvqis7dq622bhttps://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3mvlr7rznls25Oh no.15 Sep 2026 23:20 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvlr7rznls25https://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3mv6jbqlngs2xThese are not serious people: "At a minimum, an alien could not qualify as an 'inhabitant,' at the time of the Founding, without establishing a residence within a jurisdiction and an intent to remain there indefinitely." From Donald Trump's new proposed Census rules: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/10/2026-18481/decennial-census-of-the-population-of-americans-proposed-residence-criteria-and-proposed-regulations10 Sep 2026 16:53 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv6jbqlngs2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3mv6gnimiok2xThe same John Roberts that blocked the citizenship question from the 2020 Census ruled, in the very same case, that a citizenship question is perfectly legal under the Constitution and laws. From Trump's new proposed rulemaking aiming to overhaul the Census: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/10/2026-18481/decennial-census-of-the-population-of-americans-proposed-residence-criteria-and-proposed-regulations10 Sep 2026 16:06 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv6gnimiok2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3mv6bndpr6c2dHow I read this: The Supreme Court takes the rule it announced in Moore v. Harper—which shot down the so-called independent state legislature theory—seriously and as binding on rogue state legislatures. [contains quote post or other embedded content]10 Sep 2026 14:37 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv6bndpr6c2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3mv3iyd3p622tDay 1 of school: Kids up early, excited, fed, all dressed up and ready to go with an hour to go. Day 2 of school: Kids must be dragged from beds and there’s much teeth-pulling to go around. I love parenthood.09 Sep 2026 12:10 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv3iyd3p622thttps://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3muxoaeggas2dWe did it, Joe: First and only outdoor swim of the season.07 Sep 2026 23:33 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3muxoaeggas2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3mumqxzgtck2iThis essay is about many things: A mother’s search for answers. An investigation that drags on. About the Black journalists and content creators keeping the story alive. And about Mississippi—the Blackest state in the nation and a history of inflicting pain on and denying justice to Black people. [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Sep 2026 15:23 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3mumqxzgtck2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3mumj55gycs27I wrote about Nolan Wells—and about how the truth, and nothing but the truth, is the one thing his family is rightfully demanding. They deserve nothing less. Not many of my peers are covering this story, so here I attempt to make sense of the vacuum, legal or otherwise. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/nolan-wells-investigation-media.html03 Sep 2026 13:03 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3mumj55gycs27https://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3mumj55gycs27I wrote about Nolan Wells—and about how the truth, and nothing but the truth, is the one thing his family is rightfully demanding. They deserve nothing less. Not many of my peers are covering this story, so here I attempt to make sense of the vacuum, legal or otherwise. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/nolan-wells-investigation-media.html03 Sep 2026 13:03 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3mumj55gycs27https://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3muju6zrjp22rTurns out Apple Maps lets you leave a report if something on its map is wrong and needs correction. So I submitted a report about Lake Ontario. Would be a shame if lots of people flood the service with similar reports.02 Sep 2026 11:43 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3muju6zrjp22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3mug6noiips23I think I’m going to lose my mind.01 Sep 2026 00:39 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3mug6noiips23https://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3mufu77mjkk22Standing is politics all the way down. Always has been. That said, one reason for Democrats to retake the House is congressional standing, an invention of Republicans during the Obama years that then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi deployed during the first Trump administration. [contains quote post or other embedded content]31 Aug 2026 21:32 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3mufu77mjkk22https://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3mufshhar6c22The upshot of this ruling is that Donald Trump may decide to burn the White House to the ground on his way out the door and … no one would have standing to stop him. [contains quote post or other embedded content]31 Aug 2026 21:01 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3mufshhar6c22https://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3mu3oui3ptc2wWelcome to the #resistance, Mapquest. (Kids these days have no idea.)27 Aug 2026 20:30 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu3oui3ptc2whttps://bsky.app/profile/cristianfarias.com/post/3mu2mbrdpq226I was today days old when I learned Dolly Parton covered Collective Soul’s “Shine” alongside Nickel Creek and the dobro player from Alison Krauss & Union Station. She won a Grammy for it. Blew me away. https://youtu.be/plUD6vN80dg?is=kUr1PpU3APKatqfG27 Aug 2026 10:11 +0000at://did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu2mbrdpq226