Join me today, in person or virtually, at the MIT Public Forums on the REAL ID Act of 2005.
Recent Bluessky Posts- I gather that Trump's name came off the Kennedy Center after the courts rejected the ridiculous 11th hour attempt (unhinged brief not signed by career lawyers) to block it, but the work was done behind a tarp to block the cameras. Missed opportunity to sell tickets; might have raised real money. June 13, 2026 Michael Froomkin
- There is: Reward your friends and those who pay you. Punish opponents and perceived enemies. June 13, 2026 Michael Froomkin
- Seen at MIA in the TSA departures queue, this invitation to 'self-deport' in exchange for a $1000 per person and a free flight. Although I recall reading they don't necessarily deliver. In any case a sour taste for the start of international travel. June 13, 2026 Michael Froomkin
- In a strange way you almost could admire the Trumpies' leave-no-stone-unturned approach to graft. There is really no bottom. No limit. And justice is at best slow. June 12, 2026 Michael Froomkin
- Jotwell Adlaw: Fred Jacob, Administrative Agencies & the People who Love Them, JOTWELL (June 12, 2026) (reviewing Anya Bernstein & Cristina Rodriguez, Working with Statutes, 103 Tex. L. Rev. 921 (2025)), adlaw.jotwell.com/__trashed-2/. June 12, 2026 Jotwell
Why don’t they just go the whole hog and pass an act banning ‘evil’?
The premise of the government speakers is that because the act has been passed and takes effect May 2008 (an election year!) that it is inevitable. They don’t seem to be taking much notice of the limited sanctions available to force states into compliance. The only sanction available is to refuse to accept IDs from dissenting states, a sanction that is so excessive as to be absurd.
The political context in which implementation is expected to take place is one where there is intense and sustained protest about the use of torture and imprisonment without trial by US authorities. A very significant proportion, approaching a majority of the country believes that the administration is guilty of war crimes.
Don’t states rights include the right to protect the individual from tyranny?
The actual substance of the act or regulations under the act are irrelevant. Implementation of the act requires trust and that does not exist.