Cambridge, MA freelance reporter, usu. @CambridgeDay. MIT; public recs; data; legal news #appellatetwitter Lately: immigration. [email protected] 617.797.0250
Cambridge, MA, USA
Joined April 2009
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The Government's case against Harvard bioinformaticist Kseniia Petrova (clawed frog embryos) was dismissed today:
bsky.app/profile/johnhawkins…
cambridgeday.com/2026/11/03/…
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John Hawkinson retweeted
Scoop by me
"Bad faith, a deliberate attempt to mislead the Court, perpetuate a fraud on the tribunal, and violate obligations under Rule 11.”
Judge bars DOJ attorney from ever appearing again in immigration enforcement case.
justsecurity.org/163989/judg…
John Hawkinson retweeted
Judge Sorokin orders vindictive-selective prosecution discovery & disclosure of grand jury minutes for Ksenia Petrova, the frog embryo researcher. "Credible showing [she] was prosecuted due to her status as Harvard-affiliated researcher & J1 visa holder."
storage.courtlistener.com/re…
John Hawkinson retweeted
BREAKING: As we await SCOTUS, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals rejects the Trump administration's bid to reinstate its mailin ballot rule for the midterms, warning it could disenfranchise millions. s3.documentcloud.org/documen…
John Hawkinson retweeted
BREAKING: Judge Indira Talwani (Obama/MA) issues preliminary injunction blocking Postal Service rule that would limit mail-in ballots, pursuant to Trump order. Rule was already under a TRO. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/re… Earlier: politico.com/news/2026/08/27…
John Hawkinson retweeted
BREAKING: Trump administration goes to #SCOTUS for 2nd time in bid to implement new mail-in ballot rules in looming midterm election. Doc: documentcloud.org/documents/…
John Hawkinson retweeted
JUST IN: A 2nd circuit panel says Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi — targeted for deportation by Secretary Rubio for his pro-Palestinian advocacy — should never have been released by a federal judge in Vermont. storage.courtlistener.com/re…
KSENIIA PETROVA (Harvard clawed frog embryo computational biologist) wins her Vermont habeas case on partial summary judgment: the Court finds the cancellation of her visa was arbitrary and capricious and must be set aside, & therefore the revocation of her visa is set aside.
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John Hawkinson retweeted
JUST IN: Judge William Young (Reagan) in fine fettle as he mostly denies DOJ's motion to stay remedy for 'breathtaking misconduct' in deportation drive v. pro-Palestinian activists. Young mocks DOJ for undercutting Trump's unitary executive claims. Doc: documentcloud.org/documents/…
John Hawkinson retweeted
JUST IN: Trump admin sues Harvard for allegedly slowwalking requests for admissions data from DOJ. Suit assigned to Judge Myong Joun (Biden). Doc: justice.gov/opa/media/142762…
My live coverage of this morning's Kseniia Petrova discovery hearing (Bill Fick of @fickmarx for Petrova) was over on Bluesky:
bsky.app/profile/johnhawkins…
Judge Dein will grant at least some discovery into selective/vindictive prosecution.
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Gosh, with bsky apparently broken, should I move my #cambma city council live posting back to Twitter for the evening? (My inclination is No, but perhaps!)
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John Hawkinson retweeted
JUST IN: Judge William Young, who ruled Trump admin violated 1st Amendment by targeting pro-Palestinian activists for deportation, enters order allowing @AAUP & @MESA_1966 members to block any deport attempt until feds convince a judge it's legit. Doc: documentcloud.org/documents/…
John Hawkinson retweeted
The top U.S. immigration judge has told her colleagues that they are not bound by a federal court ruling that declared the Trump administration cannot place thousands of people in mandatory detention without an opportunity to be released on bond. reuters.com/legal/government…
John Hawkinson retweeted
Reagan-appointed Judge William Young in Boston today: "It's fairly clear that this president believes, as an authoritarian, that when he speaks, everyone, everyone in Article II is going to toe the line absolutely." reuters.com/world/us-judge-r…
John Hawkinson retweeted
HAPPENING NOW; Judge Young is picking up where he left off in his remarkable opinion describing an unconstitutional scheme to arrest/deport pro-Palestinian activists in violation of their constitutional rights:
"There was no policy here. What happened here is an unconstitutional conspiracy to pick off certain people, to twist the laws."
"Two cabinet secretaries conspired ... they intentionally, knowing what they were doing, counseled by professionals who cautioned them, nevertheless went ahead to pick off these people with the intention that your clients would be chilled. And did so rather effectively, by the way."
John Hawkinson retweeted
JUST IN: As deadline nears, Trump administration appeals judge's ruling blocking attempt to cut off Harvard's federal funding. Doc: documentcloud.org/documents/… cc: DOJ slow-walk maven @chrisgeidner