Judge rules James Comey’s daughter unlawfully fired as federal prosecutor

Source: The Hill

“A federal judge ruled Monday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) unlawfully fired and must provide back pay to Maurene Comey, former FBI Director James Comey’s daughter who was terminated as a prosecutor last year. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman rejected the Trump administration’s arguments that it had constitutional authority to fire her. ‘Defendants’ argument is contrary to an unbroken line of Supreme Court decisions dating back almost two centuries, and the Supreme Court itself has not formally overruled any of those decisions. That is sufficient, in itself, to reject the argument,’ Furman wrote in his 55-page opinion. Maurene Comey has since taken another job and won’t be returning to the DOJ. But the judge’s ruling retroactively reinstates her, provides her with back pay and restores pension benefits for the four-month period before she took that new role.” (10/26/26)

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/6172624-maurene-comey-justice-department-unlawful-firing/

Thomas L. Knapp

Abdul El-Sayed Would Freeze the Bill of Rights in the 18th Century

Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille

“Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan’s Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, is the latest politician to suggest that the Second Amendment might shield the right to bear arms, but only those that existed at the time that it was adopted: namely, flintlock muskets. It’s a not-so-clever way of trimming back the Constitution’s protections. The argument’s flaws should be clear: the U.S. Supreme Court has already dismissed that line of reasoning, and a world in which the Bill of Rights applies only to 18th century technology would be one where freedom exists only in museum exhibits.” (10/26/26)

https://reason.com/2026/10/26/abdul-el-sayed-would-freeze-the-bill-of-rights-in-the-18th-century/

Thomas L. Knapp

Your speech, their rules: How foreign governments censor Americans

Source: Expression
by Trace Mitchell

“It is a random Tuesday night, and you are relaxing on your living room couch scrolling through your social media feed. … You make fun of a politician you don’t like, share a clip from an interview with your favorite political talking head, crack a joke about a pressing social issue, or make a plug for the blog post that you just finished writing. Then, you head to bed without giving it a second thought. This is America, after all, and the First Amendment is always there to protect you from the government. Well, to protect you from our government. Under the First Amendment, the United States cannot retaliate against you for constitutionally protected speech and expression. But the First Amendment does not necessarily protect you from a bureaucrat in Brussels, a judge in Brazil, or a police force in Hong Kong.” (10/26/26)

https://expression.fire.org/p/your-speech-their-rules-how-foreign

Thomas L. Knapp

Walter Koenig, 1936-2026

Source: Deadline

“Walter Koenig, who originated the role of Ensign Pavel Chekov in the 1960s Star Trek TV series and several subsequent movies about the adventures of the USS Enterprise, has died, according to his rep. He was 90. Zachery McGinnis of Galactic Productions posted Monday on Facebook that Koenig died of natural causes in North Hollywood but did not provide other details. George Takei, who played Sulu on the original Star Trek, also posted on Koenig’s death.” (10/26/26)

https://deadline.com/2026/10/walter-koenig-star-trek-chekov-1237176812/

Thomas L. Knapp

We Should be Optimistic About the Internet Again

Source: Aaron Ross Powell
by Aaron Ross Powell

“I want the internet to be better. There’s of course always the risk of nostalgia building an unearned sense that it in fact used to be, in every way. That the era before, say, Facebook was idyllic, or the time of Blogger and Movable Type a paradise of thoughtful and thought-elevating discourse. We tend not to remember the warts, and so think a return to the old ways is invariably a return to better ways. But I do think there are ways it has declined. The rise of platforms and the centralization that came with them has tipped the balance away from small and weird and obsessive and towards big and bland and optimized. … a lot of ‘making things better’ will entail making things smaller. Giving people communities they control the boundaries of, and letting them exist in multiple communities at once.” (10/26/26)

https://www.aaronrosspowell.com/3mys5oi4l7c2g

Thomas L. Knapp