Republican Bill Would Limit Judges’ Contempt Power — from nytimes.com by Michael Gold (this is a gifted article)
Democrats have argued that House Republicans’ measure would rob courts of their power by stripping away any consequences for officials who ignore judges’ rulings.
The sprawling domestic policy bill Republicans pushed through the House [last] Thursday would limit the power of federal judges to hold people in contempt, potentially shielding President Trump and members of his administration from the consequences of violating court orders.
Republicans tucked the provision into the tax and spending cut bill at a time when they have moved aggressively to curb the power of federal courts to issue injunctions blocking Mr. Trump’s executive actions. It comes as federal judges have opened inquiries about whether to hold the Trump administration in contempt for violating their orders in cases related to its aggressive deportation efforts.
From DSC:
This is deeply disappointing to see that this sneaky little provision was tucked away in a 1,000+ page bill. It’s highly likely that it’s from Donald Trump himself — as he stands in contempt of court from a Supreme Court ruling from several weeks ago. But what is equally troubling is that the Republican “leadership” is good with it too, evidently. Shame on them. This isn’t leadership. This is tyranny and a blatant disregard for the rule of law.
What’s even more troubling about the whole Trump situation is that just over half of America put him there. For those who put him in office, I’m not sure how they can tell their children not to lie. Because if a person voted for Donald Trump, they no longer care about someone telling the truth.
Character matters. Ethics and morals matter. The Constitution matters. People matter. America matters. The rule of law matters. Justice matters. We need to take a serious look in the mirror.
Opinions | This Baltimore program shows how to fight generational poverty – from washingtonpost.com by Leana S. Wen; this is a gifted article
How one grassroots organization is teaching young people leadership skills and giving them hope.
She recognized their desperation and felt called to return and use what she had learned to help them realize a different future. So she set up an organization, HeartSmiles, to do just that — one young person at a time.
Holifield’s experience is one that city officials and public health workers can learn from. If they want to disrupt the generational cycle of poverty, trauma and hopelessness that afflicts so many communities, a good place to focus their efforts is children.
…
How can communities overcome inertia and resignation? Holifield’s organization starts with two core interventions. The first is career and leadership development. Children as young as 8 go to the HeartSmiles center to participate in facilitated sessions on youth entrepreneurship, budgeting and conflict resolution. Those who want to explore certain career paths are matched with professionals in these fields.
…
The second part of her vision is youth-led mentorship, which involves pairing young people with those not much older than they are.
Also relevant/see:
Lost boys, trapped men, and the role of lifers in prison education — from college-inside.beehiiv.com by Charlotte West
This week, we’re publishing Part 2 of a Q&A with Erik Maloney, a lifer in Arizona, and Kevin Wright, a criminal justice professor at Arizona State University. They co-authored Imprisoned Minds, a book about trauma and healing published in December 2024, over the course of seven years. Check out Part 1 of the Q&A.
West: The fact that you created your own curriculum to accompany the book makes me think about the role of lifers in creating educational opportunities in prisons. What do you see as the role of lifers in filling some of these gaps?
Maloney: I’ve said for years that lifers are so underutilized in prison. It’s all about punishment for what you’re in for, and [the prison system] overlooks us as a resource. We are people who, if allowed to be educated properly, can teach courses indefinitely while also being a role model for those with shorter sentences. This gives the lifer meaning and purpose to do good again. He serves as a mentor, whether he likes it or not, to [those] people coming into the prisons. When they see him doing well, it inspires others to want to do well.But if it’s all about punishment, and a person has no meaning and no purpose in life, then all they have is hopelessness. With hopelessness comes despair, and with despair, you have rampant drug and alcohol abuse in prison, and violence stems from that.
Boys Are Struggling in School. What Can Be Done? — from edweek.org by Rick Hess
Scholar Richard Reeves says it’s time to take a hard look at gender equity
Rick: What kinds of strategies do you think would help?
Richard: In education, we should expand the use of male-friendly teaching methods, such as more hands-on and active learning approaches. We should also consider redshirting boys—starting them in school a year later—to account for developmental differences between boys and girls. We should also introduce more male mentors and role models in schools, particularly in elementary education, where male teachers are scarce. In the workforce, apprenticeship and vocational training programs need to be expanded to create pathways into stable employment for young men who may not pursue a four-year degree. Career counseling should also emphasize diverse pathways to ensure that boys who may not thrive in a traditional academic setting still have opportunities for success. Additionally, fatherhood policies should recognize the importance of male engagement in family life, supporting fathers in their role as caregivers and providers.
While on the topic of K12 education, also see:
How Electives Help All Students Succeed — from edutopia.org by Miriam Plotinsky
Giving students a choice of electives increases engagement and allows them to develop skills outside of core academic subjects.
I recently conducted a student focus group on the topic of school attendance. One of the participants, a high school junior who admitted to being frequently late or absent, explained why she still came to school: “I never want to miss Drama. My teacher is awesome. Her class is the reason I show up every day.” As the rest of the focus group chimed in with similar thoughts, I reflected on the power that elective courses hold for students of all ages.
These courses, from jazz band to yoga, cement students’ sense of self not just in their primary and secondary years, but also in their journey toward adulthood. In these tight economic times, schools or districts often slash electives to save money on staffing, which is highly detrimental to student success. Instead, not only should budget cuts be made elsewhere, but also elective offerings should increase to heighten student choice and well-being.
The Public Microschool Playbook — from gettingsmart.com
School systems today face a complex challenge: how to personalize learning while responding to the rapidly shifting needs of students, families, and communities. Enter the Public Microschool Playbook—a new, field-tested resource co-created by Getting Smart, Learner-Centered Collaborative, and Transcend to help public education leaders reimagine learning from the ground up.
This isn’t just about launching new schools. It’s about designing dynamic, student-centered ecosystems that live inside our public systems and reflect the aspirations of the communities they serve. With an intentional focus on access and opportunity, microschools offer more than just flexibility—they offer a path to more relevant, sustainable, and empowering learning for all.
Grounded in three key phases—Planning, Designing, and Implementing—the Playbook equips district leaders, charter networks, and innovators with real-world tools and insights to launch microschools that meet local needs and drive systemic transformation. From policy navigation and budgeting to learner-centered design elements like advisory, PBL, and multi-age cohorts, this guide is a blueprint for creating purpose-built environments that make learning personal and powerful.
Also from Getting Smart, see:
The Reboot of Readiness: It’s Time to Take Action in Renovating CTE from the Ground Up — from gettingsmart.com by Adam Kulaas
Key points:
- CTE programs need to move beyond traditional frameworks and adopt the Career Clusters Framework to better prepare students for real-world opportunities.
- It’s crucial to integrate career readiness into the entire educational experience, making it an intentional and structured pathway from early education through high school.
What Happened When Trump Altered the Deal With Law Firms and Universities — from nytimes.com by Amanda Taub; this is a gifted article
Does the prisoner’s dilemma still apply when the rules break down?
A few weeks ago, several prominent American universities and law firms found themselves in what seemed to be a classic prisoner’s dilemma, courtesy of President Trump.
His campaign of retribution against law firms that represented or hired his political opponents, and against universities that engaged in “woke” policies or purportedly fostered antisemitism, was forcing them to make an unappealing choice.
Those who capitulated and struck an early deal with the White House, it seemed, might be spared the worst of Mr. Trump’s wrath, but at the cost of jeopardizing their independence. Standing up to the president risked even harsher punishment, particularly if other institutions stayed silent.
Columbia University made a deal with the administration. So did some of the largest law firms in the country. Recent changes, however, suggest that the dilemma is starting to look very different.
In the real world, however, instead of rewarding those who capitulated early, the Trump administration pressured them even more.
…
“Capitulation has a track record,” said Ms. Saunders, “and it’s not pretty.”
In many traditional school buildings, the design sends an unspoken message: “Sit down. Follow instructions. Stay within the lines.”
But imagine what students might believe about themselves and the world if their learning environment said instead:
“You belong here. Your ideas matter. Explore freely.”
For another item related to learning spaces, see:
Choosing the Right Technology for Today’s HyFlex Classroom — from edtechmagazine.com by Gaurav Bradoo
Long-lasting adoption of the HyFlex learning modality means higher education institutions shouldn’t be afraid to invest in tools that can enhance the student experience.
The answer? Solutions built for quick and easy installation, designed to work across multiple platforms and equipped with remote update and troubleshooting features. Anything we can do to reduce the number of cords, components and required steps during installation will assist AV staff. Prioritizing user-friendly design will cut down on help tickets across the lifespan of a device, and choosing features such as remote update capability can streamline maintenance. The bottom line is that simplicity and ease of deployment are not nice-to-haves. They are essential.
I’ve visited universities where instructors are faced with control panels with laminated cheat sheets next to them. These panels are often overloaded, acting as the room system as well, and not designed with simplicity or teaching flow in mind as it relates to capturing and streaming content for HyFlex teaching.
Along the lines of learning and working/office spaces…I’d like to thank Daan van Rossum for this next article (below emphasis from DSC). Daan mentioned that:
- Phil Kirschner (ex-McKinsey, WeWork, JLL, Forbes contributor) just published a sharp piece on The Workline entitled Vibe Officing: The Antidote to Office Mandates.
- In it, Phil introduces “Vibe Officing”—challenges the mandate-vs-flexibility debate with a third way: designing office spaces people want to return to, not because they’re told to, but because they actually enjoy being there. He also touches on how AI can enable personalized nudges to improve workplace journeys.
2025 EDUCAUSE Teaching and Learning Workforce in Higher Education — from library.educause.edu
This report is the first in a series that examines three distinct workforce domains in higher education in 2025 (teaching and learning, cybersecurity and privacy, and IT leadership) to determine the priorities and challenges facing the profession. The findings in this report, taken from a survey of teaching and learning professionals in higher education, highlight their perspectives on a range of topics:
- Flexible work arrangements
- Integration of technologies
- Workload and staffing
- Job satisfaction and transition/succession planning
- Mental health and well-being
- Culture of belonging
- Professional development
From DSC:
We had better not lose the rule of law in the United States! Donald Trump is an enormous threat to our constitutional democracy! He has NO respect for the rule of law, the judicial branch of our government, our constitution, telling the truth, or having virtues and strong character. He is a threat to the entire world. People are already feeling that in their wallets, purses, and 401(k)s. Supply chains throughout the globe have been negatively impacted. Many have lost their jobs, and more people will likely lose their jobs as a recession is becoming increasingly likely as each day passes.
At minimum, the USA has lost the respect and goodwill of many nations. And I understand why.
From Bloomberg on 4/11/25:
The Trump administration, which admitted to wrongly sending a man to a notorious prison in El Salvador (violating a court order in the process) and declined to try and get him back, on Friday went a step further. Lawyers for Trump, despite an order by the US Supreme Court, refused to tell a federal judge where the man was or what it’s doing to get him back. A federal judge, following the Supreme Court’s direction, set a deadline today for Trump’s lawyers to explain how the government planned to follow the high court’s ruling. Trump’s lawyers rejected the court’s order, saying it didn’t have enough time, and questioned her authority.
The Supreme Court ruling against Trump was one of his first defeats tied to the administration’s attempt to broadly expand executive powers. It followed a series of recent procedural rulings that saw the Republican-appointee controlled court rule in his favor. But this latest refusal by Justice Department lawyers to fully comply with court orders, unlike previous cases tied to Trump policies, directly implicates a ruling from the highest court in the land, intensifying an ongoing and unprecedented constitutional crisis between the two branches of government.
No one should be above the law, most especially the President.
Ignoring a Supreme Court ruling to facilitate Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return isn’t just cruel; it’s unconstitutional.
They’re saying the quiet part aloud — if they get away with it now, they’ll do it to anyone. https://t.co/7D8nBWhOZc
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) April 14, 2025
I want to tell you why the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia should matter to you.
The one power you cannot give the executive is the ability to imprison or expel anyone regardless of their legal rights. That is our key check against autocracy. And we are watching it disappear. pic.twitter.com/aod5nTsMmz
— Chris Murphy ? (@ChrisMurphyCT) April 15, 2025
BREAKING: Attorney Andrew Weissmann says we have reached a Constitutional Crisis regarding the Abrego Garcia case, after Trump and El Salvador President Bukele say he will not be returned to the U.S.
“I want to make sure people understand. We are here. I’ve tried to say we are… pic.twitter.com/SH9sY2ZGnf
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) April 14, 2025
Addendum on 4/17 from DSC:
And speaking of the rule of law…what in the world does a President of the U.S. have to do with which cases law firms can and can’t take up? That’s not his job. Yet he threatens people, law firms, universities, and others to do his will or face the consequences (normally, that has to do with withdrawing funding or getting fired). One billion dollars worth of legal services donated to causes that Trump supports?!?!?! WHAT?
Trump announces deals with more law firms for a combined $600 million — from washingtonpost.com by Mark Berman
Firms seeking to avoid sanctions from President Donald Trump have agreed to provide nearly ***$1 billion*** in legal services to causes he supports.
President Donald Trump on Friday announced that he had reached agreements with five more law firms pledging to provide a combined $600 million in legal services for causes he supports, the latest deals firms have struck with him in apparent bids to avoid punishment.
Since February, Trump has issued several executive orders sanctioning prominent law firms with ties to his political adversaries or that had opposed his policies, seeking to strip them of government contracts and block them from federal buildings. Three firms targeted by Trump have sued to fight back, while several others made deals with Trump that some framed as necessary to keep their businesses afloat. A fourth firm filed a lawsuit Friday evening challenging Trump’s actions.
Addendum from Above the Law on 4/17/25:
Biglaw Is Under Attack. Here’s What The Firms Are Doing About It.
Introducing the Biglaw Spine Index.
The President of the United States is using the might and power of the office to attack Biglaw firms and the rule of law. It’s pretty chilling stuff that is clearly designed to break major law firms and have them bend a knee to Trump or extract a tremendous financial penalty. This is an assault not just on the firms in the crosshairs, but on the very rule of law that is the backbone of our nation, without which there’s little to check abuses of power.
But in the face of financial harm, too many firms are willing to proactively seek out Trump’s seal of approval and provide pro bono payola, that is, free legal services on behalf of conservative clients or causes in order to avoid Trumpian retribution. So we here at Above the Law have decided to track what exact Biglaw firms are doing in response to the bombardment on Biglaw and the legal system. Some have struck a deal with Trump, some are fighting in court, some have signed an amicus brief in the Perkins Coie case, but the overwhelming majority have stayed silent.
Addendum from Bloomberg on 4/16/25:
The Trump administration’s resistance to and in some cases rejection of the federal judiciary’s constitutional powers has earned it its first finding of contempt, a grave escalation in the deepening crisis at the heart of American government. A federal judge who had been repeatedly attacked by Trump and his aides found there is “probable cause” to hold administration officials in criminal contempt of court for sending scores of men and boys to an El Salvador prison despite his order to halt the deportations. The administration has claimed without providing evidence that the deportees are gang members. A Bloomberg investigation revealed the vast majority had never been charged in the US with anything other than immigration or traffic violations. A Maryland US senator meanwhile was turned away from meeting with a man imprisoned in El Salvador who the Trump administration illegally deported and now refuses to bring back—despite a US Supreme Court order that it facilitate his return.