Cory Liu
@coryliu
Followers
2K
Following
1K
Statuses
330
Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas School of Law. Civil litigation attorney for disputes involving businesses and government agencies.
Austin, TX
Joined June 2009
Here's a Christmas story about how a President can use clemency for good. It’s a testament to the heart of the Trump family and Alice Johnson—and the power of @X. If this goes viral, maybe James Brian Cruz will get an opportunity to thank President @realDonaldTrump for giving him a second chance at life. Back in 2020, at my old law firm, we were approached by an older gentleman who served a prison term for mishandling asbestos. He struggled in prison but got through it thanks to the friendship of a man who shared his Christian faith. That man was James Brian Cruz. Cruz was in his 40s and had served more than twenty years of a forty-year prison sentence for a drug crime. After all those years, he had become a changed man. His fellow inmates described him as a gentle person who helped resolve conflicts. He mentored people who were new to prison. He became a devout Christian, and he inspired others to pursue their faith. One of Cruz’s former prison supervisors said Cruz would be welcome at his family dinner table. The gentleman who came to us, Tom, asked us to help Cruz request a presidential commutation. Another lawyer had turned him down, but we said yes. I got to work collecting letters of support from family members who said they would help him get back on his feet and former inmates who benefited from his friendship and successfully reintegrated into society. I submitted the materials to the Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney in November 2020. Over Thanksgiving, I grew worried that the President’s team would miss Cruz’s application given how many requests there were. So I started contacting anyone I knew with a connection to the Trump Administration. I reached out to my law school classmates and started looking on X to see who might be involved in the clemency process. That’s when I came across the X account for Alice Marie Johnson, @AliceMarieFree. As you may know, President Trump commuted Alice’s life sentence and set her free from prison. At his party’s nominating convention, he granted her a full pardon. Alice’s X account contained a link for her organization, @ActionForGood_, which had an email address for people to reach out. I emailed her Cruz’s materials and talked to her sister, who asked me to prepare a one-pager. As Christmas approached, I refreshed X constantly, looking for news. On December 15, 2020, Alice posted on X a photo of her and @IvankaTrump after discussing clemencies at the end of President Trump’s first term (reposted below). Pastor @RobertJeffress and @1stLiberty President @_KShackelford were also supporting Cruz. On the evening of January 19, 2021, President Trump commuted Cruz's sentence, and he was released the next morning. His release date was previously expected to be in 2034. Since he was freed from prison, Mr. Cruz has been a member of First Baptist Church in Dallas, @firstdallas. He recently got married and is the father of a newborn. We text periodically, and he reminds me to pray. He recently recorded an interview with Alice Johnson, which is on her YouTube (link below). He said he still has not had a chance to personally thank President Trump for giving him a second chance at life. Maybe if this post gets enough views, we can make that happen. Every Christmas, I think about what a blessing it was to work with Alice Johnson and President Trump to change someone’s life. Thank you James Brian Cruz for always reminding me to pray, even when life feels overwhelming. Have a blessed and Merry Christmas!
🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
2
5
39
RT @tracewoodgrains: Today, @OptimismMommy and I are launching a new project: the Center for Educational Progress. It is time for schools…
0
73
0
Some people want racial balancing. Other people want to repeal the Civil Rights Act. The pragmatic, middle-of-the-road, bipartisan approach should be Clarence Thomas’s vision of a color-blind, race-neutral society.
0
1
5
Clarence Thomas’s color-blind interpretation of the Constitution has always been the moderate, middle-of-the-road position between left-wing and right-wing race consciousness. It needs to be the new, prevailing norm in our society.
This is a public service announcement for anybody thinking about using the term "racist" in a political argument. We (the majority that voted for Donald Trump, and many others) are now past caring about accusations of racism. Even when they're true. If this bothers you, maybe you and your allies shouldn't have spent the last 40 years weaponizing false accusations of racism. Over the last decade you have led people of good will to a terrible choice. We can either tolerate overt expressions of racism. Or we can tolerate the dreadful harm "anti-racists" have done - poisoning our discourse, tribalizing our politics, tearing down our statues, destroying our cities, and instructing law enforcement to ignore crimes up to and including the rape and murder of children. We have chosen. Your weapon is burned out. The preference-falsification bubble that gave it power has popped. We will no longer allow grifters and power-seekers to yank us around by our virtues. The same fate is swiftly bearing down on your other "-ism" and "-phobia" words.
2
4
51
@tracewoodgrains Your post reminds me of Reflections on the Revolution in France. Pragmatism and gradualism over utopianism and radicalism.
2
0
2
Congratulations!
Congratulations to Scott Turner on being confirmed as the 19th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. We are ready for @POTUS and @SecretaryTurner to empower Americans and achieve the American Dream.
0
0
2
@tracewoodgrains @rickasaurus I was going to ask, how’s law school treating you and if you have any new plans for the future?
1
0
5
0
132
0
RT @robkhenderson: "The optimal position in life is that of the partial outsider. That is, someone handicapped enough in a given milieu to…
0
23
0
RT @GailHeriot: Excellent idea from @tedcruz ! Confer the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Thomas Sowell! How about it @realDonaldTrump ?…
0
118
0
RT @Butler_Snow: #ButlerSnow is proud to have recently served as a sponsor for the 2025 @theaustinbar Foundation Gala on Saturday, January…
0
1
0