Tag Archives: Supreme Court

New York Times: If We Can’t Prosecute Trump’s Foes, We’ll ‘Shame’ Them, Justice Dept. Official Says

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Few, if any, of those singled out have done anything to invite conventional prosecutorial scrutiny, much less committed crimes to warrant an indictment under federal law.

President Trump has kept up a steady bombardment of suggestions, requests and demands to arrest, investigate or prosecute targets of his choosing — the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, various Democrats, officials who refuted his election lies, Beyoncé, the Boss.

But Mr. Trump’s directives have so far hit a stubborn snag. Few, if any, of those singled out have done anything to invite conventional prosecutorial scrutiny, much less committed prosecutable crimes to warrant an indictment under federal law.

But a Trump loyalist, given new, vague and possibly vast power, has found a workaround.

In recent days, Ed Martin, the incoming leader of the Justice Department’s “weaponization” group, made a candid if unsurprising admission: He plans to use his authority to expose and discredit those he believes to be guilty, even if he cannot find sufficient evidence to prosecute them — weaponizing an institution he has been hired to de-weaponize, in the view of critics.

In other words, if they can’t prosecute their target, they’ll engage in character assassination.

So much for a professional Department of Justice!

https://archive.is/SLN1j#selection-707.0-730.0

Miami Herald: Supreme Court ruling on TPS stuns South Florida, leaves Venezuelan families in fear

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A U.S Supreme Court ruling that allows the Trump administration to strip deportation protections and work permits from hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans — including many Miami area residents — sent shock waves through South Florida and across the Sunshine State on Monday.

“That the U.S. would terminate the protections for Venezuelans now, when nothing has improved back home, is just unbelievable,” said Betsy Diaz, a Venezuelan-American in Hialeah whose two daughters, five grandchildren and several other relatives will lose the protections.

In a two-paragraph order, the nation’s highest court on Monday granted an emergency request from the White House to roll back a lower court judge’s order that kept in place Temporary Protected Status for about 350,000 Venezuelans. It was part of an ongoing lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco challenging the Trump administration’s February decision to revoke the protections granted to Venezuelans and other nationals from certain countries in turmoil.

The court provided no explanation for why it had lifted the lower court judge’s order, which prevented the Trump administration from removing the protections while the litigation is ongoing.

Supreme Court ruling on TPS stuns South Florida, leaves Venezuelan families in fear
“Unbelievable,” said a Venezuelan American grandmother in Hialeah

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article306751681.html

MSNBC: Trump says the Supreme Court is stopping him from deporting criminals. He’s wrong.

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Contrary to the president’s reaction, the Supreme Court on Friday emphasized that the government can still conduct normal removals.

The Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday was significant for checking President Donald Trump’s attempt to use the Alien Enemies Act for deportations with little notice to the people targeted for removal. But the decision didn’t go as far as the president claimed in response, when he published on his social media platform: “THE SUPREME COURT WON’T ALLOW US TO GET CRIMINALS OUT OF OUR COUNTRY!”

It’s true that the ruling kept a hold on the government removing certain people under that particular wartime authority, which had only been invoked three previous times in U.S. history, all during declared wars. Judges around the country have almost uniformly deemed Trump’s invocation illegal. The justices have yet to decide the ultimate legality of the act’s use in this situation.

But the court ended its ruling Friday by emphasizing: “The Government may remove the named plaintiffs or putative class members under other lawful authorities.”

That is, nothing stops the government from carrying out removals the way it always has, under long-approved methods that don’t require courts to analyze novel questions about the president’s attempt to use the apparently inapplicable 18th century act. Especially if the Supreme Court ultimately rejects Trump’s use of the act, that would affirm that the administration (not the court) has needlessly made its own deportation efforts more difficult.

Trump says the Supreme Court is stopping him from deporting criminals. He’s wrong.
Contrary to the president’s reaction, the Supreme Court on Friday emphasized that the government can still conduct normal removals.

https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/trump-supreme-court-alien-enemies-act-deportations-rcna207643

Associated Press: Trump administration asks Supreme Court to block watchdog access to DOGE documents

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The Trump administration on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to block court orders requiring Elon Musk ’s Department of Government Efficiency to turn over documents about its operations to a government watchdog group.

The Justice Department’s latest emergency appeal to the high court concerns whether DOGE, which has been central to President Donald Trump’s push to remake the government, is a federal agency that is subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The administration argues DOGE is merely a presidential advisory body that is exempt from requests for documents under FOIA.

The administration wants the justices to freeze orders that would force DOGE to turn over documents to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and have acting DOGE administrator Amy Gleason answer questions under oath within the next three weeks. CREW sued in February, claiming that DOGE “wields shockingly broad power” with no transparency about its actions.

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to block watchdog access to DOGE documents
The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to block court orders requiring Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to turn over documents about its operations to a government watchdog group.

https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-doge-freedom-information-records-trump-14a1773b42ddad1e3367a39750a84bef

Washington Examiner: Appellate judge blasts courts’ ‘special treatment’ for illegal immigrants

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Circuit Judge James Ho issued a blistering concurrence Tuesday, taking aim at the Supreme Court and other courts’ “special treatment” for illegal immigrants in legal proceedings.

A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit issued an order to expedite the oral arguments of a challenge to the deportation of a group of Venezuelan nationals under the Alien Enemies Act in Texas. The order came after the Supreme Court vacated the appellate court’s previous ruling, saying it lacked jurisdiction, and denied a bid by the migrants’ lawyers to temporarily stop President Donald Trump’s administration from deporting the group of foreign nationals under the AEA.

Apparently Slo Ho didn’t appreciate the urgency of the higher court and the fact that the higher court had vacated their previous ruling for lack of jurisdiction.

Kudos for the Supreme Court’s sense of urgency. When people are being deported, they can be here today and gone tomorrow, if not sooner.

That’s hardly “special treatment for illegal immigrants”. They’re people, too.

Judge blasts courts’ ‘special treatment’ for illegal immigrants
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit issued an order expediting oral arguments of a challenge to Trump’s deportations.
Appellate judge blasts courts’ ‘special treatment’ for illegal immigrants

Another article here:

Trump judge slams Supreme Court ‘disrespect’ after ruling
A circuit court judge criticized the Supreme Court after it blocked the Trump administration’s attempts to deport Venezuelan migrants.

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-judge-slams-supreme-court-after-ruling-2075295

NBC News: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem struggles to define habeas corpus at Senate hearing

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“Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country,” Noem said. “That’s incorrect,” a Democratic senator responded.

My God, how stupid is this woman?

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem mangled a response to a question about habeas corpus at a Senate hearing Tuesday, referring to the constitutional right of due process as a “right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country.”

Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., asked Noem about the constitutional protection after noting that White House adviser Stephen Miller told reporters earlier this month that the administration was “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus, the right to challenge an arrest or imprisonment.

“I want to clarify your position,” Hassan asked. “What is habeas corpus?”

“Well, habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country, and suspend their right to … ,” Noem responded before she was cut off by Hassan.

“That’s incorrect,” the senator said.

“Habeas corpus is the legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people. If not for that protection, the government could simply arrest people, including American citizens, and hold them indefinitely for no reason,” Hassan said, calling it a “foundational right.”

“So Secretary Noem, do you support the core protection that habeas corpus provides, that the government must provide a public reason in order to detain and imprison someone?” she asked.

Noem responded, “I support habeas corpus. I also recognize that the president of the United States has the authority under the Constitution to decide if it should be suspended or not.” 

Uhh … no, he doesn’t.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem struggles to define habeas corpus at Senate hearing
“Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country,” Noem said. “That’s incorrect,” a Democratic senator responded.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna207986

New Republic: Transcript: Trump’s Threats to Defy Courts Suddenly Get More Dangerous

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As Trump’s intent to override the courts gets more obvious, a legal commentator who closely observes MAGA lawlessness explains why the Trump-MAGA strategy here is darker than you thought.

This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network. I’m your host, Greg Sargent.

President Donald Trump is very unhappy with how things went at the Supreme Court when it comes to his effort to end birthright citizenship. He uncorked two angry epic tirades about the High Court, essentially putting it on notice that it had better rule his way on this and other matters coming before it or else. This may look like typical Trumpian bullying and threats, but we think there’s a game going on here that people are missing. It’s that Trump is, in a very real sense, playing chicken with the Supreme Court. He’s trying to bluff the justices into constraining themselves from putting limits on Trump’s power. We’re going to explore how this really works today with one of our favorite legal commentators, Matthew Seligman, a fellow at Stanford Law School.

Best to click on the link and read the dialogue:

Transcript: Trump’s Threats to Defy Courts Suddenly Get More Dangerous
As Trump’s intent to override the courts gets more obvious, a legal commentator who closely observes MAGA lawlessness explains why the Trump-MAGA strategy here is darker than you thought.

https://newrepublic.com/article/195392/transcript-trump-threats-defy-courts-suddenly-get-dangerous

Huffington Post: The Supreme Court Has Officially Had Enough Of Donald Trump’s Excuses

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A recent decision by the court shows just how done it is with the Trump administration’s failure to obey its orders in Alien Enemies Act cases

Early Friday evening, the Supreme Court issued a pointed decision in the case of a group of Venezuelan detainees who previously faced the imminent risk of being sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador by the Trump administration. In addition to rejecting the administration’s choice to give these detainees only 24 hours notice of their removal, the decision answered a question indirectly posed in the case. Is the highest court in the nation sick of the Trump administration’s bullshit?

The answer, the decision states rather definitively, is yes — at least in immigration cases involving removals under the Alien Enemies Act.

In an eight-page unsigned decision, with only Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissenting, the court firmly rejected how the administration has been using the Alien Enemies Act to quickly remove Venezuelan and Salvadoran immigrants with little to no due process while also effectively calling the administration liars, in so many words.

The Supreme Court Is Officially Sick Of Donald Trump’s B.S.
A recent decision by the court shows just how done it is with the Trump administration’s failure to obey its orders in Alien Enemies Act cases.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-supreme-court-alien-enemies_n_682b736ce4b0dc52ee2bfd8b

Intelligencer: Donald Trump Is a Crook, But He’s Their Crook

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What does seem genuinely new, even by the standards of America’s warped history, is the unabashed corruption. No president, really, has favor-traded like Trump. No president has ever tried to blatantly enrich himself like this while in office. No president has ever hung a for-sale sign over the White House — not like this, anyway. Trump is poised to accept a $400 million luxury jet from the Qatari royal family, which feels like something of a capstone to his latest corruption binge. He would be able to use the plane while in the White House and transfer it to his presidential foundation when he’s out of office. Trump’s inaugural committee also gobbled up $239 million from wealthy business interests who are desperate to curry favor with such a nakedly transactional president. The amount far outstrips the $107 million Trump raised for his committee back in 2017, and since there is no way to spend so much cash on dinner and events, it appears Trump might have a slush fund for the rest of his life.

And then there’s his crypto hustle ….

Donald Trump Is a Crook, But He’s Their Crook
What explains the president’s untouchable corruption.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/qatar-plane-trump-corruption.html

Raleigh News & Observer: ‘Nullified’: Trump Suffers Blow in Court

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A U.S. federal appeals court has temporarily blocked former President Donald Trump’s effort to end benefits from the humanitarian parole program (CHNV) for over 500,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled that the administration did not meet the criteria for an emergency intervention to overturn a prior lower court ruling. Federal Judge Indira Talwani previously halted the cancellation of the CHNV ordered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Trump has since pushed for the Supreme Court to grant him the ability to put an end to the program.

The DHS under Trump has alleged that the CHNV program was misused. Critics argued that its cancellation violates the Immigration and Nationality Act, resulting in detrimental effects for migrants who relied on the established program.

…

Talwani found that the DHS’s measure did not comply with legal requirements for case-by-case reviews and ordered the reinstatement of the parole process and its associated immigration benefits. Her ruling mandated that notifications sent to individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela remain suspended pending further judicial orders.

‘Nullified’: Trump Suffers Blow in Court

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/nullified-trump-suffers-blow-in-court/ss-AA1EYz0E