Is POTUS Or SCOTUS More To Blame In A “Clash Of Illegalities”?
Today, Ed Whelan wrote a post about A.A.R.P. v. Trump II. For argument’s sake, Ed assumes that Justice Alito is correct that the majority “acted wrongly in enjoining action that is probably, or even certainly, illegal.” If Alito is right, how would Ed assign blame?
I am not going to argue that two wrongs make a right. That is, if we continue to assume for the sake of argument that Alito’s dissent is right, I am not going to argue that the blatant illegality of the Trump administration’s actions would justify or excuse the majority’s injunction. But if we are going to assign relative blame, I would place much more blame on the Trump administration for its entire Alien Enemies Act folly, which quite predictably triggered an unnecessary and unproductive clash with the courts. Others might well disagree.
I disagree. I think Ed gets things 100% backwards.
Donald Trump is who he is. On the campaign trial, Trump said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act to effect mass removals, including of foreign gang members. The American people knew this, and still voted for him. As soon as Trump came into office, he kept this campaign promise, and invoked the AEA. These are statutes with very little judicial precedent. His order, even if contrary to how judges now read the
Article from Reason.com
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