In a case that went to trial in Boston this week, the Trump administration argues that its policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting international students for expressing anti-Israel opinions “does not exist.” The government’s lawyers also maintain that the supposedly nonexistent policy is perfectly consistent with the First Amendment—a less laughable argument that nevertheless is […]
Last Friday in Trump v. CASA, the Supreme Court concluded that federal judges do not have the power to grant “universal injunctions” against executive actions or federal legislation. Rather, it said, any “equitable remedies” in such cases must be limited to the named plaintiffs. On Wednesday, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., nevertheless issued an […]
Paramount, which owns CBS, has agreed to settle a laughable lawsuit in which President Donald Trump depicted the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris as a form of consumer fraud that supposedly had inflicted damages “reasonably believed to be no less than” $20 billion. Compared to that risible claim, the amount that […]
When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against “universal injunctions” last week, President Donald Trump hailed the decision as a “GIANT WIN” for his administration. Trump added that “the Birthright Citizenship Hoax”—by which he meant the conventional understanding of the 14th Amendment—also had been “hit hard,” albeit “indirectly.” That take was misleading in two important ways. […]
When President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) against alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in March, he implicitly asserted that they were “natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects” of a “foreign nation or government” that had launched an “invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.” But […]
Around 10 a.m. on a Friday in October 2018, 14-year-old Jade McMurry was confronted by two police officers, Kevin Brunner and Alexandra Weaver, at the door to the apartment in Midland, Texas, that she shared with her parents and her 12-year-old brother. Jade, who was homeschooled and in the midst of her online studies, did […]
A California law that limits gun purchases to one per month is unconstitutional on its face, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled last Friday. The three-judge panel’s unanimous conclusion illustrates the continuing impact of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which clarified […]
Last week, a federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order against President Donald Trump’s unilateral deployment of the California National Guard, saying that decision was illegal and unconstitutional. That same day, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit imposed an administrative stay on U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer’s order, and […]
Federal courts have no role whatsoever in assessing President Donald Trump’s decision to take control of the California National Guard, Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate argued at a hearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on Tuesday. Two Trump-appointed members of the three-judge panel, Mark Bennett and Eric Miller, seemed appropriately […]
Early on a Wednesday morning in October 2017, FBI agents terrorized three innocent people, including a 7-year-old boy, by breaking into their home in Atlanta. The agents tossed a flash-bang grenade, rousted the two adults from the closet where they were hiding, manhandled and handcuffed one of them, and threatened them with guns before discovering […]