Saturday, July 26, 2025

Ideologues complaining about ideology : Steven Millies

https://open.substack.com/pub/millies/p/ideologues-complaining-about-ideology?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=zv1g

Gizmodo: CBS parent Paramount agrees to censor in antitrust clearance deal

 Welcome to the Cabaret!  - video  Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli

FCC to Appoint a Babysitter to Make Sure CBS Isn’t Anti-Trump

FCC commissioner Brendan Carr says CBS will have a "bias monitor."



  


The Federal Communications Commission finally approved an $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance on Thursday after several changes at CBS that were widely seen as efforts to placate President Donald Trump. Part of the deal will apparently require an ombudsman to check the media company’s supposed political biases. And FCC commissioner Brendan Carr has been doing the rounds to brag about how he’s getting people on TV to be nicer to the MAGA movement.

“They made commitments to address bias and restore fact-based reporting. I think that’s so important,” Carr told Newsmax’s Greg Kelly on his show Thursday night. “I mean, look, the American public simply do not trust these legacy media broadcasters. And so, if they stick with that commitment, you know, we’re sort of trust-but-verify mode, that’ll be a big win.”

Carr went on to explain that CBS had committed to “ending invidious forms of DEI,” a pretext Trump has used to purge the federal government of anyone who isn’t white and male in leadership positions. Kelly said that he had heard the media company was going to do something “different” with 60 Minutes, claiming that a shift to “fact-based” reporting would be a “cultural shock” to CBS.

“One of the things they’re going to have to do is put in an ombudsman in place for two years,” Carr said. “So basically a bias monitor that will report directly to the president. So that’s something that’s significant that we’re going to see happening as well.”

While Carr said “the president” rather than “the president of Paramount,” it’s not clear what he meant. Skydance wrote a letter to the FCC saying the ombudsman would answer to the president of Paramount, but it’s entirely possible that Carr understands their agreement differently. Gizmodo reached out to CBS and the FCC for comment but haven’t heard back.

Lawrence Lessig: The Supreme Court - Eyes Wide Shut



Lawrence Lessig: The Supreme Court - Eyes Wide Shut

On April 8, 1952, President Harry S. Truman issued an executive order directing his secretary of commerce to take possession of most of the nation’s steel mills. The United States was at war. The United Steelworkers of America threatened a strike. Truman wanted to secure steel production to support the war. Fifty-five days later, in Youngstown Steel v. Sawyer, the Supreme Court declared the president’s order illegal and blocked the secretary from acting upon it. The power to seize property to stop a labor strike was Congress’ to give, not the president’s to take. “The Founders of this Nation,” as the court wrote, “entrusted the lawmaking power to the Congress alone.” The president is to execute Congress’ law, not craft his own law instead.

Fifty-five days. 

Most think that the hard question in constitutional law is to determine what the Constitution means. In fact, the hardest question is whether and when the courts must stand up to governmental actors who are resisting the Constitution. Judges have long understood that courts can’t right every wrong. The challenge is always to defend the Constitution while preserving the role of an independent court.

***


Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Birthright citizenship under attack: Corey Bretschneider, John Fugelsang, and

 

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Judge J. Michael Luttig - America's Free Press

 J. Michael Luttig is a retired, Republican, judge of the United States Court of Appeals.


America's Free Press - by Judge J. Michael Luttig (Ret.)

July 22. 2025

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Cass Sunstein on ambition

https://x.com/seize_podcast/status/1947087741553918447?t=jksABHLodXL7cLmy_nyXyw&s=09

Monday, July 21, 2025

Ifill - Facing This Court Trump v. CASA - what next?



Facing this Court

A Sober Look at What to Expect in Trump v. Casa And What We Do About It

 By Sherrilyn Ifill

“None of this means that I am conceding defeat at this point. To the contrary. Even if, as I now believe, the conservative majority would be likely to rule in the President’s favor in Trump v. Casa if the merits were before them today, does not mean that the Court will in fact, ultimately rule in his favor. There’s still time. But it does mean that we must think now about how to create the conditions that can diminish the majority’s willingness to take such a dangerous step, and we must prepare the public for what it will mean if they do.”

I have spent a fair amount of time since last summer’s decision in Trump v. United States[i] trying o understand the contours of presidential power in the eyes of justices who constitute the conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Announcing that the President of the United States has immunity for any crimes committed in office so long as his actions could plausibly be described as “official acts,” was an astonishing and dangerous conferral of power on the president – especially on this president - who had shown himself in ways great and small, to be likely to use the cloak of immunity to commit acts even more lurid if he were returned to office than he had in his first term. Trump won the election, and his actions in Trump 2.0 reflect his full understanding of the gift of impunity provided by the Supreme Court.

KEEP READING

The Shadow Docket and how the Supreme Court Uses It

 


SCOTUS allows deportation to South Sudan

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which the United States ratified in 1992 *states in Article 13 (to which the United States has entered no reservations, understandings or declarations),

An Alien lawfully in the territory of a State Party to the present covenant may be expelled therefrom only in pursuance of a decision reached in accordance with law and shall, except where compelling reasons of national security otherwise require, be allowed to submit the reasons against his expulsion and to have his case reviewed by, and be represented for the purpose before, the competent authority or a person or persons especially designated by the competent authority. [ICCPR, art. 13 (emphasis added)].

]

 In the ordinary course [under our laws regarding asylum and international convention) if an alien is deported they are returned to where they came - but not if they face oppression.  Not now, here detainees have been sent to South Sudan - a place where safety cannot be assured. Here the District Judge, sought to avoid a Supreme Court order.  Kagan concurred because the judge below breached the duty to obey.

Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissent.

- GWC

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATESNo. 24A1153DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, ET AL. v.D. V. D., ET AL.ON MOTION FOR CLARIFICATION[July 3, 2025] 

On April 18, 2025, the District Court for the District of Massachusetts preliminarily enjoined the Government from removing “any alien” to a “country not explicitly provided for on the alien’s order of removal” without following certain procedures designed to enable the alien to seek relief under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), Dec. 10, 1984, S. Treaty Doc. No. 100−20, 1465 U. N. T. S. 113. No. 25−cv−10676, ECF Doc. 64, pp. 46−47. The District Court later found that the Government had violated that injunction by failing to provide six class members a “meaningful opportunity” to assert CAT claims before such removal. ECF Doc. 118, p. 1. On May 21, the District Court issued an “order on remedy,” directing the Government to follow specified procedures with respect to those individuals, tailored to the circumstances. ECF Doc. 119. The Government sought a stay of the April 18 injunction before our Court. On June 23, we stayed the April 18 preliminary injunction pending disposition of any appeal and petition for writ of certiorari. Later that day, however, the District Court issued a minute order stating that the May 21 remedial order “remain[ed] in full force and effect,” “notwithstanding” our stay of the preliminary injunction. ECF Doc. 176. The only authority it cited was the dissent from the stay order. 

*****

 JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR, with whom JUSTICE JACKSON joins, dissenting

The United States may not deport noncitizens to a country where they are likely to be tortured or killed. International and domestic law guarantee that basic human right. In this case, the Government seeks to nullify it by deporting noncitizens to potentially dangerous countries without notice or the opportunity to assert a fear of torture. Because the Fifth Amendment, immigration law, federal regulations, and this Court’s precedent unambiguously prohibit such no-notice deportations, see DHS v. D. V. D., 606 U. S. ___, ___–___ (2025) (SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting) (slip op., at 15–18), a Federal District Court issued a classwide preliminary injunction barring the Government from removing noncitizens without notice and adequate process. The Government appealed, and pending its appeal repeatedly violated the District Court’s order. See id., at ___– ___ (slip op., at 2–9). Meanwhile, the Government sought an emergency stay of the injunction from this Court. In its briefing, the Government took a kitchen-sink approach, arguing that the District Court lacked jurisdiction to grant classwide injunctive relief, that it also lacked jurisdiction over individual plaintiffs’ claims under the Due Process Clause, and that the plaintiffs were not entitled to notice or a hearing before their removal. Without citing any of these arguments, or indeed providing any legal justification this court granted the Government its requested stay.****


*9 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), adopted December 16, 1966, G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force March 23, 1976, ratified by the United States on June 8, 1992, http://www.ohchr.org/english/countries/ratification/4.htm (accessed May 30, 2007)

Sunday, July 20, 2025

Emil Bove and The Rule of Law in America by Judge J. Michael Luttig

Emil Bove and The Rule of Law in America by Judge J. Michael Luttig

I’m unaware of any other time when large numbers of judges (retired) publicly opposed a nominee for the federal bench. But this is what it is going to take. At this point, having demonstrated their utter contempt for the Constitution and Rule of Law time and again, the President and the Congress have abandoned all pretense of abiding by the same.

They have left the support and defense of the Constitution and Rule of Law in America entirely to the Judiciary, even as they deliberately erect every day as many obstacles to that support and defense by the Judiciary as they can possibly erect.

900!!! former DOJ lawyers have opposed the Bove nomination

As have more than 75 former judges.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=rm&ogbl#sent/QgrcJHrtrSkHwhJXkFpgrvDVhQfDlbnPPRl?projector=1&messagePartId=0.1

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Judge Luttig renounces Scotus allowing Education Department dismantling by Trump

https://open.substack.com/pub/judgeluttig327269/p/the-rule-of-law-is-the-only-king?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=zv1g

McMahon , Secretary of Education v. New York

 


 https://open.substack.com/pub/sherrilyn/p/facing-this-court?r=zv1g&selection=f8313926-219a-484f-8324-f5fffab4e984&utm_campaign=post-share-selection&utm_medium=web&aspectRatio=instagram&bgColor=%239A6600&textColor=%23ffffff


https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a1203_new_6j37.pdf

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Sherilyn Ifill: Facing This court!!! [Ifill, former Counsel to the NAACP LDEF, teaches at Howard University.]

 

Facing this Court

A Sober Look at What to Expect in Trump v. Casa And What We Do About It

Jul 15, 2025
[Trump v. CASA], [Trump v. Washington] and [Trump v. New Jersey] Oral  Arguments

“None of this means that I am conceding defeat at this point. To the contrary. Even if, as I now believe, the conservative majority would be likely to rule in the President’s favor in Trump v. Casa if the merits were before them today, does not mean that the Court will in fact, ultimately rule in his favor. There’s still time. But it does mean that we must think now about how to create the conditions that can diminish the majority’s willingness to take such a dangerous step, and we must prepare the public for what it will mean if they do.”

I have spent a fair amount of time since last summer’s decision in Trump v. United States[i] trying o understand the contours of presidential power in the eyes of justices who constitute the conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Announcing that the President of the United States has immunity for any crimes committed in office so long as his actions could plausibly be described as “official acts,” was an astonishing and dangerous conferral of power on the president – especially on this president - who had shown himself in ways great and small, to be likely to use the cloak of immunity to commit acts even more lurid if he were returned to office than he had in his first term. Trump won the election, and his actions in Trump 2.0 reflect his full understanding of the gift of impunity provided by the Supreme Court.

Scotus to Trump: OK to dismantle Education Department

By Norman Rockwell - 1964

 

The southern resistance to segregation was grounded - ostensibly - on states' rights.

So when the Congress created the Department of Education that was seen as just institutionalizing the Supreme Court's federal tyranny over the south and local control of education.

Donald Trump has accomplished the long-sought task of elimiting the federal Department of Education which was carved out of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.  A federal judge enjoined the move to virtually dismantle the Department.  The high court has stayed the injunction - a death knell for the DOE.

The Suprme Court has green lighted the dismantling in Linda McMahon, Sec'y of Education  v. State of New York . Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson dissent. Sotomayor writes:

JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR, with whom JUSTICE KAGAN and JUSTICE JACKSON join, dissenting. 

This case arises out of the President’s unilateral efforts to eliminate a Cabinet-level agency established by Congress nearly half a century ago: the Department of Education. As Congress mandated, the Department plays a vital role in this Nation’s education system, safeguarding equal access to learning and channeling billions of dollars to schools and students across the country each year.

 

Only Congress has the power to abolish the Department. The Executive’s task, by contrast, is to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” U. S. Const., Art. II, §3. Yet, by executive fiat, the President ordered the Secretary of Education to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure... 

Monday, July 14, 2025

When police should issue warnings - Michael Dorf on law


When police should issue warnings - Michael Dorf on law 

By Michael C. Dorf  [Cornell Law School]

As I noted on the blog (here and here), last week and over the weekend, I attended Vegan Summerfest. My talks went well (I thought), but in today's essay I want to focus on a case I learned about during a side discussion. One of the best parts of just about any conference is the opportunity for informal conversations and the forging of connections. Today's essay is inspired by one such conversation with Dr. Faraz Harsini, whose remarkable personal story I urge readers to check out. Here I'll focus on one incident in which Faraz was involved, which implicates the following question: when should police give warnings before arresting someone?

A few years ago, Faraz and Daraius Dubash were participating in an animal rights demonstration in a public park in Houston. The demonstration was non-disruptive. It consisted of showing videos of what happens to animals used for food. The roughly half-dozen demonstrators did not approach passersby but did talk with anyone who approached them. They were then approached by police officers and told to leave--ostensibly because the park is "private," even though it is in fact a public park owned by the city of Houston. (A management company operates the park, but that doesn't render it private for constitutional purposes.) Dariaius is seen on camera asking the officers whether they are threatening to arrest him if he does not leave; the officer says that he's not threatening him; Dariaius then says that because it's a public park, he'll stay to exercise his right to free speech; at that point the officer arrests him.

I'll say more about the broader context below, but I want to focus on that moment--which you can watch at the very beginning of this video. Daraius makes clear that he will in fact leave if threatened with arrest but the police evidently want him to leave "voluntarily" in the sense that he is leaving just because he wants to leave and not under threat of arrest. What legitimate purpose is served by the officer not clearly informing Daraius that yes, he will in fact be arrested if he doesn't leave?

It's easy to deduce an illegitimate purpose for the officers' conduct: They worry that they do not have good cause to arrest Daraius. If they tell him that he'll be arrested if he doesn't leave and then he leaves, he might sue the police for unconstitutionally interfering with his right to free speech. But if they don't threaten arrest, then they can say (not all that plausibly, in my view, but with a bit more plausibility than in the situation where they do threaten arrest) that there was no free speech violation because Daraius left voluntarily.

I can't say for sure that that was the reasoning of the police. After all, they did in fact arrest Daraius and charge him with trespassing. The charges were dropped but not before Daraius spent 16 hours in jail. Meanwhile, Daraius and Faraz sued for injunctive relief allowing them to hold further demonstrations in the park. They asserted First Amendment and Fourth Amendment claims. So if the police were trying to avoid a lawsuit by not threatening arrest they failed. Even so, that doesn't mean they weren't using the strategy I've suggested. They might have figured it was worth trying to induce the protesters to leave without threatening arrest and, when that didn't work, proceeded to make the arrest.

KEEP READING

San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump - Preliminary Injunction Awarded

 



San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump

United States District Court - Northern District of California

John S. Tigar, D.J.  Case 4:25-cv-01824-JST

Docket: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69658554/san-francisco-aids-foundation-v-trump/

wikipedia: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69658554/san-francisco-aids-foundation-v-trump/


Opinion and ORDER - Granting (in part) Preliminary Injunction - June 9, 2025

. BACKGROUND A. The Executive Orders On January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order No. 14168, 90 Fed. Reg. 8650 (Jan. 20, 2025), “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” (“Gender Order”). That same day, he also signed Executive Order 14151, 90 Fed. Reg. 8339 (Jan. 20, 2025), “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” (“DEI-1 Order”). On January 21, President Trump signed Executive Order 14173, 90 Fed. Reg. 8633, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” (“DEI-2 Order”) (collectively, “Challenged Orders”). Plaintiffs move to enjoin the enforcement of the following provisions of the Challenged Orders against them: Section 3(e) of the Gender Order (the “Gender Termination Provision”); Section 3(g) of the Gender Order (the “Gender Promotion Provision”); Section 4(d) of the Gender Order (the “Intimate Spaces Provision”); Section 2(b)(i) of the DEI-1 Order (the “Equity Termination Provision”); Section 2(b)(ii)(C) of the DEI-1 Order (the “List Provision”); Section 3(c)(ii) of the DEI-2 Order (the “DEIA Principles Provision”); Section 3(c)(iii) of the DEI-2 Order (the “Diversity Termination Provision”); Section 3(b)(iv)(A)-(B) of the DEI-2 Order (the “Certification Provision”); and Section 4(b) of the DEI-2 Order (the “Enforcement Threat Provision”) (collectively, the “Challenged Provisions”). The language of these provisions is described further below. 

***

Absent injunctive relief, Plaintiffs face the imminent loss of federal funding critical to their ability to provide lifesaving healthcare and support services to marginalized LGBTQ populations. This loss not only threatens the survival of critical programs but also forces Plaintiffs to choose between their constitutional rights and their continued existence. Accordingly, the Court grants Plaintiffs’ motion to enjoin Defendants from enforcing the Equity Termination Provision, Gender Termination Provision, and Gender Promotion Provision against them. The Court addresses the parties’ arguments and explores the Court’s reasoning for granting Plaintiffs’ motion in part and denying it in part more fully below. I. 

BACKGROUND A. The Executive Orders 

On January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order No. 14168, 90 Fed. Reg. 8650 (Jan. 20, 2025), “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” (“Gender Order”). That same day, he also signed Executive Order 14151, 90 Fed. Reg. 8339 (Jan. 20, 2025), “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI [3] Programs and Preferencing” (“DEI-1 Order”). On January 21, President Trump signed Executive Order 14173, 90 Fed. Reg. 8633, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” (“DEI-2 Order”) (collectively, “Challenged Orders”). 

 Plaintiffs move to enjoin the enforcement of the following provisions of the Challenged Orders against them: Section 3(e) of the Gender Order (the “Gender Termination Provision”); Section 3(g) of the Gender Order (the “Gender Promotion Provision”); Section 4(d) of the Gender Order (the “Intimate Spaces Provision”); Section 2(b)(i) of the DEI-1 Order (the “Equity Termination Provision”); Section 2(b)(ii)(C) of the DEI-1 Order (the “List Provision”); Section 3(c)(ii) of the DEI-2 Order (the “DEIA Principles Provision”); Section 3(c)(iii) of the DEI-2 Order (the “Diversity Termination Provision”); Section 3(b)(iv)(A)-(B) of the DEI-2 Order (the “Certification Provision”); and Section 4(b) of the DEI-2 Order (the “Enforcement Threat Provision”) (collectively, the “Challenged Provisions”). The language of these provisions is described further below.


PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION - June 13, 2025

 The Court has considered Plaintiffs’1 Motion for Preliminary Injunction, and all briefing  papers filed in connection therewith, as well as oral argument. The Court may issue a preliminary injunction when a plaintiff establishes that “[it] is likely to succeed on the merits, that [it] is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, that the balance of equities tips in his favor, and that an injunction is in the public interest.” Winter v Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc.,555 U.S. 7, 20 (2008); see also All. for the Wild Rockies v. Cottrell,632 F. 3d 1127, 1131–35 (9th Cir 2011). 

For the reasons stated in the Court’s Order dated June 9, 2025, Granting in Part and Denying In Part Motion for Preliminary Injunction [ECF No. 81] (the “June 9, 2025 Opinion”), the Court finds that Plaintiffs have carried their burden of satisfying each of those factors as to three challenged provisions within two Executive Orders. Immediate relief is appropriate in order to alter the status quo and address the irreparable harm that Plaintiffs face absent an injunction. 

 Specifically, the Court enjoins the following provisions of two Executive Orders: (1) Executive Order No. 14168,2 section 3(e) which provides that agencies “shall take all necessary steps, as permitted by law, to end the Federal funding of gender ideology” (“Gender Termination Provision”); (2) Executive Order No. 14168, section 3(g) which provides that “[f]ederal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology. Each agency shall assess grant conditions and grantee preferences and ensure grant funds do not promote gender ideology” (“Gender Promotion Provision”); and (3) Executive Order No. 141513, section 2(b)(i) that directs each agency, department or commission head to “terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all . . . ‘equity-related’ grants or contracts.” (“Equity Termination Provision”). 

 The Court ORDERS the following, consistent with the June 9, 2025 Opinion, which is fully incorporated herein:



Saturday, July 12, 2025

Friday, July 11, 2025

Carville on new Pope Leo

https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/guest-voices/james-carville-says-pope-leo-xivs-election-brought-immense-amount-joy?utm_source=NCR+List&utm_campaign=1e3cc81788-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_07_11_01_13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6981ecb02e-1e3cc81788-230565830

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

In these times - Thomas Paine - the Crisis - 23 December 1776

Thomas motherfuckin' Paine - Imgur

Thomas Paine - the Crisis - 23 December 1776 

My generation grew up in the prosperous nineteen fifties, crawling under school desks in air raid drills, watching at distance  the bravery of southern civil rights workers, then drafted to serve in the Vietnam war.  I escaped that fate because I failed the draft physical due to the elevated blood pressure that would almost fell me with a heart attack at 48.

From Nixon's election in 1968 to now the political right has held the upper hand, mostly via what was referred to as "white backlash".  We now see that phenomenon in its most virulent form - a second Trump term.  That deploable event has emboldened him and his allies far beyond what a 1% electoral margin should yield.  And so we can say with Tom Paine that 


These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has the right (not only to TAX) but “to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER,” and if being bound in that manner is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God. 

Whether the independence of the continent was declared too soon, or delayed too long, I will not now enter into as an argument; my own simple opinion is that had it been eight months earlier, it would have been much better. We did not make a proper use of last winter, neither could we, while we were in a dependent state. However, the fault, if it were one, was all our own; we have none to blame but ourselves. But no great deal is lost yet. All that Howe has been doing for this month past is rather a ravage than a conquest, which the spirit of the Jerseys, a year ago, would have quickly repulsed, and which time and a little resolution will soon recover. . . KEEP READING