Thursday, March 15, 2018

The Jeff Sessions Justice Department looking for way to take authority away from Federal Courts.

Courtesy of Mother Jones: 

Last April, when a federal judge in Hawaii blocked the Trump administration’s effort to ban entry to people from six Muslim-majority nations, Attorney General Jeff Sessions took to conservative talk radio to vent his frustration. “I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the president of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and constitutional power,” he told host Mark Levin. 

Residents of Hawaii pointed out that it was every bit as much a state as the other 49, but Sessions was making a broader legal point, one that the Supreme Court will now consider. The Justice Department wants to permanently remove the ability of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions—orders that stop a policy from taking effect until the court has officially ruled on its legality. Instead, a Hawaiian judge overseeing a travel ban case brought by the state of Hawaii would be able to block the ban only in that state. The implications, if the Supreme Court agrees with the Justice Department, will be enormous for the future of judicial review and the federal government’s balance of power. 

Federal courts have repeatedly blocked the administration’s efforts to implement a hardline immigration agenda. More than a year into Donald Trump’s presidency, attempts to crack down on sanctuary cities, end Obama-era deportation protections for Dreamers, and block nationals from Muslim-majority countries have been stopped by federal judges enacting nationwide injunctions.

Okay this might actually be the MOST troubling thing we have learned about this administration.

The Founders wanted there to be three co-equal branches of government, executive, legislative, and judicial.

And the Judicial is the one that is tasked with protecting the constitutional rights of American citizens.

If the Trump Administration were actually successful in pulling this off, that would mean that each state's court system would determine what was a constitutionally protected right in their jurisdiction ONLY.

That means that some states could block gay marriage, women's rights, civil rights, equal pay, essentially EVERYTHING.

That would overwhelm the Supreme Court almost overnight, and if Trump gets one more judge on the panel they would be loathe to do anything to challenge a state's right to remain in the dark ages.

21 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:08 AM

    I'm a woman who has both observed and veen a victim of some cery extreme gay male misogyny. These men are going to have to step up and start standing up for equal pay, abortion rights, etc or else I am not lufting a finger to help preserve gay rights. Straight women have been integral in fighting for gay rights and in caring for men afflicted with HIV. But when women's rights are threatened, many gay men are conspicuously silent. No longer!

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    1. Anonymous5:19 AM

      4:08 did you mean to show everyone your inability to spell or were you just rage typing. Asking for a friend.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:26 AM

      One problem that some people have is living under communist dictators that promote keeping their citizens drunk and drugged. It is how they stay in power.
      Russian, North Korea, Syria etc Citizens? Can you hear that, read that? Stand up for your rights as a human and stop the communism and dictators within your country. Vote it out, stand up and fight for your freedom to live in a democracy.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous7:11 AM

      6:23 - the whole point is they can NOT vote - their only option is to put their lives on line to fight for freedom and have the fury of the dictator rain down on their heads with the entire military at their disposal -- the citizens of these countries need strong democratic countries to stand with them and put military and economic pressure on the dictators to help get them out of power -- U.S. is no longer such a power, instead the repugs and christian taliban are barreling ahead with their plans to take us back to the dark ages and become a third country our selves

      Delete
  2. Anonymous5:41 AM

    At this point in histiry, I would be very embarrassed to tell anyone I am a republican.
    How can an entire party be so spinless?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:51 AM

      Some are quite proud of it.

      Delete
    2. Then I'd say it's time to stop being a Republican. Write a letter telling them why you are leaving the party, then leave. You don't have to register for any other party. It can be Independent or Non-Partisan or refuse to state or whatever it is in your state.

      I did the same with the Democrats but for different reasons. Until I see a real change, that the Democratic Party is actually representing the people, I will not be party to it. "Not a bad" isn't good enough any more.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:56 AM

      Spinless? Spinless, you say? Actually, spin is all they got.

      Delete
  3. Back when Tom Delay was SOH, he was working to make sure wingnuts kept power in government forever and one of his ideas was to dictate to the Scotus which cases they could hear.

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  4. Anonymous6:19 AM

    We are the "United States of America" we live under one rule of law, bill of rights and Constitution.
    We cannot have states making up their own laws. This will only bring chaos, racism, hate and ignorance.
    American citizens must have the ability to travel through other states. Public schools must have a basic learning protocol. Marijuana must be federally decriminalized. Gun ownership must be documented. Criminals must be identified.
    We cannot have some states making up laws and rules in order to avoid taxation and then receive federally funded money. We cannot allow some kids to be denied a proper education due to adults and politics. The list goes on. The only way to prevent states the ability to deceive voters is to keep it "The United States of America" and not allow separation of states and our citizens.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous6:56 AM

    Mueller has Trump and his allies pinned down

    https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/mueller-trump-friends-pinned/

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    1. Anonymous8:36 AM

      "“This is all about money laundering,” former adviser Steve Bannon told Fire and Fury author Michael Wolff."
      "rump & Co., we now know, wanted a back channel to Putin, a means of communicating secretly beyond the view of the public or the U.S. government for reasons that have yet to be clarified."
      "Erik Prince, the mercenary security entrepreneur and Trump confidante, met with another Russian banker in the Seychelles. Prince told the House Intelligence Committee, under oath, that the meeting was accidental. Mueller now has witnesses who say it was an effort to establish confidential communications."
      "Their path to f**king Trump goes right through Paul Manafort, Don Jr. and Jared Kushner.”
      " Sessions relishes his neo-Confederate reign as the nation’s top law enforcement officer too much to surrender to Trump’s whims. With allies in the Senate refusing to confirm a successor, Sessions is untouchable."he U.S. legal and poltical system is capable of reining in a president like Trump who respects no law or fact that conflicts with his desires."

      Delete
  6. Anonymous6:56 AM

    Totally OT: Hey, Gyrph, after yesterday's science discussion, did you see that Scott and Mark Kelly are no longer identical twins? Fascinating!

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/astronauts-dna-changed-by-time-in-space/ar-BBKdBPT?li=BBnbcA1&srcref=rss

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous7:28 AM

    Trump’s Dangerous Allegiance Threatens Every One of Us

    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trumps-dangerous-allegiance-threatens-every-one-of-us

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    1. Anonymous8:28 AM

      https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/how-russia-s-new-defense-doctrine-is-like-fox-news

      CRIMEa wa$ 1St!>"a theory of full-spectrum warfare aimed at countering the West."" Whether this is a doctrine or a more ad hoc strategy of necessity growing out of the experience of last decades ‘color revolutions’ in Eastern Europe and the Arab Spring, it is the impetus behind Russia’s increasingly pervasive and aggressive focus on information warfare, subversion, hacking and various efforts to destabilize potential adversaries it cannot dominate or engage with in conventional economic or military terms. "Perhaps it’s just an on-going arrangement freely engage in on both sides. Of course, we can speculate that President Trump simply has a profound admiration and attraction to Putin which makes any criticism impossible. But that would if anything be worse than kompromat and bribes. Something is clearly wrong, very wrong. The President is not able to act in America’s interest with regard to Russia. And that unexplained subservience sends shockwaves across numerous critical US alliances, particularly in Europe."

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:19 AM

      https://thinkprogress.org/trump-defends-making-stuff-up-during-meeting-with-trudeau-418890d85e0f/

      "“ … So, he’s proud. I said, ‘Wrong, Justin, you do.’ I didn’t even know. … I had no idea. I just said, ‘You’re wrong.’ You know why? Because we’re so STUPID. … And I thought they were smart. I said, ‘You’re wrong, Justin.’ He said, ‘Nope, we have no trade deficit.’ I said, ‘Well, in that case, I feel differently,’ I said, ‘but I don’t believe it.’ I sent one of our guys out, his guy, my guy, they went out, I said, ‘Check, because I can’t believe it.’”"
      "“‘Well, sir, you’re actually right. We have no deficit, but that doesn’t include energy and timber. … And when you do, we lose $17 billion a year,’” Trump continued. “It’s incredible.”

      "Trudeau was right — Trump’s claim about Canada having a trade surplus with the United States is FALSE. In FACT, the opposite is the case. According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the US’s trade surplus with Canada was $12.5 billion in 2016."

      https://thinkprogress.org/trump-defends-making-stuff-up-during-meeting-with-trudeau-418890d85e0f/

      Delete
  8. If anyone can pull it off, this administration will. They have FIVE on the SCOTUS. Remember GorSUCKS? And why is our Constitution being undermined?

    Bitch McConnell. He blocked Merrick Garland. He put GorSUCKS on the bench. He is responsible for the nominations of all of the other Deplorable, unqualified judges being approved by the Senate. They're gaming the courts from SCOTUS on down for LIFETIME positions.

    That is Trump's success and his legacy. That he'll have damaged our court system for decades to come.

    I only wish there was a way to remove all of Trump's appointees after he's proven to be the criminal that he is. But like the election there is no means to remove these judges because while Trump nominated them the Senate approved them.

    Our checks and balance system is broken or hopelessly flawed. It will only get worse.

    I just hope Sessions is so pre-occupied with this other shit that he's unable or at least unwilling to fire McCabe days before he qualifies for his pension.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/fbi-official-trump-loathes-may-194040829.html

    "Andrew McCabe, who took over as acting head of the FBI after President Donald Trump fired former Director James Comey last year, may soon be fired by the Trump administration just ahead of his formal retirement date on Sunday, putting his pension in peril after more than two decades at the bureau."

    "Trump has pressured Attorney General Jeff Sessions ― another frequent target of Trump’s wrath ― to get rid of McCabe. As first reported Wednesday by The New York Times, Sessions is now reviewing a recommendation to fire McCabe for alleged lack of candor in his discussions with the Justice Department’s inspector general in the course of an investigation into how the Justice Department and the FBI handled the Clinton investigation."

    "Trump’s statements about McCabe put pressure on Sessions to fire him, and would create an appearance of impropriety even if Sessions’ decision to fire McCabe were backed by a formal recommendation. The Justice Department said no formal decision has been made on McCabe’s fate."

    "McCabe formally stepped down from his position at the end of January, but was using accrued leave to carry him past his official retirement date of March 18."

    Of course, Trump doesn't give a shit about "impropriety" and it's not his head on the block. *IF* Sessions does fire McCabe this will end up in the court and I think McCabe will eventually get his pension.

    But it is such a piece of shit, petty, vindictive thing for a president to do.

    McCabe qualifies for his pension on Sunday. What do you want to bet these fucking assholes fire him on Saturday?

    "In reality, the FBI’s actions ahead of the election indisputably harmed Clinton. DOJ’s inspector general is conducting a broader investigation of the FBI’s handling of the Clinton probe that is expected to examine Comey’s actions.

    The IG’s findings on McCabe ― issued in a separate report ― started up the internal disciplinary process at the FBI. McCabe declined to comment through a spokesperson. A representative of the inspector general’s office declined to comment when reached by HuffPost this week, and the office has generally been tight-lipped about the forthcoming reports.

    But their decision to issue a separate report focusing solely on McCabe is somewhat unusual, and has enabled Sessions to take disciplinary action before McCabe’s retirement date, if he chooses.

    McCabe and his attorney recently signed nondisclosure agreements that allowed them to read the results of the investigation but banned them from discussing its contents."

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    1. Anonymous12:54 PM

      But this is what your
      "Bern it to the ground" friends wanted.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous10:00 AM

    They are slowly rearranging the government structure to Putin's taste. Then the mass shipping of human cargo to concentration camps are coming.
    It's a pattern that keeps repeating itself with the human race.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous12:30 PM

    Who are the Real Bad Actor$:

    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/15/white-house-fbi-andrew-mccabe-bad-actor-465847

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous12:52 PM

    If I didn't have dual citizenship I'd be scared shitless. All but one of our children have already relocated into Canada and we will be there by this time next yr.

    ReplyDelete

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