Safety and Paperwork
Paperwork Can’t Be Allowed to Interfere With Public Safety
Respect and disrespect for various professions are both earned. It is one thing to talk about obeying the law and “Equal Justice Under Law.” That only works if the public believes the lawyers, especially the judges, are committed to fair play and society’s highest goals and purposes
Dictatorships in totalitarian states like the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany had completely biased judiciaries. Everyone lived in fear. They could not know what word or action might put them in trouble. Even a word in front of their children could be dangerous.
Judges did what they were told. If the ruling party said someone was guilty, they were. Favored individuals were untouchable. But everyone stayed on edge and spoke carefully. Favor could be granted and removed on a whim. Legal procedures were used, but nothing was done in a lawful manner.
Courts in France and Romania have convicted the most popular candidates in the country to keep them from running and winning elections. Donald Trump was the target of multiple versions of “lawfare” trying to block his effort to regain the Presidency. Alan Dershowitz explained how absurd the supposed felony convictions are. He explained that no one was defrauded in the fraud case, and no one could describe the charges in the other case. Yet Trump’s opponents keep telling you he’s a felon.
The election year “lawfare” convinced his followers that partisan judges can’t find “Neutral” on an automatic transmission. Any time there is a ruling against Trump, they are suspicious.
Since his term started, partisan Democratic judges have issued more than 100 nationwide injunctions to stop President Trump from doing the things he told voters he would do if they elected him. There is no basis for a judge to have jurisdiction over anyone other than the parties in the case in their court. However, those opposed to Trump don’t care.
Judges have issued “temporary restraining orders” (TROs) instead of “permanent injunctions” (PIs), hoping to delay the appeals process. Theoretically, a TRO is not a final ruling and can’t be appealed until the issuing judge makes a final decision. Trump’s DOJ isn’t buying it. They are asking for stays, and the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has agreed. The court has been clear in multiple opinions, “We construe these TROs as appealable injunctions.”
A significant issue must be resolved promptly and in a way that allows the President to protect the country. At this point, it is not clear whether the Court understands that.
The court just issued a stay in the case where a judge ordered a plane to turn around. It involves members of a Venezuelan gang called Tren de Aragua (TdA). That gang and MS-13 are serious threats and dangers to the people of the United States. Many of their members are here illegally; removing them with little legal hassle should be possible. Yet some people want to tie up the government to block that.
In the request to vacate the orders of the judge who wanted to turn the plane around, the government wrote:
Only this [Supreme] Court can stop [the courts] from further upending the separation of powers—the sooner, the better. Here, the district court’s orders have rebuffed the President’s judgments as to how to protect the Nation against foreign terrorist organizations and risk debilitating effects for delicate foreign negotiations.
Yet, in the Court’s opinion providing the stay, it is unclear whether SCOTUS understands the problem. Their decision limits venue shopping but still leaves the question of whether the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) applies. In an article about the ruling, Ilya Somin notes there is a question about
the applicability of the AEA, which only allows detention and deportation in the event of a declared war, or an “invasion” or “predatory incursion” perpetrated by a “foreign nation or government”
I am reminded of a high school test. The question was, “When did World War II start?” I was an avid reader. Simple question. It started when Germany invaded Poland on September 1st, 1939. Wrong! The Brits were on their weekend. It began when the paperwork was formally completed on Monday, September 4th.
We need courts to take public safety as an urgent matter. TdA, MS-13, and other gangs are violent and cause massive deaths. They are part of the drug war, the crime war, and probably part of a good deal of the corruption at every level of government in all three North American countries. It is clearly constitutional for the President to work for the common defense and public safety. To do that, he can remove these people.
The courts must find a way to make that count as enough to trigger the AEA or find some other way for the President to remove dangerous people who are not here legally. If not, their procedural paperwork is no better than toilet paper. They need to expedite the procedures and let the Executive branch work to make the country safer. There can be no hint of any spite in their ruling, no hint that they are ruling personally to block Trump.
If the courts don’t let the President make the country safer, Trump’s base will gladly back him if he quotes Andrew Jackson and says, “They made their ruling; let them enforce it!”