The Never-Ending Abrego Garcia Saga
The Trump administration spent another day in court stonewalling U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of Maryland, defying her explicit order to put on a government witness who could testify with direct knowledge of its efforts to deport the much-abused Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a third country. I was at the courthouse and wrote a full report on that aspect of the hearing.
Separately, on the merits of the case, the Trump administration seems increasingly hobbled by its inability to produce any evidence that a final order of removal was ever issued for Abrego Garcia. Xinis has all but concluded that a final order of removal simply never existed, and her pending decision may well turn on that omission, as Politico’s Josh Gerstein reports.
The bitter irony is that the absence of a final order of removal means Abrego Garcia’s wrongful deportation to El Salvador in March was doubly unlawful. We already knew that it was in violation of an immigration judge order that he not be removed to El Salvador specifically, but it now appears likely there was no legal basis to remove him anywhere at all.
A Thoroughly Unsatisfying Result U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher just unsealed this...
talkingpointsmemo.com
Sadly, this is only one example of the regime's lawless behavior.
Even though I understand Obama's rationale for not pursuing charges against members of Shrub's admin for the torture of detainees, I thought it was a mistake not to. This time around the country can't afford to turn a blind eye to what Pam Bondi has facilitated. Some kind of reckoning is called for even if it is only to make provisions so abuses of law by the DoJ have a more immediate method of recourse.
This was written after trump 1.0. trump 2.0 is much worse.
Repairing the Rule of Law: An Agenda for Post-Trump Reform
As the U.S. begins to see the light at the end of the Trumpian tunnel, it is time to begin thinking about the issue of repair. One should not assume the result of the election, but it is nonetheless worth asking the question: What should be done in a post-Trump world to restore the rule of law?
Of Trump’s many excesses, his assault on legal norms has to rank high in terms of damage to fundamental values that form the fabric of America. His attacks on the free press, the independent judiciary and the independence of the Department of Justice have all created significant damage. His abuse of executive discretionary authority has made a mockery of the concept of checks and balances. His gaming of the judicial system has revealed weaknesses in our legal process. His attempts to place himself (and his family and his business interests) above the law have called into question foundational national conceptions of equal justice. In short, President Trump has led a wrecking crew (aided and abetted by William Barr and Mitch McConnell) that has severely damaged American legal norms of behavior.
Trump’s attacks on foundational norms and principles leave policymakers with two choices. Lawmakers and voters can accept that damage and admit the inevitability of American decline, or they can fight to restore and strengthen the country’s legal guardrails. This post is an effort to begin that fight—to identify practical steps that the country can take to reinvigorate the rule of law and the concept of checks and balances.
What should be done in a post-Trump world to restore the rule of law?
www.lawfaremedia.org
