Dear listeners,
The Supreme Court is getting increasingly involved in the sprawling litigation over Donald Trump’s many aggressive executive orders. In J.G.G. vs. Trump — the case before Judge James Boasberg seeking to prevent removals under the Alien Enemies Act — the high court issued an emergency ruling saying detainees are entitled to due process but they must seek it through petitions for habeas corpus in the jurisdictions where they are actually being held. Some Trump-skeptical conservative commentators are describing this as a rebuke to the administration. But liberals, including the three liberals on the court, see this as an offer of relief in theory but not in practice. They also raise the specter that the Trump administration could spirit anyone — even citizens — out of the country and then assert that relief is no longer possible because the US no longer has jurisdiction.
It’s not going to take very long to find out who’s right. In another case — the Abrego Garcia case — the Supreme Court unanimously instructed the administration to seek the return of a man it deported to El Salvador in violation of a court order. But what will happen if and when the administration “tries” to get him back (but not really)? Already, the government is squabbling with trial judge Paula Xinis over how quickly it needs to provide information about its efforts. And in other new cases, the ACLU is trying for a national injunction against AEA removals under a habeas approach, and a Trump-appointed judge has prohibited removals from his South Texas district under the AEA, for now. Ultimately, the Supreme Court is likely going to have to weigh in on more issues, including whether the AEA even applies to people alleged to be members of a foreign gang, which is not itself a foreign government.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department suspended the attorney who argued the Abrego Garcia case, saying Erez Reuveni’s complaints in court that his bosses weren’t providing him the information he needed ran afoul of his duty to zealously advocate for his client: the government.
Plus: in the Mahmoud Khalil case, the federal government is broadly asserting its power to revoke green cards because it doesn’t like their holders’ speech — setting up a likely Supreme Court confrontation over the extent of non-citizens’ First Amendment rights. The Associated Press won an injunction requiring the White House to restore certain access to them. And CBS is heading into mediation with Donald Trump.
We hope you enjoy the episode,
Josh
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