Free Republic

Liberals control the legal profession, from the law schools and litigious nonprofits to the bar associations and judges (including many Republican appointees). Judicial supremacy, implemented through “universal injunctions,” allows any liberal legal group to tap one of 670 district judges in 94 district courts to decide on a broad range of public policies, which the political elite then treat as “law.” The good news: Evidence seems to suggest that at least three Supreme Court justices intend to end this irrational practice. We might only have three justices on our side, but governors should still firmly reject overreaching judges who believe...

Washington, DC  ~  Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Remarks as Prepared for DeliveryThank you for the introduction, Dean Morrison.  I’d also like to thank ACUS for inviting me to speak, and Deputy Attorney General Rosen for his important remarks and leadership on this issue. As Dean Morrison mentioned, I am the Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Policy at DOJ.  I am grateful to be here to discuss the Department of Justice’s position on nationwide injunctions. Across administrations of both parties, the Department of Justice has taken the position that nationwide injunctions are improper.  The Obama Administration argued forcefully against them,...

Washington, DC  ~  Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Remarks as Prepared for DeliveryThank you, Dean Cass.  Thank you also to the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS), George Washington Law, and the ABA Section of Administrative Law for inviting me to speak today.  I also want to thank ACUS Vice Chair and Executive Director, Matt Wiener, who also recently spoke at the Department of Justice’s Summit on Modernizing the Administrative Procedure Act.Today’s topic of nationwide injunctions is both important and timely.  Many observers have commented on this issue with a focus on legal and policy concerns, and you will hear...

When a federal court issues an order against enforcement of a government policy, the ruling traditionally applies only to the plaintiff in that case. Over the past several decades, however, some lower court federal judges have increasingly resorted to a procedural device—the “nationwide injunction”—to prevent the government from enforcing a policy against anyone in the country. Shrewd lawyers have learned to “shop” for a sympathetic judge willing to issue such an injunction. These days, virtually every significant congressional or presidential initiative is enjoined—often within hours—threatening our democratic system and undermining the rule of law. During the eight years of the...

SEATTLE - A federal judge says police in Tukwila acted unconstitutionally when they arrested an illegal immigrant and turned him over to immigration authorities for deportation. Wilson Rodriguez Macareno, who is originally from Honduras, called police early last year about someone trespassing in his yard. The officers instead arrested him based on indications he was in the country illegally and brought him to a detention center for deportation. U.S. District Judge Richard Jones ruled Wednesday that the local police did not have the authority to arrest him for a civil, federal violation. He said a trial will be held to...

Vice President Mike Pence announced that the administration will look for opportunities to challenge nationwide injunctions before the Supreme Court. Such orders have obstructed the Trump administration’s agenda in a number of areas. Though such injunctions have angered Trump loyalists, conservative litigators employed them against former President Barack Obama. The Trump administration is searching for an appropriate case in which to ask the Supreme Court to end nationwide injunctions, Vice President Mike Pence announced Wednesday in Washington at a Federalist Society conference. Nationwide injunctions, in which federal trial judges bar the federal government from enforcing a law or carrying out...

Vice President Pence on Wednesday announced that the administration will challenge the ability of federal district court judges to issue nationwide injunctions that halt policies advocated by President Trump. The administration's move — aimed at pushing back at unfavorable decisions from lower courts across the country — would set the stage for a vast legal debate and battle over the role that national injunctions play in the courts. Pence argued to supporters at an event hosted by the conservative Federalist Society that the Trump administration has been “unfairly” targeted by injunctions issued by lower courts, saying the rulings have prevented...

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Saturday slammed “activist judges,” whom he accused of overreaching and paralyzing the government by shutting down Trump-era policies they object to via nationwide injunctions. At a Federalist Society event at Georgetown University, Sessions blasted judges who have shut down controversial Trump-era policies such as denying funding for so-called “sanctuary cities” and repealing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. “The court is not superior; the court does not get to have the final word in every dispute, give me a break,” he said. He said the vehicle of choice for "activist judges" is nationwide...

On Thursday afternoon, in a back room of Parliament, history was made. A few MPs found themselves a backbone; they found a way in which they could exercise their Freedom of Speech and perform their ancient duty, drawn from the Bill of Rights 1688, of redressing the grievances of the citizens who rely on them. They were warned first to ‘be careful’: I remind Members of the importance of privilege, which we have here in Westminster Hall as in other parts of Parliament, but Members should always exercise their rights with care, particularly when naming individuals, and should avoid intrusion...