Free Republic

The people’s deference to the judiciary is not unlimited. The courts can weaken their moral authority quickly with over-reaching rulings, particularly when those rulings reek of personal animus toward one man — i.e., “Trump Derangement Syndrome” — rather than rational decision-making. The so-called “resistance” will play well to the “elites” but not to the people who put the president into office to do the very things that are being resisted. Americans intuitively understand that the judiciary’s primary role is to protect the rights of American citizens, not the “rights” of federal bureaucracies and foreign interests. They also understand that the...

Trump's administration argued that Khalil's First Amendment claims are a "red herring " and that there's "an independent basis to justify removal sufficient to foreclose Khalil’s constitutional claim here." The Trump administration filed new allegations against Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate student detained due to his pro-Palestinian activism on campus, while trying to dismiss his First Amendment violation claims as a "red herring." In a filing Sunday, the Justice Department said Khalil, who is a green-card holder, withheld information about his membership in certain organizations and failed to disclose his employment at the Syria Office in the British Embassy...

Sparks flew during a closely-watched federal appeals court hearing Monday afternoon — with a Barack Obama-appointed judge tearing into the Trump administration’s plans to mass-deport alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Judge Patricia Millett, a member of the bench since 2013, dominated much of the questioning — grilling a Justice Department lawyer over due process concerns for the 260 purported illegal migrants shipped to a notorious El Salvador prison earlier this month under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. “There were planeloads of people. There were no procedures in place to notify people,” Millett exclaimed at one point....

The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will hear oral arguments Monday on whether a lower court can properly address the Trump administration's efforts to deport Venezuelan nationals via a 1798 wartime law. The administration asked for a stay pending appeal shortly after an initial March 15 order was issued, calling it a "massive, unauthorized imposition on the Executive’s authority to remove dangerous aliens who pose threats to the American people." The Trump administration had attempted to invoke a 1798 wartime authority to deport Venezuelan nationals, including alleged members of the gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), for a period...

Obama-appointed Judge James Boasberg on Monday rejected the Trump Administration’s request to vacate the temporary restraining order (TRO), but offered to convert it to a preliminary injunction. Since TROs are typically unappealable, the Trump Administration will be able to appeal if the TRO is converted to an injunction. The Trump Administration has until March 26 to inform the court. Boasberg said the deported aliens are entitled to individual hearings!