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alwaysinasnit

alwaysinasnit's Journal
alwaysinasnit's Journal
February 12, 2020

A department of the DOJ defied a federal court order. This is a big deal IMO.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/02/12/a-conservative-judge-draws-a-line-in-the-sand-with-trump-administration-114185

snip...

In a jaw-dropping opinion issued by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on January 23, Judge Frank Easterbrook—a longtime speaker for the conservative Federalist Society and someone whom the late Justice Antonin Scalia favored to replace him on the U.S. Supreme Court—rebuked Attorney General William Barr for declaring in a letter that the court’s decision in an immigration case was “incorrect” and thus dispensable. Barr’s letter was used as justification by the Board of Immigration Appeals (the federal agency that applies immigration laws) to ignore the court’s ruling not to deport a man who had applied for a visa to remain in the country.

As Washington reels from the surprise withdrawals of Roger Stone‘s prosecutors, apparently triggered by Trump’s intervention in the upcoming sentencing of his long-time adviser, the Easterbrook broadside offers another window into the way the Trump administration is violating the division of power between the executive and judicial branches.

The 7th Circuit case involved an undocumented immigrant, Jorge Baez-Sanchez, who was subject to removal from the United States after being convicted of a crime. Baez-Sanchez applied for a special visa allowing him to remain in the U.S. if he was also a victim of a crime. An immigration judge twice granted Baez-Sanchez a waiver. But the Board of Immigration Appeals reversed the immigration judge’s decision, claiming that only the attorney general personally could grant waivers—not immigration judges. Baez-Sanchez appealed to the 7th Circuit, which disagreed and remanded the case with a directive that the Department of Homeland Security comply with the immigration judge’s waiver. When it refused, Easterbrook, a 35-year veteran of the court, had had enough of the willful disregard for judicial authority.

“We have never before encountered defiance of a remand order, and we hope never to see it again,” Easterbrook wrote. “Members of the Board must count themselves lucky that Baez-Sanchez has not asked us to hold them in contempt, with all the consequences that possibility entails.”

snip...

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Barr's arrogance is phenomenal, but if this behavior continues unchecked, 45 and cabal will have eviscerated the judiciary too (to the extent that they don't agree with judicial decisions).
February 11, 2020

This a**hole apparently doesn't understand irony.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/02/embattled-ag-bill-barr-warns-of-cycle-of-violence-if-the-public-lacks-trust-in-law-enforcement/

The Attorney General of the United States has been facing a credibility crisis after paraphrasing special counsel Robert Mueller’s report in a manner that was later revealed to be completely misleading.

Since then, Barr’s credibility problems have continued to grow as his critics say his actions show him acting like the president’s defense counsel, instead of the top law enforcement official in America.

The critics worried that such action would undermine the legitimacy of the DOJ among the majority of Americans who do not approve of the president’s conduct in office.

Barr seemed to admit such a dynamic exists during a Monday speech to the National Sheriff’s Association when he noted the shooting of two New York City Police Department officers.

“And they come against a backdrop of cynicism and disrespect toward law enforcement that has propelled a cycle of violence and distrust between police officers and the communities they serve,” Barr warned.

“This is a very disturbing trend. Without trust between the public and the police, all of us will be less safe,” he admitted.

“It is therefore incumbent on everyone to work together to reverse this trend,” Barr urged.

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face plant

short article, nothing more
January 31, 2020

A Republican makes a surprising case for Elizabeth Warren

https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/a-republican-makes-a-surprising-case-for-elizabeth-warren-arguing-shell-deliver-on-trumps-failed-promises/


In the right-wing media, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is often portrayed as an enemy of free-market capitalism. But the Massachusetts senator and Democratic presidential hopeful has asserted that she is a “capitalist to my bones,” stressing that capitalism works best when it is more inclusive. And Sheila Bair (who served as chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, from 2006-2011) makes a Republican argument in Warren’s favor in an op-ed this week for the Wall Street Journal.

Asserting that Warren is by no means the “left-wing radical” her critics claim she is, Bair writes, “I am a Republican and have known and worked with Ms. Warren for many years. She is a capitalist and prairie populist, in the tradition of William Allen White and Teddy Roosevelt. She believes in a market economy. She just wants it to work for everyone.”

Bair explains that she worked with Warren extensively during the Great Recession and found that she “always took a market-based approach to the issues. She abhorred the generosity of the bank bailouts not because she was a Wall Street-hating socialist, but because she knew that markets can’t work without accountability.”

Bair goes on to outline some of the ways in which Warren is very pro-free market — for example, she “wants to break up the big banks by restoring the separation of commercial and investment banking. This would encourage competition and end the implied taxpayer subsidies that too-big-to-fail institutions enjoy.”


Snip...
January 27, 2020

45 collecting DNA from immigrants with plans to expand pilot program nationwide.

https://immigrationimpact.com/2020/01/23/trump-collects-dna-immigrants-privacy-concerns/?emci=d21bf229-323e-ea11-a1cc-2818784d084f&emdi=c4b3e329-4440-ea11-a1cc-2818784d084f&ceid=7881932#.Xioj78hKi38


The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began collecting DNA from people held at the border earlier this month. This is part of a pilot program that DHS plans to expand nationwide. The program is currently operating at the port of entry in Eagle Pass, Texas and within the Border Patrol’s Detroit Sector.

When fully implemented, the program would collect the DNA of nearly all people arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over the age of 14. This will include U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. People who refuse to comply could face prosecution.

The privacy implications of this new program are enormous, while the benefits for law enforcement are negligible.

The Department of Justice estimated that over 740,000 people would have been subject to this program over the last year. ICE alone had approximately 41,000 people in its custody as of January 11.

Snip...

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Who cares about privacy and the 4th Amendment?

January 24, 2020

Genocide expert breaks down how all the warning signs are present in 45's America

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/01/genocide-expert-breaks-down-how-all-of-the-warning-signs-are-present-in-trumps-america/

Defense research scientist and genocide expert Brynn Tannehill laid out a terrifying warning on Thursday about President Donald Trump’s administration.

As the United States Senate conducted an impeachment trial for the commander-in-chief, Tannehill posted an extended Twitter thread examining the situation in America from her perspective as a researcher studying the conditions that lead to genocide.

Snip



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My blood is running cold.

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