Remember the calls to pack the Supreme Court? After the confirmation of Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, giving Trump three of nine justices on the Court and what appeared to be an insurmountable conservative majority of at least five, and more likely six, votes, the cries from the left to expand the Supreme Court to add enough justices to take back the majority were loud, shrill and died in Biden’s judicial commission.

But Congress did have the constitutional authority to do so. Similarly, the Constitution only requires that there be a Supreme Court and a Chief Justice. The existence of “inferior Courts” is left to Congress’ discretion. Continue reading →

Despite the stunning lack of clarity surrounding the affair, ranging from the roundup preceding Trump’s proclamation that Tren de Aragua are invading enemy aliens to his claim that he never signed the proclamation at all, one thing was totally clear. Chief Judge Jeb Boasberg ordered the government to bring the renditioned people back to the United States, even if that meant turning the airplanes around.

The government did not, under the bizarre theory that the court lost jurisdiction once the planes left United States airspace. It did not, and this theory was laughable, so naturally the government stuck with it for lack of any theory. No, you cannot commit murder without fear of prosecution when your Celebrity Cruise Lines bartender makes a mediocre negroni after leaving US territorial waters. Take my word on this. Continue reading →

Trump named Tom Homan his “border Czar,” but after serving as a local cop with the West Carthage, NY police, he joined the Immigration and Naturalization Serve and was appointed by President Obama to the position of “Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations” in 2013. Obama awarded Homan the Presidential Rank Award in 2015, and WaPo praised his service.

Thomas Homan deports people. And he’s really good at it.

As it turned out, there was a reason for this. Continue reading →

Nope. Not gonna do it. No more Dick the Butcher quotes. It’s played. You already know it. Not going to do it again. Plus, the likelihood that Trump read Shakespeare seems slim, although it increases exponentially when you consider the folks at the Heritage Foundation, who are likely far better educated. But the quote sure does apply.

The evident goal is to spread anxiety and fear among judges and keep them from fulfilling their constitutional duty to insist that the Trump administration follow the law. The campaign extends to private-sector lawyers, with Mr. Trump trying to damage the business of several firms he does not like.

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Greetings, faithful patrons of the SJ Hotel! While the world spins ever onward into chaos—March 21 2025, if you’re keeping score—I find myself planted firmly in Knoxville, Tennessee, sipping a cold Diet Dr. Pepper and contemplating the meaning of life. Or at least the meaning of not burning vacation days on a boat with 3,000 strangers who think “all-you-can-eat shrimp” is a personality trait.

My esteemed colleague, let’s call her “Cruise Girl” (because I’m petty and she’s currently floating somewhere off the Gulf Coast), decided to ditch terra firma for a week of seasickness and overpriced margaritas. Me? I’m having a staycation, and it’s glorious. Continue reading →

Whether you’re a multinational corporation or an individual, what are you looking for in a law firm? Skill? Excellence? Integrity? Experience? Breadth? Cowardly capitulation?

The deal materialized after the head of the firm, Brad Karp, went to the White House this week and had a face-to-face meeting with Mr. Trump to discuss a resolution. Members of the legal profession said in interviews that they were surprised by the deal, as it appears as if the firm — which is dominated by Democrats and has long prided itself in being at the forefront of the fight against the government for civil rights — was capitulating to Mr. Trump over an executive order that is likely illegal.

No doubt Brad Karp wanted to rid his firm of the taint and burden of the horrendous Retributive Order issued by Trump in punishment for Mark Pomerantz’s involvement as special assistant with the New York County District Attorney. Continue reading →

It’s bad enough, if unsurprising, that the non-lawyers in the Trump administration, like Karoline Leavitt, spew nonsense designed to make people stupider about law. After all, they’re regurgitating what they’re told, and when they’re told nonsense, they spew nonsense. But the attorney general of the United States, Pam Bondi, is a lawyer. Attorney General Bondi is supposed to know better.

The part of the Alien Enemies Act, 50 USC § 21, that has been the focus of most discussion, although it’s routinely misstated by omission to play upon the simpleton’s belief that there is some cool trick that makes it applicable upon the president’s whim even when we’re not at war because of the disjunctive “or” clause. It’s not. Continue reading →

Merely a few days ago, Trump called criticism of judges “totally illegal” in a speech before a hand-picked group of loyalists at the Department of Justice. But that was a few days ago. This was yesterday.

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To be frank, before yesterday I had never heard of the United States Institute of Peace. I suspect the same may be true for many of you, although I’ve no doubt that there will be someone who believes they know everything there is to know about it. According to its website, it exists by “unique” congressional mandate.

Congress founded the U.S. Institute of Peace in 1984 as a nonpartisan, independent organization dedicated to protecting U.S. interests by helping to prevent violent conflicts and broker peace deals abroad.

Congress provided USIP with a unique status to enable the organization to operate in sensitive areas where diplomats and military units are often constrained for practical or political reasons.

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Before moving forth to the nuts and bolts, let’s clear the air. Mahmoud Khalil is not in this country on a visa. Rather, he is a legal permanent resident (aka LPR) of the United States. The government pretty much* concedes that he is an LPR in the Notice to Appear filed with the Immigration Court against Khalil. A Notice to Appear is the immigration court equivalent of an indictment, and it contains the charges of deportation to which Khalil must respond in Court.

No one is “revoking” his visa or green card. To be removed from the country, one of two things must happen: (i) Khalil stipulates to the order of deportation; or (ii) there is a final hearing in immigration court, and Khalil loses.** Continue reading →