Elie Mystal - Did the Supreme Court Just Grow a Spine?

[In It to Win It]

The Nation (Archived)

There is an oft-used idiom in my community: “Stop playing in my face.” It can be loosely translated as “Sir, your lies mock my intelligence. Desist from these obvious falsehoods or I shall be roused to combat.”

At 1 o’clock on the morning of Saturday, April 19, the Supreme Court issued a terse, one-paragraph order that amounted to John Roberts telling Donald Trump to stop playing in his face. The court, by a presumed vote of 7-2, ordered Trump to halt a number of planned deportations to El Salvador of immigrants being held in Texas. I believe this is the first time that a majority of Supreme Court justices have gotten pissed at the Trump administration’s lawless refusal to follow basic court orders. If the court is ever going to fight for constitutional principles in the face of fascist overreach, it might be here and now.

The order was issued in a case called A.A.R.P v. Trump (no relation to the old folks nonprofit), which involves Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport people without due process. The procedural backstory of how this case got in front of the Supreme Court is complicated, but important.

On April 7, the court issued a ruling in Trump v. J.G.G., a case that also involves Trump’s spurious use of the Alien Enemies Act and that has gotten a lot of attention because the Republican judge presiding over it in the district court, James Boasberg, has tried to slow Trump’s mass deportations. When it was appealed to the Supreme Court, it ruled that the Trump administration had to provide potential deportees with reasonable and timely notice of their deportation, and be given clear instructions on how they could challenge their abductions.

Following that case, the ACLU was able to get a number of temporary restraining orders (TROs) halting Trump’s mass deportations in three regions: The Southern District of New York, the District of Colorado, and, critically, the Southern District of Texas. The ACLU also asked for a TRO in the Northern District of Texas, but that application (called A.A.R.P. v. Trump to get a sense of where this is going), was denied by Trump-appointed Judge James Hendrix.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Happy to see any actions by the disgusting Supreme Court that are patriotic

But I submit it’s too late, and they’re just going to ignore the courts and law and do whatever the fuck they want including take our Medicare and take our Social Security and take everything.

Are you prepared to go through winter without a flu vaccine, better figure it out cause that’s coming,

[gab13by13]

2. If they do give out shots

who's to say it won't be castor oil?

[cynical_idealist]

4. or castration oil

[A_Woman_from_MI]

3. Seems optimistic...

...and unlikely. One decision among all the bad decisions does not equal backbone. I guess we can hope, but no one seems to care what the court has to say anymore anyway