lawfedi

This is how a truly professional lawyer behaves. John Wilson resigned as general counsel of the Florida Health Department rather than serve as tool for DeSantis’s thuggery. Washington Post link https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/21/desantis-florida-abortion-ad-tv-amendment-4/; archived article, total open access at https://archive.is/eBCbh.
#LawFedi #LegalEthics #Ethics

Rudy Giuliani is well on his way to arrest and jail for civil contempt of court, per N.Y. Judiciary Law § 753 (McKinney).

Background at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/22/rudy-giuliani-defamation-georgia-election-assets

#LawFedi

Judge Merchan’s opinion in support of sentencing Trump for his New York crimes is brave, adroit, and sad. My full view at Heidi Says. #LawFedi https://heidi-says.ghost.io/the-tension-at-the-heart-of-judge-merchans-very-good-latest-ruling/

I could not be prouder of this Georgetown University Law Center student group. They were invited to an exclusive recruiting event with Skadden and withdrew because of Skadden’s preemptive capitulation to the Trump regime. Alanna, Caleb, and Carly were all students of mine.@ #LawFedi

ALT

Lawsuit filed today against Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to enjoin him from continuing to give Musk and his minions personal and financial information about millions of Americans. Complaint at https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69607077/1/alliance-for-retired-americans-v-bessent/ 1/ #LawFedi

Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil have filed a motion to have ICE return him to New York, asking the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to protect Khalil from disruption of the underlying habeas corpus proceedings begun before ICE transferred him to Louisiana. https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25556767/mahmoud-khalil-motion-to-compel-return.pdf This motion shows how Trump’s treatment of Khalil is also a challenge to judicial authority. 1/ #LawFedi

A federal judge has just found that Musk and DOGE likely acted unconstitutionally in shutting down USAID. He has granted a preliminary injunction which means that for the remainder of proceedings USAID personnel must be reinstated, no buildings may be closed, etc. Text of injunction at https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69636722/75/does-1-26-v-musk/. Opinion in support at https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69636722/73/does-1-26-v-musk/. #LawFedi

Go American Bar Association! “We will not stay silent in the face of efforts to remake the legal profession into something that rewards those who agree with the government and punishes those who do not.” https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2025/03/bar-organizations-statement-in-support-of-rule-of-law/ #LawFedi

My column is out:

The US as an Authoritarian State: Danger to the Global Rule of Law

“Checks & balances among the three US branches of government are in tatters… It is unclear whether the #US legal system can withstand the Trump administration’s increasingly brazen threats against #judges & #lawyers.” | SLaw: Canada’s Online Legal Magazine https://www.slaw.ca/2025/03/25/the-us-as-an-authoritarian-state-danger-to-the-global-rule-of-law/ #Trump #internationallaw #humanrights #ruleoflaw #DEI #immigration #law #lawfedi

Yesterday, Trump targeted another major private law firm for retribution. Wilmer Hale has joined the ranks of firms fighting back, filing a lawsuit. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.278933/gov.uscourts.dcd.278933.1.0_4.pdf 1/ #LawFedi

Law students from multiple law schools have put their names to a letter in which they refuse to work for firms giving in to Trump on DEI. They will only work for firms that stand up to Trump regime in specific ways. I urge you to read the letter. https://docs.google.com/document/d/10POW8J0MVRSNUvMm8zBpyYLW0d7VWlGxd50Nw-Ql9SI/edit?usp=drivesdk

I applaud the courage and integrity of these students. I’m especially proud of the signers who I taught. #LawFedi 1/2

A federal district court judge has today ordered the Trump executive branch to return a Maryland resident wrongly deported to El Salvador. The deadline is April 7. This could produce the direct conflict between the federal executive and the federal judiciary that will eventually arrive, if not in this case, in another. 1/ https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-judge-hear-lawsuit-man-deported-el-salvador-error-2025-04-04/ #LawFedi

A striking development in the situation of Venezuelans Trump regime is trying to send to prison in El Salvador. A federal district court judge in Texas has issued a temporary restraining order against this. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txsd.2000771/gov.uscourts.txsd.2000771.12.0.pdf This is a big deal. I’ll explain. 1/ #LawFedi

Now that Supreme Court has ruled 9-0 that Trump executive must do all possible to ensure Abrego Garcia’s release from prison in El Salvador, https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a949_lkhn.pdf, the case returns to federal district court. Judge Xinis is already ordering action. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.578815/gov.uscourts.mdd.578815.51.0.pdf 1/ #LawFedi

The judge in Abrego Garcia’s case, Judge Xinis, is documenting the Trump executive’s noncompliance with her orders. This is ordinarily the way a judge forces compliance. In this case it will probably serve as proof in support of a contempt judgement. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.578815/gov.uscourts.mdd.578815.61.0_1.pdf #LawFedi

For the first time, a U.S. federal district court has formally and definitively invalidated Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) as a basis for his Proclamation to detain and remove Venezuelan aliens who are members of Tren de Aragua (TdA). 1/ https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txsd.2000771/gov.uscourts.txsd.2000771.58.0_1.pdf #LawFedi

The Fourth Circuit refuses to get further involved in Judge Xinis’ handling of Abrego Garcia’s case. A good development. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca4.178400/gov.uscourts.ca4.178400.8.0.pdf #LawFedi

As ashamed as I mostly am of the U.S. Supreme Court, I am proud of some lower federal courts, including the district courts presided over by Xinis and Boasberg and, today, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has refused the Trump executives request that halt Judge Xinis' ongoing efforts to learn what has become of Abrego Garcia and who in the executive is responsible for his continued detention in El Salvador. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca4.178400/gov.uscourts.ca4.178400.8.0.pdf #LawFedi 1/

Two days ago, I wrote a newsletter entry about the state of Alien Enemies Act litigation. See https://heidi-says.ghost.io/the-latest-legal-developments-in-trumps-effort-to-use-the-alien-enemies-act-to-disappear-venezuelans/. Today, the Supreme Court weighed in, as I said it might, using the situation in the Northern District of Texas to do so. Its opinion is at https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a1007_g2bh.pdf. 1/ #LawFedi

Right now, fresh consequences of Trump executive disobeying court orders and opinions are playing out in Texas. The situation is moving swiftly but I’m going to try to capture what is happening in this 🧵. Essential point: ignoring Supreme Court, DHS seems about to ship Venezuelans held under Trump’s AEA Proclamation to prison in El Salvador without proper notice and opportunity to rebut. 1/ #LawFedi

BIG: U.S. Supreme Court orders Trump regime not to remove any Venezuelans detained in Northern District of Texas’s geographical area as legal proceedings unfold over the next few days. https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25902119/24a1007-order-41925.pdf #LawFedi 1/

ALT

Alito has just filed his dissent from last night’s Supreme Court order directing the Trump executive not to remove any Venezuelans detained pursuant to AEA in Northern District of Texas. Thomas joins. They take the position I sketched in an earlier thread today: that there was no appealable order or rulings before the Supreme Court bc the trial court judge had not ruled on plaintiffs’ TRO and class certification motions. #LawFedi 1/ https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a1007_22p3.pdf

👀 Jim Jordan sneaking a provision into the reconciliation bill intended to protect Bondi, Blanche, Noem et al from being cited for contempt of court. https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/judiciary_recon_ans_xml.pdf #LawFedi

The Trump regime has wrongly deported another immigrant to El Salvador. “Held for more than 2 years at the ICE detention center in Batavia, federal judges ruled Jordin Melgar-Salmeron could remain in the U.S. until his court case was resolved.“ The regime promised the court it would comply with the ruling, then deported Melgar-Salmeron early. Now, we’ll see whether they fall back on their position that they can’t get him back bc they don’t have custody. https://www.investigativepost.org/2025/05/30/another-ice-deportation-in-defiance-of-court-order/ #LawFedi

D.V.D. v. Trump, the case involving immigrants removed to third-party countries without due process, just gets wilder and wilder. Two developments today. This thread is about the judge's latest opinion and order for yet another preliminary injunction in the lawsuit. Full document at https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.282404/gov.uscourts.mad.282404.132.0.pdf. #LawFedi 1/