Would Trump Lock Up a Supreme Court Justice? Well, He's Not Saying No!
And hear ye hear ye, more executive orders!
Geez, we sure are having a time of it as a country when in one single day the president’s press secretary says the administration won’t rule out arresting Supreme Court justices, and the president issues an executive order contemplating sending in the military to “prevent crime” in cities. And it doesn’t even make the front page of the paper!
Yep, Karoline Leavitt sure did say that. America’s snittiest press secretary was asked by Fox’s Peter Doocy, of all people: “You guys arrested a Milwaukee county circuit judge for allegedly helping illegal immigrants get away. As you guys look at other judges, would you ever arrest somebody higher up on the judicial food chain, like a federal judge or even a Supreme Court justice?” Wait, is Doocy starting to go WOKE?
“That’s a hypothetical question, again I defer you (sic) to the Department of Justice for individuals that they are looking at or individual cases. But let’s be clear about what this judge did: She obstructed federal law enforcement who were looking for an illegal alien in her courthouse. She showed that illegal alien the door to evade law enforcement officials. That is a clear-cut case of obstruction. And so anyone who is breaking the law or obstructing federal law enforcement officials from doing their jobs is putting theirselves (sic) at risk of being prosecuted, absolutely.”
What Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan allegedly did, according to the government’s own complaint: She directed the man in question to a different door that opened to the same hall on the same floor, where two agents saw the man, and another rode down six floors in an elevator with him. Those agents got evaded either on account of them being complete idiots or because they made the choice to arrest him outside of the courthouse.
What else might fall under this vague “judges obstructing federal law enforcement”? That Man has proclaimed himself “the chief law enforcement officer of the country” multiple times, so under that theory, any judge that gets in his way could get prosecuted for obstructing His Divine Will and Holy Plenary Executive Power. Way to go, John Roberts! Sure hope you don’t piss off your now-boss!
Oh hey, speaking of immigrants, guess who is hiring some foreign workers? Trump, again! Can’t he find any red-blooded Americans qualified to burn a steak?
We digress! Anyway, just a couple of hours after that gasp-worthy moment, Dear Leader issued three new Executive Orders, and they are doozies. Yes, his executive proclamations are not law — Congress is supposed to make the laws — so they are more like “what he’s going to try to get away with until a court steps in to stop him.” Or in the case of deporting people without due process, “what he’s going to try to get away with until a court steps in to stop him, and then ignores the courts about.”
His Executive Orders have more than 200 lawsuits pending against them right now, so here’s some more stuff to throw on the pile:
Just a little bit of martial law, and fewer checks on police officers who violate the Constitution and kill people. You know, because police officers are held to account for that way too often.
We’ve got “Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens.” He declares that “sanctuary” jurisdictions are doing a “lawless insurrection” and also RICO. Therefore he’s instructing Russ Vought to withhold all of their federal money. Again, not legal, into the lawsuit pile with you.
Next, boy would he like to do some martial law! In “Strengthening and Unleashing America's Law Enforcement to Pursue Criminals and Protect Innocent Citizens,” he directs the attorney general to “take all appropriate action to create a mechanism to provide legal resources and indemnification to law enforcement officers who unjustly incur expenses and liabilities for actions taken during the performance of their official duties to enforce the law. This mechanism shall include the use of private-sector pro bono assistance for such law enforcement officers.”
Congratulations, you suckass big-law firms that pledged to do a billion dollars of free work for this administration! You will now be using your own money to defend the next Derek Chauvin. The Fraternal Order of Police already covers legal defenses for officers, but now we guess they won’t have to pay for that any more.
And he wants Pammy Jo Bondi to review any “consent decrees, out-of-court agreements, and post-judgment orders” that might be hindering police departments from doing whatever. There’s currently 14 active police department consent decrees; these are federal court orders entered between city officials, local police departments, and the DOJ after courts find a pattern of unconstitutional policing. A federal judge oversees an improvement plan with steps the police department has to take to improve, and they are a good thing! Baltimore entered a consent decree in 2017, and since then the police have killed 10 people. In contrast, according to the ACLU and Washington Post database, between 2010 and 2017, Baltimore City police killed 41 people. (I chronicled Baltimore city crime and police issues exhaustively in a blog for 10 years, until 2015, and could write 200,000 gazillion words about it. Have a link! Short version: The consent decree was long overdue.)
Oh, and here comes Lord President’s martial law part: “Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Attorney General, shall determine how military and national security assets, training, non-lethal capabilities, and personnel can most effectively be utilized to prevent crime.” Or, they could just Google it. Using the military as domestic law enforcement other than in very specific circumstances is explicitly illegal under the Posse Comitatus Act.
AND they would like to “prioritize prosecution” of state and local officials who are “unlawfully prohibiting law enforcement officers from carrying out duties.” Like what? Judges who do things like refuse to let ICE arrest people in their courtroom without a judicial warrant, and make them go arrest people in the hall instead?
Well, whatever Trump says, he is the law enforcement! This sure is getting mighty police-state-y.
Oh, and Trump orders that truck drivers must have proficiency in English. This is presumably so that when all the truckers lose all their work next week, the whiter ones will lose their jobs less. Are we sure that Trump and Leavitt theirselves would pass such a test?
Anyway, another day, some more dictatorin’. In the immortal words of Janet Mills, “see you in court!” Or not, if all the judges get arrested, we guess.
A 34-times-convicted -- not *accused,* but CONVICTED! -- felon proclaims himself the 'chief law enforcement officer' of the land.
Truly, we are in a Bizarro Universe that would make pointy-bearded Spock raise one eyebrow in puzzlement.
Watching this country destroy itself because many rurals are afraid to ride the L with brown people is wild. Obsessed with crime, obsessed with hating their fellow Americans, and doing absolutely nothing to better themselves or their communities.