The Fifth Cir. Is Clearly Wrong Here — But As To The Del Rio Texas Razor Wire Injury Cases, It Won’t Matter (Much).

I will only offer a shortish squib from the “opinion” on this, since (again!) the Fifth Circuit plays politics, rather than simply applying the well settled federal preemption law. It still applies nationwide, on the nation’s navigable waterways. So…

Whatever.

As I said last month, the actual bodily-injury cases are now headed to a forced mediation — down in Del Rio. Texas — and MAGA Gov. Abbott’s GOP mono-rule doesn’t want to compensate the people — and families of the deceased — that MAGA Gov. Abbott’s concertina wire barriers… maimed and drowned. Welp. That will no longer stand.

See the mediation orders. So this injunction, against conduct long ago completed — as vacated by the goofy Fifth — means almost nothing.

But you could tell from the first paragraph that it was mostly a political manifesto (riddled with half-truths, and outright lies) — not so much any reasoned legal opinion. It darkly references (by the euphemism “surge“)… as well as “an invasion“, directly.

The Supremes have repeatedly held that there is no “invasion” at all on the Southern borders. Damn. Nonsense, that:

…This case concerns whether the State of Texas, exercising its historic, sovereign police powers, can legislatively protect its citizens from a surge of illegal aliens in response to an unprecedented border crisis and a declared invasion [Hah!]. The district court judge and a divided panel held that it cannot. Because the Plaintiffs that are challenging the new statute lack standing, we vacate the preliminary injunction without addressing the merits of the pre-emption claim….

What a load of crap. [Another broad hint that this is BS… is offered by the page count. The Fifth panel took over 150 pages… to make no ruling at all.] None that wold matter to any real world outcome, that is.

So… Onward, resolutely — just the same.

नमस्ते