Author: condor

Trump Loses On AEA Removals, At The Supremes (7-2). Fifth Circuit, Tossed. Woot!

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Well — sanity is making a comeback. Only the predictable miscreant duo — of Alito and Thomas — dissent from the per curium ruling (and Kavanaugh writes a concurrence, but agrees with the spanking of the reactionary Fifth Circuit).

Without further ado — this is a sharp rebuke of Tangerine’s unconstitutional, cruel and lawless demonization of people who were born in Venezuela (for no reason other than that they happened to be born there). Do read it all:

…We now construe the application as a petition for writ of certiorari from the decision of the Fifth Circuit. See Reply 15. We grant the petition as well as the application for injunction pending further proceedings, vacate the judgment of the Fifth Circuit, and remand for further proceedings….

“[T]he Fifth Amendment entitles aliens to due process of law in the context of removal proceedings.” Trump v. J. G. G., 604 U. S. ___, ___ (2025) (per curiam) (slip op., at 3) (internal quotation marks omitted). “Procedural due process rules are meant to protect” against “the mistaken or unjustified deprivation of life, liberty, or property.” Carey v. Piphus, 435 U. S. 247, 259 (1978). We have long held that “no person shall be” removed from the United States “without opportunity, at some time, to be heard.” The Japanese Immigrant Case, 189 U. S. 86, 101 (1903)….

[I]n J. G. G., this Court explained — with all nine Justices agreeing — that “AEA detainees must receive notice . . . that they are subject to removal under the Act…. within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief ” before removal. 604 U. S., at ____ (slip op., at 3). In order to “actually seek habeas relief,” a detainee must have sufficient time and information to reasonably be able to contact counsel, file a petition, and pursue appropriate relief.

The Government does not contest before this Court the applicants’ description of the notice afforded to AEA detainees in the Northern District of Texas, nor the assertion that the Government was poised to carry out removals imminently. The Government has represented elsewhere that it is unable to provide for the return of an individual deported in error to a prison in El Salvador, see Abrego Garcia v. Noem, No. 25−cv−951 (D Md.), ECF Docs. 74, 77, where it is alleged that detainees face indefinite detention, see Application for Injunction 11. The detainees’ interests at stake are accordingly particularly weighty. Under these circumstances, notice roughly 24 hours before removal, devoid of information about how to exercise due process rights to contest that removal, surely does not pass muster. But it is not optimal for this Court, far removed from the circumstances on the ground, to determine in the first instance the precise process necessary to satisfy the Constitution in this case. We remand the case to the Fifth Circuit for that purpose….

Onward. Excellent!

नमस्ते

The Whole Malignant Clown Show Now Begins To Unravel — As Ever, Over… Money. Speaker Johnson’s Time, Limited?!

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As we await USDC Judge Paula Xinis’ ruling on unsealing the government papers related to Mr. Abrego Garcia’s detention in El Salvador… we grin — ear to ear — seeing that as we predicted, the coalition of banality… (Tangerine 2.0) is already breaking, under its own weight (of evil hubris).

This afternoon, Trump’s own GOP handed him a stinging embarrassment, by refusing to vote the big budget/tax bill out of committee. Couldn’t happen to a nicer jamoke. Here’s the story:

…Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team will now spend the weekend trying to win over those Republicans before attempting to take that vote again, potentially as soon as Monday. But it will be a tough task to flip the right-wing Republicans, who are demanding more spending cuts from Medicaid and from federal clean energy programs, especially as Johnson must also be careful not to alienate moderates whose votes he also needs with any changes to the bill.

A core of right-wing Republicans had warned Johnson and his leadership team, both privately and publicly, that they planned to oppose the vote in the House budget panel meeting on Friday. But GOP leaders took the gamble, and went ahead with the vote anyway….

It is not at all clear that weekend vote / whip efforts will solve this. It is a fundamental disagreement about what to cut — and by how much. The MAGA wing doesn’t care that it will harm rural whyte children in red states. The moderate GOP (to the extent than anything remains of it!) doesn’t want to be voted out, on this score — come 2026. Hilarious.

नमस्ते

Today At 1:00 PM Eastern USDC Judge Xinis Will Hear Argument — On Unsealing The Abrego Garcia Materials, To The Press Coalition…

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There will be other matters discussed — but this is the headline event: we should shortly see exactly HOW MUCH effort Noem / Rubio / Trump actually made, and/or is still making — to secure the return of Mr. Abrego Garcia, from the El Salvador hellhole prison.

Here (as a refresher) is that letter, from the press’s lawyers, and a bit:

…[I]n the weeks since [Mr. Abrego Garcia was abducted by the DHS / ICE], the case has already been before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit (twice), the President has discussed it during a nationally televised interview and on social media, and members of Congress have traveled internationally to meet Plaintiff Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia and investigate the conditions of his detention. The case raises profound questions of separation of powers, civil liberties, and foreign relations. Such a case requires maximum transparency so that “the public [can] participate in and serve as a check upon” their government. Globe Newspaper Co. v. Super. Ct., 457 U.S. 596, 606 (1982)….

Two weeks ago, however, the parties began filing submissions in this matter under seal — seemingly without requesting or receiving permission from the Court to do so. First, the parties jointly filed a sealed request for a conference with the Court (ECF No. 98). Then, the government filed a sealed motion (ECF No. 101), and Plaintiffs filed a sealed response (ECF No. 102). Finally, last week, the government filed another sealed motion (ECF No. 104), which was denied “[f]or the reasons stated on the record during today’s proceeding” (ECF No. 106), despite no hearing being noticed on the docket or appearing on the Court’s calendar. Moreover, while releasing a hearing transcript after the fact is not an adequate substitute for contemporaneous access, the Press Movants have been told that no public transcript of the hearing is even available.

The docket also skips over one entry (ECF No. 105) entirely, without any indication of what is missing or why. Not a single sealing motion or sealing order appears in the public record….

This unexplained sealing of court records is especially concerning in such a closely watched case, because “[p]eople in an open society do not demand infallibility from their institutions, but it is difficult for them to accept what they are prohibited from observing.” Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 555, 572 (1980). The Press Movants therefore request that the Court grant their limited request to intervene and promptly unseal these records….

[Condor predicts] she will unseal — perhaps with redactions, but maybe even by the end of this 1 pm Eastern time hearing. We will let you know, right here. She’s a great judge. Onward.

नमस्ते

Anon.’s “Good News” Story: Voyager 1’s Primary Thrusters Back Online…

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In a near miraculous turn of events, these primary thrusters were last operational over two decades ago… out there, at about 260 degrees below zero for most of that time.

But bold and clever engineers have brought them back from the dead — so the Voyager mission may continue at least another year or two. Here’s the latest, courtesy our erstwhile Anon.:

…Engineers at NASA say they have successfully revived thrusters aboard Voyager 1, the farthest spacecraft from our planet, in the nick of time before a planned communications blackout.

A side effect of upgrades to an Earth-based antenna that sends commands to Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, the communications pause could have occurred when the probe faced a critical issue — thruster failure — leaving the space agency without a way to save the historic mission. The new fix to the vehicle’s original roll thrusters, out of action since 2004, could help keep the veteran spacecraft operating until it’s able to contact home again next year….

Now over a half-century into this more than 15 billion mile one way trip… onward she sails, silently shiny and smooth — into the interstellar void. Smile….

नमस्ते

I’d Like Hinderaker To Explain This: Supremes, 9-0, Disagree With Him.

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This Toyota Corolla was suspected of not paying polls around Houston — but the car belonged to the man’s girlfriend. Not the man driving it. His girlfriend may or may not have paid the tolls in question.

Yet, in under seven seconds, the young man… was dead.

Shot by the officer, twice — even though the officer admitted his head was in a position that he could see… nothing. These are the encounters in which John sees no racial dimension at play (Texas Officer: Whyte — Deceased: Of Color).

Damn.

Here’s the Supremes’ summary. Yes the deceased fourth and eighth amendment rights were plainly violated. It was a suspected toll-road scofflaw encounter, nothing more. And he’s… dead now:

…Parking his own car just behind, [Officer] Felix walked to the Corolla’s driver-side door and asked [Deceased] Barnes for his license and proof of insurance. Barnes replied that he did not have his license with him, and that the car was a rental in his girlfriend’s name. As he spoke, Barnes rummaged through some papers inside the car, causing Felix to tell him several times to stop “digging around.” Felix also commented that he smelled marijuana, and asked if there was anything in the car he should know about. Barnes responded that he might have some identification in the trunk. So Felix told him to open the trunk from his seat. Barnes did so, while also turning off the ignition. All that happened (as a dashcam recording of the incident shows) in less than two minutes.

Then things began moving even faster. With his right hand resting on his holster, Felix told Barnes to get out of the car. Barnes opened the door but did not exit; instead, he turned the ignition back on. Felix unholstered his gun and, as the car began to move forward, jumped onto its doorsill. He twice shouted, “Don’t fucking move.” And with no visibility into the car (because his head was above the roof), he fired two quick shots inside.

Barnes was hit, but managed to stop the car. Felix then radioed for back-up. By the time it arrived, Barnes was dead. All told, about five seconds elapsed between when the car started moving and when it stopped. And within that period, two seconds passed between the moment Felix stepped on the doorsill and the moment he fired his first shot….

We confidently predict Hinderaker will NT rise to defend this lethal encounter, despite the Supremes’ unanimous opinion that it was lawless. What is at play here is whether a “reasonable” standard would consider the nature of the stop. The Supremes said it should.

Damn. Just… damn.

Too Insipid To Be Believed Tonight: John Hinderaker.

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So it seems that John Hinderaker, and Bill Ackman are unaware… that Ivy League institutions have not been elected by the people of the United States to provide for the national defense and see that the federal laws are faithfully executed, among other matters.

[Correlatively, the boys seemed to be under the mistaken impression (alternatively), that Donald Trump… has been hired on a simple four year teaching/admin. private contract, to guide a single (reactionary) vision, for the nation’s education of undergraduates.]

This is stoopid with “two ohs”. To wit:

In a scribbling too banal to describe further, both of them equate a $400,000,000 747 jet given as a clear quid pro quo bribe to Donald Trump — at the end of his four years — but for now only, to be held in the hands of the US Department of Defense, to the fact that Qatar funds some programs at elite colleges.

I. Can’t. Even.

I will say this much and then leave it where it lies. For close to four centuries, we have been aware that various private interests fund elite universities and colleges to broaden and enrich the outlook that undergraduates enter the world with. Qatar is one of only hundreds of private funders of universities in the United States. Even if it seeks to have undergraduates see the kingdom in a more favorable light (a fact not yet in evidence) — what exactly is the harm? There are certainly universities that teach isolationism. [Cough! I think one is called Hillside College — a frothy hard right “school” — and John’s favorite.]

On the other hand, Qataris providing a nearly half billion dollar payoff to the man that America elected to keep us all safe from external threats, among many other things… I don’t know… Just seems a little… Dodgy.

And it only violates about 15 federal felony statutes.

So yes, Powerline is insufferably imbecilic in regards almost every take it has offered over the last decade… on any topic related to Tangerine.

Even your boy Mirengoff (and Bill Otis) both know this stinks to high Heaven. Idiot.

Out.

Again, It Seems Team Tangerine/Musk… Has FAILED To Comply With Federal Court Orders — Sent No Notices(?), In The “Probationaries [Fired] Class Action” Case, In San Fran?!

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Not that this should be remotely surprising, but at least 124 probationaries never received the court-ordered notice — the one HHS swore was sent weeks ago. And the able USDC Judge Alsup in SF wants an immediate accounting, as to why (see below). [Here’s my prior one on it.]

Genuine question: Is there ANYTHING Elon Musk and DOGE cannot utterly screw up? Damn:

…On May 8, 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services submitted a sworn declaration stating that it shall send notices in compliance with Paragraph 4 of the undersigned’s preliminary injunction “on or before Thursday, May 8, 2025” (Dkt. No. 216-6 at 2).

On May 12, the undersigned received the attached letter (filed under seal), wherein 124 terminated probationers state that they have not received any such notice from HHS….

HHS shall file a sworn declaration detailing their compliance with Paragraph 4 of the preliminary injunction by MAY 22, 2025, AT NOON.

That declaration shall address compliance as to each of the 124 terminated probationers listed in the attached letter. The attached letter will be unsealed on MAY 22, 2025, AT NOON, unless counsel files an administrative motion showing good cause why it should remain under seal.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: May 15, 2025….

There, perjury charges lie ahead. . . and, since my adult Ironman running son (Boise, July 28, 2025) is among these probationaries, you may rest assured that I will follow up on this one, next week. Were they lying, or incompetent — or both: very incompetent liars(?)… Just… damn.

नमस्ते

USDC Judge Hellerstein Grants Extended Prelim. Inj. — Against Use Of Alien Enemies Act, By Trump/Noem/Rubio… After Supremes Say “No Stay”…

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At Manhattan’s Foley Square, the federal trial courts have extended the TRO — by a simple text order, granting a preliminary injunction — against using the AEA to remove purported members of TDA.

Now you know — here’s the overnight order:

…Upon consideration of Petitioners-Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction:

Having determined that Petitioners-Plaintiffs (“Petitioners”) and the certified class are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims that the Proclamation violates the Alien Enemies Act (“AEA”), 50 U.S.C. § 21 et seq.; that the AEA does not authorize Respondents-Defendants (“Respondents”) to remove them from the United States; that Respondents’ actions implementing removals under the AEA violate due process; that in the absence of injunctive relief Petitioners and the certified class will suffer irreparable injury in the form of unlawful removal that may be irreversible; and that the balance of hardships and public interest favor preliminary relief, it is, therefore, ORDERED that Petitioners’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction is hereby GRANTED; and that Respondents (excluding the President with respect to any injunctive relief), their agents, representatives, and all persons or entities acting in concert with them are hereby:

ENJOINED from enforcing the Presidential Proclamation entitled “Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua” in the Southern District of New York….

ORDERED that after the May 21 conference, further proceedings in this Court shall be stayed pending appeal. Any party may move to lift the stay at any time….

Onward, into a steamy, sunny Spring morning here! Smile….

नमस्ते

Once Again, Justice Thomas Has Been “The Decider” — To Put A Florida Man To Death, In A Manner That Will Very Likely Cause Extreme Pain, Due To Drug Interactions…

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Once again, it is Justice Thomas’ order that removes the last barrier to this arguably cruel form of execution (for at least this man with porphyria). That order is… now on the docket. [Many may recall that we previously discussed a similar (failed) challenge, to the execution of an Alabama man — about a year and a half ago. It was Thomas that finally put that Alabama man to death, as well.]

Damn.

To be certain, I’ve long understood the “Code of Hammurabi-style theater” — at play here.

It just strikes me as quite a distance beneath… a society of ordered liberty.

Here is the Florida man’s description (by his counsel) of the Eighth Amendment violation that Thomas is now only to happy to countenance:

…[The Florida-Condemned Mr.] Rogers is arguing that Florida’s current lethal injection procedures are unconstitutional as specifically applied to him because executing Rogers under those procedures will very likely cause him needless pain and suffering due to the interaction of Florida’s use of the drug etomidate and Rogers’s Porphyria. Glossip v. Gross, 576 U.S. 863 (2015); Baze v. Rees, 553 U.S. 35 (2008).

Rogers’s as-applied challenge to Florida’s lethal injection procedures is substantial grounds upon which relief from the ultimate sanction of execution very likely could be granted. The state circuit court summarily denied Rogers’ as-applied challenge without holding an evidentiary hearing on the matter. However, the Florida Supreme Court’s (“FSC”) prior precedent recognizes the need for evidentiary hearings on as-applied challenges to execution procedures, and the FSC has relinquished jurisdiction to the lower state court on at least four separate occasions so that an evidentiary hearing may be held on such claims. Rogers should be given the same opportunity to an evidentiary hearing as those prior defendants who also raised an as-applied challenge while under an active death warrant….

[Editor’s Note: about a decade ago, Pfizer stopped selling lethal injection drugs. Now prisons must make their own cocktails of death.]

So, we yet again renew our opposition to the death penalty in all cases — and particularly here, where animal models (mice and rats) suggest that the inmate will struggle violently for several minutes, rather than falling immediately into paralysis and coma, in his case, this would be likely due to poisons gushing forth from his liver, as his porphyria disease interacts with the injected etomidate — and it in turn interacts with the therapeutic drugs he’s taking. This could take 20 to 30 minutes before he shuts down completely, struggling the whole while. But that may well be the unstated but cruel intention of Florida — and earlier in 2024, Alabama.]

All this leads to, in Hammurabi’s Code — is a land of the… blind — “as eyes — for eyes… do not restore sight to the dead“. Out.

नमस्ते

Again, Hinderaker Neglects To Mention That Most Of These “Afrikkkaners”, Arriving Here — Were Active Participants, In “Modern Day Slavery” — On Their Farms, During Apartheid…

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Almost to a person, these arriving whyte people from South Africa saw their former family farms and lands forfeited, by operation of law — since in duly convened court proceedings, it was established that the farm (or mine) was heavily reliant on a system of near-enslavement of people of color, during Apartheid.

Elon’s family is Exhibit A here — an emerald mine.

Of course, Hinderaker simply omits this — the most salient truth, of it.

Why?

Because he is ever on the hunt for whytes (he claims) that have experienced “reverse discrimination“. Never mind that it nearly never happens in the Western World.

He needs a[nother] wedge issue.

But as the South AFrican court files start arriving on these “migrants”… John will — as ever — appear as the ass in it all.

Out.