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Sunday Night’s (Mostly Non-) Update: Garcia v. Noem (USDC, MMD)

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No surprise; Kristi Noem wants everything stopped… because the president of El Salvador is meeting with Trump on Monday. And so, she refuses to give any additional updates on Mr. Garcia’s status, or on the terms of the contract that the United States has with El Salvador to hold detainees for the US.

However, she all but admits that that contract exists. We will eventually see it — if she doesn’t release him.

Now, as I said previously, this is not a diplomatic matter at all; this is simply a matter of giving clear instructions under a written contract. Here’s the latest shifting sand from Noem, but I won’t quote it. I will only quote what Mr. Garcia’s lawyers asked for last night:

…President Trump confirmed that the United States has the power to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from prison and return to the United States: “If the Supreme Court said, ‘Bring somebody back,’ I would do that…. I respect the Supreme Court.”

Of course, that is precisely what the Supreme Court did when it ruled that this Court’s injunction “properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.” Noem et al. v. Abrego Garcia et al., 604 U.S. ____, 2025 WL 1077101, at *1 (Apr. 10, 2025). The Government should be required to comply with the Supreme Court’s order that it “ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,” by taking all available steps to release and return Abrego Garcia to Maryland….

Onward, resolutely. For the first time tonight, these Noemites make a claim that in 2019, while Trump was in office the first time, some immigration judge changed Mr. Garcia status. But she offered no evidence of that supposed fact… nor what specifically was changed, and how Mr. Garcia was made aware of it. [Yes, I am more than a little skeptical that those events didn’t happen at all, but they’ve been “papered” — after the fact — by people loyal to Noem and/or Trump.]

But as I say, that could not have happened to allow his deportation without a full due process hearing — here in 2025. That hearing never occurred — everyone concedes that. He needs to return to the United States.

नमस्ते

Of Course, Jack Dorsey Is (Mostly) Just Looking To Be… Provocative. To Stir The Pot. But Too Many Morons Reside On X-itter Now… They Think He’s Serious.

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Intellectual exercises such as these, based on posers like this… are useful to challenge outmoded ideas — if nothing else. The proponent rarely seriously believes the proposition will be adopted, without vast modifications. And true, patent trolls are a problem — as is the evergreening of pharma patents. But it is all a lil’ rich, to hear Jack — sitting on tens of billions of dollars, from his own IP being out-licensed, to only now abolish the system… solely because it is getting in the way of his stealing other people’s ideas… to make ever more… billions.

How unfair it must be — how put upon, he must feel — to have to pay other smart people for ideas he wants to just slap on his own lunchbox, and sell it himself. Geez!

Here’s just a bit of the largely inspid discussion that ensued, when Elon Musk chimed in, in support of Dorsey:

…Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter (now X) and Square (now Block), sparked a weekend’s worth of debate around intellectual property, patents, and copyright, with a characteristically terse post declaring, “delete all IP law.”

X’s current owner Elon Musk quickly replied, “I agree.”

It’s not clear what exactly brought these comments on, but they come at a time when AI companies including OpenAI (which Musk co-founded, competes with, and is challenging in court) are facing numerous lawsuits alleging that they’ve violated copyright to train their models.

Indeed, tech evangelist and investor Chris Messina alluded to this while writing that Dorsey “has a point,” because, “Automated IP fines/3-strike rules for AI infringement may become the substitute for putting poor people in jail for cannabis possession….”

That’s just… stupid. And these bros think that the only IP that matters is in software and systems. They utterly miss that the drugs that keep them, and their parents… alive… cost tens of billions to develop — and no one will do that work, with the urgency we now need, and see — at least — without a solid profit incentive. And without IP law, there could be no real promise of… profits.

Here endeth the lesson, for Jack — and Elmo. Cheers!

नमस्ते

Power Alley: I Will No Longer Do Yearly Trend Reports, On Merck CEO Compensation… It Is ALL Ridiculous — But Now “Normal” In The USA…

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I just can’t waste energy on something that will never become rational, again. Pharma CEOs do very complicated, life-saving work — true. They manage immense complexity, and often conflicting regulatory environments, dotting the globe. And they make tons of money for shareholders — paying out hefty dividends for decades on end. So yes, they should be well paid. But $20 million a year means about $100 million in just five years. That is silly. Same way paying a baseball player $100 million on a five year contract is… silly.

There is no sense in which any of these people are objectively “worth the money“. But that ship has sailed. It is now what the “market will bear” pricing.

Said another way, I can’t boil the ocean away, with my Zippo lighter (as I don’t even own one, anyway!). So, here’s FiercePharma, on it all — for my last look at his pay, in all likelihood:

…Merck has handed out another hefty raise to CEO Rob Davis, boosting his compensation by 13% to $23.2 million in 2024, according to the company’s 2025 proxy statement.

Since taking the reins from former helmsman Ken Frazier, Davis has seen his pay scale up quickly, from $13.7 million in 2021 to $18.6 million in 2022 and $20.3 million in 2023.

The compensation package for Davis measures up to those for other U.S. pharma honchos last year such as Eli Lilly’s David Ricks ($29.2 million), Pfizer’s Albert Bourla, Ph.D., ($24.6 million), Johnson & Johnson’s Joaquin Duato ($24.3 million) and Gilead Sciences’ Daniel O’Day ($23.7 million)….

What I will still rail on and on about… will be these nutty crypto-CEOs — running vastly money losing operations, to essentially switch on a warehouse full of high end processor cores, and then wait around in the lunchroom, for them to find Bitcoin block mining rewards. That is a moron’s job — but Riot CEO Les paid himself in 2024 (wait for it!) over $83.5 million to do that silly job.

As I’ve said before, he made in 2024, about $9 million MORE than the CEO of Apple — Tim Cook. Cook runs a $2 trillion enterprise, that is wildly profitable, for decades now — globe wide. This Les guy sits in dusty West Texas, and comes in in the morning to throw on a circuit breaker. That’s it. Damn.

That is just stoopid — with two o’s. Onward.

नमस्ते

Bill Otis Does Us A “Backhanded” Favor: He Clearly Describes… Tangerine 2.0

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On his way to a silly and unduly longish burp (complaining about composting measures in NYC), Bill opens by telling the truth about the reprobate in chief:

…[W]ith Donald Trump’s bullying and bumbling into unforced errors that will overshadow and besmirch the worthwhile parts of his agenda, and thus will be used to impeach it and [sic — words missing?] (probably literally) him (since assassination hasn’t worked, yet), it’s getting harder to remember why 77,000,000 people or so voted for him; I doubt they were rooting for a crash in their 401(k) plans….

That is all of his that is remotely worth quoting.

That’s the post.

Out — to ride bikes by the lake.

This Is Confirmation, In Real Time — Of Why He Went Through Six Bankruptcies. Damn.

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So… he’s only now figuring out what happens to the US economy if he personally causes a new iPhone to cost over $3,500 (from ~$900, last week)?

We see he has rolled back his tariffs on all the components of the iPhone that are made in China. Which is to say… he’s rolled back tariffs on all pricey Apple products, a wide array of computer chips, and many consumer electronics goods — not even three days after they took effect. Again.

If there is one thing the markets hate, it is undue uncertainty. And that’s his first, middle and last name.

For people who’ve watched Wall Street for decades, it’s been clear that Donald Trump really knows very little about the capital markets, and about what actually drives the US economy. Even so, I’ll admit to being surprised that his malignancy and idiocy have so rapidly resulted in the real probability that he will be the first president ever to have created a recession in his first three months in office — when handed a growing economy.

The break-neck speed with which he has deeply rattled the markets, and caused what may well be an “uncertainty” recession — with his tariff flip-flops, is genuinely surprising to me.

Thus, this, from above the fold, in the capitalists’ paper of record:

…Economic Outlook Dives Just Three Months Into Trump’s Term

The probability of a recession has leapt while the growth outlook has slumped, a survey of economists has found…

I had thought it would be mid-summer or beyond, before his whole chaotic world would begin to collapse in on itself. But between his on and off feuding with Elon Musk, and the regular GOP becoming completely exasperated with his illiteracy… It seems the wheels are already falling off.

नमस्ते

Mr. Garcia’s Counsel Seeks Contempt — As Early As Monday Night, April 14 — For Defying Court Orders, By Noem, Rubio & Trump

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For its part, the government would say only (in its required sworn report, on the docket tonight) that he is alive, and secured in the anti-terrorism jail in El Salvador — with the claim that he is held under the Salvadorans’ “sovereign” authority. [That obviously, is complete bunk — just ask… Trump (see below in — blue).] The Noem-ites said nothing — about steps being taken (even though they were ordered to do so) to get him home, essentially immediately.

So, Mr. Garcia’s lawyers just moved (on a Saturday), for a show cause hearing, for contempt — since Tangerine 2.0 still pretends he cannot read the plain English ruling of the US Supreme Court. In sum, he “blinks at reality“. Judge Xinis is likely headed to holding a contempt hearing next week — and whichever lawyer who has the misfortune of appearing for Noem next week… may go into the can. At least for 24-to-48 hours. Wow. Here’s that latest very muscular motion for relief, from these great lawyers for Mr. Abrego Garcia:

…Yesterday, President Trump confirmed that the United States has the power to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from prison and return to the United States: “If the Supreme Court said, ‘Bring somebody back,’ I would do that… I respect the Supreme Court.”

Of course, that is precisely what the Supreme Court did when it ruled that this Court’s injunction “properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.” Noem et al. v. Abrego Garcia et al., 604 U.S. ____, 2025 WL 1077101, at *1 (Apr. 10, 2025). The Government should be required to comply with the Supreme Court’s order that it “ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,” by taking all available steps to release and return Abrego Garcia to Maryland….

This is going to end badly for Kristi Noem — and Tangerine, if he doesn’t step to it — and get our guy home. Bank on that. Another written report is due by 5 PM EDT, onto the public federal docket, tomorrow — Sunday — from Noem’s lawyers. Onward.

नमस्ते

We Are At A Watershed Moment In US Civil-, And Human-Rights… Much Like 1960-64, and End of Vietnam-Era, And In The First Few Years After 9/11 — Who Has “The Right… To Have Rights”?

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There is a fairly long path through the federal courts yet to come, before Mr. Khalil may be deported by Noem, Rubio and Tangerine 2.0. He may remain in detention for months yet, though — somewhere (hopefully soon at least, in New Jersey, nearer his family and counsel). That is reality.

But he will remain in detention inside the US. Make no mistake — he’s been targeted for expressing views Donald Trump disfavors — nothing more. And to be clear, the Supremes have held he has the right to challenge, as do the purported Venezuelans, in real federal District Courts, via/under habeas proceedings. That will take… months.

That too is reality. He’d (in March) previously written a letter in the style of Rev. King’s “Letter from the Birmingham Jail“, and I’ve printed parts of it, below. You may read it in full, in The Guardian (UK), or here (to be clear, whether I agree with all of it or not, is of no moment — what matters… is he has the right to say it):

…My name is Mahmoud Khalil and I am a political prisoner. I am writing to you from a detention facility in Louisiana where I wake to cold mornings and spend long days bearing witness to the quiet injustices under way against a great many people precluded from the protections of the law….

Who has the right to have rights? It is certainly not the humans crowded into the cells here. It isn’t the Senegalese man I met who has been deprived of his liberty for a year, his legal situation in limbo and his family an ocean away. It isn’t the 21-year-old detainee I met who stepped foot in this country at age nine, only to be deported without so much as a hearing.

Justice escapes the contours of this nation’s immigration facilities….

My arrest was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza, which resumed in full force Monday night. With January’s ceasefire now broken, parents in Gaza are once again cradling too-small shrouds, and families are forced to weigh starvation and displacement against bombs. It is our moral imperative to persist in the struggle for their complete freedom….

I was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria to a family which has been displaced from their land since the 1948 Nakba. I spent my youth in proximity to yet distant from my homeland. But being Palestinian is an experience that transcends borders. I see in my circumstances similarities to Israel’s use of administrative detention — imprisonment without trial or charge — to strip Palestinians of their rights. I think of our friend Omar Khatib, who was incarcerated without charge or trial by Israel as he returned home from travel….

I have always believed that my duty is not only to liberate myself from the oppressor, but also to liberate my oppressors from their hatred and fear. My unjust detention is indicative of the anti-Palestinian racism that both the Biden and Trump administrations have demonstrated over the past 16 months as the US has continued to supply Israel with weapons to kill Palestinians and prevented international intervention. For decades, anti-Palestinian racism has driven efforts to expand US laws and practices that are used to violently repress Palestinians, Arab Americans, and other communities. That is precisely why I am being targeted. . . .

While I await legal decisions that hold the futures of my wife and child in the balance, those who enabled my targeting remain comfortably at Columbia University. Presidents [Minouche] Shafik, [Katrina] Armstrong, and Dean [Keren] Yarhi-Milo laid the groundwork for the US government to target me by arbitrarily disciplining pro-Palestinian students and allowing viral doxing campaigns – based on racism and disinformation – to go unchecked….

Columbia surrendered to federal pressure by disclosing student records to Congress and yielding to the Trump administration’s latest threats. My arrest, the expulsion or suspension of at least 22 Columbia students — some stripped of their BA degrees just weeks before graduation — and the expulsion of SWC [Student Workers of Columbia] President Grant Miner on the eve of contract negotiations, are clear examples.

If anything, my detention is a testament to the strength of the student movement in shifting public opinion toward Palestinian liberation. Students have long been at the forefront of change — leading the charge against the Vietnam war, standing on the frontlines of the civil rights movement, and driving the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Today, too, even if the public has yet to fully grasp it, it is students who steer us toward truth and justice….

The Trump administration is targeting me as part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent. Visa holders, green-card carriers, and citizens alike will all be targeted for their political beliefs. In the weeks ahead, students, advocates, and elected officials must unite to defend the right to [peacefully] protest for Palestine. At stake are not just our voices, but the fundamental civil liberties of all.

Knowing fully that this moment transcends my individual circumstances, I hope nonetheless to be free to witness the birth of my first-born child….

So it goes. And now you know. We will keep covering many of these cases. Trump, more than any leader here in over a century. . . is dangerous to the improbable, fragile but ultimately long lived experiment in ordered liberty. Resist him, always.

नमस्ते

Update: Schedule / Hearings In Robert Panton/ICE To Jamaica Case — In Foley Square…

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Candidly, we may not be able to keep up with all these note-worthy and precedent-reaffirming cases, over time.

But for now, here is where we are in the habeas case of the community leader who has lived here lawfully, and peacefully for over 20 years. Noem seeks to deport him for essentially no reason, and without process of law, very likely because he expresses views that she and Tangerine 2.0 disfavor. That won’t do. So here’s the upcoming schedule in Manhattan’s federal courts:

…The parties have conferred, and they jointly propose the following schedule:

△ Petitioner’s amended petition for writ of habeas corpus by Friday, April 18;

△ Respondents’ opposition to the amended petition by Friday, May 2;

△ Petitioner’s reply in support of the amended petition by Monday, May 12….

In addition, Petitioner is still deciding whether to appeal the Court’s April 4, 2025, order denying Petitioner’s motion for a temporary restraining order and/or a preliminary injunction. In the event a notice of appeal is filed, the parties agree to confer following the filing of the amended petition to determine whether proceedings should continue in the district court pending appeal and, if so, whether the schedule should be modified. . . .

[Memo Endorsed / “So Ordered”.]

Now you know — excellent close up magic show and dinner with friends, last evening, in the Loop… grin.

नमस्ते

Mirengoff Offers… Laughable Lunacy, Tonight…

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This may be the most insipid non-sequitur Paul has ever written and/or offered:

…The notion of having a judge deeply involved in overseeing aspects of a university’s operations strikes me as problematic. But Democrats have been more than happy to give judges a similar role when it comes to overseeing police departments…

Huh.

When was the last time the nightly news reported that a University Provost drew his service revolver, and shot dead any unarmed motorist in a traffic stop… when the only “threat” from said motorist… was the color of his skin?

Right.

That has NEVER happened, Paul.

Police officers need judicial monitors because they hold instant, life and death decision-making authority which in real time is mostly beyond meaningful review. A lil’ less so, since body cams became a more widespread part of the officers’ uniform and gear — but the point remains:

These are two wildly different cases. So different as to make Mirengoff out as a fool — for writing the above.

Here’s a similar idea (with as much merit as Paul’s, above): let’s hire only parking meter cops to teach post-doctorate level coursework at all universities… say, in the field of engineered human monoclonal antibody targeted therapeutic candidates.

Yup. Makes sense to me.

And yup, that’s how Paul’s insane notions related to crime patterns and race (and those of Heather Mac Donald) strike me.

Just like what Trump thinks needs to occur on university campuses, to be “great again”

Damn. Out.

This Was An Astonishingly-Stupid Gambit By Kristi Noem — Now She’ll Reap The Whirlwind. Order Below!

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The very capable USDC Judge Paula Xinis has entered her order, from today’s hearing.

I reproduce it below, in full — it is a BANGER! Enjoy:

…For the reasons discussed during today’s status conference, the Court finds that the Defendants have failed to comply with this Court’s Order at ECF No. 51. In advance of the conference, the Court had directed Defendants to file a supplemental declaration from an individual with personal knowledge, addressing the following: (1) the current physical location and custodial status of Abrego Garcia; (2) what steps, if any, Defendants have taken to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s immediate return to the United States; and (3) what additional steps Defendants will take, and when, to facilitate his return. ECF No. 51. Defendants made no meaningful effort to comply. Instead, they complained that the Order is “unreasonable and impracticable,” and involves “sensitive country-specific considerations wholly inappropriate for judicial review.” ECF No. 59 at 2.

During the hearing, the Court posed straightforward questions, including: Where is Abrego Garcia right now? What steps had Defendants taken to facilitate his return while the Court’s initial order on injunctive relief was in effect (from the afternoon of April 4, 2025, through the morning of April 7, 2025, and since 6:35 PM last night)? Defendants’ counsel responded that he could not answer these questions, and at times suggested that Defendants had withheld such information from him. As a result, counsel could not confirm, and thus did not advance any evidence, that Defendants had done anything to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return. This remained Defendants’ position even after this Court reminded them that the Supreme Court of the United States expressly affirmed this Court’s authority to require the Government “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return. See Noem v. Abrego Garcia, 25A949, 604 U.S. ___ (2025), Slip Op. at 2.

From this Court’s perspective, Defendants’ contention that they could not answer these basic questions absent some nonspecific “vetting” that has yet to take place, provides no basis for their lack of compliance.

Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that beginning April 12, 2025 [a Saturday & Sunday!], and continuing each day thereafter until further order of the Court, Defendants shall file daily, on or before 5:00 PM ET, a declaration made by an individual with personal knowledge as to any information regarding:

(1) the current physical location and custodial status of Abrego Garcia;

(2) what steps, if any, Defendants have taken to facilitate his immediate return to the United States;

(3) what additional steps Defendants will take, and when, to facilitate his return.

A follow-up in-person hearing will be scheduled for Tuesday, April 15, 2025, at 4:00 PM.

To the extent Plaintiffs seek additional relief, their motion shall be filed no later than 5:00 PM ET on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Defendants shall file any response by 5:00 PM ET on Sunday, April 13, 2025.

So Ordered….

Way to go, Kristi — you’ve pissed off the wrong very capable USDC Judge. Get ready to have your a$$ handed to you. Grinning ear to ear — even as we know Mr. Abrego-Garcia remains in danger of some very bad event — due solely to Kristi Noem’s fecklessness.

[To be clear, Judge Xinis is making a daily written record, so that she may shortly jail any lawyer who appears before her — for non-compliance. Federal contempt of court is no laughing matter, and whomever Noem sends into court on Tuesday… they probably should leave their belt and watch at home, a wear a worn-out tie — because it may go into a bin, for return to the person incarcerated, after a few days. Damn.] Out.

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