Category: Uncategorized

SB-4 In Texas Is Properly Enjoined: US Tells Fifth Circuit…

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As I mentioned this morning most recently, the Fifth Cir. had (unusually, since argument was already compete) asked for a primer on equitable remedies under federal immigration law, in favor of the feds. Tonight, both sides supplied just that.

The feds have given the Fifth Circuit exactly what it asked for — about the various ways the feds are allowed to seek equitable relief, in immigration matters — and the state of Texas is expressly prevented from seeking equitable relief, by raising state law claims, as against the feds — where immigration is involved.

As here. Feel free to read it all — it runs 20 pages.

But to be fair, I will link the state’s 30 page position… solely so it may be… duly mocked. It is not in any sense, an accurate telling of the applicable law (it can be safely ignored).

Let’s read from the feds, then, tonight:

…[E]ven if in one or more instances, Congress made express in statute what has long been clear from the Supreme Court’s case law — namely, that the United States may seek injunctive relief in federal court to protect its sovereign interests — that “belt-and-suspenders” drafting would not give rise to the inference that such statutory authorization would be necessary in every other case. See In re Coughlin, 33 F.4th 600, 609 (1st Cir. 2022) (citing Ethan J. Leib & James J. Brudney, The Belt-and-Suspenders Canon, 105 Iowa L. Rev. 735 (2020)).

Texas’s invocation of statutes from disparate contexts does nothing to support the idea that Congress has somehow displaced the equitable remedy that the United States has invoked in the circumstances of this case. The existence of comprehensive legislation in some areas does not displace background equity in others….

In short, Congress’s enactment of some statutes that include provisions expressly providing for the United States to seek equitable relief against violations in certain specified circumstances does not diminish the United States’ preexisting authority to vindicate its sovereign authority and interests by seeking an injunction. Here, the United States has done so by seeking an injunction to prevent the enforcement of a state statute that interferes with federal government’s administration of immigration law by intruding into a field that is exclusively occupied by the federal government and that conflicts with the standards and enforcement procedures under federal law.

The Court should affirm the preliminary injunction….

Texas has identified no fewer than 300 instances where the feds have the power to invoke equitable remedies against states, for violating federal law (just the same as here). It doesn’t require a new act of Congress to do so, each time. That’s just… silly.

Sure seems like Texas should just admit they are… wildly wrong, here.

But they won’t.

Onward.

In Which Mirengoff Would Tell Us That “People’s Beliefs” In A Conspiracy… Amount To “Evidence” That The False Conspiracy Is… TRUE?!?

~ condor ~ 2 Comments

This is simply…. mind numbing.

Paul starts by stipulating that Tangerine is an inveterate liar. He openly agrees that there are lots and lots of verifiably false statements, out of Trump’s mouth on a daily basis.

But then — defying every ACTUAL rule of evidence, federal and state, he goes on to say we cannot take that — as evidence(!) — of general untruthfulness.

No, we must accord proper countervailing weight to the notion that lots of gullible (or malign) loons wholeheartedly believe his lies. So, according to Mirengoff, we must treat them as at least partially worthy of belief… because “some people” believe them.

Tautology — meet… tautology. [A classical logical error, that — well described in the literature, stretching back to about the sixth century BCE, without interruption — and most cogently explained by Immanuel Kant, by about 1740. Where was I? Oh. Right.]

Paul absolutely knows that The WaPo is correct to say there is “no evidence” for almost all Tangerine’s cray-cray claims. [And we are watching his stake in “Truth Social” go down the tubes, for it — day by day, as he offers ever wilder, and newer nonsense theories purportedly in support, from his own keyboard — or Devin Nunes’s.]

But Paul also knows that while Trump had Bill Barr run the DoJ as a political weapon, Mr. Biden has told Merrick Garland that he is to act independently (as had been 200 years of history’s teachings) from the White House. And Mr. Garland has.

It just turns out that Trump has committed lots of felonies. And Mr. Garland is just doing his job. In six short years, Mirengoff forgot all he ever knew — that even Dick Cheney was much for politicizing the DoJ. No — not since Nixon had we seen such banana republic stuff.

Stuff Trump took to a whole new level 2018 to 2021. [In that sense, Paul is correct, when he observes that Trump has — through debauchery — changed for many in the GOP what their relationship is to “objective” truths, altogether. And that’s not a good thing.]

So again, Paul ASSUMES — despite no evidence to support his notion… as a bare naked assumption — that Mr. Biden is pressing his thumb on the scales of justice, as to prosecuting Tangerine’s open and notorious crime spree (still ongoing, as securities fraud at stock symbol “DJT”).

That is… a preposterously bad form of argument / persuasion, Paul. Take a seat.

43 Years Ago, This Morning — NASA’s Reusable “Space Shuttle Era” Opened.

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I watched it all, on that morning, on the university’s student union grill TV — the grill then called Alfred E. Packer’s.

And I knew to a certainty, that space exploration had forever been changed, in that sudden blinking of an eye. A large international space station would be feasible, as would what became the Hubble space telescope, and dozens of other new scientific endeavors, now that we could haul stuff up to orbit, and bring it all back down — and the crews, with it — over and over again. Here’s the bit:

…The First Space Shuttle: NASA astronauts John W. Young, commander, and Robert L. Crippen, pilot, aboard….

The new era in space flight began on April 12, 1981. That is when the first Space Shuttle mission (STS-1) was launched. The Marshall Space Flight Center developed the propulsion system for the Space Shuttle. STS-1 was meant to demonstrate a safe launch into orbit and a safe return of the orbiter and crew, as well as verify the combined performance of the entire shuttle vehicle – orbiter, solid rocket boosters and external tank.

The first space shuttle landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California on April 14, 1981, after having successfully tested its major systems….

It both seems like… yesterday, and like… a million years, and miles… ago — too.

Whoosh!

नमस्ते

I Should Note That This Supremes Decision Means A LOT LESS… That Some Will Say It Does: On Securities Law Liability, For “Pure Silence”

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There will doubtlessly be some commentators who will say this is a big shift in the federal securities law jurisprudence announced this morning.

It isn’t. [In fact, it is not even worth naming the case. And to be clear, this is a defense Elizabeth Holmes tried to put forward — but she had created affirmative duties to disclose for herself, when speaking to her investors, because she had previously openly lied about so many of these material matters — like whether the device even worked. Smile.]

This new case merely holds that one may remain silent, where no special circumstances require affirmative speaking — speaking, to make the other statements made, not misleading by omitting context.

That’s all it holds. If someone buys a security without any disclosures, from someone else, without asking any questions, and without a disclosure document (in an exempt transaction, for example), there can be no 10b-5(b) liability — due to the failure of the buyers’ diligence.

Unsurprising, and that’s been understood to be the well settled law — for at least four decades. Since I practice M&A in the life sciences, this all comes up pretty often. Now you know. Onward, into the sunshiny Friday air.

Smile.

नमस्ते

The Feds Renew Their Motion To Toss Out All Of Texas’s Specious Claims Before USDC Judge Moses — In The Land Razor Wire Cases, In Del Rio…

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We are nearing the end of the line for the land based razor wire cases in West Texas. This motion to dismiss was filed overnight in the trial court, but the Fifth Cir., on appeal, is awaiting an answer from Texas (also by tonight) — as to why the below pull quote DOES NOT definitively bounce Gov. Abbott and AG Paxton out on their ears. [Hint: it does.]

It is truly all over now, except for the caterwauling by Texas — and the cruelty of maimed kids, near the shore on the Rio Grande, of course. Here’s that cogently-argued motion to end Texas’s claims:

“…The federal government enjoys complete sovereign immunity except as it has consented to be sued and consented to submit to liability.” In re Supreme Beef Processors, Inc., 468 F.3d 248, 255 (5th Cir. 2006) (en banc). A waiver of sovereign immunity must be “strictly construed, in terms of its scope, in favor of the sovereign.” Lane v. Pena, 518 U.S. 187, 192 (1996). Contrary to Texas’s assertion, see Compl. ¶ 22, 5 U.S.C. § 702 does not include “clear and unambiguous authorization” for state-law claims seeking equitable relief against the federal government. See PI Order at 19. Section 702 states:

“[a]n action in [federal] court… seeking relief other than money damages and stating a claim that an agency or an officer or employee thereof acted or failed to act in an official capacity or under color of legal authority shall not be dismissed nor relief therein be denied on the ground that it is against the United States.”

Especially when construing the provision in favor of the sovereign, the waiver of sovereign immunity properly is limited to suits arising under federal law and invoking federal-question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331….

Congress added the waiver language in 1976, see Pub. L. No. 94-574, 90 Stat. 2721, 2721, to largely “do away with the ultra vires doctrine and other fictions surrounding sovereign immunity.” Geyen v. Marsh, 775 F.2d 1303, 1307 (5th Cir. 1985); see H.R. Rep. No. 94-1656 at 5 (1976); S. Rep. No. 94-966 at 5 (1976)….

In sum, Gov. Abbott and AG Paxton cannot win. This is a purely political Kabuki theater moment, unfolding in slow motion — by Texas, but one that is maiming and killing would-be asylees, day by day. Deplorable.

नमस्ते

With Earth Day Approaching… Paul Mirengoff Has A Sad, On…

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Well…. No surprise here.

Paul doesn’t like the international ruling against Switzerland, that its peoples are embed with a right to be free from avoidable environmental hazards — ones caused by anti-environmentalist policies, over decades.

Whether I think this particular one is a wise decision or not, is of no moment. The point is that we, and the Swiss, agreed to certain things as members of the UN, and the international community.

Paul ignores the fact that our remedy is to vote with our feet if we don’t like it.

Mirengoff would have us believe that some ill-defined, but all-powerful “new world order” is about to seize all individual freedoms inside Swiss borders (and US ones).

I seem to recall that the Swiss own more guns per capita than any nation outside of the US (though the vast majority of theirs are bolt action, single-shot hunting rifles — while ours are handguns). There is zero danger of the Swiss losing their freedoms.

Do go over and sit on your fainting couch (again), Paul. You take a minute. You need it — you’ve got what Biz Markie called… “the vapors“.

Heh.

Well — Hinderaker Is… RIGHT, Abut This Much: The GOP Will (Again) Die, On The Abortion Rights Hill, In 2024…

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Tangerine, in particular. [See John’s of tonight — he has finally admitted he was dead wrong about Arizona’s local politics.]

Proof they’ve gone… insane — barking mad? Today, when the GOP regulars in Arizona refused to allow the Democrats in the state legislature to move a bill to formally repeal that noxious 1864 “law” (from when Arizona was a mere territory!) which a moron GOP AZ Supreme Court judge decided trumps a bi-partisan law the whole legislature passed just two years ago… well, they’ve showed their stripes.

They cannot win in November in Arizona — not if the position is: abortion is in all cases unlawful.

Yep — John’s right. This is where 2020 died — and where 2022 died — for the national GOP races.

I am happy to wait now, until November, to see Arizona rid itself of these jokers and their malignant Kabuki theater antics. I’ll be down there again from mid December through mid January… laughing at the ritual suicide the GOP committed in November 2024 on the issue.

No fuss — no worries — we, blue democrats, in the most noble iteration of that term — will take it from here, kids… you cannot trust the GOP to handle real, adult issues. That’s the object lesson, indeed.

HILARIOUS — and now, even the dolt Hinderaker knows it — and admits as much.

Trump Is Getting Positively Buried — In NY AG Actions…

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So — the NY AG is crushing Tangerine, in post trial, and appeal motions.

It is a thing of graceful elegance and spare-ornation beauty.

Trump’s ex-CFO (Weisselberg) is a mill-stone around his neck, as he sinks into the ocean:

…Mr. Weisselberg has admitted that he perjured himself during discovery and the trial in this action. The Court is well within its authority to determine if Defendants and their counsel facilitated that perjury by withholding of incriminating documents. The Monitor has already been tasked with assessing Defendants’ internal controls, compliance functions and recordkeeping. The potential failure to properly produce documents in a legal proceeding relevant to the valuation of Mr. Trump’s triplex plainly falls within the ambit of her authority, and certainly within the power of this Court to safeguard the integrity of its own proceedings….

And even if Defendants’ myriad complaints had merit as to the Court’s ability to modify the Monitor’s duties or advance an inquiry after trial, the investigative matter remains open and the Court has the authority to appoint a special referee to conduct the inquiry. See In re Opioids Litig., No. 400000/2017, NYSCEF No. 9247 at 5 (Sup. Ct. Suffolk Cty. May 25, 2022)….

Defendants fail to even acknowledge this basic fact. Instead, counsel for Defendants, including counsel for Mr. Weisselberg, argue they “have no ‘knowledge’ that Mr. Weisselberg made false statements during the trial; to the contrary, many believe that Mr. Weisselberg only made such admissions because he was being threatened with life in prison.” NYSCEF No. 1711 at 3 n.2. It is clear that Defendants and their counsel are completely incapable of independently disclosing any impropriety and outside certification is the only means to get to the truth….

Flawless. Out.

Mirengoff Claims Mr. Biden Is “Disingenuously For”… Fairer Housing — And Affordability?!

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This is all because Tangerine see this issue as one-dimensional, only:

Trump openly courts racist landlords / slumlords. He and his father before him are/were among the biggest slumlords in New York. He sees this as an issue of needing to keep “un-nice” people, from “shit-hole countries” in their place.

He will frame the idea of fair housing as… yep, specious whyte replacement conspiracies.

So, Paul decides to draw the sting, and say Mr. Biden really wants more overlord power over regular Americans, in their decisions to refuse to rent to people, on racial grounds.

Paul knows Mr. Biden will run circles around Tangerine, on this, rightly painting Trump as a life-long avowed racist landlord.

In the 1990s, HUD and the EEOC sued Trump, proving that out of some 7,000 apartments he owned/owns in NYC, he had only two black families as tenants. This, in what is and was undoubtedly one of the most vibrant upscale professional metro-markets for people of color in the United States. He claimed he couldn’t “find” any “qualified” tenants of color.

This man is a 19th Century dyed in the wool racist — and Paul is shilling for him today. He said at a rally last weekend, that if re-elected, he will only allow immigration from the “NICE COUNTRIES“. One cannot even call that a dog whistle.

He despises people of color — no matter where they are from, how much they’ve achieved — or how they get here. Simply put, he’s a “whyte ameriKKKa only” adherent — a know-nuthin’.

D A M N.