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[U] Texas Filed A Turgid, Self-Contradicting Mess Of 35 Pages, Before USDC Judge Tipton, Tonight…

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I won’t say much more about it (other than the small paragraphs below), until the more sensible answers from RAICES and the Biden Administration are on file, next week… but it would seem the Biden strategy will be to get to a quick final decision, up or down, here — and then file its appeal.

These jokers down in Texas wait until the middle of their motion (at page 10 — of a total of 195 pages, when exhibits are all counted) to address standing. They finally get around to making the standing argument, in the course of arguing that Texas “spends some money” on services to/for people who may or may not have papers. . . (as does every other state, thus undercutting their claim of special injury — to establish standing), when AG Paxson openly — and entirely inexpicably — lays out some US Supreme Court cases… holding that Texas MUST pay these costs, in any event under federal law. As must every state. So… boys: any cogent USDC Judge would FIRST ask “where is your standing (your concrete injury)?” This one seems to occur as a result of existing law. End of story. Here’s that page 10-11 bit:

…Indeed, Texas is required by federal law to incur some of these costs. For example, the Supreme Court has held that States are constitutionally obligated to provide free education to unlawfully present aliens. Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982). Similarly, Medicaid requires provision of emergency services, regardless of immigration status, as a condition of participation. See 42 U.S.C. § 1395dd; 42 C.F.R. § 440.255….

The first nine pages were a largely falsified or misleading sermon on how bad people without papers are — arguing essentially that they are all dangerous criminals. YAWN. No surprise, as that seems to be all Judge Tipton wants to hear about. [Here’s the opinion (entered February 9, 2021) from Judge Tipton formally extending the TRO to February 23. It relies primarily on a Fifth Circuit case about a DACA TRO from 2015, that deadlocked at 4-4 in the Supremes, after Scalia’s death. Not a very strong — or even credible — attempt, at all.]

Soon enough, this entire case will be… appealed, and out of his hands — and Texas will lose.

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Friday Trivia! Perhaps What’s Most Revealing Here… Is That No One Can Be Sure Trump DIDN’T Write The Second Letter.

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Here at right, is the actual letter, from the now-deposed moron — to SAG (note his signature, and “seal”):

And here, at below left, is one circulating on Twitter — in which he supposedly threatened the Chairman of COSTCO, for no longer selling MyPillows.

I am given to understand the one at left is a… parody.

But the point — as to felonies — remains salient… because his followers are so stupid, it is not unreasonable to assume that they might view his seal and signature line (at top right) as some form of federal office.

Thus… just one more, in a long line of felonies.

I think he’ll he ultimately do time for tax- and bank- fraud, in New York state.

But he will do time… eventually.

O/T, Space Science — Just 14 Days Now, To Barsoom: NASA/JPL Lander Arrives At Mars; Settles Into Orbit…

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We will have more, as the copper-clad, reflected face of Mars grows larger, in the forward facing panel, for this fine spacecraft. Two other countries’ missions (China, and the UAE) arrive there shortly, as well. But only NASA will place a rover, and helicopter onto the surface — and into service, zipping about the planet. At least, that is the plan — dare mighty things, indeed. . . .

Onward, grinning. . . ever grinning — out, into the deep and huge wheeling snowflakes — with a shovel now.

Do watch it all, in 4K (it is but one minute long) — if your wi-fi is on/available, and/or if your phone/laptop is fast enough:

नमस्ते

Life-Sciences Power Alley: Ken Frazier — Great Guy. Period. Now, Watch This… Space.

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I will make this quick, for now only.

You see, I was going to write a long post — as the wholly-fascinating story of his rise — from a decidedly humble start, growing up with a single dad who was a janitor, in a rough patch of Philly — to enroll at Penn State, and from there, to law school at Harvard. . . becoming a top flight corporate law partner at Drinker Biddle [all while consciously making himself, as a Black Man “white-user friendly” — to all his white peers, counterparts, clients and bosses. . . (as he has said in his own words), something none of them ever had to struggle with]. . . as an outside lawyer/partner for Merck (among many others); then to lead Merck’s internal legal department — and then become Chairman and CEO, is a truly, uniquely. . . American story of success.

But his saving “Bo” (James) Cochran, from death row in Alabama, in his spare time. . . is the way I’ll most remember him. While other pharma GCs — including two of the former Merck, and Schering-Plough GCs — spent most weekends. . . at private golf clubs, and at wine tastings and GOP infused fund-raising galas. . . about nothing at all, really. . . Mr. Frazier flew down to Alabama state prison’s death row, to meet and strategize, in the dank corners of that hideous facility with a man wrongly convicted and left by the authorities of Alabama. . . to be executed. Mr. Frazier quite literally saved Bo’s life (on a pro bono basis), over the course of three years of appeals.

CNBC is calling Mr. Frazier an “outspoken, activist” CEO — for his role in ending Trump’s “executives’ council” — but that ignores the fact that the core of what Mr. Frazier did was say racism in America is real — even inside 1600 Penn, at that time. So. . . for my money, CNBC gets the narrative backwards: Mr. Frazier simply said (and engaged in the practical application of the same, by his direct actions) “all humans must be treated as such.”

I will stop here, for now — as I am also keenly interested in the apparently emerging ground-swell, among Merck shareholders, to open up the search for his replacement, to all qualified people, inside and outside the company. That portends to be as interesting a story as any, here. And we will pursue that narrative arc, here.

To be sure, Rob Davis is a. . . competent executive (and, I may say that I know this from deep first hand experience) — but as of June, when Mr. Frazier retires, there will be only three black CEO/Chairs of larger US public companies.

And yes, representation. . . matters. So too, should the board of Merck consider an open search — for all the best and brightest — not just the next (white) guy in line. As I say. . . watch this space.

नमस्ते

[U, X3] Parler (Via The Mercers) Just Fired Its CEO. He Now Suggests In NPR Interview That The Mercers Support Domestic Terrorists.

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UPDATED @ 10 11 11:59 PM Eastern — seems his avatar and Bernie mittens meme were restored (and then again removed), after I first updated — repeatedly, in the last few hours or so. . . very droll. Consider this avatar/meme thing as a Schroëdinger’s cat paradox: one of the two states will appear when you next look. that is all. Even Matze’s avatar has been removed from the page, as well as his lame Bernie mittens meme. Seems the Mercers are STILL… pissed at him. “Cool story, just the same bro!” End, update(s).

Looks like Parler will… now never return — and that may be the only good news, here.

In his longer interview he suggested the opinion, at right. Do read it all, at NPR. Here it all is — via NPR’s able reporting:

“…Parler, the far-right-friendly social media site that was knocked offline after the violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, has fired its CEO.

John Matze said the company removed him as chief executive, but he did not cite a specific reason.

Matze said conservative donor Rebekah Mercer, who controls Parler’s board, immediately terminated his position on Friday.

“I did not participate in this decision,” Matze, 27, who is based in Henderson, Nev., wrote in a statement.

“This has been the true American Dream: an idea from a living room to a company of considerable value,” Matze said in the statement. “I’m not saying goodbye, just so long for now….”

H I L A R I O U S.

And, Matze’s saying this is probably self-serving — to deflect from legal fallout, as the FBI / DHS close in on suspects — as well as to try to find another job. He is only 27, afterall. He’s going to need a real job — in a world that views the Mercers as now dangerously-clueless, if well-heeled, far right extremists.

Onward.

Has The Kenosha AR-15 Gunman Kyle Rittenhouse… Skipped Bail / Left The County, Stiffing The Hard-Right Out Of $2 Million?

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As of Wednesday night, in Kenosha, an all-new warrant is being prepared — for his re-arrest, and booking into the adult facility in Kenosha County, Wisconsin. [This guy thinks a murder charge is… some form of joke.]

Prosecutors’ attempts to serve him with papers at the address listed for his home confinement turned up no trace of him, earlier this week.

…He’s currently awaiting trial for the shooting deaths of two men who were protesting the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

Prosecutors filed a motion Wednesday saying the court was unable to deliver a hearing notice for Rittenhouse at the address he listed as his home on his release paperwork.

The notice was returned to the court because a forwarding address was not known.

Prosecutors wrote in their filing Rittenhouse failed to notify the court of a change of address or telephone number within 48 hours.

They asked the judge to increase Rittenhouse’s bail by $200,000 for the violation and issue a warrant for his arrest….

We shall see. But even if he is ultimately only charged another $200,000 — I love that the hard-right is going deeper into their pockets to run the risk that he rabbits on them before his trial date.

नमस्ते

Texas AG Paxson Well-Knows RAICES And FIEL Houston Will Bury Him… So Tonight, He Opposes Their Intervention In USDC Judge Tipton’s Courtroom.

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Let me, out of chronological order, lead with why the two OUGHT to be granted the right to intervene, from their own motion. Do read it all — it sets forth their interests, as well as a good bit of the actual federal law applicable to this dispute.

Don’t bother reading the mindless drivel filed by the State of Texas, tonight — as it is… in the main, silly. But if you really want to have “seen it all“, here is AG Paxson’s specious 11 page argument against their intervention. In any sane world, Paxson would lose.

But we are in Judge Tipton’s courtroom, so who knows? From RAICES, then:

…Proposed Intervenors are two organizations whose members and clients include vulnerable noncitizens at risk of deportation and other serious adverse consequences if Texas is successful. To protect their interests, provide the Court with the organizations’ expertise regarding the immigration system, and share the perspective of directly impacted communities, Proposed Intervenors move to intervene in this action. “Federal courts should allow intervention where no one would be hurt and the greater justice could be attained.” Texas v. United States, 805 F.3d 653, 657 (5th Cir. 2015). Fundamentally, the “purpose of intervention is to allow interested parties to air their views so that a court may consider them before making potentially adverse decisions.” Brumfield v. Dodd, 749 F.3d 339, 344–45 (5th Cir. 2014)….

[Moreover, as Texas AG Paxson himself admits:] …To be sure, the Fifth Circuit has held that a proposed intervenor’s burden to show inadequate representation is “minimal.” Edwards, 78 F.3d at 1005….

To be certain, Tipton needs their cogent, experienced view — since he lacks… one of his own. Will he be smart enough to follow the prior case law in this arena, and welcome their help?

We shall see. Onward, to the next filings, due on the Fifth of February, here….

I Would Just Hope To Have Been Half… Or A Tenth, Even… The Man He Was… By The Time I Depart This Earth.

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Capt. Sir Thomas Moore (knighted by the Queen at age 100) has passed quietly, early on Tuesday, London time. This — after testing positive for COVID-19, over this past weekend, and then apparently contracting… pneumonia.

But as is so often true, his life will not be defined by his last few days — but rather by all the wonderful life he gave, and shared, with and for others. For a full century. Here’s the bit, from the Beeb:

…The retired Army officer served in India and Myanmar, also known as Burma, during World War Two but it was by walking laps around his garden that he became known to millions.

When he was 99, he was catapulted into the global spotlight with his attempt to raise an initial £1,000 for charity.

Early in April 2020, with the aid of his walking frame and a steely determination, he vowed to complete 100 laps of his patio before his 100th birthday at the end of that month.

The war veteran was inspired to help the health service after receiving treatment for skin cancer of the head, and a broken hip after a fall in 2018.

He described the NHS staff who helped him through this as “marvellous”, and pledged to help those same “super” people who were working on the front line during the coronavirus pandemic….

May the Infinite… now forever guide, protect and bless this fine soul. Onward. Be like. . . Sir Tom.

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Supremes Now Have Two Fewer Immigration Cases: Biden Administration Drops Trump’s Appeals Of Losses, On Wall Funding, And “Remain In Mexico” Orders

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Here is the one overnight, on no longer stealing DoD funding, funding which was repeatedly, and specifically labeled by Congress, as “not allowed” for “the Wall build” (only Congress has the power to tax and spend, afterall — Baby-T could not spend any money Congress did not allocate to him), in which the erstwhile new team at 1600 Penn has said the Supremes ought to remove Baby-T’s appeal of his loss from their calendar. Team Biden will not defend Baby-T’s position at the highest court. So, again, he loses.

And, here is the one dropping the lawless “remain in Mexico” executive action, and a bit of it — deplorable, that Baby-T did these things:

. . .[Since the adoption of “remain in Mexico” order,] DHS began processing aliens under MPP on January 28, 2019. Since then, the agency reports having returned approximately 68,700 individuals to Mexico under MPP. Some of them have had their removal proceedings resolved; some have withdrawn their applications for relief or protection from removal; and others’ removal proceedings are ongoing. . . .

In February 2019, respondents — 11 aliens who were returned to Mexico under MPP and six organizations that provide legal services to migrants — brought this suit in the Northern District of California challenging MPP on various grounds and seeking a preliminary injunction. In April 2019, the district court issued a preliminary injunction, without any geographical limits, that barred DHS from “continuing to implement or expand” MPP, and ordered that the individual plaintiffs be allowed to enter the United States. Pet. App. 83a; see id. at 48a-83a. On appeal, the court of appeals affirmed the district court’s injunction. . . .

Bit by bit, the ship of ordered liberty. . . is righting itself. Onward, smiling, this morning — as Mr. Biden signs a new batch of immigration related orders, repealing more of the lawless T-agenda.

नमस्ते

Perhaps Judge Tipton Should READ The Amicus Brief Already On File…

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This is. . . increasingly, a disturbing show — of just how unqualified he is — for the federal bench.

Last week, we highlighted and quoted from an amicus brief that has been on his desk since Wednesday night. Then, on Friday, the counsel who authored that brief explained very patiently to him, what the federal law in this area (of final removal orders) provides. He clearly was not listening, on the Zoom call — but thinking about his next point on dangerous criminals, to tee up, for the Texas attorney to offer meaningless political talking points. Judge Tipton tonight asked the parties to add the below question to his “briefings” on the preliminary injunction.

Maybe he ought to. . . I don’t know — just a thought here. . . READ the ones he has. Here it is, in his own hand:

. . .In addition to any and all issues the parties see fit to address in their preliminary injunction briefing, the Court asks that they include the following:

What are the legal ramifications of deferring an individual’s removal beyond the first 90 days following a final order of removal? For instance, is the Attorney General accorded more discretion over an individual’s final order of removal or detention after expiration of the “removal period”? 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(1)(A). . . .

And. . . Here. . . is the answer to that question, already likely lying somewhere, in a pile, on his desk — from last week’s amicus brief:

. . .Notably, Congress provided that during the initial 90-day “removal period” after an order becomes final DHS shall “[u]nder no circumstance” release certain individuals, limiting that provision to those deemed removable based on certain terrorist or criminal activities, for example. 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(2).

After that period, the statute generally contemplates release of persons with final removal orders. Id. § 1231(a)(3). Indeed, for any number of reasons, DHS may choose to release an individual with a final removal order pending decisions on matters described above, such as a motion to reopen proceedings, or as an exercise of prosecutorial discretion. When a noncitizen is released, they may (depending on the mechanism and circumstances) be placed on an electronic ankle monitor; enrolled in the “Intensive Supervision Appearance Program” (“ISAP”); required to pay a cash bond and report to ICE for regular supervision check-ins; or subject to other conditions. . . .

Alternatives to detention are extremely effective in ensuring that noncitizens continue to report to check-in appointments and hearings as required. See U.S. Gov’t Accountability Office, GAO15-26, Alternatives to Detention 10-11 (Nov. 2014), see: http://tinyurl.com/jkfz3x4.

In addition, courts sometimes order release or order the agency to consider release notwithstanding statutory provisions that would otherwise mandate detention. Thus, for example, in the Fraihat litigation, a district court has ordered ICE, on substantive due process grounds, to conduct custody determinations for members of a certified nationwide class of individuals vulnerable, because of their health conditions, to a heightened risk of severe illness or death if they contract COVID. See Fraihat v. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enf’t, 445 F. Supp. 3d 709 (C.D. Cal. 2020), order clarified, No. 5:19-cv-01546-JGB-SHK, 2020 WL 6541994 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 7, 2020); ECF No. 9 at 1; see also ECF No. 14-1 at 1 (explaining that “HRD” means “High risk detainees” for purposes of the Fraihat litigation, i.e. that these individuals are at high risk of serious illness or death if infected with COVID).

Releases from custody happen every day, for all sorts of reasons. . . .

C R A Z Y.

It is sadly likely that this will be the caliber of most of the young, inexperienced judges Baby-T elevated to the federal bench, in the second half of his term. Able lawyers will be dealing with this nonsense for decades, and appellate courts will literally grow weary of over-ruling his clearly ill-founded decisions. The cost to the system will be. . . enormous. Thanks, Baby-T.

But justice will prevail.

नमस्ते