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[U: Mirengoff Is A Beat Behind.] The Supremes Have Directed The Return To The US, Of Mr. Abrego Garcia. Finally!

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Updated: Paul Mirengoff (writing before he became aware that the Supremes had acted in favor of Mr. Abrego Garcia tonight) pussy-foots around what he knows is a terrible violation of due process — compounded by willful destain from Kristi Noem for the rule of law. The bad faith in that courtroom from the government proponents was palpable. That’s not being tough. That’s OBSTRUCTION of justice. He is too much a coward to say so. But that is what it is. End updated portion.

It is insane that US Supreme Court Justices are now having to offer remedial courses on due process, to what are supposed to be the best US Government lawyers in the land. But that is where we are, in the time of incompetence and chaos… simply put, in the time of Trump.

Here is the unsigned opinion (just published), without any dissents — and only one concurrence, from Sotomayor — to teach Noem a lil’ law. And so, here is the best bit — of that concurrence:

…Instead of hastening to correct its egregious error, the Government dismissed it as an “oversight.” Decl. of R. Cerna in No. 25–cv–951 (D Md., Mar. 31, 2025), ECF Doc. 11–3, p. 3. The Government now requests an order from this Court permitting it to leave Abrego Garcia, a husband and father without a criminal record, in a Salvadoran prison for no reason recognized by the law.

The only argument the Government offers in support of its request, that United States courts cannot grant relief once a deportee crosses the border, is plainly wrong. See Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U. S. 426, 447, n. 16 (2004); cf. Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U. S. 723, 732 (2008). The Government’s argument, moreover, implies that it could deport and incarcerate any person, including U. S. citizens, without legal consequence, so long as it does so before a court can intervene. See Trump v. J. G. G., 604 U. S. ___, ___ (2025) (SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting) (slip op., at 8). That view refutes itself. Because every factor governing requests for equitable relief manifestly weighs against the Government, Nken v. Holder, 556 U. S. 418, 426 (2009), I would have declined to intervene in this litigation and denied the application in full.

Nevertheless, I agree with the Court’s order that the proper remedy is to provide Abrego Garcia with all the process to which he would have been entitled had he not been unlawfully removed to El Salvador. That means the Government must comply with its obligation to provide Abrego Garcia with “due process of law,” including notice and an opportunity to be heard, in any future proceedings. Reno v. Flores, 507 U. S. 292, 306 (1993).

It must also comply with its obligations under the Convention Against Torture. See Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Dec. 10, 1984, S. Treaty Doc. No. 100–20, 1465 U. N. T. S. 113. Federal law governing detention and removal of immigrants continues, of course, to be binding as well. See 8 U. S. C. §1226(a) (requiring a warrant before a noncitizen “may be arrested and detained pending a decision” on removal); 8 CFR §287.8(c)(2)(ii) (2024) (requiring same); see also 8 CFR §241.4(l) (in order to revoke conditional release, the Government must provide adequate notice and “promptly” arrange an “initial informal interview… to afford the alien an opportunity to respond to the reasons for the revocation stated in the notification”). Moreover, it has been the Government’s own well-established policy to “facilitate [an] alien’s return to the United States if… the alien’s presence is necessary for continued administrative removal proceedings” in cases where a noncitizen has been removed pending immigration proceedings. See U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Directive 11061.1, Facilitating the Return to the United States of Certain Lawfully Removed Aliens, §2 (Feb. 24, 2012).

In the proceedings on remand, the District Court should continue to ensure that the Government lives up to its obligations to follow the law…

Well… it is an ugly win, but a win nonetheless. I’ll take it — and I am sure his wife and children are relieved.

नमस्ते

CREW Just Won Out, In DC. Judge Cooper Holds Elon Musk And DOGE Must Generate 1,000 Pages A Month Of The FOIA Documents… Essentially Immediately.

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As we said it would — CREW has prevailed. The able Judge will hold the documents generated via FOIA requests in his chambers until he decides summary judgment (a motion DOGE is likely to lose in a few weeks).

Then, these thousands and thousands of documents will be made… public. Excellent — smoke THAT, Elon and Tangerine 2.0:

…MINUTE ORDER:

The Court has reviewed [30] and [33] the parties’ joint status reports concerning production of OMB and USDS records, respectively. The Court hereby directs both OMB and USDS to process the records responsive to CREW’s requests at a rate of 1000 pages per month. Although the [24] government’s motion for summary judgment remains pending, the Court already held that USDS is likely subject to FOIA. Mem. Op., ECF No. 18, at 23-28. Thus, the Court ordered USDS to begin processing records because “if USDS does not even begin processing the request until after the question of whether it is subject to FOIA is litigated on the merits, a decision in CREW’s favor will likely be followed by additional processing delays.” Op. Denying Mot. for Recons., ECF No. 23, at 8. In accordance with that holding, USDS, along with OMB, must begin processing responsive records now. The Court will not order USDS to produce any documents to CREW until after the Court rules on USDS’s motion for summary judgment, however….

Turning to the appropriate processing rate, although the government is correct that “a production rate of 500 pages per month has been approved” in routine cases in this district, Middle E. F. v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 297 F. Supp. 3d 183, 187 (D.D.C. 2018), this is not such a case. As the Court explained in its two prior opinions, the records requested here are “important” and “directly tied to [] current, ongoing” actions by USDS, which “are of the highest national concern.” Mem. Op., ECF No. 18, at 17, 32. The Court thus held that “Congress and the public must receive the requested information ‘in a timely fashion’ such that they can participate in these ‘ongoing public and congressional debates about issues of vital national importance.'” Id. at 19. Indeed, the government has already granted expedited processing of both of CREW’s requests directed to OMB. Compl. ¶¶ 94, 100. And the Court held that the request directed to USDS was also likely entitled to expedited processing. Mem. Op. at 30.

For these reasons, a somewhat higher processing rate of 1,000 pages per month is appropriate for records responsive to both the OMB and USDS Requests. Although the government indicates that USDS does not have a FOIA Office, it has not shown that it would be unduly burdensome to impose the same processing rate on USDS because, as the Court already noted, “USDS [has provided] no reason why the existing FOIA office at OMB, or those elsewhere within the Executive Office of the President, could not assist with processing the narrow USDS Request.” Op. Denying Mot. for Recons at 17.

Nevertheless, the Court expects CREW to work in good faith to narrow and prioritize its record requests, which have generated a relatively large amount of potentially responsive documents. The Court might entertain a request for a higher processing rate should it be satisfied that CREW has done so and the production is yielding meaningful results. Signed by Judge Christopher R. Cooper on 4/10/2025….

Excellent — and now, you know. Just as we said — that “enigma, wrapped in a riddle — and floating on a cloud” argument was never going to fly.

नमस्ते

[U] Except That Musk Is A Well-Known… Liar, John.

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Hinderaker is burping about supposed unemployment compensation fraud that Elon Musk‘s team claims to have found.

John wholly fails to mention that musk’s team has repeatedly been caught in lies about the fraud they claimed to have found… That didn’t exist at all. [Updated Friday AM: NYT catches a few.]

And that’s before we get to the alleged securities frauds that Musk personally committed during his time trying to raise money for Tesla — and trying to raise money for a bid for Twitter.

So forgive me if I don’t believe much of what he says… Ever. Show me actual court documents that have been entered into evidence and I may change my mind.

Otherwise, he’s just another snake oil salesman telling me more about a swamp that doesn’t exist.

Out.

Power Alley: Merck Files Patent Infringement Suit Against Xiromed (A Spanish Generics/Pharma Co.), Related To Organon’s Legacy Nexplanon® Patents.

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It has been a minute since we last dipped into Rahway’s ongoing portfolio of patent litigation filings, to preserve the exclusivity it spent billions securing, globally — for various of its drugs and biologics. Merck got Nexplanon via the Organon transactions over 15 years ago — but now Organon trades under its own name once again, as a women’s health portfolio company.

I think Merck still retains a significant amount of equity in the “new” Organon. So there you have it. In any event, here’s the complant at law, in federal court in New Jersey, and a bit:

…On information and belief, Defendant Xiromed España is a limited liability company organized and existing under the laws of Spain, with a place of business at Calle de Manuel Pombo Angulo, 28, 3rd floor, Hortaleza, 28050, Madrid, Spain….

On information and belief, Insud is the ultimate parent of both Xiromed España and Xiromed, LLC. On information and belief, Xiromed España and Xiromed, LLC are the business entities through which Insud markets and sells generic drug products in the U.S. market….

By a letter dated February 20, 2025 (“Xiromed Notice Letter”), Xiromed notified Plaintiffs that Xiromed had submitted to the FDA Xiromed’s ANDA for approval to market and sell in the United States a purported generic version of NEXPLANON® (etonogestrel implant, 68 mg/implant) (referred to herein as the “Xiromed ANDA Product”), prior to the expiration of the patents-in-suit….

Insud, in concert with Xiromed España and Xiromed, LLC, has committed an act of infringement in this judicial district by filing Xiromed’s ANDA with the intent to make, use, sell, offer for sale, and/or import the Xiromed ANDA Product in or into this judicial district, prior to the expiration of the patents-in-suit….

NEXPLANON® has two primary components: (1) a matchstick-sized, radiopaque implant containing etonogestrel, a synthetic hormone that prevents pregnancy by inhibiting ovulation, and (2) a novel applicator device used to insert the implant subcutaneously at the proper location in the upper arm. Once inserted, a single NEXPLANON® implant systemically delivers an ongoing low dose of etonogestrel into the bloodstream for up to three (3) years, which then prevents ovulation in the ovaries. When used correctly, NEXPLANON® is over ninety-nine (99) percent effective at preventing pregnancy….

NEXPLANON®, as well as methods of using NEXPLANON®, are covered by one or more claims of the patents-in-suit. The ’037 and ’552 patents are listed with NDA No. 021529 in the FDA’s Orange Book….

Do stay tuned. This one could rumble on for a few years, if not settled. Onward. Here’s a 2021 settled-version of the same thing, same patents — against another generic, as we covered it — back then. Grin.

नमस्ते

The Outbreak Of Clade 1b Mpox Continues To Reach New Nations, In Europe: This Time, Switzerland — Disconcerting News.

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Well… he sure picked a good moment to cut off international aid to arrest epidemics and pandemics, eh? Damn.

This is all rather repetitive, and iterative, at this point. He’s made the world a far less safe place, speaking from a human public health/viral spread point of view.

Per CIDRAP’s on the spot reporting, overnight — then:

…A traveler returning to Switzerland from Africa has been confirmed to have clade 1b mpox. This is the first detection of clade 1b in Switzerland, which is more virulent compared to the clade 2 virus that circulated the globe in 2022 primarily among men who have sex with men.

“The person concerned is in isolation. There is no risk of infection to others,” the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health said….

Separately, it looks to be another volatile day — down on Wall and Broad… as Tangerine 2.0’s self-immolating chaos tour rumbles onward, with neither a point, nor a purpose — even his own people admit it now.

And US House Speaker Johnson can no longer pretend everything is moving along fine, with this train-wreck — Trump’s funding blueprint legislation in the House had to be pulled overnight, as at least five GOP legislators have balked… at just this lack of any sensible, coherent goal… other than chaos, itself, out of 1600 Penn.

Charming. Remember of course, none of Trump’s black Sharpie scribbles mean anything without funding / appropriations from Congress. And he’s hit the wall there — even inside his own party. The lame-duckedness, is arriving a lil’ earlier than I originally guessed — but net, net… it is good news.

नमस्ते

[U: For Rigby’s Fine Additions!] The Crazy Old Coot Hinderaker: Tangerine “Made His Point” — By Patently Violating Constitution?!

~ condor ~ 2 Comments

UPDATED: Rigby offered some excellent additional color — and I endorse it 100% (with the minor caveat that no one had to sue Mr. Obama in federal court, and get a TRO — to get him to re-include the Fox “entertainment” network at press gaggles). Here is the whole of Rigby’s fine addition:

“…To be fair, in 2009, the Obama administration tried to exclude FOX News from press pool events, but in that case, every single other news organization rose up in protest, threatening to skip press events until FOX News was reinstated. The administration quickly relented.

A few stark differences to note: This time, no other news organization challenged the administration about the ban, not because they agreed with the administration, but because they knew that threatening to skip press events would mean nothing. The administration would be perfectly happy to speak only to reporters from OAN, FOX News, and deranged right-wing blogs like, well, PowerLine.

Also, Obama kind of had a point. I mean, why give oxygen to a network that devoted so much outrage to his tan suit and other nonsense? Unlike the AP, FOX News is not, nor has it ever been, a serious news outlet. Still, the First Amendment is the First Amendment, and good for all the real news outlets, I guess, for having the courage to stand up for their ugly step-sibling.

It’s a pity they can’t show the same courage now….”

Quite so, Rigby. End updated portion.

Overnight, Hinderaker admits what was obvious to anyone with a working forebrain: USDC Judge McFadden was absolutely right to rule that Trump violated the First Amendment — by imposing restrictions on only the AP news gathering organization.

But in a bizarre case of endless boot-licking, Hinderaker goes on to say that Trump was able to “make his point.” [What point is made by violating 250 years of our law, and to punish news gathering organizations — for doing their jobs, John? That he’s a… fascist?!]

Rather than criticizing an unconstitutional order out of 1600 Penn, John feels it’s a better idea to praise him — for doing something no other US president has ever done, despite specifically swearing an oath to uphold the US Constitution.

I find this sort of cowardly supplicant behavior… deeply disgusting — from a man who used to be a lawyer.

But I get it: John doesn’t want to be next, and see his revenue cut off, from the GOP.

It would be far more interesting of course if John would write about the fact that MAGA Speaker Johnson has pulled Trump‘s funding legislation, from its march along the approval process.

This would suggest that there are deep fractures inside the GOP, primarily probably driven by Trump‘s own violations of… yup, the Constitution (as found by multiple courts).

John would be wise to take heed of what some (even MAGA winger) people are doing — in Congress. [And they are probably not very happy about the tariff flip-flops, which make all of them look like malign idiots.]

They are beginning to oppose his agenda — if pure chaos can even be called… an agenda. The real agenda is to numb people out — by overwhelming them with fearful sound bites… with the hope that the electorate will just let him stay on for a third term or beyond. And let him take their rights.

Nope. Not on MY watch — and not on Rigby’s (I strongly suspect).

Out.

Mr. Abrego Garcia’s Lawyers Are Doing An Outstanding Job Of Showing The Supremes… Noem’s/Tangerine 2.0’s Lies About What Happened To Him.

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First thing this morning, his lawyers filed a “sur-reply” in the Supreme Court. They did so to point out just how egregious the “shifting sands of lies” have been, as to his abduction, kidnapping, actually — and rendition to a Salvadoran hell-hole.

Wake up, Justices KBJ, Kagan and Sotomayor — demand a quick straw-vote, on the petition the Chief is… sitting on. Summarily order his immediate release — get him home — on a government plane today. Right now — here is that new filing, and a bit:

…The Government’s attack on the injunction’s use of the verb “effectuate” all but concedes that the order appropriately requires it to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return. To “facilitate an alien’s return” includes “engag[ing] in activities which allow a lawfully removed alien to travel to the United States.” Reply 6 (citing ICE Policy Directive No. 11061.1, § 3.1, Facilitating the Return to the United States of Certain Lawfully Removed Aliens (Feb. 24, 2012) (capitalization omitted)). The only thing preventing Abrego Garcia from returning to the United States is the Government’s arrangement to have him incarcerated in El Salvador. See SA096-100; Opp. 2. . . .

Recognizing that the Government’s concession below that it lacks a “satisfactory” answer as to why it “can’t” bring Abrego Garcia back is case-dispositive, the Government’s Reply (at 5) takes the extreme step of disavowing its own lawyer’s statements. Yet the Government still has not supplied a satisfactory answer to that central question. It points to no evidence—only pure conjecture about El Salvador’s general views on criminal enforcement. But Abrego Garcia left El Salvador as a teenager in 2011 and has not been charged with a crime there (or here). The United States arranged his incarceration and surely can arrange his release.

Nowhere in any of its briefs has the Government stated that the United States is actually powerless to facilitate and effectuate Abrego Garcia’s return. It can and it should….

Courts would cease to function if they could no longer rely on concessions by counsel at oral argument. There is no basis for the Government to withdraw the good-faith admissions of its experienced agent simply because it now finds them inconvenient….

This is an astonishingly deplorable position the US has taken, in the person of Kristi Noem. Onward!

नमस्ते

Update, On The Canadians’ Attrition Rates, In Getting Mpox Second Doses Of The Vaccine — Particularly Among Men Who Have Sex With Other Men…

~ condor ~ 1 Comment

The British Columbian health authorities are warning, overnight, that Canada is starting to become a higher risk geography — for mpox, particularly in the gay community. [My prior backgrounder from November 2024 — on the Canadian outbreak is here.]

For the love of Pete, people (literally!) — please do go get BOTH doses of the vaccine. It is highly effective, but only if you “take all your medicine“. Both doses. Seriously. Here’s the latest out of Vancouver, BC:

…Vancouver Coastal Health says there’s been a recent spike in mpox, the viral infection also known as monkeypox.

A statement from the health authority says the increase is cases is predominantly among gay and bisexual men who haven’t had two doses of the vaccine that prevents the infection.

It says the disease is prevalent in parts of Africa, and since 2022, one of the African strains has spread to more than 70 countries, transmitting from person to person.

Data from the BC Centre for Disease Control show 96 cases last year and 19 so far this year, most of which the health authority says have been in its jurisdiction.

The statement says that of the people in B.C. who have had their first shot of the vaccine since 2022, only 47 per cent have received the follow up dose….

We are likely to see another very busy day in the courts, and certainly will see another blood bath — now stretching seven sessions, minimum — on Wall Street. F U G L Y.

नमस्ते

Hinderaker “Were For Pete Navarro — Before He Were Agin’ Him!”

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Sure — in the grand scheme of trillions of dollars destroyed, in four days, on capital markets around the globe… John Hinderaker being a hypocrite… is really the smallest of news.

But as the legacy graphic at right suggests, John was only too happy to shill for him (likely on zero due diligence, too) — even as the US Supreme Court (in Tangerine 1.0) called his theories of executive privilege law… bunk.

Once again, Hinderaker proudly shouts that he voted three times for a guy that, for the last two times he voted for him… he knew for certain surrounds himself with MORONS — and in many cases, felons as well.

That’s why it’s a lil’ precious to hear John whining about Jared Kushner, reading one very dubious treatise — on protectionist economic theories (to create a “reinforcing cognitive feedback loop” — for Tangerine), and then inviting the author to become Tangerine’s economic sooth-sayer.

The putz only now says he “didn’t believe Trump would go through with it.” Gee, that’s a tremendous theory — for choosing the leader of the free world.

Damn.

This is utterly a ship of malign, felonious fools — stem to stern.

Out.