Occupy Democrats - A federal judge hammers the Trump administration over the White House East Wing demolition, says that calling it simply an "alteration" requires a "brazen interpretation of the laws of vocabulary." And he wasn't done there...
“It would have been a heck of a lot easier by any standard to have just gone to Congress to get the authority to do it,” said U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, slamming the administration for using "shifting theories and shifting dynamics” to argue that Trump had the legal authority to perform the demolition.
The case was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation who are seeking an end to construction of Trump's ballroom unless he can acquire congressional approval and pass independent reviews. The $400 million ballroom has become a central fixation for Trump despite the floundering economy and a worsening war in the Middle East. He sees the insanely corrupt project — which is being financed by large corporate donations — as a means of eking out a permanent legacy for himself.
In addition to rejecting the idea that Trump can pursue the project under a law that grants the power to pursue "alteration" and "improvement" as "the President may determine," Judge Leon dismissed the idea that the White House falls under the National Park's Authority for approval. “This isn’t any national park. This is an iconic symbol of this nation," he said.
.... Leon has stated that he intends on issuing his final ruling by the end of March. If he rules against Trump, the case will almost certainly move into the appeals process.
Alternet - In its desperation to replace fleeing prosecutors and defectors, President Donald Trump’s DOJ is now loosening hiring requirements for federal prosecutors. Trump’s DOJ says new applicants no longer need have any attorney experience to get a job. They can be fresh out of college, and CNN Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid says Americans can probably expect predictable results.
Washington Post - A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration’s dismantling of Voice of America was unlawful and ordered more than 1,000 employees, who have spent a full year on paid administrative leave, back to work.
Independent, UK - A journalist in Nashville who was arrested by immigration officers earlier this month argues that the federal government violated her First Amendment rights by “retaliating” against her reporting on the local impacts of Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
Lawyers for the Department of Justice, however, claim she has no such constitutional rights.
... Her arrest — which sparked widespread outrage from press freedom groups and free speech advocates — amounts to unconstitutional “retaliation” for “exercising her First Amendment rights as a journalist reporting on ICE enforcement activities,” according to her attorneys.
But in their response on Tuesday, lawyers with the U.S. the Attorney's Office in Tennessee argue that the Supreme Court has never “explicitly ruled that undocumented immigrants or illegal aliens have protections under the First Amendment.”
Lawyers for the Department of Justice, however, claim she has no such constitutional rights.
... Her arrest — which sparked widespread outrage from press freedom groups and free speech advocates — amounts to unconstitutional “retaliation” for “exercising her First Amendment rights as a journalist reporting on ICE enforcement activities,” according to her attorneys.
But in their response on Tuesday, lawyers with the U.S. the Attorney's Office in Tennessee argue that the Supreme Court has never “explicitly ruled that undocumented immigrants or illegal aliens have protections under the First Amendment.”
Government lawyers said her attorneys “incorrectly represent” that she “clearly has First Amendment rights.”
“Neither history nor precedent indicates that the First Amendment definitively applies to illegal aliens,” they wrote.
“Neither history nor precedent indicates that the First Amendment definitively applies to illegal aliens,” they wrote.
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