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Open Season On Constitutional Rights -- Tom Sullivan
https://digbysblog.net/2025/05/23/open-season-on-rights/Rigging the economy was never enough
Since before reaching the Senate, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said loudly that our economic system is rigged. By the rich. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) concurs. You thought the people doing the rigging would stop there? Oh, child.
Democracy Docket describes the newest rigging succinctly (emphasis mine):
This MAGA tweak does not just apply to court orders going forward. Chemerinsky adds, “It would apply to all temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, and even permanent injunctions ever issued. By its terms, it applies to court orders ‘issued prior to, on, or subsequent’ to its adoption.”
. . .
Of course if signed into law, the provision will be challenged in court. Trump will lose. He will appeal. And appeal again, all the way to SCOTUS. At this point, it would be foolish to predict what the outcome of that case would be. By then, Trump’s grip on the reins of power may have tightened through threats, arrests, and intimidation to the point that a majority of justices may fear crossing him. But even if SCOTUS does slap down this encroachment on judicial powers, Trump and his henchmen will be free to violate your rights with abandon.
God bless America.
Democracy Docket describes the newest rigging succinctly (emphasis mine):
The multitrillion-dollar reconciliation bill the House GOP passed Thursday includes a provision that would, if it becomes law, curtail when courts can force parties to comply with their orders.
“No court of the United States may use appropriated funds to enforce a contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order if no security was given when the injunction or order was issued pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c), whether issued prior to, on, or subsequent to the date of enactment of this section,” the provision reads.
The measure would require that judges collect a bond from all parties seeking a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction, otherwise the resulting orders will be unenforceable.
Currently, judges have the ability to issue injunctive bonds to protect the target of the court’s order from potential harm if the order is later found to have been wrongfully issued. But they often don’t require such bonds in lawsuits against the government, as plaintiffs may have limited resources and the government likely won’t be substantially injured by orders.
On its face, the change appears quite small. But as Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, recently noted, the provision would render hundreds and hundreds of other court orders in cases unrelated to Trump unenforceable.
“No court of the United States may use appropriated funds to enforce a contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order if no security was given when the injunction or order was issued pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c), whether issued prior to, on, or subsequent to the date of enactment of this section,” the provision reads.
The measure would require that judges collect a bond from all parties seeking a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction, otherwise the resulting orders will be unenforceable.
Currently, judges have the ability to issue injunctive bonds to protect the target of the court’s order from potential harm if the order is later found to have been wrongfully issued. But they often don’t require such bonds in lawsuits against the government, as plaintiffs may have limited resources and the government likely won’t be substantially injured by orders.
On its face, the change appears quite small. But as Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, recently noted, the provision would render hundreds and hundreds of other court orders in cases unrelated to Trump unenforceable.
This MAGA tweak does not just apply to court orders going forward. Chemerinsky adds, “It would apply to all temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, and even permanent injunctions ever issued. By its terms, it applies to court orders ‘issued prior to, on, or subsequent’ to its adoption.”
. . .
Of course if signed into law, the provision will be challenged in court. Trump will lose. He will appeal. And appeal again, all the way to SCOTUS. At this point, it would be foolish to predict what the outcome of that case would be. By then, Trump’s grip on the reins of power may have tightened through threats, arrests, and intimidation to the point that a majority of justices may fear crossing him. But even if SCOTUS does slap down this encroachment on judicial powers, Trump and his henchmen will be free to violate your rights with abandon.
God bless America.
I think whatever god is there is getting pretty fucking tired of her experiment on this poor planet. Time for some mighty smoting!