BREAKING: Over 300 former #federal prosecutors and #civilrights attorneys band together to DEMAND that the Justice Department permit #state and local authorities to investigate the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. https://x.com/OccupyDemocrats/status/2019136217951150171
BREAKING: Over 300 former #federal prosecutors and #civilrights attorneys band together to DEMAND that the Justice Department permit #state and local authorities to investigate the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. https://x.com/OccupyDemocrats/status/2019136217951150171
Tuesday, a day after Trump’s comments about wanting to “nationalize” #elections, Karoline Leavitt, WH press secy, claimed #Trump was referring to #federal election #legislation in #Congress. Yet after Leavitt’s attempt to soften Trump’s initial remarks, he doubled down on his assertion that the federal government should oversee #state #elections.
#law #ElectionLaw #midterms #democracy #states
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/us/politics/trump-election-states-midterms.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
Last week, #FBI agents [& #TulsiGabbard] seized ballots & other voting records from the 2020 election from an #election center in #FultonCounty, #Georgia, where his allies have for years pursued false claims of election fraud. NYT reported Monday that #Trump had spoken directly to the FBI agents involved in the Fulton County raid, praising & thanking them.
Tuesday, a day after Trump’s comments about wanting to “nationalize” #elections, Karoline Leavitt, WH press secy, claimed #Trump was referring to #federal election #legislation in #Congress. Yet after Leavitt’s attempt to soften Trump’s initial remarks, he doubled down on his assertion that the federal government should oversee #state #elections.
#law #ElectionLaw #midterms #democracy #states
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/us/politics/trump-election-states-midterms.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
That is where #state lawmakers come in, Professor Amar said.
“Sometimes the #federal government will misbehave,” he said, “& you can’t count on #Congress always to rein the federal government in.”
His article drew on 2 principles often associated with #conservatives: #federalism & #originalism.
“This is exactly what the framers imagined: state law protecting us against federal abuses,” Professor Amar said.
#Trump #law #UseOfForce #Constitution #StatesRights #CivilRights #autocracy #ICE #CBP
As for the part of the #law that lets people sue #federal agents for violations of the #Illinois #Constitution, the 2 professors wrote, “that provision won’t stand” under the #SupremacyClause.
Still, Vikram Amar said, such #StateLaws can serve a larger purpose.
“In the spirit of #federalism. Not only can #states experiment in this way, but doing so would likely lead #Congress to address the problem,” he said.
#Trump #Constitution #StatesRights #CivilRights #autocracy #ICE #CBP #UseOfForce
“It’s unlikely that #Congress would want to leave a patchwork of different #state regulations & different remedies,” Vikram Amar said.
Link to 1987 law review article “Of Sovereignty and Federalism” by Akhil Reed Amar∶ https://akhilamar.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Of-Sovereignty-and-Federalism-2.pdf
#Trump #law #Constitution #federalism #StatesRights #CivilRights #RightToProtest #AbuseOfPower #authoritarianism #autocracy #ICE #CBP #Sturmabteilung #UseOfForce #StateSponsoredTerrorism
Whether that is correct is a complicated question in light of another federal #statute, & it has not yet gotten sustained #judicial attention. But Judge Justin Walker, who was appointed to the US Court of Appeals for DC by #Trump, did consider the matter in a 2023 concurring opinion in a case arising from a #protest outside the White House in 2020.
#law #Constitution #federalism #StatesRights #CivilRights #autocracy #ICE #CBP #Sturmabteilung #UseOfForce #StateSponsoredTerrorism
Citing Professor Amar’s article, Judge Walker concluded that “nothing would stop a #state from creating a new cause of action allowing plaintiffs to directly allege federal constitutional violations.”
The #Illinois #law did that, but in imperfect fashion, acc/to a critique from Vikram David Amar, a law professor at UC Davis (& Akhil Amar’s brother), & Jason Mazzone, a law professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
#SCOTUS tried to address the gap in 1971 in Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, allowing the victim of an #unconstitutional search by #federal agents to sue them. But the court has essentially abandoned that approach, saying instead that #Congress must act if suits against federal ofcls are to be allowed.
[I personally don’t see this SCOTUS dealing with the issue given their stance on expansive #ExecutivePower]
#Trump #law #UseOfForce #Constitution #StatesRights #CivilRights #autocracy #ICE #CBP
That is where #state lawmakers come in, Professor Amar said.
“Sometimes the #federal government will misbehave,” he said, “& you can’t count on #Congress always to rein the federal government in.”
His article drew on 2 principles often associated with #conservatives: #federalism & #originalism.
“This is exactly what the framers imagined: state law protecting us against federal abuses,” Professor Amar said.
#Trump #law #UseOfForce #Constitution #StatesRights #CivilRights #autocracy #ICE #CBP
His central point for present purposes was that #state #legislatures can authorize lawsuits against #federal officials for violating the #Constitution. If that is right, such #StateLaws would close an odd gap in #FederalLaw that—broadly speaking—allows such suits against state & local officials, like police officers, but not against #federal ones, like #ICE agents.
#Trump #StateSponsoredTerrorism #law #UseOfForce #Constitution #StatesRights #CivilRights #authoritarianism #autocracy #ICE #CBP
The article has, in truth, been quite influential. It has been cited, for instance, in 7 #SCOTUS opinions. But it was also 96 pages long & touched on many issues.
“I was actually trying to do a bunch of different things — & get tenure,” Professor Amar, now a leading constitutional scholar at Yale Law School, said of the article, “Of #Sovereignty & #Federalism.”
#Trump #StateSponsoredTerrorism #law #UseOfForce #Constitution #StatesRights #CivilRights #authoritarianism #autocracy #ICE #CBP
His central point for present purposes was that #state #legislatures can authorize lawsuits against #federal officials for violating the #Constitution. If that is right, such #StateLaws would close an odd gap in #FederalLaw that—broadly speaking—allows such suits against state & local officials, like police officers, but not against #federal ones, like #ICE agents.
#Trump #StateSponsoredTerrorism #law #UseOfForce #Constitution #StatesRights #CivilRights #authoritarianism #autocracy #ICE #CBP
During an extended rant about #immigration on a podcast released on Monday by #DanBongino, his former deputy #FBI director, #Trump called for #Republican officials to “take over” voting procedures in 15 #states, though he did not name them.
“The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,’” he said. “We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many — 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”
Under the #Constitution, #US #elections are governed primarily by #state #law, leading to a decentralized process in which voting is administered by county & municipal officials in thousands of precincts across the country. #Trump, however, has long been fixated on the false claims that #US elections are rife with fraud & that #Democrats are perpetrating a vast conspiracy to have undocumented immigrants vote & lift the party’s turnout.🙄
“I’ve asked the county attorney to take any & all steps available to fight this #criminal search warrant,” Arrington said Monday in a press release.
“The search warrant, I believe, is not proper, but I think that there are ways that we can limit it,” the statement continues. “We want to ask for forensic accounting, we want the documents to stay in the #State of #Georgia under seal, & we want to do whatever we can to protect voter information.”
Arrington said that the county’s attorneys are expected to file a lawsuit in federal court in the Northern District of #Georgia to fight the action of #Trump’s #DOJ & #FBI.
The FBI served a warrant last Wednesday at the #FultonCounty election office, near #Atlanta, Georgia, taking 700 boxes of #election materials as it probes alleged voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
#law #ElectionLaw #ElectionInterference #democracy #coup #MafiaState #authoritarianism #autocracy #fascism #tyranny
“I’ve asked the county attorney to take any & all steps available to fight this #criminal search warrant,” Arrington said Monday in a press release.
“The search warrant, I believe, is not proper, but I think that there are ways that we can limit it,” the statement continues. “We want to ask for forensic accounting, we want the documents to stay in the #State of #Georgia under seal, & we want to do whatever we can to protect voter information.”
"Luigi Mangione’s Death Penalty Gets Major Update"
Quote
<<Mangione still has murder charges pending in a separate state case. The judge dismissed the federal charges because they needed to be tied to another violent crime. However, stalking doesn’t qualify as that.>>
#Mangione
#federal
#state
#murder
#stalking
#CEO
#insurance
#USPol
#legal
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/luigi-mangione-death-penalty-gets-131757940.html
"Luigi Mangione’s Death Penalty Gets Major Update"
Quote
<<Mangione still has murder charges pending in a separate state case. The judge dismissed the federal charges because they needed to be tied to another violent crime. However, stalking doesn’t qualify as that.>>
#Mangione
#federal
#state
#murder
#stalking
#CEO
#insurance
#USPol
#legal
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/luigi-mangione-death-penalty-gets-131757940.html
People cited violation of the First Amendment when a New Jersey schoolteacher asserted that evolution and the Big Bang are not scientific and that Noah's ark carried dinosaurs. This case is not about the need to separate church and state; it's about the need to separate ignorant, scientifically illiterate people from the ranks of teachers.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
#quote #quotes #usa #america #newjersey #school #education #science #religion #dogma #atheist #church #state #teachers
People cited violation of the First Amendment when a New Jersey schoolteacher asserted that evolution and the Big Bang are not scientific and that Noah's ark carried dinosaurs. This case is not about the need to separate church and state; it's about the need to separate ignorant, scientifically illiterate people from the ranks of teachers.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
#quote #quotes #usa #america #newjersey #school #education #science #religion #dogma #atheist #church #state #teachers
Judge won’t scale back #Trump #immigration surge in #Minnesota for now
Minnesota officials had said the immigration crackdown was endangering public safety in their state.
#ReneeGood #AlexPretti #StateSponsoredTerrorism #law #murder #ExtraJudicialKillings #Minneapolis #Constitution #RightToProtest #CivilRights #UseOfForce #ExcessiveForce #PoliceBrutality #AbuseOfPower #authoritarianism #autocracy #despotism #fascism #tyranny #MafiaState #ICE #CBP #Sturmabteilung
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/01/31/minnesota-immigration-surge-court/
A federal judge Saturday declined to order the #Trump admin to immediately scale back its #immigration enforcement surge in #Minnesota, rejecting pleas from #state ofcls who said the campaign was stepping on their #sovereignty & endangering the public.
Judge Kate Menendez said MN & the #TwinCities had not definitively shown that the admin’s decision to flood the state with immigration agents was #unlawful or designed to coerce local ofcls into cooperating with other admin objectives.
