Injustice for All is a weekly collection about how the Trump administration is attempting to weaponize the justice system—and the people who find themselves combating again.
On April 30, the Supreme Court docket heard arguments in Oklahoma Statewide Constitution College Board v. Drummond, a case about whether or not the state of Oklahoma should give the Catholic church tax {dollars} to run a public spiritual constitution college.
This ought to be a slam dunk.
Bear in mind studying in junior excessive that there’s a separation between church and state, so tax {dollars} can’t be used for spiritual functions? Nicely, that will have been true then, however it’s wanting much less and fewer true now.
The Supreme Court docket’s conservative spiritual majority has been on a tear concerning inserting faith into public life—so long as it’s their faith. In order that they’ve been whittling away on the separation of church and state, ruling in earlier circumstances for tax {dollars} to go to tuition help packages for spiritual colleges in Maine and that having a big-time Christian prayer jamboree led by a public highschool soccer coach is completely dandy and constitutional.
The oral arguments on April 30 appeared bleak, with the conservative appointees signaling that they’re fairly open to disregarding a giant chunk of the First Modification, pretending that they don’t know that constitution colleges are public colleges. However they know precisely what they’re actually doing: paving the way in which for state-funded, state-run spiritual colleges.
Conflicts of curiosity are not any large deal
Not content material to let multibillionaire Elon Musk be the face of blatant conflicts of curiosity on this administration, the Trump household trekked to Dubai to let everybody know that President Donald Trump is open for enterprise. Non-public scammy crypto enterprise, that’s.
At a cryptocurrency convention in Dubai earlier this week, the founding father of the Trump household crypto firm, World Liberty Monetary, introduced that a state-backed Abu Dhabi funding agency would use Trump’s meme coin, $TRUMP, to make a $2 billion enterprise deal.
The New York Instances reported on the complicated particulars about what stablecoin and alternate are getting used … blah, blah, blah … when you’re the kind who follows the glorified on line casino that’s the crypto financial system. However right here’s the underside line for everybody else: That is just about precisely what it seems like—a overseas authorities directing tens of millions of {dollars} to the president’s non-public firm.
This association is so dangerous that even the Instances needed to acknowledge it: “Nearly each element of Mr. Witkoff’s announcement, made throughout a convention panel with Mr. Trump’s second-eldest son, contained a battle of curiosity.”
If solely we’d identified this might occur. Oh, wait. We did.
Trump’s former legal lawyer continues to boost hell for everybody else
It’s one other week of Emil Bove behaving badly. Final week, we realized that extra profession Justice Division prosecutors left the workplace following Bove’s demand for New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams’ legal fees to be dismissed.
This week, we found that Bove was behind a current push to analyze pupil protesters at Columbia College. After a February incident through which some college students pushed previous a safety guard, Bove ordered an investigation. He informed profession civil rights prosecutors on the DOJ to acquire a listing of members of Columbia College Apartheid Divest.
Sure, a listing. Of members. To research. DOJ officers needed to clarify that investigating individuals primarily based on their membership in a corporation sorta kinda runs afoul of the First Modification. He additionally needed to show the record over to ICE, when you’re questioning if issues may worsen.
You possibly can’t simply stroll as much as brown individuals and say, “Give me your papers.”
That’s actually what U.S. District Choose Jennifer Thurston mentioned on April 29. The American Civil Liberties Union sued after the Border Patrol carried out a three-day sweep in Kern County, California, that may solely be described as “papers, please.”
As a lot because the Trump administration would love it to be in any other case, the Border Patrol is simply allowed to cease individuals if they’ve an inexpensive suspicion that they’re violating immigration regulation. And, no, that normal is just not glad by simply rolling as much as any immigrant employees or day laborers and demanding proof of citizenship.
Thurston issued a preliminary injunction protecting a portion of California that bars Border Patrol from these ways whereas the case proceeds.
For conservatives, it’s doxing for thee however not for me
Just a few months in the past, indicators with names, photos, and doable telephone numbers of ICE and Homeland Safety brokers have been posted throughout Los Angeles. The inclusion of telephone numbers—assuming they’re actual—constitutes a federal crime, however it’s not the crime of the century.
However you wouldn’t know that from how ICE dealt with this. On Might 1, ICE despatched greater than a dozen automobiles to storm the streets of Irvine, California, to arrest Michael Chang, who they allege put up the fliers. As an alternative, they terrorized Chang’s mother and father, since he doesn’t even stay there anymore.
That is nothing however political theater, contemplating that ICE gave its drone footage on to Fox Information so the right-wing community may breathlessly report on immigration brokers mainly jackboot-thugging their manner into Chang’s mother and father’ dwelling. The appearing director of ICE confirmed up! To serve a warrant! For a random man who might or might not have put up some posters!
That is wealthy coming from an administration run by a man who loves when his personal supporters are doxing pro-Palestinian college students or concentrating on the decide and jury in Trump’s legal case. However all of the sudden they’re all very involved about how corrosive and scary it’s when persons are focused for doing their jobs.
