A federal judge has said Trump's National Guard deployment in LA was illegal. What could it mean for potential deployments in other cities? "t’s a clear shot across the bow to President Trump." www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

‘2 dolls instead of 30’: Will tariffs curb America’s passion for cheap goods?

Is this the year the Supreme Court began its emergency era? "We are seeing #SCOTUS trying to adapt its procedures to keep up with the 21st century," says @williambaude.bsky.social. "I don’t think it’s unfair to say the court is still figuring that out." www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

On the 10-year anniversary of Obergefell v. Hodges, the historic #SCOTUS ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, Cameron Pugh @csmonitor.bsky.social talked with Jim Obergefell about his journey and where gay rights stand today. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

"Lawful but awful." Trump's mobilization of the National Guard (and active-duty Marines) in L.A. is unprecedented, but not necessarily unlawful. But is the president helping put out a fire – or pouring on gasoline? www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics...

Starting on Monday, the U.S. will restrict -- with some exceptions -- nationals of 12 countries from entering the country. What to know about the new travel ban (including what it could mean for the World Cup and Olympics): www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

A MAGA judiciary? Trump rift with Federalist Society signals a search for loyal judges. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

As an institution, Congress has done little to check the executive branch in Trump's second term. Courts have been the main impediment instead. Now, Congress is making a move. It's "trying to ease the way for the administration to ignore court orders." www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

A deadlocked Supreme Court rejects religious charter schools – for now. "I think #SCOTUS is drawing a line in terms of where it’s going to go with extending aid." www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

“You know the government is going to ship your client out.” While neither unlawful nor unprecedented, the Trump admin's rapid relocation of immigrant detainees is a ramp-up of a familiar tactic and a possible a preview of the future. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

Three stops in 24 hours. Virginia, to Louisiana, to Texas in four days. A spike in sudden transfers to a detention center in north Texas--including one apparently violating a court order. A look at the geography of Trump deportations: www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

Poignant grafs at the start of this @cameronjoseph.bsky.social interview with Ben Crump, the lawyer for George Floyd's family, on the five-year anniversary of his death. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

Takeaways from today's #SCOTUS argument on birthright citizenship. The justices mostly agreed nationwide injunctions have problems. But what could replace them? And would the Trump administration follow what a lower court tells it to do? www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

Today's #SCOTUS oral argument is only partly about birthright citizenship, but it offers a preview of a country in which Trump's birthright citizenship order is in place. @sarahmatusek.bsky.social and I examined what that could look like: www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

Chaos and drama, but little substance. From "five men and a phone" at CFPB, to sweeping cuts to a little-known foreign aid agency, we evaluate 100(ish) days of DOGE. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics...

Pope Leo XIV "wants us to open up to each other." He's "not going to look for a fight with the Trump administration." www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/...

As courts try to ensure the Trump administration follows their orders, some judges are turning to contempt of court proceedings. The DOJ says it will lead to a "constitutional collision." Legal experts say "we should be wary" of them. Here's what to know: www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

#SCOTUS is hearing a case today that could transform public education in the U.S. Charter schools, and some conservatives, are hoping they don't. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

45min after this was sent to staff, Deputy Secretary of State sends out ANOTHER org chart. Nearly identical... but it doesn't include the office of the chief economist (nestled under undersecretary for economic growth on the earlier one):

The Trump administration has shifted from equivocating in court to objecting to follow court orders. Judges are now exploring contempt proceedings. Underlying it all: an argument "shocking [to] the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans still hold dear." www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

Lawyers at white-shoe law firms aren't the most sympathetic targets of Donald Trump's ire. But a fearful, compliant legal industry could open the door to more serious abuses of rights and freedoms. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

"I’m shocked and dismayed by how brittle these institutions have turned out to be." Law firms are perhaps the institution best placed to fight for its rights against the Trump administration. Why are so many settling? www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

"It sure feels like the White House and its allies are feeling for soft points" in court orders, says @greggnunziata.bsky.social. But at the same time, they're working to "delegitimize the judiciary." So...constitutional crisis? www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

JUST IN: After years of litigation about Trump's civil liability for Jan. 6, the Justice Department is now moving to substitute itself for Trump in the lawsuit, saying Trump was acting in his official capacity on Jan. 6.

North Korea laundered more than $450m through the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, which has seen >$7b in total laundering since 2019. Today, the Trump administration removed Biden-era sanctions on Tornado Cash. bit.ly/41LBmbo bit.ly/4hqpC3X Original 2022 sanctions announcement: bit.ly/4iIsgTB

As Judge Berzon points out in her six-judge concurrence, there's a reason why there are detailed and very specific rules for the introduction of "expert" factual testimony in judicial proceedings. Suffice it to say, this ain't it. www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...

Invoking an 18th century wartime law, the Trump administration deported around 100 Venezuelan migrants over the weekend -- perhaps in defiance of a court order. @sarahmatusek.bsky.social recaps a chaotic weekend. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics...

Judges been learning how to identify suspicious packages and how to drive to work along different routes. Violent threats have doubled, and now some are facing impeachment. Chief Justice Roberts recently wrote that such intimidation "undermines our Republic." www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

Arizona AG Kris Mayes, New Mexico AG Raul Torrez, and Oregon AG Dan Rayfield will begin holding Community Impact Hearings — a national series of townhalls "to hear from the public about the impact of federal firings and DOGE funding freezes across the country." The first will be in Phoenix March 5.

The wave of DOJ resignations -- twice the number of the "Saturday Night Massacre" during Watergate -- boils down to one Emil Bove statement. "You [don't] uphold the Constitution by disobeying direct orders implementing the policy of a duly elected President." www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

It’ll be interesting to see if DOJ will be in as much of a hurry to take *this* case up to #SCOTUS as it was the Dellinger case. My own bet is “probably not,” especially given the loss here was before a pretty friendly panel—and Judge Forrest’s (IMHO, unanswerable) points about “irreparable” harm.

Trump's broad assertions of presidential power will soon reach a Supreme Court filled with justices who spent years in the executive branch. "They come with a probably unavoidable impulse to give more weight to interests they find familiar or recognizable." www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

As judges say ‘stop,’ the question is whether Trump will comply. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

"The system doesn’t work if the president can just ignore judicial judgments." www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

Sen Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) letter to chair of Senate Judiciary Cmte, which is poised to vote on confirmation of Kash Patel: “We regret that you have rejected our efforts to inquire into the first-ever invocation of Fifth Amendment protection by a nominee seeking to lead the FBI”

Mass firings at the FBI may not only public safety, and the agency's culture of independence. They may also be simply unfair. “Are you going to remove those folks if they worked on those cases, even if they weren’t doing it for any partisan or ideological reason?” www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

The 14th Amendment seems clear on birthright citizenship, but the Trump administration says otherwise. Even if courts overturn the executive order, the question “is not going away.” www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

Here’s Judge Coughenour’s TRO against the birthright citizenship executive order:

President Donald Trump signed a historic number of executive orders on Day 1. Here’s what he did – or so far avoided – that reflects his priorities for the economy, U.S. borders, and social policies. Trump #ExecutiveOrders #immigration www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics...

"This may be the strangest year in the history of the pardon power." www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

Donald Trump's sentencing today was historic, but the sentence itself barely qualified as a slap on the wrist. Legal experts say that's a good thing. “This is a very tailored sentence. Wouldn’t it be great if everybody else had that same level of tailoring?" www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

The Supreme Court is hearing the TikTok case now. Read more about it here. "The government is not seeking to ban a particular story, but to ban an entire platform. ... That is a very significant departure from American law." www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

Does the First Amendment protect entire media platforms, even when they're partially owned by (and headquartered in) a hostile foreign country? The Supreme Court will dive in tomorrow when it hears a case that could see TikTok banned in the U.S. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

Vehicles as weapons, an expanding set of domestic and international grievances, and the embrace by some Americans of political violence -- the New Orleans and Las Vegas attacks show a changing threat matrix for US cities. "We don't have an X-Ray for a man's soul." www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

The Biden presidency may be remembered as the time Democrats got "ruthless" on judicial appointments. It helped fulfill a campaign promise -- the most diverse slate of new judges in history -- but it may come at a longer term cost. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

As the prosecutions of Donald Trump unravel, one case is proving an exception: www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics...

Unprecedented times, unprecedented measures? Why preemptive pardons from Biden may not be the answer. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/...

Hegseth may be cooked. But just bc he might go the way of Matt Gaetz doesn't mean Trump's other controversial picks will face the same level of resistance. As GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer told me, it's “policy, versus the personal stuff.” The latter is a bigger problem. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics...

Chinatowns across the U.S. are struggling. This man is on a 300-city tour to save them -- and Chinese restaurants like the one he grew up in. By @troysambajon.bsky.social www.csmonitor.com/Books/Author...

Oral arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti are beginning soon. The #SCOTUS live feed appears to be having problems, but you can listen live here: www.c-span.org/video/?54017...