REASON – Free Minds & Free Markets | This, That and The Other

I wrote about Chief Judge Sutton's decision dismissing the judicial misconduct complaints (plural) against Judge Boasberg. Judge Sutton applied the clear and convincing evidence standard in the context of whether Judge Boasberg followed Supreme Court precedent in the airplane case. An allegation that a judge did not follow "prevailing law or the directions of a court of appeals in [a] particular case[]," it is true, may in extreme cases constitute cognizable misconduct. In re Judicial Conduct & Disability, 517 F.3d 558, 562 (U.S. Jud. Conf. 2008). But because "the characterization of such behavior as misconduct is fraught with dangers to judicial independence," the complainant must clear a high bar to maintain such a claim. Id. The complainant "must identify clear and convincing evidence of willfulness," which is to say "clear and convincing evidence of a judge's arbitrary and intentional departure from prevailing law based on his or her disagreement… ...[TheTopNews] Read More.

Don Lemon, the former CNN anchor who was arrested on federal civil rights charges last week, portrays his conduct during the January 18 protest that disrupted services at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, as purely journalistic. The Justice Department, joined by his many critics, says he actively participated in the disruption, making him no less criminally liable than the seven protesters who were charged in the same case. If you break the law, Lemon's detractors note, the fact that you have a camera and a microphone does not shield you from prosecution. Lemon indisputably was covering the protest for his YouTube show. The indictment against him concedes as much, repeatedly mentioning his "livestreaming" and noting his interviews with congregants and Jonathan Parnell, the pastor who was leading the service. But Lemon was unabashedly sympathetic to the protesters, their cause, and their illegal tactics. Lemon's own footage… ...[TheTopNews] Read More.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, announced that 700 federal officers would be immediately withdrawn from Minneapolis following "unprecedented collaboration" between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), state prisons, and local jails in Minnesota.  Homan, who was sent to Minnesota last week to take over command of immigration operations after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, said during a Wednesday press conference that about 2,000 immigration officers will remain in the state. Although the ultimate goal is to return to the "normal operation footprint" of about 150 agents, Homan said ending Operation Metro Surge, the federal immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities, will require the "continued cooperation of state and local law enforcement and the decrease of the violence, the rhetoric, and the attacks against ICE and Border Patrol."  The decision comes shortly after news circulated this week that negotiations were underway to allow county… ...[TheTopNews] Read More.

Some excerpts from Judge David Stras's opinion yesterday dissenting from denial of rehearing en banc in Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice v. Bird (see here for the panel opinion): Access to legal immigration, which allowed my grandparents to settle here following World War II, has been a lasting gift for my family. The welcome mat we offer to those who come here legally, however, means little if skipping the line results in the same (or even better) treatment. Now, as the federal government tries to enforce the nation's immigration laws, Iowa wants to help. If it can do so without getting in the way, I would let it. [I.] Let's be clear about what happened here. Two people, plus an organization purporting to speak for two others, set out to defend the federal government from Iowa's alleged overreach. The problem, in their view, was that Iowa made it a crime… ...[TheTopNews] Read More.

On the campaign trail in 2024, Donald Trump repeatedly pledged to close the Department of Education and return oversight of public schooling to the states. Trump has a habit of throwing undercooked ideas around, but this wasn't one of them. Abolishing the Department of Education was part of the Republican Party's platform for the 2024 election, and was included in the goals of "Project 2025," the Heritage Foundation's blueprint for a conservative-controlled federal government in the wake of that election. That effort seemingly culminated with a March 2025 executive order signed by Trump that ordered Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take steps to close the department and return its functions to the states. "I told Linda, 'Linda, I hope you do a great job in putting yourself out of a job.' I want her to put herself out of a job," Trump said at one point. A… ...[TheTopNews] Read More.