Injustice for All is a weekly sequence 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 Courtroom 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 faculty.
This needs to be a slam dunk.
Keep 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, nevertheless it’s wanting much less and fewer true now.
The Supreme Courtroom’s conservative spiritual majority has been on a tear concerning inserting faith into public life—so long as it’s their faith. So that they’ve been whittling away on the separation of church and state, ruling in earlier instances for tax {dollars} to go to tuition help packages for spiritual faculties 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 regarded bleak, with the conservative appointees signaling that they’re fairly open to disregarding an enormous chunk of the First Modification, pretending that they don’t know that constitution faculties are public faculties. However they know precisely what they’re actually doing: paving the way in which for state-funded, state-run spiritual faculties.
Conflicts of curiosity aren’t 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. Personal scammy crypto enterprise, that’s.
President Donald Trump holds up a signed government order concerning cryptocurrency on Jan. 23.
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 Occasions reported on the complicated particulars about what stablecoin and change are getting used … blah, blah, blah … for those who’re the type who follows the glorified on line casino that’s the crypto economic 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 unhealthy that even the Occasions needed to acknowledge it: “Virtually every detail of Mr. Witkoff’s announcement, made during a conference panel with Mr. Trump’s second-eldest son, contained a conflict of interest.”
If solely we’d identified this is able to 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 discovered that extra profession Justice Division prosecutors left the workplace following Bove’s demand for New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams’ legal prices 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 during which some college students pushed previous a safety guard, Bove ordered an investigation. He instructed profession civil rights prosecutors on the DOJ to acquire an inventory of members of Columbia College Apartheid Divest.
Sure, an inventory. Of members. To analyze. DOJ officers needed to clarify that investigating folks based mostly on their membership in a company sorta kinda runs afoul of the First Modification. He additionally wished to show the listing over to ICE, for those who’re questioning if issues may worsen.
You possibly can’t simply stroll as much as brown folks 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 really like it to be in any other case, the Border Patrol is simply allowed to cease folks if they’ve an affordable suspicion that they’re violating immigration legislation. And, no, that normal is just not happy 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 techniques whereas the case proceeds.
For conservatives, it’s doxing for thee however not for me
A number of months in the past, indicators with names, footage, and potential cellphone numbers of ICE and Homeland Safety brokers have been posted throughout Los Angeles. The inclusion of cellphone numbers—assuming they’re actual—constitutes a federal crime, nevertheless it’s not the crime of the century.
However you wouldn’t know that from how ICE dealt with this. On Could 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 reside there anymore.
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 choose and jury in Trump’s legal case. However all of a sudden they’re all very involved about how corrosive and scary it’s when individuals are focused for doing their jobs.
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