All articles tagged with #constitutional law
A circulated draft executive order proposes declaring a national emergency to let the president assume control over U.S. elections. Legal experts say such powers would be unconstitutional; the White House denies involvement, and the draft is riddled with errors and dubious citations.
A Florida lawyer's memo arguing the president could use the National Emergencies Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to declare a national emergency and seize U.S. elections was ridiculed by legal experts, who say IEEPA targets foreign threats and economic actions, not elections run by the states. The plan would not authorize seizing voting machines or mail ballots, conflicts with the Elections Clause, and rests on flawed readings of Youngstown, making it legally flawed and unconstitutional.
The article explains that removing Prince Andrew from the UK and Commonwealth line of succession is legally possible but would require a coordinated, multi-parliament process across realms. It traces how changes to succession have happened before (UK’s 2013 reform and post‑1920 dominion adjustments) and outlines how Australia and other realms would need to pass matching legislation to maintain a unified throne. Unilateral action by a single realm is unlikely given constitutional constraints and the need for cross‑realm agreement to avoid fracturing the shared monarchies.
The Trump administration issued a memo expanding ICE authority to detain legal refugees awaiting green cards, allowing detention during a one-year post-admission re-vetting period to ensure security. Critics call the policy a reckless reversal that harms thousands, while supporters say it aligns post-admission vetting with other admissions; the move follows rising ICE detentions and comes after a Minnesota court blocked related refugee enforcement.
A divided 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (2-1) upheld the Trump-era policy of detaining non-citizens arrested in immigration crackdowns without bond hearings, covering Texas and Louisiana. The ruling, the first appellate endorsement of the policy, comes despite hundreds of lower courts ruling it unlawful and could affect thousands of detainees as the issue may eventually reach the Supreme Court.
A U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals panel lifted an injunction blocking Trump-era executive orders to end DEI programs in federal agencies and contractor work, ruling that the policies cannot be challenged in a broad, head-on way but may be attacked based on how they are applied to specific grant recipients, preserving room for further district-court challenges on enforcement.
Garrett Epps argues that Trump’s Minneapolis ICE crackdown runs into established anti-commandeering doctrine and the Constitution: federal officials cannot coerce states or localities to enforce federal immigration policy, and funding threats cannot legally force compliance. Courts have largely blocked such coercion, framing it as an overreach of federal power, while the administration pursues aggressive enforcement and protests around ICE actions. The dispute foregrounds a broader federalism debate over immigration policy and civil liberties, with the Supreme Court likely to weigh in eventually.
The chief judge of Minnesota’s federal court ordered acting ICE director Todd Lyons to personally appear in court on Friday to explain why the agency has not complied with dozens of court orders, including missing a detainee’s bond hearing. Judge Patrick Schiltz said Lyons could be held in contempt and would cancel the hearing if the detainee is released, as protests over ICE tactics persist amid critics of the Trump immigration crackdown following fatal enforcement actions earlier this month.
Reuters explains the potential legal exposure for ICE officers in two January Minneapolis shootings, outlining when state or federal prosecutors could bring charges, how immunity and use‑of‑force standards apply, possible defenses (self‑defense or reasonableness), whether victims’ families could sue under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and the hurdles in proving unlawful intent or reckless disregard amid disputed footage.
An FBI agent named Tracee Mergen has resigned after attempting to probe the ICE officer who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this month, according to the New York Times citing sources. Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was killed in her car by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.
Rahm Emanuel urged a mandatory retirement age of 75 for the president and all federal offices—including the Cabinet, Congress, and the Supreme Court—arguing it would curb corruption; he says the rule would apply to him as well and would have barred Biden and Trump, affecting many current lawmakers aged 75 or older. He favors passing legislation rather than a constitutional amendment, though questions remain about constitutionality and enforceability.
The Trump administration said it would appeal a federal judge’s order that barred federal agents in Minneapolis from detaining peaceful protesters or using pepper spray/tear gas against bystanders, part of a broader push to expand deportations with thousands of ICE agents deployed locally after a fatal shooting outside an immigration operation and a lawsuit by six protesters alleging constitutional rights violations.
Former President Donald Trump told Reuters that, given his accomplishments, ‘we shouldn’t even have an election,’ a remark reflecting his long-shot idea of canceling elections—an option that does not exist in the U.S. system, since election timing is set by Congress and run by state officials. He also floated questions about term limits, while experts note there is no legal mechanism to suspend or cancel elections.
President Trump said the federal government will halt payments to states over sanctuary-city policies starting February 1, but gave no specifics on which funds or states; a court injunction currently covers jurisdictions that joined the case, with other lawsuits pending, and DHS did not comment.
A year into Trump’s presidency, federal judges at the district, appellate, and Supreme Court levels have sharply criticized and sometimes blocked his expansive use of executive power, including deportations, foreign-prison detentions, and DEI-linked grant cuts. The rulings have labeled actions illegal, discriminatory, or beyond presidential authority, prompting warnings about the future of the rule of law, even as the Supreme Court has at times backed the administration, underscoring a deep, ongoing clash over constitutional limits.