Horsefeathers!
That is a quote from a decision upholding Senator Mark Kelly's First Amendment claim against Pete Hegseth
“Horsefeathers!” is the wonderfully archaic term used by federal district judge Richard Leon in his decision issuing a preliminary injunction against Pete Hegseth. It prohibits the government’s taking any retaliatory actions against Senator Mark Kelly for his assertion of his First Amendment rights.
Mary and I discuss that decision in our latest episode of Main Justice (links to the episode and to Judge Leon’s decision are below).
As you will all know by now, last week a D.C. grand jury refused to indict six Democratic Members of Congress over a video they made addressing service members’ permissible refusal to obey illegal orders. Mary and I discuss this latest attempt by the Department of Justice to chill free speech and persecute political foes. In an adjacent case, we discuss Judge Richard Leon’s decision to block Secretary Pete Hegseth from demoting Senator Mark Kelly and taking other adverse actions over the video, saying the government “trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms.”
But that is not the only pressing issue from this past week. We then dig into the unsealed Fulton County FBI affidavit, submitted to support the Bureau’s seizure of hundreds of boxes of GA ballots. We discuss what is, in our view, critically missing facts from that affidavit. And even apart from that, it does not seem to support the search that was conducted -- failing to set out necessary
”probable cause” of a crime. We note the ongoing litigation by Fulton County challenging that seizure -- so keep your eye on that ongoing litigation (the county’s updated filing on its litigation occurred shortly after we recorded this episode).
We conclude with a couple due process updates in a pair of terrific decisions from the federal district court in Washington, D.C. Judge Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of some Venezuelan migrants unlawfully deported (using some choice language, if not quite as colorful as “horsefeathers!”) And Judge Kelly decided a case about death row prisoners being sent to a “Supermax” prison on the government’s orders without due process and providing them only a sham process, after Biden granted them clemency and converted their sentences to life imprisonment before leaving office. Judge Kelly’s decision is the perfect embodiment of what the rule of law is supposed to mean in this country, even for those who have been convicted of heinous crimes.
Stay engaged, now more than ever.
Andrew
Further reading:
• Read Judge Richard J. Leon’s Opinion on Mark Kelly v. Pete Hegseth https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.288365/gov.uscourts.dcd.288365.37.0_2.pdf
I am grateful for these Judges who are standing up for the rule of law!! Pete Hegseth killed 11 more people in the South American waters… I don’t understand why he is still doing this! For distraction? For his ego? It’s so wrong!! Everything about this administration is so shameful! Michele
The District Court Judges have been the heroes of the Judicial branch and have more consistently supported our Constitution than have the appellate judges. Meanwhile, SCOTUS has been an utter failure with the radical six clearly supporting authoritarianism.