Supreme Court's Tariff Ruling and Kavanaugh's Loyalty

• 📉 The Supreme Court struck down Trump's worldwide tariffs by a 6-3 vote, marking a significant loss for Trump in the first merits case of his second administration.
• 💡 Steve Vladeck highlights four key takeaways: the loss for Trump, Justice Barrett's nuanced view on the "major questions doctrine," Kavanaugh's dissent indicating a potential lack of loyalty to Trump, and the inconsistency in applying the "major questions doctrine" across different administrations.
• ⚖️ The dissenters (Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh) were in the majority in Biden v. Nebraska, which used the "major questions doctrine" to strike down student loan forgiveness, raising questions about analytical consistency.
• ❓ The Court punted on the remedy question for unlawful tariffs, leaving lower courts to handle complex litigation, a move Vladeck attributes to the Court being unprepared and a historical pattern of Congress cleaning up messes.

Lower Court Defiance and Judicial Authority

• ⚠️ A New Jersey district court found the DOJ in violation of orders, demanding a list of non-compliance instances, revealing over 50 violations across 547 cases.
• 💰 In Minnesota, a judge fined a government lawyer $500 per day for failing to return a detained immigrant's property, a significant escalation from previous warnings and public condemnations.
• 🎯 Vladeck notes that while monetary sanctions are a necessary step, they are often levied against individual lawyers rather than those higher up the chain of command, suggesting a need for accountability at higher levels within DOJ and DHS.
• 🏛️ An advisory opinion from the Judicial Conference signals that federal judges can publicly speak out to defend the rule of law and judicial independence, a message seen as a positive response to criticisms and a potential shift in how judges engage publicly.

Supreme Court Ethics and Case Previews

• 📈 The Supreme Court implemented a "stock ticker fix" requiring parties to include stock ticker labels for companies in cases, a move criticized as insufficient compared to justices divesting from individual stocks.
• ⚖️ The Trump administration dropped its appeal of a preliminary injunction against UCLA, a win for resistance against potentially harmful policies.
• 🗓️ The February Supreme Court sitting is lighter, but the March sitting includes crucial cases on election law, asylum, and birthright citizenship.
• 🔫 A key February case, United States v. Hamani, involves a Second Amendment challenge to a statute prohibiting firearm possession by unlawful drug users, with arguments focusing on historical precedent and the "major questions doctrine."
• 🌍 The asylum case, Noem v. Al Otro Lado, questions whether individuals stopped on the Mexican side of the border are considered to have "arrived in the United States," potentially impacting asylum claims and raising concerns about a categorical ban on asylum for those in transit.

Bernie Goetz and Societal Reflections

• 🗣️ Elliot Williams discusses his book "Five Bullets," exploring the 1984 subway shooting by Bernie Goetz and its societal impact.
• 🏙️ The book highlights 1980s New York's high crime rates and the complex, multi-racial coalition that supported Goetz, viewing him as an avenger in a dangerous city.
• 🇺🇸 Williams draws parallels between Goetz's fear-based, reactionary politics and Donald Trump's political style, noting the enduring nature of these themes in American discourse.
• ⚖️ The Bernie Goetz criminal trial and its verdict are examined, with Williams suggesting juries often "trust their guts" and reflect the prevailing societal views of the time, even if those views are problematic.