Injustice for All is a weekly series about how the Trump administration is trying to weaponize the justice system—and the people who are fighting back.

Eighth Circuit keeps vying to be the worst circuit

For years now, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has been known as the most conservative appeals court in the country. But with 11 of its 12 members being GOP appointees, the Eighth Circuit is making a run for the title. This time around, it’s holding that private citizens and groups cannot sue under the Voting Rights Act for disability-based discrimination. Instead, only state attorneys general can sue to enforce the Voting Rights Act.

This follows on the heels of a 2023 decision from the same court saying that there was no private right of action under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits racially based gerrymandering.  

While this might sound arcane, what it means is that groups like the NAACP could no longer sue to challenge a redistricting decision, or a disability advocacy group could not sue over laws that restricted their access to voting. If only state attorneys general can do it, you’re just guaranteed that conservative attorneys general are never going to sue to enforce the civil rights of voters in their state when they agree with the restrictions passed by the state legislature.

The federal courts have been relentlessly chipping away at the Voting Rights Act for years. And everyone knows that Chief Justice John Roberts is no fan of the law. It’s going to be hard to watch decades of progress being unwound. 

Democrats sue DHS over law that says exactly what it says 

Twelve Democratic members of Congress have been forced to sue the Department of Homeland Security over its restrictions on access to immigration detention facilities. Though Trump signed the 2019 law explicitly allowing members of Congress to inspect Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities without prior notice, DHS has provided “guidance” that says just the opposite. 

First, the policy stated that members of Congress had to provide 72 business hours’ notice to visit and 24 hours’ notice before entering a detention facility. The administration later bumped that visit notice requirement to seven days. 

The explanation for defying the law is the same one that the administration always offers, which is that no one can stop the president from doing whatever he wants. Per Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, “Requests should be made with sufficient time to prevent interference with the President’s Article II authority to oversee executive department functions—a week is sufficient to ensure no intrusion on the President’s constitutional authority.”

This stance, of course, means that Congress can never pass any law that in any way affects the executive branch, which is a very … interesting … view of the separation of powers. Now, as with so many other things these days, the only way that the law will be enforced is if someone can successfully sue the Trump administration, a thing which is less and less likely with a Supreme Court that really loves to give Trump his way. 

Eric Tung is the perfect example of a second-term Trump judicial pick, and that’s not a compliment 

Trump has tapped Eric Tung for a lifetime seat on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Tung brings the qualifications we’ve come to expect from a Trump judicial nomination, which is to say that he has never been a judge, has never served as lead counsel on a case, has never tried a case to verdict, and has spent about 10% of his time on criminal cases. Well, it’s not like the Ninth Circuit hears a lot of criminal cases. Oh, wait. 

Tung wasn’t selected for having any relevant experience, though. He was selected for his worldview. Tung clerked for Justices Antonin Scalia and Brett Kavanaugh, then took a job at  Jones Day, the law firm that is a breeding ground for hard-right lawyers. He hates unions, doesn’t believe there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, and thinks striving for racial equity is bad. 

He has a history of misogynistic remarks complaining about “radical feminists try[ing] to blur gender roles, but refused to answer questions about that during his confirmation hearing. His logic? Because things like gender roles are “the subject of wide debate,” and therefore as a nominee, “I cannot answer under judicial canons.” He also wouldn’t answer questions about whether a minor who is sexually assaulted or the victim of incest should be forced to give birth. 

Given that the Senate Republicans confirmed Emil Bove, the former Trump criminal defense lawyer who told DOJ attorneys they should disobey court orders, Tung is a shoo-in. 

Another court order broken. Weird how that keeps happening

Judge Royce Lamberth told Trump officials on Wednesday it was likely the administration violated his order to restore news programming at Voice of America. He also said they are violating numerous other statutory provisions, provided misleading info to the court, and flip-flopped in sworn declarations. So, business as usual for the administration, basically. Can’t wait to hear how Lamberth is a wild-eyed commie as opposed to an 82-year-old Reagan appointee.

Administration does nomination shenanigans for not one, not two, but three U.S. attorneys

The administration has a problem. Trump keeps tapping objectively unqualified people to serve as U.S. attorneys, people so unqualified he knows they won’t get through the Senate, which is saying something, given this Senate. So, the administration has to stitch together various types of temporary appointments that don’t require Senate confirmation, nor the approval of the judges in the district. 

That’s why Alina Habba, one of Trump’s numerous personal attorneys, is now the acting U.S. attorney, which doesn’t require confirmation and allows her to serve for 210 more days. Same thing for Bill Essayli, who is now the acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California for another 210 days, even though the district’s judges declined to name him to the post. 

Enter Sigal Chattah, who is only hanging onto the U.S. attorney job in Nevada because Trump was willing to do the same thing he did for Habba and Essayli—roll her expiring interim job into an acting job, so she gets, you guessed it, 210 more days. It’s unknown whether the Nevada judges would have rejected Chattah as they did with Habba and Essayli, as Trump changed her status before that happened. 

But it’s not like Chattah is a stellar candidate. She’s an election denier who, when running for Nevada attorney general in 2022, said her Black opponent “should be hanging” from a crane, which she insists is not actually racist to say. She also doesn’t appear to have any background in criminal law, but she did represent conservative churches that didn’t want to observe COVID-19 restrictions, which is what counts for qualifications these days.