Daily Update | January 30, 2019
Roger Stone, a longtime advisor to President Trump, pleaded not guilty to charges of obstruction, witness tampering, and making false statements. The Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that federal law, rather than state law, must be used to determine the immigration consequences of a criminal conviction. A planned Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation vote on the nomination of William Barr to be Attorney General has been postponed amidst concerns raised by several Democrats. By the end of this fiscal year, the “Muslim ban” will have prevented approximately 15,000 spouses and adopted minor children of U.S. citizens from reuniting. Concerned with the possibility that the Supreme Court may chip away at Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in the coming months and years, New York enacted legislation to strengthen reproductive health protections in the state.
TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION
Roger Stone, a longtime advisor to President Trump, pleaded not guilty to charges of obstruction, witness tampering, and making false statements (NYT, WaPo, WSJ).
- Read the indictment here.
- In his responses to the indictment, Stone demonstrates a flawed understanding of the First Amendment, Jennifer Daskal argues in Just Security.
New research supports the more expansive reading of “emoluments” advanced by plaintiffs in the lawsuit alleging President Trump is in violation of the Emoluments Clause, Aaron Blake writes in the Washington Post.
IMMIGRATION
A new Trump Administration policy forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases are processed took effect, write Paulina Villegas and Kirk Semple in the New York Times.
Congress should act to prevent private contractors running immigrant detention centers from coercing immigrant detainees into forced labor, argues Victoria Law in the New York Times.
The Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that federal law, rather than state law, must be used to determine the immigration consequences of a criminal conviction, Kim Langona writes in Crimmigration.
DEMOCRACY
To argue against electoral reform legislation at a Congressional hearing, Republicans called in two witnesses best known for advancing discredited claims of voter fraud that were rejected in federal court, Ari Berman writes in Mother Jones.
After flagging tens of thousands of registered voters for citizenship reviews—figures cited by President as evidence of voter fraud—the Texas secretary of state’s office is now telling counties that some of those voters don’t belong on the lists it sent out, Alexa Ura reports in the Texas Tribune.
JUSTICE & SAFETY
Several lawsuits have been filed that could dramatically impact the treatment of prisoners in the criminal justice system, alleging that denying drug addicts access to prescribed addiction medication constitutes discrimination based on disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, writes Beth Schwartzappel in the Marshall Project.
By the end of this fiscal year, the “Muslim ban” will have prevented approximately 15,000 spouses and adopted minor children of U.S. citizens from reuniting, David Bier writes in Cato at Liberty.
- The figures indicate that the waivers supposed to be available under the policy are largely symbolic, Bier writes in the Washington Post.
- The figures highlight the policy’s pointless cruelty, Ilya Shapiro argues in Reason.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Congresswoman Democrats are demanding answers from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about business dealings he had with an associate of Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch whose companies recently received sanctions relief from the Treasury Department, Kenneth P. Vogel writes in the New York Times.
- Read one of the letters sent to the Secretary here.
Three members of the White House Counsel’s office received undated ethics waivers that may have been issued retroactively, Meredith Lerner writes in the CREW Blog.
REGULATION
The Supreme Court’s response to plaintiffs’ request to put on hold the Fifth Circuit decision in June Medical v. Gee will provide a good sense of how the Court is likely to revisit its precedents in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Leah Litman writes in Take Care.
The win for labor in the recent New Prime v. Oliveira decision was modest because the case should have been so easy, perhaps indicating that the case was taken to provide the Roberts Court cover from charges that it is overly biased in favor of corporate interests, argues Sheldon Whitehouse in Slate.
Under the Trump Administration, the FDA has prioritized getting more cheap, generic drugs to market, but this may have come at the expense of patient safety, Anna Edney reports in Bloomberg.
The EPA proposed rules that would increase carbon-dioxide emission limits for certain coal-powered power plants, Scott Carson writes in the Regulatory Review.
CHECKS & BALANCES
Rep. Schiff, the new chairman of the House Intelligence Committee should increase the number of committee staff designees with top-level security clearances to improve the committee’s oversight capabilities, Daniel Schuman argues in Just Security.
A planned Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation vote on the nomination of William Barr to be Attorney General has been postponed amidst concerns raised by several Democrats, writes Karoun Demirjian in the Washington Post.
FEDERALISM
Concerned with the possibility that the Supreme Court may chip away at Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in the coming months and years, New York enacted legislation to strengthen reproductive health protections in the state, Joanna L. Grossman writes in Verdict.
The Idaho Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a challenge to the state’s adoption of Medicaid expansion, approved by voters via ballot initiative last fall, Audrey Dutton and Ruth Brown write in the Idaho Statesman.
As the federal government retreats from environmental protection, California provides a model for states can step up to fill the void, Paul Kibel argues in ACSBlog.
Tags:
Immigration Conflicts Checks & Balances Federalism Regulation Democracy Justice & Safety