Sarah Mahmood, Ian Eppler  //  7/17/17  //  Daily Update

The government has asked the Supreme Court to clarify its June 26th ruling partially blocking the revised entry ban after a Hawaii district court issued a revised injunction in the case. The Presidential Commission on Election Integrity has published comments critical of its work, as well as the names and contact information of their authors, and Commission Vice Chair Kris Kobach was revealed to have proposed revisions to the National Voter Registration Act requiring proof of citizenship from all registrants. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has published an op-ed defending the DOJ policy requiring prosecutors to seek the most serious charges possible. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked the Senate to roll back rules to allow the DOJ to impose a federal ban on medical marijuana.  

IMMIGRATION 

The government has asked the Supreme Court to clarify its June 26th ruling granting a partial stay of an injunction blocking the revised entry ban after a Hawaii district court issued a revised injunction (BuzzFeed, Lyle Denniston Law News, SCOTUSBlog).

• The motion is available here.
• The government has asked the 9th Circuit to stay the district court’s revised injunction.
• Leah Litman criticizes the arguments in the government’s motion at Take Care.
• Marty Lederman offers additional thoughts on the government’s motion at Take Care.
• Michael Dorf notes that the government will likely interpret any ambiguities in the new injunction narrowly at Take Care.
• Lyle Denniston documents the procedural complexity of the entry ban litigation.
• Arkansas Solicitor General Lee Rudofsky critiques the Supreme Court’s analysis in its stay order at SCOTUS Blog.
• Also at SCOTUS Blog, Frank Trinity, Chief Legal Officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges, explains why the organization filed an amicus brief in the entry ban litigation.
• Cody Wofsy summarizes the Hawaii court’s order at the ACLU.
• The government’s interpretation of the term “bona fide relationship” in the Supreme Court’s order devalues many important family relationships, writes Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia at ACS Blog.

The Trump administration is considering an executive order that would expand a procedure used for expedited removal of undocumented immigrants (WaPo).

• At Immigration Prof Blog, Kevin Johnson argues that an expansion of expedited removal may be unconstitutional.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos criticized the purported “overreaching” of the Department’s Office of Civil Rights under the Obama administration and announced her intent to return it to a “neutral agency” (Politico).

Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ speech to the Alliance Defending Freedom suggests that he cannot be trusted to defend LGBT rights, argues Brian McBride at Human Rights Campaign.

DEMOCRACY

The Presidential Commission on Election Integrity has published hundreds of public comments criticizing the commission’s work, including the names and contact information of critics (Ars Technica, WaPo, Vox).

• Common Cause has sued to block the Commission from collecting certain voter data.

Presidential Commission on Election Integrity Vice Chair Kris Kobach proposed revisions to the National Voter Registration Act to allow states to require proof of citizenship from all registrants, per an email released as part of litigation by the ACLU (Huffington Post).

State and local election officials must work with non-governmental organizations to guard against the joint threats of external interference in elections and federal voter suppression, writes Rick Hasen in the New York Times.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has published an op-ed defending the Department of Justice’s new policy instructing federal prosecutors to seek the most serious possible charges in all cases (SF Chronicle).

Although many states have moved to loosen their marijuana laws, a federal crackdown under Attorney General Jeff Sessions looms, writes Avantika Chilkoti in the New York Times.

REGULATION

The new Senate health care bill contains special provisions meant to benefit specific states with increased funding (NYT).

CHECKS & BALANCES

Litigation surrounding the immigration ban may portend the end of the strong form of the plenary-power doctrine, writes Margo Schlanger at SCOTUS Blog.

 Transgender students are turning to the courts for protection as the Department of Education withdraws its support for them (NYT).

FEDERALISM

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked the Senate to roll back rules to allow the Justice Department to circumvent state laws and impose a federal ban on medical marijuana (NYT).

REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

Congressman Al Green has said he is prepared to file more articles of impeachment against President Trump if the House Judiciary Committee does not act on the ones already filed. (Newsweek, The Hill).

Trump is unlikely to be impeached any time soon because Congressmen are weary to anger staunchly conservative voters, who are more likely to turn out in the midterm elections, argues Philip Bump.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Donald Trump, Jr. did not violate the Federal Election Campaign Act if he was unaware of its provisions, argues Andy Grewal at Yale Journal on Regulation: Notice & Comment.

Trump. Jr. may remain civilly liable, and he may nonetheless be criminally liable depending on the evidence, cautions Rick Hasen.

Ty Cobb will join President Trump’s legal team tasked with responding to the government investigation into the Trump campaign’s potential collusion with Russia (NYT).

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

President Trump’s campaign committee paid the law firm of an attorney representing Donald Trump, Jr. last month, two weeks before the representation was announced (WaPo).

RULE OF LAW                                    

Should President Trump revoke the Iran nuclear deal, Iran may respond by building upon tactics used in the Iran-Iraq War, explain Ariane Tabatabai and Annie Tracy Samuel at Lawfare.