Ketanji Brown Jackson Gets Standing Ovation For Slamming 'Relentless Attacks' On Judges
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on Thursday slammed the 'relentless attacks' judges across the country face, suggesting that such intimidation tactics mimic those used by authoritarian governments, according to multiple newsreports.
In an appearance at the First Circuit Judicial Conference in Puerto Rico, Jackson proceeded to address what she described as the 'elephant in the room,' without explicitly mentioning President Donald Trump's name.
Jackson condemned the 'relentless attacks and disregard' judges are confronted with daily, urging them to stand strong as she spoke out about the message that targeting judges sends.
'The attacks are not random. They seem designed to intimidate those of us who serve in this critical capacity,' Jackson added, according to Politico. 'The threats and harassment are attacks on our democracy.'
Since his inauguration in January, Trump and his allies have adopted an openly hostile and combative attitude toward judges who have stood in the way of the government's priorities. The president's call for impeaching a judge who ruled against his administration's deportation plans earned a rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts in March.
'For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,' Roberts said at the time in a rare statement. 'The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.'
Jackson warned that the fear these intimidation tactics are trying to instill in judges simply doing their jobs in maintaining the rule of law is reminiscent of how nondemocratic countries operate.
'A society in which judges are routinely made to fear for their own safety or their own livelihood due to their decisions is one that has substantially departed from the norms of behavior that govern a democratic system,' Jackson said, according to The New York Times. 'Attacks on judicial independence is how countries that are not free, not fair, and not rule of law oriented, operate.'
Jackson's remarks reportedly were given a standing ovation from the audience, which included judges, lawyers and others.
Jackson, who was nominated by former President Joe Biden to replace Stephen Breyer following his retirement in 2022, made history when she became the first-ever Black woman and former public defender to serve on the Supreme Court. Jackson is also the newest member of the nation's highest court.
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Politico
8 minutes ago
- Politico
The scale of Trump's power claims
Presented by Bayer Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government, your guide to Donald Trump's unprecedented overhaul of the federal government — the key decisions, the critical characters and the power dynamics that are upending Washington and beyond. Send tips | Subscribe | Email Sophia | Email Irie | Email Ben President DONALD TRUMP's attempt to maximize presidential power — and the resistance he's faced in court — has been the defining story of his second term. As he prepares to be feted with a military parade in Washington, D.C., Trump's detractors see these 'power grabs' as a reflection of authoritarian impulses, a dangerous trajectory for a republic born from the rejection of a king. His supporters scoff, describing Trump's unprecedented assertions of power as a corrective to the JOE BIDEN era in a dangerous world. 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Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
A reluctant brawler, Mayor Bass takes direct aim at Trump over immigration raids
With Los Angeles reeling from immigration sweeps and unsettled by nightly clashes between protesters and police, Mayor Karen Bass was asked by a reporter: What she did she have to say to President Trump? Bass, standing before a bank of news cameras, did not hold back. "I want to tell him to stop the raids," she said. "I want to tell him that this is a city of immigrants. I want to tell him that if you want to devastate the economy of the city of Los Angeles, then attack the immigrant population." After taking office in 2022, L.A.'s 43rd mayor carefully avoided public disputes with other elected officials, instead highlighting her well-known penchant for collaboration and coalition-building. The high-profile Democrat, who spent a dozen years in Congress, largely steered clear of direct confrontation with Trump, responding diplomatically even as he attacked her over her handling of the Palisades fire earlier this year. Those days of tiptoeing around Trump, and avoiding head-to-head conflict, are over. Bass is now sparring with the president and his administration at a perilous moment for her city and possibly for democracy. At the same time, the tumultuous events of the past week have given her a crucial opportunity for a reset after the Palisades fire, recalibrating her public image while leading her city through another historic crisis. "Having two moments of crisis during the first six months of this year has really tested her mettle as mayor," said GOP political strategist Mike Madrid, a long-standing Trump critic. "I think it's fair to say she did not perform to expectations during the fires. I think she's considerably improved during the current situation." Since agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal authorities fanned out across the region, searching for undocumented immigrants at courthouses, car washes and Home Depot parking lots, Bass has accused Trump of creating a "terrible sense of fear" in her city. Bass said Trump is on track to waste more than $100 million on troops who were neither requested nor needed. On multiple occasions, she said Trump wrongly gave credit to the National Guard for bringing calm to downtown L.A. on Saturday, when those troops had not even arrived yet. In many ways, Trump has emerged as the ideal foil for a mayor who, for much of the past six months, had been on her back feet. In the immediate aftermath of the Palisades fire, which erupted when she was out of the country, Bass struggled to show a command of the details and was savaged by critics over what they viewed as her lack of leadership. Months later, she released a budget that called for the layoffs of 1,600 workers, drawing an outcry from labor leaders, youth advocates and many others. Bass has been quicker to respond this time around, announcing a nightly curfew for downtown, warning of consequences for those who vandalize or commit violence and spelling out the real-world impacts of the ICE arrests on her constituents. The pushback reached a crescendo on Thursday, when — with just a few hours notice — Bass assembled more than 100 people from religious, community, business and civic groups to denounce the raids. It made for a potent tableau: a multi-ethnic, multiracial crowd of Angelenos cheering on the mayor as she declared that "peace begins with ICE leaving Los Angeles." Bass said she had received reports of ICE agents entering hospitals, workers not showing up to their jobs, parents afraid to attend their own children's graduations. An immigrant rights advocate said Trump had brought cruelty and chaos to Los Angeles. A church pastor from Boyle Heights said his parishioners "feel hunted." Trump and his administration have disparaged Bass and her city since the raids began. Stephen Miller, the president's deputy chief of staff, accused Bass on X of using "the language of the insurrectionist mob" while discussing her city. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called L.A. "a city of criminals" whose law breakers have been protected by Bass. Republicans have begun threatening reprisals against outspoken Democrats, including Bass, with some hinting at criminal prosecution. Asked about Bass' comments over the past week, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said ICE agents would not be "deterred from carrying out their mission." "We will not apologize for enforcing immigration law and carrying out the mandate the American people gave President Trump in November: Deport illegal aliens," she said. Fernando Guerra, who heads the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, said Angelenos fully expect their mayor to confront the president head on. Democrat Kamala Harris secured more than 70% of the vote in L.A. during last year's presidential election, while Trump received less than 27%. "I'm not surprised by what she's doing," Guerra said. "I would even suggest she push a little more. I don't think there's a cost to her politically, or even socially, to taking on Trump." The mayor is regularly calling in to TV and radio stations, as well as securing prime-time hits on national cable shows. In appearance after appearance, she has warned that L.A. is becoming "a grand experiment" — a testing ground for Trump to see if he can usurp the authority of Democratic mayors or governors in other states. On Tuesday, while addressing troops at Fort Bragg, Trump described L.A. as "a trash heap," with entire neighborhoods being controlled by "transnational gangs and criminal networks." Hours later, Bass clapped back on MSNBC, saying: "I have no idea what he's talking about." Bass has spoken repeatedly about traumatized Angelenos who could not locate loved ones caught up in the ICE raids. "For the most part, the people that have been detained have been denied access to legal representation," Bass said during an appearance at the city's Emergency Operations Center. "This is unprecedented." The raids, and their impact on families and children, are deeply personal for a mayor who cut her teeth organizing with immigrant rights activists decades ago. Bass' own family reflects the multiethnic nature of her city. Her late ex-husband was the son of immigrants from Chihuahua, Mexico. Her extended family includes immigrants from Korea, Japan and the Philippines. Immigration agents were recently seen making arrests outside her grandson's Los Angeles school, she said. The arrival of ICE, then the National Guard, then the U.S. Marines has caused not just Bass but several other Democrats to step out in ways they might have previously avoided. U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a soft-spoken political figure for decades, was handcuffed and forcibly removed from a news conference in Westwood on Thursday after interrupting Noem's remarks. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently accused Trump of a "brazen abuse of power," calling him "unhinged" and filing a lawsuit to block the deployment of the National Guard — not a huge departure for Newsom, who relishes both confrontation and the spotlight. Head-to-head accusations are much more out of character for Bass, who spent her first two years at City Hall boasting of her success in "locking arms" with her fellow elected officials on homelessness and other issues. In recent months, the mayor has praised Trump for the speedy arrival of federal resources as the city began cleaning up and rebuilding from the Palisades fire. Long before winning city office, Bass prided herself on her ability to work with other politicians, regardless of party affiliation, from her early days as a co-founder of the South L.A.-based Community Coalition to her years in Congress. Bass' strategy of avoiding public spats with Trump during the first few months of his administration was no accident, according to someone with knowledge of her thinking who was not authorized to speak publicly. The mayor, that person said, viewed an extended tit-for-tat as an impediment to securing federal funding for wildfire relief and other urgent needs. "That's more her brand — to get things done with whoever she needs to get them done with," said Ange-Marie Hancock, who leads Ohio State University's Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. Mike Bonin, who heads the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State L.A., said he thinks that Bass' career of building multiracial, multiethnic coalitions makes her uniquely suited to the moment. Now that Trump has "all but declared war on Los Angeles," Bass has no choice but to punch back, said Bonin, who served on the City Council for nearly a decade. "I don't see that she had any political or moral alternative," he said. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Advocacy organizations warn ‘we are all Kilmar'; pledge to fight for immigrant rights
Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, Chief of Organizing and Leadership Development for CASA Maryland, speaks during a press conference before Kilmar Abrego Garcia's arraignment and detention hearing in Nashville, Tenn. on June 13, 2025. (Photo: Cassandra Stephenson/Tennessee Lookout) Chants of 'Todos somos Kilmar' — 'we are all Kilmar' — punctuated a gathering of immigrant, labor, faith and civil rights organizations who gathered at a downtown Nashville church Friday ahead of Kilmar Abrego Garcia's arraignment. Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran native living in Maryland, was detained after a traffic stop in March and then deported to a Salvadoran prison under accusations of being a member of the MS-13 criminal gang. His deportation — which a Trump administration attorney admitted was done in error — has become a lightning rod for public opposition to the administration's immigration policies. 'Let's be clear: We are fighting because they are continuing to call this an administrative error, but there's nothing administrative about destroying a family, and this is not an error,' Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, a leader with immigrant advocacy group CASA Maryland, said. 'This is an intentional attack to Black and brown communities. Not just in Maryland, but all throughout this country, they are continuing to fight to erase us, and we must continue to stand up and resist,' she said. Abrego Garcia came to the United States illegally as a teenager. A 2019 immigration court order barred the government from sending him back to El Salvador, where he said he feared persecution. The El Salvador government returned Abrego Garcia to the United States in June to face human smuggling charges issued in a grand jury indictment in late May. The charges stem from a 2022 incident when the Tennessee Highway Patrol pulled over Abrego Garcia's SUV — which had nine Hispanic men inside — for speeding. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment at a Nashville federal courthouse Friday. The group of organizations that met on the steps of the First Lutheran Church also included the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), SEIU Local 205, Central Labor Council of Nashville and Middle Tennessee and The Equity Alliance. Vonda McDaniel, president of the Central Labor Council of Nashville and Middle Tennessee, demanded fair treatment for Abrego Garcia, saying his case will not 'disappear in the shadows of a courtroom.' She also questioned the legitimacy of the charges against him, which were filed after his deportation. 'This is a clear attempt to criminalize Kilmar retroactively in order to justify what they did to him illegally, and to intimidate other immigrants (and) workers who might dare to fight back when their rights are violated … Today, we stand before you to demand justice, not vengeance,' McDaniel said. TIRRC Executive Director Lisa Sherman Luna spoke of the Tennessee legislature's recent actions, including a law that created an immigration enforcement division that is exempt from public records and created criminal penalties for local elected officials who 'adopt sanctuary policies.' Another law created a new crime for harboring or hiding immigrants without legal immigration status 'for the purpose … of private financial gain.' 'What happened to Kilmar Garcia is a chilling example of what could happen to any one of us, because it's exactly what happens when those in power put themselves above the law, when court orders are ignored, when people are disappeared, when due process is erased,' she said. 'Right now, immigrants are being used as pawns in a broader assault on our democracy.' Sherman Luna said Nashville specifically has been under 'full-scale assault' since ICE detained around 200 people, most of whom had no criminal records, from the city's most diverse neighborhoods in May. U.S. 'border czar' Tom Homan, U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Trump administration officials have since denounced Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell for condemning the immigration detention sweep. 'There will be repercussions' Homeland Security official targets Nashville mayor over immigration After the detainments, O'Connell revised a 2019 executive order that requires some city employees to report interactions with federal immigration officials to the mayor's office, shortening the original 3-day timeframe to 24 hours. The mayor's office posted records of these reports, which inadvertently included the names of three federal immigration officials and one official's first name, according to O'Connell's administration. The posts were later removed. Tennessee GOP leaders have accused O'Connell of endangering immigration officials and interfering with immigration enforcement. O'Connell now faces an investigation by a U.S. Congressional committee, and Tennessee Republican state lawmakers have proposed legislation that would make it a felony for public officials to release immigration officers' names. The bill would also remove state and local officials from office. 'They criminalized the ability of local elected officials to protect immigrant residents, and now they're trying to make it a crime to even release the names of ICE officers, people with immense power operating without any public oversight,' Sherman Luna said. 'This is what governments do when they know they're acting outside of the law, when they're trampling on our rights (and) they want to do it with total impunity.' District 17 Metro Nashville Council member Terry Vo, who chairs the Immigrant Caucus, said the state legislature 'has already stripped Tennessee cities of the right to take care of our people, from banning sanctuary policies to restricting (minimum wage increases) and to blocking worker protections.' Cities in Tennessee and throughout the nation, she said, cannot 'comply in advance.' 'Let's not forget the freedoms we enjoy now were not gifted to us,' Vo said. 'They were fought for. They were sacrificed for.' Tequila Johnson, co-founder and vice president of The Equity Alliance, said it's the same system that 'locks up Black bodies' and 'is deporting immigrant families.' 'We owe it to our ancestors … to the people who died, who fought for these rights, to continue fighting,' Johnson said. 'Because just because hate isn't knocking at your door right now, doesn't mean it's not on your street.' Anita Wadhwani contributed. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
