Latest news with #dueprocess
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chaos over Alina Habba's status at the NJ attorney's office even has defendants confused
A man in New Jersey has claimed that his upcoming criminal trial would be unconstitutional, while Alina Habba is head of the U.S. Attorney's Office, saying she is 'unlawfully' in that role. An attorney for Julien Giraud Jr., who is facing trial August 4 for drug and firearm-related charges, says the case cannot move forward with Habba in charge because his client has the right to be prosecuted 'only by a duly authorized United States Attorney'. The motion is the first of its kind to challenge Habba's swift re-appointment to U.S. Attorney after her nomination fell apart. On Thursday evening, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi intervened after New Jersey's district court judges attempted to remove Habba from her temporary post in the state earlier in the week. 'Giraud Jr. has a constitutional right to be prosecuted only by a duly authorized United States Attorney. The illegitimacy of Ms. Habba's appointment undermines Giraud Jr.'s fundamental due process rights,' attorney Thomas Mirigliano, wrote in the legal memorandum filed Sunday. Mirigliano is asking the court to either withdraw the indictment against his client or prevent Habba, or any assistant U.S. attorney under her authority, from prosecuting the case. 'I got the idea over the weekend because my trial was imminent and I thought it was an important issue that needed to be litigated,' Mirigliano told POLITICO. Giraud Jr. is facing two charges, possession and intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl as well as possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He has pleaded not guilty to both Habba, who served as President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, was named Interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey in March, a position that she could only hold for 120 days without Senate confirmation. As her expiration date approached, and with no Senate confirmation hearing in sight, the state's judges took matters into their own hands on July 22 and selected First Assistant U.S. Attorney, Desiree Grace, to replace Habba. But the administration swooped in and carried out a legal maneuver that will ultimately allow Habba to remain. Bondi fired Grace while Trump rescinded Habba's nomination and instead named her Acting U.S. Attorney. Under that statute, Habba can remain in charge of the New Jersey attorney's office for at least 210 days. The Independent has asked the White House for comment. Giraud Jr's motion, initially filed with the federal judge overseeing his case in New Jersey, is being handled by a federal judge in Pennsylvania. Habba represented Trump at his New York fraud trial and New York defamation trial brought by E. Jean Carroll. Trump lost both cases.
The Independent
6 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Chaos over Alina Habba's status at the NJ attorney's office even has defendants confused
A man in New Jersey has claimed that his upcoming criminal trial would be unconstitutional, while Alina Habba is head of the U.S. Attorney's Office, saying she is 'unlawfully' in that role. An attorney for Julien Giraud Jr., who is facing trial August 4 for drug and firearm-related charges, says the case cannot move forward with Habba in charge because his client has the right to be prosecuted 'only by a duly authorized United States Attorney'. The motion is the first of its kind to challenge Habba's swift re-appointment to U.S. Attorney after her nomination fell apart. On Thursday evening, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi intervened after New Jersey's district court judges attempted to remove Habba from her temporary post in the state earlier in the week. 'Giraud Jr. has a constitutional right to be prosecuted only by a duly authorized United States Attorney. The illegitimacy of Ms. Habba's appointment undermines Giraud Jr.'s fundamental due process rights,' attorney Thomas Mirigliano, wrote in the legal memorandum filed Sunday. Mirigliano is asking the court to either withdraw the indictment against his client or prevent Habba, or any assistant U.S. attorney under her authority, from prosecuting the case. 'I got the idea over the weekend because my trial was imminent and I thought it was an important issue that needed to be litigated,' Mirigliano told POLITICO. Giraud Jr. is facing two charges, possession and intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl as well as possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He has pleaded not guilty to both Habba, who served as President Donald Trump 's personal lawyer, was named Interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey in March, a position that she could only hold for 120 days without Senate confirmation. As her expiration date approached, and with no Senate confirmation hearing in sight, the state's judges took matters into their own hands on July 22 and selected First Assistant U.S. Attorney, Desiree Grace, to replace Habba. But the administration swooped in and carried out a legal maneuver that will ultimately allow Habba to remain. Bondi fired Grace while Trump rescinded Habba's nomination and instead named her Acting U.S. Attorney. Under that statute, Habba can remain in charge of the New Jersey attorney's office for at least 210 days. The Independent has asked the White House for comment. Giraud Jr's motion, initially filed with the federal judge overseeing his case in New Jersey, is being handled by a federal judge in Pennsylvania. Habba represented Trump at his New York fraud trial and New York defamation trial brought by E. Jean Carroll. Trump lost both cases.
CTV News
11 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Attorneys: ‘Alligator Alcatraz' detainees held without charges, barred from legal access
Rana Mourer waves an American flag outside of the migrant detention facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Saturday, July 12, 2025 in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Alexandra Rodriguez) Lawyers seeking a temporary restraining order against an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades say that 'Alligator Alcatraz' detainees have been barred from meeting attorneys, are being held without any charges and that a federal immigration court has canceled bond hearings. A virtual hearing in federal court in Miami was being held Monday on a lawsuit that was filed July 16. A new motion on the case was filed Friday. Lawyers who have shown up for bond hearings for 'Alligator Alcatraz' detainees have been told that the immigration court doesn't have jurisdiction over their clients, the attorneys wrote in court papers. The immigration attorneys demanded that federal and state officials identify an immigration court that has jurisdiction over the detainees and start accepting petitions for bond, claiming the detainees constitutional rights to due process are being violated. 'This is an unprecedented situation where hundreds of detainees are held incommunicado, with no ability to access the courts, under legal authority that has never been explained and may not exist,' the immigration attorneys wrote. 'This is an unprecedented and disturbing situation.' The lawsuit is the second one challenging 'Alligator Alcatraz.' Environmental groups last month sued federal and state officials asking that the project built on an airstrip in the heart of the Florida Everglades be halted because the process didn't follow state and federal environmental laws. Critics have condemned the facility as a cruel and inhumane threat to the ecologically sensitive wetlands, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican state officials have defended it as part of the state's aggressive push to support President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has praised Florida for coming forward with the idea, as the department looks to significantly expand its immigration detention capacity. ___ Mike Schneider, The Associated Press
New York Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
‘I Want to Clear My Name': Deported Migrant Takes First Step to Sue the U.S.
A Venezuelan migrant took the first step on Thursday toward suing the United States for what he says was his wrongful detention and removal to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel, 27, spent four months in the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, where he said he was beaten and abused. He filed an administrative claim on Thursday with the Homeland Security Department, accusing U.S. immigration agencies of removing him without due process. It is the first such claim to be filed by one of the 252 Venezuelan men who were expelled and sent to El Salvador in March, his lawyers said, and is a necessary step before taking legal action against the U.S. government in federal court. Mr. Rengel, who is seeking $1.3 million in damages, was released last week as part of a large-scale prisoner swap between Venezuela and the United States. He is now living in Venezuela. 'I want to clear my name,' he said in a phone interview late Wednesday from his home in the state of Miranda. 'I am not a bad person.' The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately comment on Mr. Rengel's claim. The detention of Venezuelan men in El Salvador in March was one of the first high-profile efforts to fulfill President Trump's campaign promise of mass deportations. His administration has accused the migrants of belonging to a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, and his administration has used the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely invoked wartime law, to justify capturing and removing many of the men to El Salvador. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Fox News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump foe Boasberg to grill DOJ over migrant flights in heated hearing
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg will hear from immigration lawyers and the Trump administration in court on Thursday as he weighs new facts and allegations at the heart of one of the biggest immigration cases of President Donald Trump's second term — setting the stage for another heated court fight. Boasberg did not immediately signal which motions he would consider during the hearing. But it comes after Boasberg found himself at the center of Trump's ire and attacks on so-called "activist" judges this year, following his March 15 temporary restraining order that sought to block Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act — a 1798 wartime immigration law — to quickly deport hundreds of Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador earlier this year. Boasberg also ordered all planes bound for El Salvador to be "immediately" returned to U.S. soil, which did not happen. His emergency order touched off a complex legal saga that ultimately spawned dozens of federal court challenges across the country — though the one brought before his court on March 15 was the very first — and later prompted the Supreme Court to rule, on two separate occasions, that the hurried removals had violated migrants' due process protections under the U.S. Constitution. And Boasberg, as a result, has emerged as the man at the center of the legal fallout. While the order itself has been in a bit of a holding pattern — the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia stayed the order two months ago, when they agreed to review the ruling — Thursday's hearing could revive the bitterly divisive court fight once more. Boasberg is expected to consider plaintiffs' motions to reopen limited discovery, citing new evidence — including a recent UN report stating that, according to Salvadoran officials, the U.S. holds sole legal responsibility and custody over migrants transferred to CECOT. Other submissions include a whistleblower report from former Justice Department attorney Erez Reuveni, who worked on the case shortly before his removal. Trump administration officials have repeatedly excoriated Boasberg as an "activist judge" — a term they have employed for judges who have either paused or blocked Trump's sweeping policy priorities enacted via executive order. Trump himself floated the idea that Boasberg could be impeached earlier this year— prompting Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to issue a rare public warning. Tensions between Boasberg and the Trump administration soared to a fever pitch earlier this year after Boasberg in April said he had found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for failing to return the planes to U.S. soil, in accordance with his emergency order, and said the court had determined that the Trump administration demonstrated a "willful disregard" for his order. (The Trump administration appealed the findings to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.) In June, Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to provide all non-citizens deported from the U.S. to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador to be afforded the opportunity to seek habeas relief in court, and challenge their alleged gang status. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPHis 69-page order began by invoking Franz Kafka's "The Trial," in which the protagonist, Josef K., awakens to find two strange men outside his room, who proceed to arrest him for unspecified crimes. "Such was the situation into which Frengel Reyes Mota, Andry Jose Hernandez Romero, and scores of other Venezuelan noncitizens say they were plunged on March 15, 2025," Boasberg hearing comes amid a flurry of new reports and allegations filed by plaintiffs in the case in an effort to reopen discovery.
