Did NOT See This Coming

“The Government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court.”

Rare win from the Supreme Court blocking Donald Trump’s administration from deporting immigrants under the Aliens Enemy Act!

7-2.… pic.twitter.com/fe2cF0fvVM

— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) April 19, 2025

And part of what it means:

This is an unusual order for several reasons, suggesting the majority thought it necessary. This was issued:

• after midnight

• before the government even responded (perhaps most irregular)

• while a Fifth Circuit request remains pending &

• before a dissenting justice could finish their statement.

This will help provide context:

... if only the SCOTUS were able to decide ASAP what's been obvious since the start--namely, that TdA isn't a nation or government that has natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects, and that therefore the Trump AEA proclamation is unauthorized, full stop.

The short answer is, it doesn’t work that way, or courts would be a super-legislature wandering the land righting wrongs as they saw fit. We’ve already got Trump doing that, and you can see how well that’s working out.

All lower courts should now be laser-focused on getting the *merits* question up to the Court expeditiously.

That’s not how it works, either. As Emptywheel points out:

Note import of what Geidner is saying. Alito dissent may simply say, "this appeal isn't before us, even on rocket docket."

But some majority (not clear it's 7) thought they had to stay up late on most important Catholic weekend to intervene to protect due process for people being loaded on planes.

Not everything goes up the appellate ladder simply because you want it to (again, feature, not bug). In fact, most of this has gone up because the government wanted it to, on emergency appeals, which means there wasn’t a full record before the Supremes. 

Be careful what you ask for. 

And this is the Roberts Court (!) deciding enough is fucking enough, and taking the application of the ACLU(!!) as excuse to follow the example of the 4th Circuit (I REALLY did not see THAT coming!!!) to jump first and ask questions later. They are telling Trump, IOW, what Judge Wilkinson and the panel in the 4th Circuit said: “You are meddling with primal forces, and you have to stop ✋ .” In the name of the law, no less. (Yes, you have to be this old to remember that cliche).

Again, I don’t remember the courts ever moving this fast. To court another cliche, Trump has awakened a sleeping giant. If this and the actions of Sen. Van Hollen and AOC and Sanders work to put some spine in the Congress, Trump’s presidency might yet set a new standard for shortest effective term in modern history.

Easter is a time of resurrection.

Update: HUD finally responded to my request for comment about the HUD secretary sending all employees home early for Easter to reflect on Jesus -- and with a statement so bonkers I laughed out loud. pic.twitter.com/ArNHlx70uY

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) April 18, 2025

HUD wanted its employees to take Holy Triduum to “reflect on Jesus.” Trump may find this Easter is when he had to “come to Jesus.”

He isn’t going to like that.