Leah Litman

Well, thank you so much. And if you're on the fence, I just say, try to make Sam Alito even madder than he already is.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So you know everything. Why even have me on?

So you know everything. Why even have me on?

It will make Sam Alito very mad if this makes a bestseller list.

It will make Sam Alito very mad if this makes a bestseller list.

Oh, yeah. He hate reads the internet.

Oh, yeah. He hate reads the internet.

That is on hold because the 2-1 D.C. Circuit panel, two Trump appointees in the majority, paused the contempt order, which basically prevents Judge Boasberg from moving forward. And he had asked the government to submit declarations or to purge their contempt by bringing back everyone from the El Salvadoran prison that the government had wrongfully sent there.

That is on hold because the 2-1 D.C. Circuit panel, two Trump appointees in the majority, paused the contempt order, which basically prevents Judge Boasberg from moving forward. And he had asked the government to submit declarations or to purge their contempt by bringing back everyone from the El Salvadoran prison that the government had wrongfully sent there.

So that is just on hold until further action by the D.C. Circuit.

So that is just on hold until further action by the D.C. Circuit.

It is, as we say on Strict Scrutiny, just total fuck shit, right? Like, you are not ordinarily supposed to be able to appeal a ruling that does nothing, that is not final, that leaves additional things to be determined.

It is, as we say on Strict Scrutiny, just total fuck shit, right? Like, you are not ordinarily supposed to be able to appeal a ruling that does nothing, that is not final, that leaves additional things to be determined.

And Judge Boasberg, as you note, didn't hold anyone in contempt, and he held out the possibility that he would never hold anyone in contempt so long as the government returned people from El Salvador. So I don't know what the F the D.C. Circuit panel thought that they were pausing, but obviously the prospect of holding the Trump administration accountable –

And Judge Boasberg, as you note, didn't hold anyone in contempt, and he held out the possibility that he would never hold anyone in contempt so long as the government returned people from El Salvador. So I don't know what the F the D.C. Circuit panel thought that they were pausing, but obviously the prospect of holding the Trump administration accountable –

under the law was just too galling for them to note, and they had to take a pause over that one.

under the law was just too galling for them to note, and they had to take a pause over that one.

That's true, although the president can issue a preemptive pardon here before any criminal prosecution would begin. And it's possible, and I think even likely, that in the event the president did that, I don't really see the federal courts then trying to go back and say, well, even though he basically pardoned the offense up until this date, that offense has continued.