Lmst

A quotation from Montesquieu

   When legislative power is united with executive power in a single person or in a single body of the magistracy, there is no liberty, because one can fear that the same monarch or senate that makes tyrannical laws will execute them tyrannically.
   Nor is there liberty if the power of judging is not separate from legislative power and from executive power. If it were joined to legislative power, the power over the life and liberty of the citizens would be arbitrary, for the judge would be the legislator. If it were joined to executive power, the judge could have the force of an oppressor.
   All would be lost if the same man or the same body of principal men, either of nobles, or of the people, exercised these three powers: that of making the laws, that of executing public resolutions, and that of judging the crimes or the disputes of individuals.

   [Lorsque, dans la même personne ou dans le même corps de magistrature, la puissance législative est réunie à la puissance exécutrice, il n’y a point de liberté ; parce qu’on peut craindre que le même monarque ou le même sénat ne fasse des loix tyranniques, pour les exécuter tyranniquement.
   Il n’y a point encore de liberté, si la puissance de juger n’est pas séparée de la puissance législative, & de l’exécutrice. Si elle étoit jointe à la puissance législative, le pouvoir sur la vie & la liberté des citoyens seroit arbitraire; car le juge seroit législateur. Si elle étoit jointe à la puissance exécutrice, le juge pourroit avoir la force d’un oppresseur.
   Tout seroit perdu, si le même homme, ou le même corps des principaux, ou des nobles, ou du peuple, exerçoient ces trois pouvoirs; celui de faire des loix, celui d’exécuter les résolutions publiques, & celui de juger les crimes ou les différends des particuliers.]

Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 11, ch. 6 (1748) [tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/80796/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #montesquieu #checksandbalances #executive #judiciary #laws #legislature #separationofpowers #tyranny

Here's a valid addition to the +190,000-page US Code of Federal Regulations: a requirement for regulators to only enforce laws and amendments passed by Congress and in ways that minimally impinge on our natural rights. Regulate regulation. Until then, feel free to take the rules to court if and whenever they tread on *your* rights.

#ChecksAndBalances #CommonLaw #NaturalLaw #overregulation #regulation #SeparationOfPowers

The Minneapolis City Council approved changes to an ordinance Thursday that prohibits city employees from enforcing federal immigration laws.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/12/11/mpls-strengthens-law-restricting-cooperation-between-city-and-federal-immigration-agencies

#ICE #immigrants #separationofpowers

Signs posted on the front door of Turtle Bread express opposition to ICE and support for immigrant families on Tuesday in Minneapolis.

When Abrego Garcia’s attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, announced to the crowd assembled outside that his client would walk back out the field office’s doors again, he stressed that the legal fight was not over.

“Yesterday’s order from Judge #Xinis & now the temporary restraining order this morning represent a victory of #law over #power,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said.

#Trump #law #Constitution #immigration #Judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #AbuseOfPower #Authoritarianism #StateSponsoredAbduction

“I stand here today with my head held high & I will continue to fight & stand firm against all of the injustices this government has done upon me,” #KilmarAbregoGarcia said. “Regardless of this administration, I believe this is a country of laws & I believe that this injustice will come to an end.”

After Abrego Garcia spoke, he went through security at the field office, escorted by supporters.

#Trump #law #Constitution #immigration #Judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #AbuseOfPower #Authoritarianism

…#KilmarAbregoGarcia on Friday stopped at a news conference outside the building, escorted by a group of supporters chanting “We are all Kilmar!”

“I stand before you a free man & I want you to remember me this way, with my head held up high,” Abrego Garcia said through a translator. “I come here today with so much hope & I thank God who has been with me since the start with my family.”

He urged people to keep fighting.

#Trump #law #Constitution #immigration #Judiciary #SeparationOfPowers

#KilmarAbregoGarcia appeared for the appointment at an #ICE field office, some 14 hours after he was released from detention on a judge’s orders. His lawyers had asked the judge to block authorities from detaining him again & he walked out of the building surrounded by cheering supporters after the appearance.

#Trump #law #immigration #rendition #StateSponsoredAbduction #Judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #CivilRights #Authoritarianism #fascism #Tyranny #MafiaState

Nice! Federal Judge #Xinis issues order to prohibit immigration officials from rearresting & detaining #KilmarAbregoGarcia

Kilmar Abrego Garcia walked away after a scheduled appointment at an #ICE field office on Friday to the cheers of a crowd assembled outside. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking #immigration officials from detaining him.

#Trump #law #rendition #StateSponsoredAbduction #Judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #CivilRights #fascism
https://apnews.com/article/abrego-garcia-el-salvador-deportation-f6d3df5d2315375dea83492858dc91f5?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2025-12-12-Breaking+News

@euronews @next-euronews Too bad EOs don’t work like that. #Separationofpowers

Judge #Xinis also alternatively finds that the govt is not detaining him to execute a removal order — because if they did want to deport him they could have sent him to Costa Rica any time since August but have refused to do so (& lied about why) because the admin wants to send him to #Africa [where it is very likely he would be killed].

#FactCheck #TrumpLies #law #KilmarAbregoGarcia #immigration #Rendition #StateSponsoredAbduction #Judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #AbuseOfPower #Trump

Respondents instead found a fourth African country, Liberia. This time, when the Court sought information about Liberia & Costa Rica so to fairly assess the validity of Abrego Garcia's claims, Respondents did not just stonewall. They affirmatively misled the tribunal. They announced that Liberia is the only viable removal option because Costa Rica "does not wish to receive him," …& that Costa Rica will no longer "accept the transfer" of him…. But Costa Rica had never wavered in its commitment to receive Abrego Garcia, just as Abrego Garcia never wavered in his commitment to resettle there…. This evidently remained an inconvenient truth for Respondents. But more to the point, Respondents' persistent refusal to acknowledge Costa Rica as a viable removal option, their threats to send Abrego Garcia to African countries that never agreed to take him, & their misrepresentation to the Court that Liberia is now the only country available to Abrego Garcia, all reflect that whatever purpose was behind his detention, it was not for the "basic purpose" of timely third-country removal. Zadvydas, 533 U.S. at 697.

Here is the full text what the immigration judge ordered in 2019. As Judge #Xinis notes, NONE of these three things include an order of removal.

The government tried to argue that the withholding grant was "implicitly" a removal order, but the #law requires an explicit one.

#FactCheck #TrumpLies #KilmarAbregoGarcia #immigration #AlienEnemiesAct #Rendition #StateSponsoredAbduction #Constitution #CivilRights #DueProcess #Judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #AbuseOfPower #Trump

The withholding decision also included a separate "order" that did not command Abrego Garcia's removal to El Salvador or anywhere else. Id. The order reads in its entirety: ORDER It is hereby ordered that: I. the Respondent's application for asylum pursuant to INA? § 208 is DENIED; II. the Respondent's application for withholding of removal pursuant to INA § 241(b)(3) is GRANTED; and III. the Respondent's application for withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture is DENIED. ECF No. 1-1 at 15 (dated and signed by IJ).

Judge #Xinis finds that #KilmarAbregoGarcia was NEVER ordered deported in 2019. She notes that ever since this began in March 2025, the government has NEVER been able to produce ANY evidence that the immigration judge actually issued a removal order.

#law #immigration #AlienEnemiesAct #Rendition #StateSponsoredAbduction #Constitution #CivilRights #DueProcess #Judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #AbuseOfPower #Trump

B. No Order of Removal Exists for Abrego Garcia No such order of removal exists for Abrego Garcia. When Abrego Garcia was first wrongly expelled to El Salvador, the Court struggled to understand the legal authority for even seizing him in the first place. At the first hearing in Abrego I, the Court inquired of Respondents' counsel: The Court: I want to ask, though, the very specific question, if there is a final order of removal, what ... document got this process started? There is no warrant for his arrest by an order of removal. There is no statement of probable cause. There's no charge. There's no report that says that anyone saw Mr. Abrego Garcia doing anything illegal or criminal. So what is the actual document that gave these officers the authority to start this process? Counsel: That is not in the record, and the government has not put that into the record. And that's the best I can do. Abrego I, ECF No. 33 at 21:11-22. The Court continued to press counsel about the existence of a removal order and was told plainly that none can be found:

The Court: Okay. So if there's a Title 8 removal order, there would be an order of removal that's being executed, and we don't have one for Mr. Abrego Garcia, right? ... Do you have that order?... Is it in the record? I do not have that order. It is not in the record. Counsel: Id. at 23:7-24:4. Since that time, Respondents have never produced an order of removal despite Abrego Garcia hinging much of his jurisdictional and legal arguments on its non-existence. ECF No. 1 99 68-69; ECF No. 32 at 10, 15-17, 27; ECF No. 87 at 11-12. Indeed, Respondents twice sponsored the testimony of ICE officials whose job it is to effectuate removal orders, and who candidly admitted to having never seen one for Abrego Garcia. See ECF No. 107 at 30:16-22 (testimony of Cantú) (*Q: Based upon your many years of experience you described to us, you know what a final order of removal looks like, right, sir? Cantú: I do. Q: And have you seen a final order of removal in regard to Mr. Abrego Garcia? Cantú: I have not."). See also Abrego I, ECF No. 234 at 46:6-12 (testimony of interim Assistant Director for ICE Removal Operations, Thomas Giles ("Giles")) ("Q: You have not seen the final order of removal, have you, sir? Giles: What do you mean by that? Q: I mean, you have not seen a piece of paper that represents the final order of removal vis-a-vis Mr. Abrego Garcia, correct? Giles: No, I have not."). I Based on this, the Court concludes that no order of removal exists.

US District Judge Paula #Xinis ruled that #ICE must release #KilmarAbregoGarcia from custody immediately.

“Since Abrego Garcia’s return from wrongful detention in El Salvador, he has been re-detained, again without lawful authority,” the judge wrote. “For this reason, the Court will GRANT Abrego Garcia’s Petition for immediate release from ICE custody.”

#law #immigration #AlienEnemiesAct #Rendition #StateSponsoredAbduction #Judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #Trump
https://apnews.com/article/abrego-garcia-el-salvador-deportation-31160936c51932f74b717eb1143edd55?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2025-12-11-Breaking+News

FFS

#DHS inks contract to create its own fleet of #Boeing 737s for #deportations
 The agency will spend nearly $140 million to buy the planes, funding that comes from a massive budget increase for #immigration enforcement approved by #Congress.

#Trump #law #Constitution #AlienEnemiesAct #Rendition #StateSponsoredAbduction #DueProcess #CivilRights #Judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #AbuseOfPower #InternationalLaw
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/12/10/dhs-deport-boeing-contract/

Justice Sonia Sotomayor sharply criticized the Trump administration during oral arguments in the case of Trump v. Slaughter, suggesting that the government aimed to fundamentally dismantle the constitutional structure by seeking to give the president expanded power to remove members of independent agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). She argued that allowing such removals would undermine Congress’s authority to maintain agency independence. The case, which could broaden presidential power over dozens of independent agencies, has divided the court, with conservative justices leaning toward granting the president greater authority, while liberal justices like Sotomayor express concern. Will the court uphold or limit the president’s powers? More here: https://www.thedailybeast.com/liberal-justice-stops-scotus-with-shock-challenge-to-trump/ #SupremeCourt #IndependentAgencies #SeparationOfPowers #ConstitutionalLaw

Inside the #DOJ, officials have asked the Office of Legal Counsel for guidance because the office provides legal analysis for the admin, according to people familiar with the matter….

The office has advised department officials that #LindseyHalligan could stay in spite of 2 judges’ rulings declaring her appointment invalid because the decision did not require a specific measure to be taken, like her removal, the people said [oh really?].

#Trump #law #LegalEthics #judiciary #SeparationOfPowers

“That’s the proper position, in my view,” Judge Brinkema said. The judge also questioned whether there was any legal guidance issued by the #DOJ to explain why #LindseyHalligan was still in the job.

The lawyer representing the government said only that the staff of the Eastern District of Virginia had been told in an email to keep using Halligan’s name as the #USattorney.

#Trump #law #LegalEthics #judiciary #SeparationOfPowers

During the hearing Tues, Judge Leonie M. Brinkema, pressed a federal prosecutor to explain why #LindseyHalligan’s name remained on such filings, despite the court ruling last month. The judge noted that the #USattorney in NJ, #AlinaHabba, who was appointed in a similarly unorthodox manner & was also found by the courts to be serving unlawfully, resigned Monday.

#Trump #law #LegalEthics #judiciary #SeparationOfPowers

After a brief rebuttal by D. John Sauer, the lawyer for the #Trump administration, the case is submitted, court adjourned.

Personally, it feels like, once again, #SCOTUS is going to grant Trump even greater authority than they already have done.

Welcome to the new #AmericanAutocracy. We’ve been here a while. 😞

Start of 🧵→ https://masto.ai/@Nonilex/115684607130555625

#law #HumphreysExecutor #ActivistCourt #Autocracy #power #ExecutiveBranch #SeparationOfPowers #Congress 🧵

Agarwal, atty for the fired #FTC commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, says in response to the justice’s questions about the consequences of allowing a president to fire agency leaders, that “there are real-world risks that are palpable.” He cited concerns about the Federal Election Commission #FEC [can you imagine?!] being under the total control “of a political actor,” as well as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s technical determinations.

#law #SCOTUS #ActivistCourt #Trump #SeparationOfPowers 🧵

#Separationofpowers

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