That’s Not How This Works

This Week in Democracy

• A federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration to end the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles. “It is profoundly un-American to suggest that people peacefully exercising their fundamental right to protest constitute a risk justifying the federalization of military forces,” the judge wrote. The administration is likely to appeal.

  ➡️ MORE: Background on lawsuits challenging National Guard deployments

• The U.S. Department of Justice sued four more states, seeking to force state election officials to turn over their voter registration lists. The department is demanding that the lists include voters’ private information, like driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.

  The Justice Department has now sued 18 states for the information and has sent demands to at least 40, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. This week, Wisconsin election officials refused the department’s requests.

  ➡️ READ: What’s Breaking Through About the Justice Department’s Election Investigations

• Another federal grand jury refused to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James. It’s the second time in two weeks that the Justice Department attempted to bring renewed charges. The original case against James was dismissed last month after a judge ruled that the lead prosecutor, interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, was not legally appointed to her position and didn’t have the authority to bring charges.

  States United represented a group of democracy experts in filing a brief in the original case, arguing that the politically motivated prosecution of James represented a threat to the rule of law.

  ➡️ MORE: About our brief

• Alina Habba resigned from her position as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, following an appeals court’s ruling last week that she was unlawfully appointed. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi first appointed Habba to the role in March, but then re-appointed her in July—an unusual maneuver that a judge last week called an attempt to “sidestep” federal law.

  Bondi used similar tactics to appoint other U.S. attorneys across the country, including Julianne Murray, the acting U.S. attorney for Delaware. Murray also resigned this week, acknowledging the ruling of the appeals court that covers both New Jersey and Delaware.

  Both Habba and Murray said they would continue working for the Justice Department in different roles.

• President Trump issued a pardon for Tina Peters, the former Colorado county clerk convicted of participating in a 2021 security breach of her county’s voting equipment. The pardon doesn’t have any effect, since Peters was convicted of state crimes and presidential pardons only apply to federal charges.

  Earlier this week, a federal judge dismissed Peters’ request to be released on bond.

• The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case about whether the president can fire the heads of independent federal agencies. The case was brought by Rebecca Slaughter, a member of the Federal Trade Commission who Trump attempted to fire in March. According to reports, the justices seem inclined to allow Trump to fire her—a decision which would drastically expand presidential power.

State of the States

In Georgia, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Fulton County seeking to obtain records from the 2020 presidential election.

County officials previously declined the department’s requests for the information. “I’m just still baffled as to why this fixation on the 2020 elections,” Robb Pitts, the chairman of the county board of commissioners, said last month. “The 2020 elections are over and done with. They’ve been reviewed, they’ve been audited, they’ve been scrutinized. They’ve been looked at from top to bottom. We had a clean bill of health.”

In Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill that limits the ability of federal immigration agents to make arrests at courthouses, hospitals, childcare centers, and more.

“Dropping your kid off at day care, going to the doctor, or attending your classes should not be a life-altering task,” Pritzker said. “Illinois, in the face of cruelty and intimidation, has chosen solidarity and support.”

➡️ READ: What’s Breaking Through About Federal Law Enforcement Tactics

In Texas, the Dallas County Republican Party announced that they would move forward with a plan to hand count ballots cast on Election Day in the March 3 primary election. (In Texas, political parties decide how primary elections are run.) The plan makes Dallas County the largest jurisdiction in the country to implement hand counts, a practice that is significantly slower, more expensive, and less accurate than using ballot-counting machines.

➡️ EXPLORE: The Reality of Full Hand Counts: A Guide for Election Officials