Decisions, Decisions

This Week in Democracy

• In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court limited lower courts’ power to issue orders with nationwide effects. The decision came after the Trump administration asked the justices to lift nationwide orders blocking enforcement of President Trump’s executive order that seeks to deny citizenship to some children born on U.S. soil. The court did not determine whether Trump’s order is unconstitutional; the justices sent that issue back to lower courts.

  The decision marks a major shift in how courts can respond to unlawful federal action—but it also emphasizes how important state leadership is in upholding the law and pushing back on overreaches by the federal government. In response to the decision, state attorneys general who sued to block Trump’s order have reaffirmed their commitment to defending the Constitution and their constituents.

  “Because we took action to defend the Constitution, North Carolinians still have their 14th Amendment right to citizenship,” North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson wrote on social media. He continued: “The 14th Amendment is clear, and we will defend it.”

  ➡️ READ: Sharing the Facts About Birthright Citizenship

• Emil Bove, a top U.S. Justice Department official, proposed ignoring court orders to carry out Trump’s mass deportation plans, according to a new whistleblower complaint. Bove previously represented Trump in the federal election interference and classified documents cases and is now nominated to be a federal judge.

  Bove denied the allegations at a hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

  ➡️ EXPLORE: Americans Agree: The President Should Respect Court Rulings

• The Trump administration sued every federal judge in Maryland in a lawsuit challenging an order that blocks the administration from immediately deporting people in the state. The order requires that the administration wait two days after a person challenges their deportation in court before removing them. Maryland’s top federal judge signed the order in May, citing a spike in the volume of immigration cases, to ensure each case can be heard fairly.

  “After blatantly violating judicial orders, and directing personal attacks on individual judges, the White House is turning our Constitution on its head by suing judges themselves,” Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement. “Make no mistake: this unprecedented action is a transparent effort to intimidate judges and usurp the power of the courts.”

• The U.S. Supreme Court paused a lower court’s order, temporarily allowing the Trump administration to deport people to countries that they are not from. The Supreme Court’s order means that for now, the administration does not have to give those facing deportation to a “third country” time to apply for protection, such as on the basis that they might be tortured in that country.

  Three justices dissented. In her dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote about how the administration failed to abide by court orders in the case, and that the Supreme Court’s decision “further erodes respect for courts and the rule of law.” The case now heads back to federal district court.

• Officials from 21 states and D.C. sued the Trump administration over its cancellation of federal funding that was already approved by Congress. The officials, led by New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin and New York Attorney General Letitia James, are arguing that the administration’s justification for the cancellations is illegal. The officials said their states have lost funding for programs that protect clean drinking water, provide meals to schoolchildren, conduct medical research, and more.
• A New York appeals court revoked the law license of Kenneth Chesebro, a key architect of the “fake electors” plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Chesebro’s license was suspended in November after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge in the Georgia election interference case.

  Chesebro’s actions undercut “the very notion of our constitutional democracy that he, as an attorney, swore an oath to uphold,” the justices wrote in their decision.

State of the States

In North Carolina, State Auditor Dave Boliek appointed new chairs of each of the state’s 100 county elections boards. The appointments mean that the county boards now have Republican majorities and Republican chairs.

The power to make appointments to state and county election boards was transferred from Gov. Josh Stein to Boliek in May. The transfer was initially added to a bill passed by the state legislature that provided relief from Hurricane Helene. Stein sued to block the transfer, calling the move a “power grab.” Judges ruled in Stein’s favor and blocked the transfer But those rulings were later paused by an appeals court, allowing the transfer to take place and giving Boliek appointment powers.

Also in North Carolina, the State Board of Elections adopted a plan introduced by Sam Hayes, the board’s new executive director, to send notices to nearly 200,000 voters asking them to update their voter registration information. Under the plan, about 98,000 voters would only be able to vote using a provisional ballot if they don’t update their information.

Hayes’s plan comes after the Trump administration sued the board, seeking to force it to retrieve updated information from those voters.

In Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court declined to hear two challenges to the state’s congressional map. Gov. Tony Evers previously filed an amicus brief in one of the cases urging the court to take the case and arguing that the current maps are unfair. Evers was co-represented by States United and the Wisconsin Department of Justice.