"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Executive Orders Aren't Foolproof

Even if the fool is the one issuing them.

Remember that executive order declaring that, after consultation with his generals (I guess that would be "General" Tony Perkins and "General" Mike Pence, since Trump didn't discuss it with anyone at the Pentagon), no more trans soldiers?

Well, as so often happens with Trump's exercises in absolutism, it got shot down by the courts:

A federal judge in Washington, DC, on Monday suspended key parts of President Trump's policy to ban transgender troops from serving in the military — a policy slated to take effect fully in March 2018 — dealing a sharp rebuke to an administration that claimed transgender service members hamper the military’s strength and that Trump held supreme power to enact the ban.

US District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote in a 76-page decision granting a preliminary injunction that Trump’s justifications for the policy “do not seem to be supported by any facts,” noting “it appears that the rights of a class of individuals were summarily and abruptly revoked for reasons contrary to the only then-available studies.”

Kollar-Kotelly notes that transgender people “suffer severe persecution and discrimination,” saying the government must therefore supply an exceedingly persuasive justification for actions that target them — known as intermediate scrutiny. Having failed to meet that bar, she adds, six transgender people suing to overturn the ban are likely to prevail on constitutional grounds.

“The Court is convinced that Plaintiffs are likely to succeed in this lawsuit under the Fifth Amendment,” Kollar-Kotelly said.

The judge really scorched the administration. Here's the full order.

Needless to say, "General" Tony Perkins is beside himself at yet another example of "judicial activism":

“This is where judicial activism is leading us. The courts have moved beyond legislating on the invented rights of abortion and same-sex marriage to clearly usurping the constitutional authority of the executive branch. The president has the primary task of protecting Americans but we see the courts weakening his immigration policies designed to protect America from threats and now telling the commander-in-chief how to run the military.” – Hate group leader Tony Perkins, via tear-stained press release.

I just had to include Joe's comment about the "tear-stained" release.


2 comments:

Peter said...

Yay! Separation of powers works. We're going to need a lot of that in the next few years.

Hunter said...

If we can manage to keep the powers separate -- not a sure thing with Republicans in control of the Congress.