An en banc Fourth Circuit debated the role of appellate courts during a testy hearing Thursday concerning an attempt to stop Department of Government Efficiency employees from accessing Social Security data.
A federal judge blocked DOGE from accessing the systems in March, questioning why officials needed large quantities of sensitive information on Social Security recipients. The Fourth Circuit denied the government’s attempt to stay the injunction ruling on the side of labor unions and retirees.
“The crux of this case and the crux of plaintiffs’ position is that government cannot grant itself an all-access pass to confidential, sensitive information merely by boldly asserting the word ’need’ or even the word ‘fraud,’” attorney Alethea Swift of the Democracy Forward Foundation, representing the unions, said.
The Supreme Court issued a June order reversing the Fourth Circuit’s conclusion and implemented a stay on a 6-3 vote. The high court majority said President Donald Trump was likely to succeed in the litigation and would be injured if the justices didn’t intervene, but did not issue an opinion to explain their reasoning.
Eye rolls and sighs dominated the day as the judges fiercely debated their role at this juncture, with Republican-appointed judges arguing the court should simply affirm the Supreme Court’s decision. In contrast, Democrat-appointed judges viewed the appellate court’s role as one requiring deeper analysis. …
Here’s another report on the oral argument.
5 comments:
SCOTUS is failing in its role as a co-equal 3rd branch
Unfortunately many on the Supreme Court are barely capable of reasoning these days. Look at Kavanaugh’s recent opinion arguing that legal US residents don’t have a weighty interest in not being harassed and detained by ICE based upon the color of their skin. His reasoning? That residents who aren’t lawfully here (an entirely different group of people) don’t have the right to be here. If my student turned in a paper making that argument, I’d refer him for a special education evaluation.
Totally agree. Unfortunately, it's not just the judges. There are hundreds of thousands of (if not more) people out there that think the same way Kavanaugh does with this. Legal citizens with latino or other darker skin heritage that are 2nd or 3rd generation born in the US, don't want a shake-down every time they leave their house! I just can't understand how the court can be so sheltered that they can't, at the very least, put out a sensible opinion, if there is one on this issue. To me, his "reasoning" just proves Kavanaugh partied too much in college and can't understand American's fundamental rights as American's. Who's going to help if a Justice can't even be sane when making judgements or writing opinions on issues? Kavanaugh isn't the only one!
We have six rubber stamps on the corrupted court who will endlessly give Trump a blank check.
This.
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