Injustice for everyone is a weekly series about how the Trump administration is trying to weaponize the justice system—and the people who are fighting back.
Last week was… a lot, from a legal perspective. While much of the Trump administration's efforts are aimed at getting the courts to agree that President Donald Trump can send troops from red states to subjugate blue cities, there are many other terrible things going on.
We've got a throwback to Elon Musk's idiotic actions, the Fifth Circuit is likely to decide that it's perfectly fine to force religion in the classroom, James Comey's lawyer is taking a page from Trump's playbook, and the Supreme Court appears poised to strike down bans on conversion therapy – because why not cause even more harm to trans kids. Last but not least, the Justice Department's meme antics undermine its own case against Luigi Mangione.
Musk and the Trump Administration FAFO
Well, well, well. If these are not the consequences of Musk's own actions.
Recently the New York Times prevailed in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit over the Trump administration's refusal to provide a list of Musk's security clearances while he was a government contractor until 2025. Now the administration will have to fork out money.
They tried to argue that it would violate Musk's privacy, but the court noted that Musk publicly bragged about his “top secret clearance” in 2024, which is actually not that private.
The Times did not request additional information — such as Musk's application for the permits or any investigative materials — but the government did say it could not provide the form because it would show whether the permits were subject to any conditions, even if the conditions themselves had been redacted.
Here Musk brags about his use of ketamine, his dull rotation causing twitching with Joe Rogan, and his conversations with Vladimir Putin backfired on him.
To grant a security clearance, the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency must review foreign influence and drug use. The court said that while Musk had not publicly discussed any terms, he had spoken publicly about his drug use and contacts with foreign leaders. And because the DCSA must consider these issues, the public has an interest in the DCSA fulfilling its responsibilities.
You can expect the Trump administration to continue to fight this because it will likely open the door to FOIA requests for Musk's clearances at the so-called Department of Government Effectiveness – and they I desperately don't want this.
The Fifth Circuit will continue to hear Ten Commandments cases until the desired result is achieved.
Another terrible event was the Fifth District. ordered full judicial review by a three-judge panel solution V Roke vs. Bramley— and it’s no exaggeration to say that we should all be worried.
Both a lower Louisiana court and a three-judge panel ruled that the law requiring public schools permanently display The Ten Commandments were unconstitutional because it was obvious.
The fact that they agreed to the review and asked for new clarifications and oral arguments is a sign that there is a desire to overturn it. This would mean making an official decision that the government could force the display of the Ten Commandments, but only the Protestant version chosen by the government.
The next stop will be the Supreme Court because, as with abortion, states will continue to pass laws that are objectively unconstitutional, pushing them to the Supreme Court for its blessing. Amazing system we have here.
Illegal appointments are given, but they can also be taken away
One of the issues that James Comey's lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald says he will raise and file a motion to dismiss is illegal appointment demand.
Essentially, it will be Lindsey Halligan, who has been appointed interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in the case. sole purpose accusing Trump's enemies is legally ineligible to hold her position. Her predecessor, Eric Siebert, served a temporary sentence of 120 days, allowing federal judges appoint him.
The question is whether this created a new vacancy or not. If this does not happen, then the 120-day temporary use ends forever, so the court ruled that Alina Habba is illegally performing her role in New Jersey. In that case, the Trump administration argued that the 120-day clock would start over with each interim appointment, but that would render the 120-day time limit completely useless.
There would be a kind of darkly cheerful symmetry if Comey's prosecution falls apart because the judge decides Halligan failed in her role. Trump got lucky with his favorite lower court judge, Eileen Cannon. rulesIt is completely untrue that Jack Smith was illegally appointed and threw out all the classified documents from the case.
What's good for a goose, etc.
SCOTUS is showing its hand and it's not good
Tuesday oral argument V Chiles vs. Salazar has signaled that the Supreme Court is moving to overturn Colorado's ban on conversion therapy for minors. This would also knock out Similar laws apply in almost half of the country.
There is no compelling argument for conversion therapy, which attempts to force minors to be heterosexual and cisgender. The largest healthcare organizations have condemned itand people forced to undergo it report high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
Right argument in Chile is that it violates therapists' freedom of speech if they cannot get children to listen to how their personality is bad and wrong.
This is a complete bogus story with no evidence whatsoever that the plaintiff ever intended to offer conversion therapy or received any complaints. Her lawyer from the virulently anti-LGBTQ+ group Alliance Defending Freedom told the court that Chiles was the subject of “anonymous complaints” that they refused to provide.
This is another case where the plaintiff is nothing more than straw man standing to get the conservative outcome they want—protecting the free speech of bigots at the expense of the well-being of LGBTQ+ children.
Trump and the Justice Department Are About to Tweet Luigi Mangione From Prison
The Justice Department has gotten into trouble over how exaggerated it is to say Mangione is guilty in the midst of his prosecution with a deputy director of public affairs. publication on X Trump interview in which he said Mangione “shot someone in the back as clearly as you look at me.”
This is pretty much a textbook example of prejudicial statements that will not be tolerated, as virtually every Justice Department prosecutor knows. But the Department of Justice is run by people whose main interests are making cool meme content and hurting people, so they might not be all that familiar.
When the court ordered the Trump administration to explain what happened here, they said that because the person who made the post was not part of the prosecution teamthey didn't break the rule.
This, of course, is nonsense, since it would essentially mean that the Department of Justice could make these statements at any time until the actual prosecutor in the case makes them.
But this isn't the first time the attention-hungry, meme-driven administration has run into trouble with Mangione, who is now trying to stop the Justice Department from seeking the death penalty over widely televised outlaw walk they made him do it.
