Reagan Appointee Destroys Trump’s Treatment Of Abrego Garcia

In quick order the Trump Regime appealed the Judge’s order in the Abrego Garcia case ordering discovery to set the stage for a possible contempt proceeding. Today a panel of the United States Fourth Circuit unanimously denied the government’s appeal stating, “we shall not micromanage the efforts of a fine district judge attempting to implement the Supreme Court’s recent decision.” You can read the decision HERE.

Had the court stopped there it would have been a powerful enough condemnation of the Trump position. As I shall discuss, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson’s decision did not stop there.

Before proceeding it is worth pausing to make clear that Wilkinson is no left wing radical judge. He was nominated by Ronald Reagan to the position and was confirmed in the Senate 58–39 over vigorous opposition from Democrats. He was on the short list for Supreme Court nomination from George W. Bush. He wrote in opposition to what he viewed as the rush to Constitutionalize gay marriage. In 2008 Wilkinson voted to uphold a bill banning partial birth abortions. This judge is a very strong conservative, which is why Democrats opposed his nomination in 1984.

Judge Wilkinson’s condemnation of the Trump Regime’s position was about as strong as it could be.

“It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case, it is not hard at all. The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done.

This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.”

In regards to the government’s claim that Garcia is a member of MS-13 the Reagan appointee had this to say:

“The government asserts that Abrego Garcia is a terrorist and a member of MS-13. Perhaps, but perhaps not. Regardless, he is still entitled to due process. If the government is confident of its position, it should be assured that position will prevail in proceedings to terminate the withholding of removal order.”

The Reagan Appointee made perhaps the strongest statement to date about the government’s position eventually leading to a president abusing this power to imprison any American, including political enemies, without due process:

“If today the Executive claims the right to deport without due process and in disregard of court orders, what assurance will there be tomorrow that it will not deport American citizens and then disclaim responsibility to bring them home? And what assurance shall there be that the Executive will not train its broad discretionary powers upon its political enemies? The threat, even if not the actuality, would always be present, and the Executive’s obligation to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed’ would lose its meaning.”

Wilkinson concluded making clear he was well aware of the impending grinding of the judiciary branch against each other. He made an eloquent plea that this conflict between the branches is “is a losing proposition all around” for the judiciary, the executive and the country. So he asked that the Executive Branch come around to do the right thing on its own terms.

“We yet cling to the hope that it is not naïve to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos. This case presents their unique chance to vindicate that value and to summon the best that is within us while there is still time.”

Trump condemnation of Judge Wilkinson pending, and inevitable.