Save the Date and Register for Leadership Conference Webinar 

Join NCJW and The Leadership Conference Education Fund on September 18 at 2 pm ET for “In Session: What’s At Stake in This Supreme Court Term.” University of Michigan Law Professor, podcaster, and author Professor Leah Litman will be with us to take a look at the upcoming term which already promises to be momentous. Register here!

Senate Judiciary Committee Schedule

The judiciary committee held a hearing on July 30, featuring: Joshua Dunlap to the First Circuit Court; Eric Tung to the Ninth Circuit Court; Chad Meredith to the District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky; and William Mercer to the District Court for the District of Montana. The hearing was well-attended by Democratic members who asked probing questions of the nominees. Especially noteworthy was the statement Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley made at the opening, taking on a social media post by President Trump criticizing him in a deeply personal manner for keeping the Blue Slip policy. Takeaways from the hearing include some troubling answers on questions about the Obergefell decision. The committee’s next hearing will be when they return after Labor Day with a mark-up on the nominees who appeared on July 30 expected on September 11. 

 Hear Supreme Court Oral Arguments 

Oppose DC Policing Takeover

Courts Matter Illinois, with The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, opposes the Trump Administration's unprecedented control over the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and the deployment of the National Guard throughout the city. 

In a sign-on letter, Courts Matter Illinois joined more than 125 organizations calling on the federal government to respect the laws and policies of D.C. and ensure that our rights under the Constitution and under our federal laws are being fully protected and enforced. 

To tell your legislators to stop federal police takeovers, take action here.

Latest Court Decisions

• Emil Bove was confirmed to a lifetime seat on the Third Circuit (50-49). Reports from multiple whistleblowers attested to Bove’s instructions to Department of Justice attorneys to defy court orders and his misleading the Senate Judiciary Committee about the deal struck that resulted in dropping charges against NY Mayor Eric Adams. Add to this, letters from a bipartisan group of 1000 former DOJ attorneys, as well as retired judges and others. None of this stopped every Republican, notably, except for Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AS), from voting to confirm the man who has been referred to as President Trump’s henchman. The Senate has now confirmed five of Trump’s nominees in his second term, including two circuit court judges. There are five additional judges pending on the floor.

• The best evidence of why judges matter may be found in the actions of federal courts in response to cases challenging Trump administration actions: 

• Judge Trina Thompson, a Biden-nominee to the District Court for the Northern District of California, ruled on July 31 to postpone the termination of Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for 60,000 immigrants from Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua. TPS was set to end on August 5 for Nepalese and on September 8 for Honduran and Nicaraguan immigrants. Currently, some 800,000 immigrants from several countries experiencing severe problems are living and working in the US, protected by TPS. 

• The Fourth Circuit has dismissed a Trump administration appeal of a preliminary injunction blocking the administration’s birthright citizenship order. The injunction was granted by Biden-nominated Judge Deborah Boardman to the District Court for the District of Maryland who said that if the case is returned to her court, she would grant class action status as well as a preliminary injunction. This is the third instance of a court ruling similarly, teeing the issue up for the Supreme Court. 

Headlines

(Time) Inside preparations for Trump’s next Supreme Court nominee

(Hill) Bondi, DOJ slap Judge Boasberg with ethics complaint

(MSN) A new front in Trump’s clash with the judiciary: appointing prosecutors

(MSNBC) How Emil Bove’s confirmation epitomizes Republicans’ and Democrats’ approach

(Reuters) House budget threatens over 600 public defender jobs, judiciary warns

What To Do in Difficult Times

Discover what to do when you're feeling helpless and stifled in Courts Matter Illinois Chair and Co-Founder Carole Levine's latest "Change Counts" blog post.