Burningbird
Remember my pet case, US vs Abbott? About Texas building a saw-bladed buoy system in the middle of the Rio Grande?
The Fifth circuit just ruled in the US favor, with the dissenting judge catching the line Thomas threw, attempting to completely overthrow the Clean Water laws.
It was a win, but a win that leaves me worried.
Pet case update time again. US vs Abbott
The US has asked the court’s permission to file an amended complaint. I’ve attached a link to the redlined version showing the changes.
I wondered why in the hell the US lawyers didn’t including the Mexican treaty in the original complaint. That should take priority over the Rivers and Harbors Act. And it reduces the likelihood that this case is going to be the wedge to begin destruction of federal control over rivers.
I think they thought* RHA would be sufficient, and in normal times with normal courts, it would have been.
But these aren’t normal times, and the days of normal courts are over.
*And, it must be noted, there are new DOJ lawyers attached to the case.
A flurry of filings in my pet case, US v Abbott, related to Texas’ appeal.
In the Texas brief, Abbott brags about all the arrests related to Operation Lone Star. Which means it’s a good time to also bring up the ProPublica piece that made mincemeat of these claims.
The rest of Abbott’s filing is a joke. Best part: Abbott seems to be claiming that he, and he alone, can declare war in Texas. And he can declare war any time he wants.
And still no answer to my questions:
Are drugs being taped to migrant backs as they cross the river? Do they use some kind of waterproof wrapping or something?
I mean, if these buoys are necessary to stop the drug trade, I want to know how the heck they’re keeping them dry.
The fact that this thing is still ongoing is solely, SOLELY because of SCOTUS corruption.
Re: my pet case, US vs Abbott
The three panel Fifth circuit judges have scheduled a hearing for October 5th on the appeal of Judge Ezra’s preliminary injunction.
In the meantime, the IBWC did another survey of the buoy locations after Texas did a middle of the night move on them once it was discovered most of the buoys were in Mexico. The buoys are now all in US territory.
Judge Ezra asked Texas to reposition the buoys to the shore while the case was ongoing. From the snapshot, it wouldn’t take a lot of effort to do so. And if there’s a storm, the thing will probably get pushed back out to the middle of the channel again.
That we have to waste all of this time to remove the damn things is SOLELY because of SCOTUS corruption.
Disappointed that the Fifth decided to let Abbott keep his killing buoys in place until oral arguments.
I can understand it. If they had decided to force Abbott to move the buoys, Abbott would have gone to the Supreme Court, and it’s likely SCOTUS would have decided in Abbott’s favor.
But it’s Mickey Mouse law. It’s pandering to an out-of-control justice system filled with idealogues rather than lawyers.
And it sends a message to our neighboring countries—and others—that they can’t work with the US as a country anymore.