Judge denies Democrats standing to sue against border wall construction“The Court declines to take sides in this fight between the House and the President.â€
If more judges would think as Judge Trevor McFadden wrote yesterday in a memorandum denying House Democrats’ standing to sue Trump’s border wall, we’d have a semblance of a republic left.
Yesterday, in direct contradiction of a California judge’s ruling last week, Judge Trevor McFadden of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia ruled that House Democrats have no standing to sue the Trump administration over using defense funding for a border wall. He did not write on the merits of whether the president interpreted the statutes correctly or not. That does not matter. The judiciary does not stand above the other two branches and is not the final arbiter of political disputes. It decides cases or controversies and grants relief to specific plaintiffs with legitimate standing before a court. In this case, “the Constitution grants the House no standing to litigate these claims,†according to Judge McFadden.
In the 24-page ruling in U.S. House of Representatives v. Steven Mnuchin, McFadden noted that more broadly, “Intervening in a contest between the House and President over the border wall would entangle the Court ‘in a power contest nearly at the height of its political tension’ and would ‘risk damaging the public confidence that is vital to the functioning of the Judicial Branch.’â€
What a refreshing change from what we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in the courts. Rather than twisting Marbury vs. Madison to elevate the role of the judiciary to that of a god, as many other judges mistakenly do, McFadden rightfully noted that Marbury limited the role of judicial review “to decide on the rights of individuals, not to enquire how the executive, or executive officers, perform duties in which they have a discretion.â€
So what happens to the competing injunction of Judge Haywood Gilliam of the Northern District of California? Last week, he not only gave standing to Democrats to sue, but downright pretended like he has the power to stop Trump from constructing a wall in parts of Arizona and New Mexico. Rather than simply ignoring this toothless injunction, which violates separation of powers, the administration begged the judge to “allow†it to continue the construction pending the appeals process, a request he summarily denied.
This should all change with Judge McFadden’s ruling. It’s time for Trump to set the precedent that “heads we win, tails you lose†is not a legitimate judicial process...............
https://www.conservativereview.com/news/judge-denies-democrats-standing-sue-border-wall-construction/
