There is NO "political branch" of US Government

[IllinoisBirdWatcher]

Acting Solicitor General demonstrates his total lack of understanding of the Constitution of the United States.

9th Circuit Court declines to quickly reinstate travel ban from the Washington Post:

“Judicial second-guessing of the President’s determination that a temporary suspension of entry of certain classes of aliens was necessary at this time to protect national security would constitute an impermissible intrusion on the political branches’ plenary constitutional authority over foreign affairs, national security, and immigration,” Acting Solicitor General Noel Francisco said in a brief.

The Constitution specifies three separate but equal branches of government - Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.

Any fifth grader knows that.

[riversedge]

1. OMG--and the Trumpers continue to call refugees 'aliens'!!!

[ElkeH]

4. Non-citizens are "aliens"

For example, green card holders are "permanent resident aliens"

I believe undocumented migrants are technically "illegal aliens"

[pangaia]

2. Actually, in this day and age I would not be surprised if many (most) 5th graders do NOT know that.

[2naSalit]

5. My thoughts exactly.

It's been a long time since I have heard of anyone below the college level attending any kind of civics classes. That's what happens when you let "conservatives" defund public education.

[pangaia]

15. And THAT is their goal..

A stupid electorate is a controllable electorate.
All totalitarian regimes know this.

[2naSalit]

18. Precisely their goal....nt

[Caliman73]

3. What a complete idiot!

I know it is the job of the solicitor general to promote the policies of the administration but seriously, that was pretty pathetic. The job of the congress is to make laws, the job of the administration is to implement the laws and manage the bureaucracy, and the job of the courts is to make sure that the actions of the other two comport with the constitution.

The courts have ruled that on preliminary examination, the Muslim ban (and I will keep calling it that because that is what it is) violates the constitution. There will be further examination or perhaps the administration can make changes that will bring the policy in line with the rulings.

Either way, it shows how little the Trump administration understands the actual laws in this country... or cares about them.

[2naSalit]

6. Makes me wonder if he's another

graduate of the drumpf "university".

[Wounded Bear]

7. Perhaps it would help his case...

if there was some actual evidence of terrorist activity stemming from the countries included in the ban.

Basically what this does is emphasize that Trump has business dealings with actual terrorist supporting nations that were excluded from the ban due to his personal finacial interests.

I'd love to see that surface at the hearings.

[J_William_Ryan]

8. Noel Francisco is wrong.

‘“Judicial second-guessing of the President’s determination that a temporary suspension of entry of certain classes of aliens was necessary at this time to protect national security would constitute an impermissible intrusion on the political branches’ plenary constitutional authority over foreign affairs, national security, and immigration,” Acting Solicitor General Noel Francisco said in a brief.’

Incorrect.

The issue concerning the stay has nothing to do with the Political Question Doctrine, as the courts have acknowledged that there is a likelihood of success in establishing that Trump’s EO is in violation of the right to due process and equal protection of the law.

There is no ‘judicial second-guessing,’ and there is a legitimate and warranted concern that Trump’s actions are indeed in violation of the Constitution.

[MineralMan]

9. He's incorrect. There are many laws enacted by Congress

that have impacts on immigration issues. Further, the courts also have their say in such matters, since immigrants and even undocumented border crossers have certain rights in this country.

I'm thinking this person did not graduate at the top of his class in law school.

[2naSalit]

19. Another

"W" style Ivy-leaguer or drumpf U grad.

[Ms. Toad]

10. How does someone get to be the Acting Soliciter General,

without knowing there are three branches of government.

[dalton99a]

11. He was a clerk to Scalia

[Ms. Toad]

12. Whatever you think of Scalia politically (and I likely agree)

He was a brilliant jurist - except on the issue of same gender rights. On that issue (and only - from all of his opinions & dissents I've read), he could not contain his rage to write jurisprudentially sound opinions.

I would reach a different conclusion than he would on most matters before the court. But when you are at the Supreme Court level, the questions are typically very close and could go either way. Both sides are typically arguing for a slight extension of existing law, and most of the time there are arguments to go either way. I have great respect for his legal mind, even though I hate the conclusions he reached.

[pangaia]

16. How does someone get to be president who is mentally ill?

[Ms. Toad]

21. There are no itty bitty licensing exams for presidents.

Attorneys (except those going to law school in Wisconsin) have to pass a pretty rigorous licensing test. (She says, having just reviewed two more of the 150 essays in my inbox from students studying for the February bar exam . . . with 1200 more on deck to between now and May 15.)

The bar exam is not a trivial barrier to becomding an attorney. On the other hand, you apparently just have to be good at name calling and using twitter to get elected president.

[sl8]

13. "Political branches" is commonly used as shorthand for the Executive & Legislative branches,

especially when contrasting their role with that of the judiciary.

Go to Google Scholar, or some other search site of legal cases and search for "political branches".

https://scholar.google.com

[IllinoisBirdWatcher]

14. "Political Branch" as political shorthand

I'm aware of commonly used shorthand, but it is not mentioned in the Constitution and as a Constitutional issue there are three branches of government, each with a well-defined role, especially in the minds Constitutional purists who claim that they wish to stick to the original wording of the document.

[malaise]

17. He will learn n/t

[tritsofme]

20. The "Political Question Doctrine" is established in US law. Though Trump appears to have plainly

violated the law. It does not qualify as a political question. However as general practice, the courts will not referee disputes between the branches that can be resolved through the political process.