Reagan-appointed, 84-year-old U.S. District Judge William Young has had just about enough of the Trump administration’s First Amendment nonsense and let that displeasure be known with some rhetorical violence. According to reporting from the Washington Post, last week at a hearing, Judge Young let loose at the administration’s attorneys. Because nothing says liberal firebrand like “Reagan-appointee,” I guess.
In a case brought by five academic organizations on behalf of international students who protested in support of Palestine who alleged that the government retaliated against them by targeting their immigration status, Judge Young didn’t bother with euphemisms. He called the president an “authoritarian,” accused the administration of engaging in an “unconstitutional conspiracy to pick off certain people,” and said the government has excluded “from participation everyone who doesn’t agree with them.”
“Talking straight here,” Young said, “the big problem in this case is that the Cabinet secretaries and ostensibly, the president of the United States, are not honoring the First Amendment.” Then he turned his fire directly on Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio: “These cabinet secretaries have failed in their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution.”
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Young went even harder, saying: “I find it breathtaking that I have been compelled on the evidence to find the conduct of such high-level officers of our government — cabinet secretaries — conspired to infringe the First Amendment rights of people with such rights here in the United States.” That is not the language of mild concern. That is the language of a judge who thinks the executive branch is playing Calvinball with the Constitution.
This isn’t the first time Young let MAGA-ttorneys have it in this case. He’s previously likened some of the administration’s moves to the tactics of the Ku Klux Klan, which gives you a real sense of just how much Young thinks the federal government has gone off the rails.
Despite the pretty devastating benchslap, the Department of Justice took an aggressive approach with Young. At the hearing, DOJ attorney Paul Stone tried the bold strategy of arguing that “there isn’t any remedy that the court can offer.” Judge Young responded exactly like someone who has been doing this job since the mid-80s, “You’re telling me there is no remedy!?”
Now the only real question left is whether the ruling that comes later this week matches the tone of the hearing, if so, that’ll be appointment reading.
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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].