General Discussion

bigtree

(92,811 posts) Thu Oct 2, 2025, 11:58 AM 15 hrs ago

Reagan judge brands Trump as an ignorant bully, braggart, threat to free speech and the republic writ-large

...who intends to "strike fear" into First Amendment protesters.

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney
BREAKING: Judge William Young, a Reagan appointee, delivers the most scathing legal rebuke of the Trump era, ruling that Trump and his cabinet illegally targeted pro-Palestinian students for deportation to "strike fear" into First Amendment protestors.

from Mediaite:

___On Tuesday, Judge William G. Young with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a 161-page opinion that legal commentators quickly assessed as “the most scathing legal rebuke of the Trump era,” as Politico senior legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney phrased it.

In an unusual move, Young bookended his opinion with a message to someone who sent his court an anonymous postcard dated June 19 with a threat that read, “TRUMP HAS PARDONS AND TANKS…WHAT DO YOU HAVE

The judge added another message to the postcard writer at the very end of his opinion, writing:

I hope you found this helpful. Thanks for writing. It shows you care. You should. Sincerely & respectfully, Bill Young

P.S. The next time you’re in Boston [the postmark on the card is from the Philadelphia area] stop in at the Courthouse and watch your fellow citizens, sitting as jurors, reach out for justice. It is here, and in courthouses just like this one, both state and federal, spread throughout our land that our Constitution is most vibrantly alive, for it is well said that “Where a jury sits, there burns the lamp of liberty.”

The opinion then began by quoting the First Amendment in full and ruling in clear terms that non-citizens lawfully present in the U.S. do in fact “have the same free speech rights” as citizens (citations omitted):

This case -– perhaps the most important ever to fall within the jurisdiction of this district court –- squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us. The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally “yes, they do.” “No law” means “no law.” The First Amendment does not draw President Trump’s invidious distinction and it is not to be found in our history or jurisprudence. No one’s freedom of speech is unlimited, of course, but these limits are the same for both citizens and non-citizens alike.

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney
The ruling itself is remarkable, but it closes with something I've never seen: a 12-page assessment of Trump himself as an ignorant bully, braggart and threat to free speech and the republic writ-large.

watch: Sam Stein and JVL at the Bulwark take on Judge Young’s scathing opinion against Trump officials who tried to deport pro-Palestinian students for their speech.

1 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Reagan judge brands Trump as an ignorant bully, braggart, threat to free speech and the republic writ-large (Original Post) bigtree 15 hrs ago OP

What bothers me about this opinion... appmanga 14 hrs ago #1

appmanga

(1,280 posts)

1. What bothers me about this opinion...

Reply to bigtree (Original post)

Thu Oct 2, 2025, 12:28 PM

14 hrs ago

...is there are pundits and legal commentators who have assailed it as "inappropriate". The words of this judge should have come from the Supreme Court months ago. But, of course, the Republican justices (and they can take umbrage to that, but that's who they are) are as much Trump's lapdogs as the members of Congress who blindly obey him. It should be heartening that words like these come from our branch of government that has nothing other than its ability to persuade as its mightiest tool, and hopefully other lower court judges who've seen their thoughtful, reasoned, and well-researched work thrown into the wastebasket by vague shadow docket orders will follow this judges example.

Reply to this discussion