The Rev Dr. Rick SchlosserDear Friends:
It may not yet be apparent, but our 236-year system of government with division of powers, checks and balances, is actually working. Judges at all three levels of our federal court — District, Appellate, Supreme Court — have been ruling without fear or favor to uphold the laws of the land.
The Northern District of CA, the federal jurisdiction that runs north along the coast, issued a ruling that prohibited the deportation of suspected undocumented immigrants without due process. He was the judge who, you may have read, ordered the deportation planes returned but who was ignored. It led to his strengthening the ruling a couple of days later.
That ruling was issued as a nationwide injunction as many such district rulings are. The judge, James Boasberg, reminded the pro-deportation plaintiffs that appeals were the remedy for their disagreement. (Note – despite the injunction, 17 more were deported to Venezuela this weekend.)
Nationwide halts to law emanating from one district court are commonplace, but this administration proposed to impeach any judge who did that. That was so egregious, Justice Roberts took the unusual step of reminding the White House that, as Judge Boasberg had noted, it is appeal not impeachment that is the way to address disagreements on outcomes.
Rep. Darrell Issa from the San Diego area, instead created a new bill, also unprecedented, the “NORRA” bill: NoRogue Rulings Act” (H.R. 1526). This would prohibit a district court’s rulings from having national impact. Despite the wide use of nationally-applied injunctions by conservative as well as liberal justices, this bill would limit such district rulings to the district.
Even when rulings have gone against principles that we in California Council of Churches IMPACT hold dear such as the bar to certain immigrant rights in earlier administrations, the fundamental issue is the universality of our law. We agree with Judge Boasberg – the remedy is appeal, not selective enforcement of the law. What applies in principle in Northern California should apply everywhere equally unless overturned by higher courts. To do otherwise would produce a patchwork quilt of rulings and enforcement. Uniformity, for good or ill, is critical to our unity as a nation. The system of appeals has worked for 236 years. It is not to be broken over whim and petulance.
Please call your Representatives immediately and opposed NORRA – HR 1526, Speak up for the Constitution, the rule of law, and the uniformity of its application.
Please call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or, if it’s busy, find your Representative here: Find Your Representative | house.gov We urge calling the Capitol number first, but again, if it’s busy, either use the online form to write or call a district office. No matter what, please uphold our system of law and justice NOW!
NO on HR 1526!