Congress v. The Rogue Judges

Is there ANYTHING we can do?

Apr 11, 2025

So this space has advocated regularly for Congress to be the mechanism for reining in district court-level federal judges who are issuing nationwide injunctions. Is it finally about to happen?

The facts: The left does indeed forum-shop to get to judges they can count on. And yes, these judges abuse the system by issuing injunctions that apply nationwide. More and more often, in fact.

And it’s not your imagination — it is indeed happening to Donald Trump more than any previous President. Yale law professor Jed Rubenfeld recently crunched the numbers: Obama saw just 12 nationwide injunctions in his first term, Biden had 14, but Trump racked up a whopping 64 during his first term and 17 more (so far) in his second go-round.

While it’s possible Trump just invites more legal challenges… you don’t really believe that, do you? When the Biden administration was somehow permitted to ignore federal immigration law wholesale? When his son got rich through daddy’s connections? When the President himself was suffering progressive dementia? When COVID went un-investigated?

Nonetheless, as we wrote here — the best and most durable mechanism to end this once and for all should be through constitutionally enacted law. Both sides benefit by that approach. Will it happen?

No.

Give them credit — the House Republicans are doing their part. They just passed the No Rogue Rulings Act, a bill that would restrict federal district judges from issuing national injunctions unless they’re directly related to the parties in the case.

Which seems sort of, oh, common-sense-ical, no?

Apparently not — because as ever, there’s a catch. The bill still has to get through the Senate, where it’ll need 60 overall votes to defeat a sure filibuster (think Corey Booker babbling incoherently again) (can any nation survive such a thing twice?).

*(“And now… some of my world-famous poetry.”)*

And as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer isn’t exactly famous for playing the long game, Democrats will almost certainly use the filibuster to kill this — a move they will likely live to rue at some point, when the tables are turned (see Reid, Harry).

Which leaves one option now: a case that goes all the way to SCOTUS, which has so far not exactly shown a willingness to take the bold steps necessary.

That needs to end. It’s time to force the hand of the Roberts’ court, and this comes down to DOJ. Get a case, specifically on this issue, all the way up the chain. As we’ve written, at least three of the justices have already signaled they feel a ruling is necessary. The current state of affairs is disfiguring our system.

AG Bondi, make the Supreme Court do something genuinely supreme here. Re-establish our separation of powers by putting these rogue judges back in their local boxes where they belong.

New Mexico Sends in the National Guard—Yes, Really

We here at The Ops Desk have written plenty about the death of our cities — particularly the blue ones. Here’s one you haven’t heard much about: the sunbelt town of Albuquerque.

Yup — things in Albuquerque have gotten that bad. New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham just declared a state of emergency over the city’s crime surge—and yes, she’s calling in the National Guard to help.

Starting mid-May, about 60 to 70 Guard troops will be deployed along the city’s historic Route 66 corridor.

So just to be clear — this blue-state governor just called in the military to regain control of her city. Sort of a big story, no?

*(“Things mostly peaceful here… back to you, Chet!”)*

Now, apparently the Guard’s role is going to be more supportive than operational. They’ll be directing traffic, securing crime scenes, flying drones, and handling logistics like distributing supplies. The idea is to free up police so they can focus on actually catching bad guys.

But nonetheless: How bad must it be to call in the military?

According to Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina, police have been making some progress, but the boost in resources is badly needed to keep momentum going.

Now not everyone’s cheering. Civil liberties groups, including the ACLU of New Mexico, are raising red flags about militarizing public safety. They warn it could lead to over-policing and, of course, racial profiling.

Still, New Mexico’s not alone in this. Recall that New York Governor Kathy Hochul sent the National Guard into the subways not long ago. Is this the new blue-city trend?

Hey, we’ve got a radical idea: How about we just start locking up some of the bad guys? Instead of resorting to a weak-tea version of martial law?

*(Just for reference, Dems — this is what they look like)*

The Karen Read Case

So Karen Read is heading back to court for round two in her headline-grabbing murder case that’s gripped Massachusetts and beyond.

By now, we’ve all heard the facts: Read is accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, by backing into him with her SUV and leaving him to die in the snow outside a fellow cop’s house in January 2022. But Read claims she’s being framed in a massive cover-up involving the local police, the Massachusetts State Police, the District Attorney’s Office, the paramedics who responded to the scene… everybody but the Massachusetts governor.

This time around, Read is bringing in a beefed-up legal team, including some big-name attorneys and even nine law students, all working for free. She reportedly sold her house and drained her savings to fight the charges.

The latest twist? Her team now claims two people—and two weapons—were involved in the killings. They haven’t revealed much yet, but it’s clear they plan to try to raise doubts about the original investigation, especially with the lead detective, Michael Proctor, recently booted from the state police for unprofessional behavior and crude texts about Read.

The prosecution, now led by former Whitey Bulger defense attorney Hank Brennan, is coming in hot. Brennan has already gotten a (long overdue) gag order placed on Read’s team and subpoenaed her messages with a local blogger who’s been loudly backing her (this blogger – “Turtleboy” as he calls himself – was arrested himself on witness intimidation charges).

There’s even rumors of a separate investigation into contacts between Team Read and Turtleboy.

Whether that’s true or not, this time around, Read’s team – so successful last time in owning the courtroom – is taking some hits. Judge Beverly Cannone, who’s become a lightning rod for protesters, has ruled that the defense can’t name one of their alternate suspects in opening statements. Further, the federal investigation into the allegations of police misconduct appears to be closed – without any federal arrests. Not good news for a defense that is relying on a narrative that involves a vast police conspiracy.

In our estimation: the key piece of defense evidence is the Google search, in which one of the women accused by Team Read of framing Read searched, “how long to die in the cold.” We are hearing that this evidence was erroneously presented last time, and in fact could be a key detail for the prosecution this time.

If so… she’s in trouble.

Jury selection is nearly done, and opening arguments could start any day. And yes, it’ll be televised.

Brace for impact. You’ll be hearing – and seeing – a lot about this case in the coming weeks.