MANIFEST DESTINY

California is guaranteed to lose its war with the United States of America.  The only question is whether some lower court, such as the 9th District Court will delay the ultimate.  The problem for California is that several cases have gone to the Supreme Court regarding situations where state laws conflict with federal laws.  One case is specifically on point dealing with the federal government’s authority regarding immigration laws.

Arizona had passed a statute know as S.B. 1070 in 2010 designed to let the state enforce immigration laws since the federal government was not enforcing them.  The Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Government has sole authority to establish immigration laws and enforcement.

The law sought to:

  • Make it a crime for immigrants to fail to obtain and carry federal registration documents.
  • Make it a crime for illegal immigrants to work or apply for work.
  • Authorize warrantless arrests when there is probable cause to believe a person has committed a public offense warranting deportation.

Every liberal judge voted for this decision.  Four conservative judges voted against it.  Odds are very high that if this reaches the Supreme Court again it is likely to be a 9-0 decision in favor of the federal government. I doubt any of those conservative justices are going to tell the Federal Government they lack the authority to enforce immigration laws.

Even a liberal court like the 9th District court may sustain the government’s position, because no court likes to be overruled by a 9-0 decision.  That is particularly true when a previous case, directly on point, has already decided the issue.  This isn’t even close.

Recently Judge Orrick, who previously ruled that Donald Trump could not issue an executive order withholding federal funds because of sanctuary city/state law, reversed himself and authorized Attorney General Jeff Sessions to withhold grants directly related to law enforcement.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/mar/5/trump-administration-can-withhold-grant-over-calif/

Upon review, in his previous decision, Judge Orrick did not rule that the federal government lacked the authority to cut off funds.  He ruled that only congress could do that.  Orrick is a far left judge and odds are he wanted to rule against Sessions.  He didn’t because the law is very clear regarding conflicts between State and Federal law is settled law.

California is destined to suffer a humiliating legal defeat on this.  The “legal” arguments by Jerry Brown, Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Senator Kamala Harris are simply absurd.  While they are playing well in the liberal press, loud screams of protest are not a substitute for the rule of law.  The only question is how long it will take for this to happen.

Democrats are probably hoping to delay this until after the mid-term elections in the hope that their defiance of the Federal Government will inspire the democratic base.  The either do not know or do not care that their legal position is patently absurd.

TDM