Charles P. Pierce: Someone Should Go to Jail for This

[babylonsister]

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22108183/trump-administration-separated-children-court-order/

Someone Should Go to Jail for This
The Trump administration* has ignored a federal court order to return toddlers they ripped away from their parents.
By Charles P. Pierce
Jul 10, 2018


I gave them the entire day. Now, the president* is in Europe, and, while I know that this is an indelicate—nay, an uncivil—question, I have to ask why nobody is not in jail yet behind this? From The New York Daily News:

Federal San Diego Judge Dana Sabraw initially gave the government a July 10 deadline to reunite the 102 children under the age of 5 who were ripped from their undocumented parents because of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy. Sabraw allowed the Trump administration an extension on that deadline Monday after Justice Department lawyer Sarah Fabian said she only expected about half of the kids to be reconnected with their parents. But, in a court filing Tuesday, Fabian revealed that a mere four of the 102 children under 5 had been reunified with their parents, adding she expected another 34 to be reunited by the end of the day. If accurate, that brings the total number of reunified kids to 38 — which amounts to just above one-third of all the children.

Fabian maintained in the court papers the government is in “compliance with the Court’s order,” even though it blew Sabraw’s initial deadline and didn’t live up to its subsequent promises. The American Civil Liberties Union — which successfully argued last month the Trump administration must reunite the separated migrant families — called bull. “Plaintiffs recognize that Defendants cannot yet reunify the parents who are currently being held in criminal custody,” ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt wrote in a response filing. “But as to all other Class Members with children under five, the government is not in compliance with the clear deadline ordered by the Court.”

Try this sometime. You’re in court and the judge gives you a deadline to do something by Day X. Then, when Day X arrives, tell the judge that you’ve only been able to do four percent of what the judge demanded that you do. See where you’re eating dinner that night.

This whole thing is preposterous now. The administration* never had a plan to do anything except separate these families and hold the children hostage. It certainly had no plan to reunite the children with their parents. As far as I can tell, it had no plan beyond the phrase, “zero-tolerance.” Now, it’s trying to cobble a policy together as fast as it’s trying to cobble together facilities in which to warehouse terrified toddlers. And all it’s got left is a president* who believes that he doesn’t have to listen to people like federal judges. From the WaPo:

“Well,” he replied, “I have a solution: Tell people not to come to our country illegally. That’s the solution. Don’t come to our country illegally. Come like other people do — come legally…Is that what you’re saying…I’m saying this: We have laws. We have borders…Don’t come to our country illegally. It’s not a good thing…Without borders, you do not have a country.”

Nice kid you have there. Be a shame if you never saw them again.

This is barely organized crime.

[Thomas Hurt]

1. Head of HHS should be in a jail for criminal contempt...

[riversedge]

3. Who is going to investigate this horrible scandal???

[Hekate]

19. Who is investigating this? At the moment, those so-called enemies of the State, the Press...

Some of whom got shot up the other day when Trump bellowed they were the enemy of the State and People.

But they persist.

[Sophia4]

6. Sorry to have to agree!

[bigbrother05]

45. They should be paying $10k fine per child per day until reunited

Put that into a legal defense fund for all the families

[olegramps]

47. Remember there is one and only one answer: Vote them out of office 2018.

We are facing the one of the most important elections in the nation's history. It is not an exaggeration that the Republican Party has become infested with fascist philosophy and has adopted fascist tactics to control the nation. I assert that the Republican party must face the same fate as the Nazi party of Germany. Under the Republican Party we are headed for an exact repeat of the same excesses that were committed by the Nazis. That is the depravation of human rights under the guise of protection of the fatherland.

The Republican Party must be destroyed. It is the party that brought us Watergate and a horde of illegal activities. The party that under Reagan gave us Iran-gate, the destruction of the unions, and control of the broadcast system of hate radio to spread their evil propaganda unopposed. Bush and his henchmen lied us into war that has cost us over 5,000 dead soldiers, tens of thousands permanently maimed at a cost of billions. At ever turn their representatives have voted against labor, medical care for all, environmental protections...the list determined to subjugate the working class is virtually without limit.

Their sole goal is to enrich the wealthy at the expense of the working class. This charge is backed up by the facts. Between 1948 and 1973 wages rose in tandem with productivity. Since then the decoupling in the United States has been dramatic. While productivity increased by over 75%, real wages rose by less than 10% and for the bottom 60% less than 1%. Guess who pocketed the vast profits? The profits of corporations went from 4.5% to 5.6% during the same period.


Republican greed and the methods that they have continued to resort to are a more potent enemy than any external one facing our nation. The answer is simple vote in 2018. Be unafraid to brand them as fascists who have no limit to their greed and contempt for the working class.

[Beartracks]

49. And 2020. And 2022. And so on.

Vote Republicans out of office.
Keep Republicans out of office.

They're not grassroots. They're weeds.

==========

[olegramps]

52. Noxious highly toxic weeds.

[MontanaMama]

2. What's the point of having laws?

Nobody in this shit show is accountable for anything.

[mcar]

4. Lock them all the fck up!

[pangaia]

5. This is the whole point.

So many keep saying - just wait until there are charges brought, or wait until Mueller files charges against somebody,...Or -- I can;t wait to see trump in jail....

so what?
WHO is going to actually ARREST ANYBODY AND PUT THEM IN JAIL??

WHO?
.....................................
........................................
...............................................
Right !

NOBODY ! That's who..

[Stuart G]

7. The one to lock up is........Sarah Fabian...the Justice Department Lawyer....

Lock this person up. She did not follow a court order, get specific...lock her up..

That might get someone's attention....and if the next one that appears, does not get the children released, then lock that person up...and keep locking them up until the Atty General appears to explain why the children have not been released...And then lock that asshole up.

[BBG]

24. And then....

Lock that asshole up.

Made me laugh aloud.



I like it.

[byronius]

8. Every day this continues is evidence that the United States has slipped into barbarism.

I wonder -- will there come a day when these Throwbacks wish they hadn't triggered all those Regular Americans?

I intend to spend the rest of my life making that happen.

[Stuart G]

9. If all the "Regular Americans" vote against this "barbarism" in November..

That day will be in January. The "Throwbacks" haven't got a clue, if this is an "honest election".


Taking kids from their parents is illegal and morally wrong (without a court procedure proving parents are incapable of being parents)

What has been done is illegal, awful, and morally wrong...if this is an honest election the throwbacks will go down in ways they haven't ever imagined. Say 300 Democrats in the house..60 in the Senate. Why..??

Taking kids from their parents is illegal and morally wrong (without a court procedure proving parents are incapable of being parents)...oh, and lots of people are parents..even the throwbacks..

[byronius]

29. Witness the rage of my conservative sister-in-law.

She's voted Republican forever. I told her at her 4th of July party that I went to the immigration march --

"Why doesn't somebody just kill him," she hissed at me. "Someone should just shoot him. Those children will suffer from this for the rest of their lives."

I have never heard her speak like that. It was startling. Both she and her generally whacko right-wing husband hate Trump, and they hate what's been done. I hope it translates into action -- but just to see that naked rage -- holy cow.

[ancianita]

10. Contempt calls for a visit by U.S. Marshals. Here's the backup rescue effort:

Send in U.S. Marshals to detain agency heads at both ends of the child routes.

In detention, they'll have plenty of time to reverse engineer their people who both sent and received these kids, or they won't be released until they do.

A crime is a crime. The punishment should fit the crime of abducting children against their parents' wills, and in denial of human rights, without tracking documentation.

[Stuart G]

11. Ok...U.S. Marshals detain...All Agenciy Heads at Both Ends...

Whatever works..Then, , whatever works...!!!

[ancianita]

14. It's the DOJ's responsibility to back up this judge.

[ooky]

46. And if the AG refuses, should be held in contempt.

[MyOwnPeace]

17. Why bother with the marshals.......

IQ45 would simply dash off a bunch of pardons, just like the arsonists out in Oregon.

I'm thinking the federal marshals are appreciating the support they got on THAT case!

[House of Roberts]

34. Maybe not...

"Pardons have been demonstrated to not legally have an effect on contempt of court charges since, like a civil case, a contempt charge isn't considered an affront to the United States; instead, it's considered an affront to the court."

[Solly Mack]

12. Yes, they should.

Someone - a lot of someones should go to prison for the child abductions. Much like all the someones should have gone to prison for torture.

Everything I just typed and $3.50 can get you a regular coffee at my local Starbucks.

[MyOwnPeace]

35. Well, on the bright side......

at least you soon won't get a plastic straw................

(boy, we gotta' grab at what we can at this point......................)

((Oh, wait, I didn't mean to say "grab" - that sounds like something "someone else" would say.................)

[Solly Mack]

36. Yeah...the bright side.

[fierywoman]

13. On some level: why are they refusing to give up the children? What did they

ultimately have planned for them?

[Mr.Bill]

16. Follow the money.

The feds are paying $700 a day to Christian non-profits connected to the DeVos family to house them.

[sarcasmo]

22. Always follow the money.

[fierywoman]

28. Exactly, guys, exactly!

[MyOwnPeace]

37. Plan?

"We don't need on stinkin' plan!"

[xajj4791]

15. There is a reason the constitution points out our right to own guns...

but no one wants to think of that. What do military aged black males and Hispanics have in common in today's America? They are targeted by the establishment. I guarantee you that if large groups of armed people were ensuring their rights were not trumped on, things would start to change. Police would be more hesitant to shoot on sight if they knew that they might come under fire for doing so. ICE might be a bit more friendly to immigrants if large groups might be hunting them at the border for the atrocities the commit under Trumps reign.

[aggiesal]

51. Are you serious? ...

The 2nd amendment was created to have a militia, not for everyone to have a gun.
Read the Federalist Papers when they debated this very amendment.
You want to own a gun, sign up for the State Guard or the National Guard and do
your weekend duty once per month.
Just like it was described in the Federalist Papers over 200 years ago.

Besides, the first time anyone tries to fight back with guns, will be the last time.
The government will come down with so much firepower, there will be blood everywhere,
and it won't be on their side. Then they will show up with a SWAT team at every search
or arrest from that point on.

You want to change what's going on? VOTE them out of office!!!

VOTE

[calimary]

18. It IS organized crime. Especially when you add the veiled threats to our NATO allies.

One of the guests on MSNBC (Michael Steel, who was a former spokesman for then House Speaker Boehner) earlier today said “this is not a loan-sharking! This is an alliance!” And he’s a Republican.

[genxlib]

20. It's hard to think of it as Organized Crime

When it is this disorganized.

[MyOwnPeace]

38. And even harder........

to believe IQ45 actually has a "plan!"

[NoMoreRepugs]

21. Rule of law is a misnomer.

It's only applicable these days to the people beneath the people who make and enforce the rule of law. The Orange Menace will do what he wants when he wants and the only body politic that can contain him is in willful alliance.

[BigmanPigman]

23. Well said!

[MyOwnPeace]

39. And at this point.................

the "PUGS" have NO interest in doing their job - containing him.

[ALBliberal]

25. It has become a constant droning in our heads. Sickening us to the point

Where we can't even check the news! Bad news after bad! And it's completely their strategy. To get us so exhausted from their horrible behavior and law avoidance that we throw up our hands and give up! So very very sick and tired of this rabid bunch of haters and misfits

Hope to HELL Michael Moore or someone will start chronicling this horrible process of separating families.

[SHRED]

26. "Should" means nothing to this Republican Federal government

[Historic NY]

27. If a Marine Gen. at Gitmo could go to jail anyone of these morons should, for contempt.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

30. I will say this again

If any country had done this to American families and American children, we would have nuked them back to the pre-Cambrian era by noon.

[Ahpook]

31. Another symptom of a diseased country

We have all listened to what needs to happen in this country for years. What needs to happen is those exact ideas.

It is always talk, no action, with which needs to be millions.

[spanone]

32. K&R...

[Garrett78]

33. Sabraw's order, Flores, emoluments, federal records law, and so on. The party in power...

...simply doesn't care. This administration is breaking numerous laws. And Republicans just don't care. They have the House, they have the Senate, they have the SCOTUS. More than half the population either supports this madness or doesn't pay any attention to what's happening.

We are living through an insanely, shockingly awful period of history.

[MyOwnPeace]

40. Very clear analysis...........

we have to be sure to GET OUT THE VOTE - it could be our last chance.

[ewagner]

41. "...barely organized crime."

Charlie wins the internet today with that description of the tRump administration.

[Nitram]

42. Trump just keeps passing the buck.

[Fritz Walter]

43. Putin will give his minion "exceeds expectations"

When cadet bone spurs kneels before his lord and master this week, Vlad will give him a pat on the head and a “keep up the good work!”
More Russian oligarchs will launder money through the drumpf cabal (can’t call it an organization), and into PACs for RepubliCONs’ mid-term elections.

[Mc Mike]

44. Some prison time for some of those flunkies might make their confreres

a bit less felonious and treasonous.

[tblue37]

48. "We have laws."--Yeah, Cheato--and you and your administration keep violating them! nt

[Scurrilous]

50. K&R