rgoodlaw.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

The President of the United States is trial ballooning sending American citizens to a foreign gulag, a place he conceives as a legal black hole from U.S. courts, and from which he’s already claimed he cannot get people back.

submitted 9 minutes ago • 2 comments

The US has blocked a G7 statement to condemn Russia for its Palm Sunday missile attack on Ukraine's city of Sumy, which killed at least 35 people and injured over 100, including children. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

submitted 2 hours ago • 42 comments

We knew USG wrongly told men sent to El Salvador they were not entitled to a hearing or judicial review. ... Now this: "On March 14 and 15, the men called their families to say that Americans officials had told them they were being deported back to Venezuela, according to dozens of interviews."

submitted 39 minutes ago • 1 comment

"In interviews, five Venezuelan experts on Tren de Aragua — two police officials, two scholars and a journalist — told The Times that while some transnational gangs use tattoos as indicators of membership, the Venezuelan group did not."

submitted 46 minutes ago • 7 comments

"Yet most of the men do not have criminal records in the United States or elsewhere in the region, beyond immigration offenses, a New York Times investigation has found. And very few of them appear to have any clear, documented links to the Venezuelan gang." www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/w...

submitted 1 hour ago • 9 comments

DOJ just filed Status Report in Abrego Garcia case post Bukele meeting. On left: Supreme Court ruling that US Government must "facilitate Abrego Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador" On right: DOJ asserting only domestic policy changes and no effort to facilitate his release from custody

submitted 16 hours ago • 67 comments

Rubio: “I don’t know what the confusion is. This individual is a citizen of El Salvador. ... That’s where you deport people - back to their country of origin. Truth: A 2019 court held he must not be sent to El Salvador due to persecution risk. Trump admin has admitted was wrong to send him there.

submitted 17 hours ago • 88 comments

Wouldn't it be nice if every news outlet that covered the Bukele Oval Office meeting noted: District court wrote: Abrego Garcia "has never been charged with or convicted of any crime."⤵️ Fourth Circuit: The government presented "NO EVIDENCE" of MS-13 affiliation. Abandoned argument before court. ⤵️

submitted 18 hours ago • 158 comments

Please make this stop Headlines getting it wrong: Supreme Court ruled Trump administration must facilitate Maryland man's return Actual SCOTUS (much stronger) ruling: Trump administration must "facilitate Abrego Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador" Mistake persists in reporting today.

submitted 18 hours ago • 18 comments

True ⬇️ and by the way the US presented no proof he is a terrorist. That is something the US could have (and had a right to have) alleged and proved in court but chose not to. And admitted the deportation was a US mistake.

submitted 19 hours ago • 33 comments

This once again confirms the prisoners are in El Salvador prisons at our behest and under our control.

submitted 21 hours ago • 126 comments

Shorter Bukele: The ball is in Trump's court. 1) Bukele says 3x he can't "SMUGGLE" Abrego Garcia into US - i.e., if not legally permitted (by Trump admin) to do so 2) Why THAT question would be "preposterous." 3) Then adds: "I don't have the power to return him to the United States." (Trump does)

submitted 19 hours ago • 47 comments

The Trump administration just got into very deep trouble with the Supreme Court order. On left: DOJ claims USG only needs to "facilitate the return" of Abrego Garcia (via domestic policy) On right: Supreme Court 9-0 held USG must "facilitate Abrego Garcia's RELEASE FROM CUSTODY in El Salvador"

submitted 1 day ago • 97 comments

It is very good question and one I’ve been asking for months. If there is an international agreement with El Salvador for these renditions, the Trump administration is legally required under the Case-Zablocki Act to share it with Congress. To my knowledge, they have not done so.

submitted 2 days ago • 115 comments

The administration is going to run into a legal bind. (1) As a baseline OUTER limit, the written agreement with El Salvador is limited to 1 year. (2) The text reads: "pending the United States’ decision on their long term disposition."

submitted 2 days ago • 89 comments

On the left: Federal court order of April 11 for the government to answer questions (1), (2) and (3) concerning the life and liberty of Abrego Garcia. On the right: The government's filing of April 12 without any answer to questions (2) and (3).

submitted 2 days ago • 19 comments

Very fair requests by attorneys for Abrego Garcia⬇️ Needed transparency for all the detainees unlawfully sent to El Salvador torture center. - compel government to produce written documents on agreement with El Salvador - require government officials to appear as witnesses before district court

submitted 2 days ago • 54 comments

Bracketing the issue of willingness to comply. President Trump has hereby admitted he has the capacity to bring Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador. That's the ballgame in current litigation. I assume plaintiffs will cite this statement to Judge Xinis.

submitted 3 days ago • 30 comments

Positive outcome from Supreme Court: The Government must facilitate the return of Maryland man wrongly sent to El Salvador prison. Sets up Judge Boasberg to order same for detainees sent in defiance of his orders. Good judicial confrontation with lawlessness.

submitted 4 days ago • 65 comments

With new Executive Orders targeting Chris Krebs (senior official who helped keep 2020 election secure) and law firm that won $788m settlement against Fox News. A must read from Weds, by Harold Koh. Discussing amicus brief signed by esteemed bipartisan former officials. Also a great history lesson

submitted 5 days ago • 44 comments

Smart litigation move ACLU files new #AlienEnemiesAct habeas petition in SDNY (accords with SCOTUS ruling) "Proposed Class: All noncitizens in immigration custody who were, are, or will be subject to the March 2025 Presidential Proclamation" Strong plaintiffs⤵️ www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/u...

submitted 6 days ago • 24 comments

The court in the Associated Press-First Amendment decision cuts through a lot of bogus argumentation here.⤵️ What an embarrassing set of arguments by the government attorneys. To the left: the court's admonishment. To the right: Interim US Attorney Edward Martin who signed the brief in question.

submitted 6 days ago • 13 comments

"[I]f the Government opens its doors to some journalists—be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere—it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints. The Constitution requires no less." Exactly right. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

submitted 6 days ago • 18 comments

To put another important point on this: This also makes it more likely for the contempt of court issue to remain alive in Chief Judge Boasberg's courtroom.

submitted 6 days ago • 9 comments

Subtle and significant: Judge Boasberg on #AlienEnemiesAct. "[T]he Supreme Court...determined that the appropriate venue for such proceedings is the Southern District of Texas or wherever Plaintiffs are currently held." Pro tip: Nearly 300 currently held: El Salvador Appropriate habeas venue: DC

submitted 7 days ago • 22 comments

SCOTUS Delivers Gut Punch to Trump’s Due Process Fantasy A 15-minute breakdown of Supreme Court's #AlienEnemiesAct Monday night ruling. I discussed the ins and outs with @thebulwark.bsky.social's @samsteindc.bsky.social As well as pending case before SCOTUS on Maryland man sent to El Salvador.

submitted 7 days ago • 7 comments

Important by @stevevladeck.bsky.social: Following Monday's Supreme Court ruling, detainees held in El Salvador may still bring habeas in DC circuit: "There is good case law to the effect that venue for a habeas petition filed by someone outside the United States is proper in the DC district court"

submitted 7 days ago • 15 comments

Important part of SCOTUS opinion rejects Trump DOJ position: "AEA detainees must receive notice after the date of this order that they are subject to removal under the Act...within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief...before such removal occurs"

submitted 7 days ago • 63 comments

On left: New Solicitor General Sauer tells US Supreme Court shouldn't have to return Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador because he's "a verified member of MS-13." On right: Fourth Circuit explains DOJ presented no evidence below of MS-13 membership and abandoned claim he's a danger.

submitted 7 days ago • 35 comments

"The Trump administration may be in for more of a backlash than it expects. The breadth and depth of support for South Sudanese across red and blue states – and especially the longstanding commitment of the U.S. evangelical community ... could generate enough pressure to force Rubio to withdraw..."

submitted 7 days ago • 3 comments

Fourth Circuit's opinion in Abrego Garcia case is unsparing in its condemnation of the Trump admin and unequivocal in its description of government attorneys' responsibilities as officers of the court. s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25...

submitted 7 days ago • 4 comments

On Friday: @weissmann11.bsky.social correctly calls out the US government claim that they can't bring back people unlawfully sent to El Salvador as "real lawlessness" On Monday: In ruling against the government, Judge Wilkinson correctly echoes: "[T]his is a path of perfect lawlessness."

submitted 7 days ago • 30 comments

Occasional reminder that the Secretary of State touted an agreement to send U.S. citizens to be imprisoned in El Salvador.

submitted 10 days ago • 8 comments

The question isn’t whether a federal court can order the Salvadoran government to release Garcia; it can’t. It’s whether the U.S. government has the ability to secure Garcia’s release. If so, then it can be ordered to do so, because then Garcia is in the “constructive” custody of the United States.

submitted 10 days ago • 374 comments