Just Security

1 week ago | justsecurity.org | Ryan Goodman

The war in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has raged on for more than two years, leaving the country entrenched in one of the world’s most acute humanitarian crises. The conflict has been marked by extensive harm to civilians. Flows of weapons into the country have sustained the conflict along with illicit trade in gold, the common food ingredient gum arabic, and other commodities.

1 week ago | justsecurity.org | Paul Rasmussen

Congress created the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in 1957 and authorized the federal government to seek court injunctions against efforts to interfere with the right to vote. Further empowered by the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) and other laws, the Division has worked to eliminate racial discrimination and protect the right to vote for almost 70 years.

2 weeks ago | justsecurity.org | Ryan Goodman

The Constitution grants Congress exclusive control over federal spending—an essential check on the executive branch. But a recent wave of settlement agreements between the Trump administration and major law firms marks the latest in a growing pattern of executive maneuvers that erode this safeguard. By redirecting valuable resources toward White House-aligned initiatives without congressional approval, the administration has effectively created a shadow appropriation.

2 weeks ago | justsecurity.org | Erwin Chemerinsky |Ryan Goodman

I have previously written about another case that is very similar to Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s, and in some respects, even worse with respect to the government’s alleged violation of the law. The case is J.O.P. v. DHS, and the plaintiff, who goes under the pseudonym “Cristian,” is currently in CECOT prison due to the U.S. government violating a court-enforced settlement agreement prohibiting his removal from the United States.

2 weeks ago | justsecurity.org | Ryan Goodman

Now is not the time to limit the ability of federal courts to enforce their judicial orders. But in light of dozens of federal courts finding actions by President Donald Trump to be unconstitutional, some House Republicans are trying to do exactly that. A provision in the proposed spending bill would restrict the authority of federal courts to hold government officials in contempt when they violate court orders. Without the contempt power, judicial orders are meaningless and can be ignored.