For the second summer, hundreds of rattlesnakes in a Colorado “mega den” are being livestreamed. People watch the clatter ball escape the darkness into the light to bathe in the sun.
More than 180,000 in a single day tune in to the livestream to catch a glimpse of something they’d run from in horror if they ever saw it in real life.
Researchers study the snakes’ social dynamic.
The Great American Experiment is also being studied and watched. In the news, judges are now scorned as “activists.”
A judge blocking the government from executing deportations and using executive branch enforcement tactics is sending people into outrage. In our own back yard, a judge was called out of retirement to decide one of the most important cases in our state. Dissidents argue that the retired Wyoming judge who made a major ruling in a controversial abortion case this week, blocking two Wyoming laws (which enjoyed overwhelming support in the legislature), has no public accountability as he is not subject to a retention vote.
Without giving you my opinion on any of these rulings, I can tell you that the circumstances surrounding these actions compromise the perception of our judicial system. I am worried because the people’s belief that we have an impartial judiciary is the ultimate check to balance our system.
Like Santa Claus, once you don’t believe, the magic is gone. If people think we live in a banana republic without law and order, we are compromised as a civilized society.
Also, this week, the FBI arrested a Wisconsin judge accused of helping an undocumented migrant evade federal agents who showed up to her courtroom to arrest him.
Meanwhile, critics of President Trump’s use of executive authority in immigration matters decry the lack of due process.
But how should due process apply to individuals who are not Americans? Many folks believe that the same regard should be given going out as they gave coming in illegally – none.
During President Barack Obama’s tenure, he used a drone strike to assassinate an American citizen who was not on American soil without any due process other than authority used post-9/11 to protect us from suspected terrorists.
Anwar al-Awlaki was killed by his own government, running afoul of domestic and international law and due process principles. Yet, the same folks who bemoan the actions of the Trump administration now condoned this assassination in the name of national security. They don’t think we are at war. If you asked a Texas rancher, or the family of a victim who died at the hands of an illegal immigrant, I think they would disagree.
President Trump won on the promise to fix a broken immigration system that was wreaking havoc upon our fellow citizens.
Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) just passed a bill which would block district courts from issuing nationwide injunctions and instead limit them to their own districts. It cleared the House already. Senator Grassley (R-IA) has a similar bill in the Senate.
“Congress is moving to put district judges back in their district and not allow them to pretend that they’re alternative presidents,” commented Newt Gingrich earlier this week. Some of these judges have sought to overturn the policies of a president who received over 77 million votes.
The news is busting at the seams regarding the narrative that an El Salvadorian MS-13 member was illegally deported. But no District Court should compel the President to exercise his Article 2 foreign powers. The ruling from the Supreme Court earlier this month is clear – if El Salvador sends him back, we cannot turn him away. This would mean we would accept him into ICE custody and he would face deportation, again.
Authorities already ordered his deportation in 2019. He is not subject to a withholding order because of his gang affiliation. He has a deportation order and was here illegally.
Should we keep all the world’s terrorists on American soil? Perhaps the pundits should save their empathy for the families of children who were raped and killed by illegal immigrants. Repeatedly subjecting citizens to crimes by individuals that by law “shall be removed” from this country is evil.
The rattlesnakes crawl out of their den. We watch in awe with loud opinions and pray they never strike us in real life. Everyone is a keyboard warrior watching through the glass until they’re bit. But by then, the poison will kill us too.
Cowboy State Daily columnist Cassie Craven is a University of Wyoming College of Law graduate who practices law in Wyoming. She can be reached at: longhornwritingllc@gmail.com
