Stay Blocking Federal Law Enforcement Lifted

A federal district judge’s July 23, order restricting federal law enforcement agents from removing journalists and observers from restricted areas around federal buildings and the federal courthouse during violent protests in Portland was lifted last week by a divided panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Sam Simon of Politico reports that the court’s 2-1 ruling held that preventing federal agents from removing everyone, including journalists, from areas around federal buildings they are trying to protect undermines the objective and threatens their safety.

While we have been admonished by our betters for decades that the judiciary is non-political, it should be noted that the Portland judge who issued the stay was a Clinton appointee, the two appeals court justices who lifted it were appointed by Trump, and the dissenting justice was an Obama appointee.   No politics here.

The stay was issued in response to an ACLU lawsuit on behalf of “journalists and legal observers.”   The lead attorney denounced the circuit’s ruling proclaiming “The freedom of the press protects a democracy from devolving into tyranny.”  The question is, does member of Antifa with bomb in his backpack and a smartphone in his hand qualify as a journalist or a legal observer?   To most folks, ninety days of riots, including setting buildings on fire, breaking into and looting businesses and attacking innocent people looks a hell of a lot like tyranny.