C (3:56)
All right, everyone. First up from Politico, A long running lawsuit claiming that a private prison contractor broke federal and Colorado law by forcing immigration detainees to work moved closer to trial Wednesday after the Supreme Court unanimously rejected a bid by the company to just toss out the case. The contractor, which is GEO Group, asserted it was entitled to immunity and should not face a civil trial because the firm's detainee work policies were carried out at the direction of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. However, the justices said that the degree to which federal officials authorized the detention center's work program was an issue that could be hashed out at trial and a quote from the story if eventually found liable. Gio may of course, appeal. This is Justice Elena Kagan. She wrote for the court's majority, but go must wait until then. The class action lawsuit filed in 2014 focused on practices at GEO's facility in Aurora, Colorado. Immigration detainees there were required to clean all common areas and face possible solitary confinement for failing to comply. They were offered a dollar a day for work preparing food and cleaning laundry at a time when the state's minimum wage was $8 an hour. The civil lawsuit alleges that the arrangement violated a federal law per prohibiting forced labor and because the policies saved labor costs for geo, ran afoul of a Colorado common law prohibition on unjust enrichment. About 1,200 immigration detainees were being held at the center as of January. This is Rep. Jason Crow. He's a Democrat in Colorado. That's what he said following an oversight visit by congressional staff. The Supreme Court's ruling doesn't mean the detainees will win their case, but the company is now likely to face a trial unless the firm settles. Lawyers for GEO argue that putting that burden on the company would make firms less likely to bid for government contracts and ultimately increase costs to taxpayers. But the justices said the company was not entitled to preempt the lawsuit by claiming a form of immunity flowing from a derivative of the federal government's sovereign immunity. Okay, while all the justices agreed that the company's appeal should be dismissed, at this junction we've got Samuel Alito. He did not join Kagan's opinion and Justice Clarence Thomas joined it only in part. GEO stock price spiked it spiked up following President Trump's election in 2024 on investors optimism about a massive expansion of privately run prisons and detention centers by the incoming administration. However, the stock has since dropped below its pre election level. I think a lot of them have lawyers for the detainees and spokesperson for geo, of course did not immediately respond to requests for comments. So we'll keep you up to date on that one. I do have a quick one from the Washington Post. A federal judge in Virginia rejected the Justice Department's request to search through a Washington Post reporter's electronic devices as part of a national security leak investigation, ruling that the court would instead be responsible for conducting the search. And this is the part I love. In a 22 page opinion, Magistrate Judge William Porter admonished the Justice Department, saying the government could not be trusted to conduct the search on its own and that prosecutor's actions and in obtaining a search warrant for reporter Hannah Natenson's home had shaken the deference and latitude that judges typically afford government attorneys. Normally we'd let you do this, but you've already fucked up too many times so we don't trust you. That's exactly what this magistrate judge said. The ruling Tuesday afternoon is a victory, at least in part for the Post Ann Natenson, who said that allowing the government to search through her phone and laptop computer would risk exposing the identities of her sources and could have a to chance chilling effect on future sources who wish to speak to reporters. The court, however, at this time did not order an immediate return of the devices to Nansen, but we'll see what happens there. Obviously I love that they don't trust the Justice Department to do their job, so they're going to go through that instead. Everyone, the story this next one is from the Associated Press. The Trump administration's latest policy of deporting immigrants to third countries to which they have no ties is unlawful and must be set aside. This is from a federal judge. They ruled on Wednesday in a case that already reached the nation's highest court. I feel like I have some good news in this news Hot notes today. It's not all just doom and gloom, which is wonderful. U.S. district Judge Bryony Murphy in Massachusetts agreed to suspend his decision for 15 days, giving the government time to appeal his latest ruling in this case. Murphy noted that the U.S. supreme Court ruled in the administration's favor last year, pausing Murphy's previous decision and clearing the way for a flight carrying several migrants to complete its trip to war torn South Sudan where they had no ties. Murphy said migrants challenging the Department of Homeland securities Policy have the right to meaningful notice and an opportunity to object before they are removed to a third country. The policy, and I quote, extinguishes valid challenges to third country removal by affecting removal before those challenges can be raised. That's what the judge said, went on to say, these are our laws and it is with profound gratitude for the unbelievable luck of being born in the United States of America that this court affirms these and our nation's bedrock principle that no person in this country may be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Well said Murphy. In June, the Supreme Court's conservative majority found that immigration officials can quickly deport people to third countries. Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, they dissented on that ruling, saying the ruling gives the government special treatment. Murphy said President Donald Trump's administration has repeatedly violated or tried to violate his orders. Last March, he noticed the Defense Department deported at least six class members to El Salvador and Mexico without providing the process required under a temporary restraining order that Murphy issued. And I quote, the simple reality is that nobody knows the merits of any individual class members claim because administration officials are withholding the predicate fact the country of removal. This is what Murphy wrote, who was by the way nominated to the bench by Joe Biden. Murphy said the DHS third country removal policy has targeted immigrants who were granted protection from being sent back to their home countries where they fear being tortured or persecuted in other ways. Eight men, eight men who were sent to South Sudan in May had been convicted of crimes in the US and had final orders of removal. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials had said so Again, another loss in the courts for this administration, which makes me happy. I think the more people push back against this stuff, especially when it comes to due process of anybody in the United States, it doesn't matter how you got here, you have a right to due process under our Constitution. I hope that these laws, they, they continue to fight this. They continue to fight this. Last up in this hot notes is more Epstein news. And obviously we've talked about this before in the podcast. I don't care who you are. I don't care if you're a Democrat, Republican, independent. I don't care if you are a king or queen, which is probably not the case or anything else, or a prince as we know it. I want everyone who was involved in this Epstein ring, this trafficking ring that went across the entire globe to brought under a prison for the rest of their life. But at least some sort of accountability and we have a little bit with this sort of sort of. It's just another person stepping down. This is from CBS News. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers is going to resign from his remaining roles at Harvard University over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. The school confirmed this to CBS News on Wednesday. Summers is going to retire at the end of the academic year but will remain on leave until then, a Harvard spokesperson said in a statement. Sommer stepped back, by the way, from his public commitments in November after the release of messages between him and the late convicted sect offender. He also resigned from the board of AI company it's called OpenAI and numerous other positions at such places as Bloomberg News, the New York Times and the center for American Progress. And I quote, I have made the difficult decision to retire from my Harvard professorship at the end of this academic year. This is what Summer said in a statement Wednesday. He said, I will always be grateful to the thousands of students and colleagues I've been privileged to teach and work with since coming to Harvard as a graduate student 50 years ago, since 2006 when summer stepped down as Harvard's president. As I said, he hasn't been the president since 2006, but he held what the university describes as one of its most distinguished professorial positions. It's called the Charles W. Elliott University Professor. And this is a quote from Summers, free of formal responsibility. Okay, as president emeritus and a retired professor, I look forward in time to engaging in research, analysis and commentary on a range of global economic issues. Dozens of messages between Summers and Epstein were among the documents from Epstein's estate that were released by the House Oversight Committee in November. Summers, by the way, has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but the emails show that the two communicated on a regular basis, even after Epstein pleaded guilty to prostitution charges in Florida but before he was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019. So, you know, I really do think there should be a ton of pressure for anyone, anyone that is in a position of power, that is involved with Epstein in any sort of nefarious way. I do think they should be out of the public eye. I do. I don't think they should be in a forward facing position. I'm sure people could argue with me on that, but it's just where I stand. I would like to see more accountability though. We've got people being arrested and, you know, in the UK and I sure the hell would like to see some arrests in the United States because they have not happened yet other than Epstein and Galene Maxwell. But I want to see everyone held accountable. All right, everyone, I interviewed a fantastic comedian named Cliff Cash who has some good trouble for you. So we're going to hear about that right after the break. Stay tuned. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back. When evenings are cold and I am stretched, then dinner is the first thing I want to simplify. 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