A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a lower court decision that disqualified Alina Habba, who served as a personal lawyer to Trump, as the acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey.
The decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit was unanimous against the Trump administration, which has attempted to use a novel mechanism to place lawyers who have not received Senate approval into temporary U.S. attorney positions across the country.
The case before the 3rd Circuit arose after three men facing criminal charges in New Jersey challenged the validity of Habba’s appointment as a violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and sought to have their indictments dismissed.
The point being made is that while there are a lot of regional and district courts that are trying to stop things, due to literally half a century of conservatives stacking the judiciary with no real or meaningful pushback or counterplay by the opposition means that the system is quite thoroughly compromised and rife with structural fractures, on top of the fact that the highest court of appeal in the country is effectively bought and paid for.
Put like that, it’s pretty obvious that the US Judiciary is no longer meaningfully functional. And it’s definitely not fair or equitable, especially when a person or corporation with shitloads of money and power are involved.