Justice

The #MeToo movement has been a revelation of revelations.  As it continues and the impacts are felt over the years, it should grow to be worthy of inclusion in our history books.  On the contrary, Trump would like to simply make it history.

To the droves of women speaking up about sexual harassment and discrimination, the Trump administration’s message is clear: Shut up.  Behind the scenes, and mostly through executive orders, the White House is making it harder for women to report sexual harassment and fight sex discrimination.

It can be a struggle in daily conversations to explain the impacts this election has every day on the decisions being made to govern our society.  Trump's handlers are putting individuals in positions of real, tangible power who are spending every hour of every day implementing policies in an efficient, destructive manner.  They are doing the exact things their prior words, actions, and lobbyist bosses should have made obvious.

The latest developments in the Trump Muslim "Travel" Ban saga played out on Friday, December 8, 2017 at oral arguments before the U.S. 4th District Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia.  Some of the Tweeter in Chief's xenophobic tweets from the previous week played a part in the discussion of the third version of the travel ban:

In lively, aggressive questions, several judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit pointed to the president’s tweets last week sharing inflammatory anti-Muslim videos posted by a far-right British activist.

On August 25, 2017, Trump signed an Executive Order reinstating a ban on transgender individuals from serving in the military.  It reinstated a prohibition of transgender service members lifted last year and gave Defense Secretary Jim Mattis until Feb. 21, 2018, to submit a plan for implementing the new policy. 

Fortunately, a federal judge temporarily blocked the ban last Monday.

The Trump Administraiton's third xenophobic attempt at a Muslim Ban came on September 24th via a proclamation banning travel to the U.S. from seven countries.  It sought to ban citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad and North Korea from entering the United States beginning this week on October 19th.

On Monday, a federal judge stepped in yet again:

Smart Dissent's issues with Betsy DeVos have been documented repeatedly including here, here, here, here, and

In April, so-called "Sanctuary Cities" listed in a 2016 report for not complying fully with federal immigration authorities were issued letters by the Department of Justice to get in line or lose funding.  Fortunately, in what's become a pattern for a White House acting out of turn, a federal judge has stepped in.

This past June marked the one year anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando that left 49 dead and the second anniversary of the chuch shooting in Charleston where nine were murdered during Bible study.  It was also back in June that House Republicans began work on something known as the "Hearing Protection Act."  

You are not alone if you had no idea what this is about until now.  With this Act, House Republicans are seeking to relax restrictions on firearm silencers making it easier for shooters to shoot without being noticed.  

The continued tense relationships between police and citizens across the country is again being enflamed by the actions of Trump's Justice Department led by Jeff Sessions.  Sessions announced in mid-September that he is ending a program created to help improve trust between police agencies and the communities they serve.  Seriously.

The White House signed an second Muslim Ban executive order on March 6th intending to achieve the same effects as the first one which was rejected.  The second one was also rejected on March 15th.