January 2, 2024 - Daily Digest
January 2, 2024 - Daily Digest
A major ruling from the Israeli Supreme Court as Japan is rocked by an earthquake
Happy New Year! Today is January 2, 2024 and here are all the stories you may have missed over the past 24 hours. As I mentioned before, I am getting married in now less than two weeks and will be likely be sending out less content until after January 15th to take some time off to finish planning and spending newlywed time with my fiancé. If you enjoy my content and want access to more, exclusive content or to support my work, please consider becoming a paid, monthly subscriber by clicking the link below:
1) Major Ruling From the Israeli Supreme Court
The Israeli Supreme Court, in an unprecedented move, has rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial judicial reforms in a move that stunned many. The Supreme Court, in an eight to seven decision, ruled that Netanyahu's reasonableness law should not be permitted to stand. The bill, which was protested by many in Israel, essentially stripped the power of the Supreme Court to declare government decisions unreasonable.
Earlier last year, Israel's Knesset passed the reasonableness law, sparking protests around the country. For context, Israel's legal system allows the courts to review decisions made by the Israeli government and determine whether the decisions are "reasonable" or not. Recently, Netanyahu appointed a close ally, Aryeh Deri, to be Minister of Interior, Health, and Deputy Prime Minister under Netanyahu. The appointment was later struck down by the Israeli courts as being "unreasonable" given Deri's prior criminal convictions on tax offenses. As a result, Deri was forced to resign from the appointed posts. Netanyahu's proposed reasonableness law would have allowed the Israeli government to disregard a similar decision by the Court.
Until this ruling, the Supreme Court had never before struck down a basic law or an amendment to one, making this decision historic. The Court held that "the Basic Law constitutes a significant deviation from 'the evolving constitution' and therefore must be accepted with broad consensus and not by a narrow coalition majority." In addition, another Israeli Justice, paying homage to the implications of this law on Israeli democracy wrote: "The demand to apply the law to those at the top of the pyramid is at the heart of our rules, no person is exempt from the rule of law."
The reasonableness law was the first prong of a multi-prong attempt at overhauling the country's judiciary system. Thus far, Netanyahu's plans have failed.
2) Jack Smith Slams Trump In Opening Brief
Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed his opening brief in front of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit arguing that Donald Trump's presidential immunity argument poses grave dangers to the United States Constitution and the rule of law in America.
As we previously reported, District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that Trump was not immune from criminal prosecution for his actions leading up to and on January 6, 2021. Trump appealed this ruling to the D.C. Circuit, staying the lower court criminal case while the appeal is pending. The D.C. Circuit has since agreed to fast track this appeal which will likely make its way up to the United States Supreme Court no matter what the D.C. Circuit decides.
The Special Counsel's brief makes clear that this prosecution of a former president is historic in nature, and the United States constitution, along with long standing precedent weigh against Trump's absolute immunity claim.
The brief goes on to slam Trump's argument that the January 6th prosecution brought by the Special Counsel threatens the very fibers of our democracy. The Special Counsel notes if Trump's immunity argument is upheld, it would greatly threaten our democracy. Specifically, the Special Counsel points to the fact that Trump is claiming immunity in regards to actions specifically meant to interfere with the peaceful transition of power in his attempt to overturn the 2020 Presidential election.
Jack Smith cites the recent D.C. Circuit ruling in Blassingame v. Trump and the 11th Circuit ruling in the case regarding former Trump Chief-of-Staff Mark Meadows to argue, correctly, even if implied absolute presidential immunity exists for former presidents in criminal cases (which it doesn’t), the conduct here is not immune.
The brief lays out the inherent danger in upholding Donald Trump's immunity argument in sobering terms:
The implications of the defendant's broad immunity theory are sobering. In his view, a court should treat a President's criminal conduct as immune from prosecution as long as it takes the form of correspondence with a state official about a matter in which there is a federal interest, a meeting with a member of the Executive Branch, or a statement on a matter of public concern. That approach would grant immunity from criminal prosecution to a President who accepts a bribe in exchange for directing a lucrative government contract to the payer; a President who instructs the FBI Director to plant incriminating evidence on a political enemy; a President who orders the National Guard to murder his most prominent critics; or a President who sells nuclear secrets to a foreign adversary, because in each of these scenarios, the President could assert that he was simply executing the laws; or communicating with the Department of Justice; or discharging his powers as Commander-in-Chief; or engaging in foreign diplomacy. Under the defendant's framework, the Nation would have no recourse to deter a President from inciting his supporters during a State of the Union address to kill opposing lawmakers-thereby hamstringing any impeachment proceeding—to ensure that he remains in office unlawfully. See Blassingame v. Trump, 87 F.4th 1, 21 (D.C. Cir. 2023) (President's delivery of the State of the Union address is an official act). Such a result would severely undermine the compelling public interest in the rule of law and criminal accountability.
Oral argument in front of the three judge panel is scheduled for January 9th at 9:30 AM, at which point we will provide you with further updates.
3) Man Attacks Colorado Supreme Court
Overnight, a man broke into the Colorado Supreme Court and opened fire inside of the building. The break in occurred around 1:15 AM when there was no one in the building and lasted about two hours until the shooter surrendered to local law enforcement agencies. This latest break in comes just weeks after the Colorado Supreme Court barred Donald Trump from the Presidential primary ballot in a major 4-3 ruling. Since that ruling, Colorado authorities and the FBI have stated that threats against the Court are higher than normal and that remaining vigilant is critical. Thankfully, no one was injured during the break in.
4) Large Earthquake in Japan
A powerful, 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit Japan, causing devastation around the country over the weekend. The earthquake was followed by dozens of smaller aftershocks and in total has caused over fifty deaths as of this post. All tsunami warnings were lifted shortly after the earthquake, and no further threat is currently present according to local authorities. More to come on this as we learn more about the true extent of the devastation caused.