1 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:07,280 Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Law with June Grosso from Bloomberg Radio. 2 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:13,080 Speaker 2: The music industry faced off against internet providers at the 3 00:00:13,119 --> 00:00:17,080 Speaker 2: Supreme Court this week over a one billion dollar jury 4 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 2: verdict against Cox Communications for not shutting down the accounts 5 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 2: of customers who'd pirated more than ten thousand copyrighted songs 6 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 2: by artists like Beyonce and Justin Timberlake. The lawyers painted 7 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:34,920 Speaker 2: very different bleak pictures of the consequences of a decision 8 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 2: against their clients. Joshua Rosenkrantz represents the internet provider Cox, 9 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,160 Speaker 2: and Paul Clement represents the record companies. 10 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 3: There is no short fireway for an ISP to avoid liability, 11 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 3: and the only way it can is to cut off 12 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 3: the Internet, not just for the accused infringer, but for 13 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 3: anyone else who happens to use the same connection. That 14 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 3: could be entire towns, universities, or hospitals. 15 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 4: If Cox is right on the law, then Cox could 16 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 4: take tens of thousands of copyright notices and throw them 17 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:15,320 Speaker 4: in the trash, and they could have its employees, say 18 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 4: f the DMCA. 19 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 2: The issue is whether internet providers should be held responsible 20 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,759 Speaker 2: for contributing to copyright infringement when they know their customers 21 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 2: are pirating music but don't terminate their Internet access. Several 22 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 2: justices appeared skeptical that Cox had done enough to stop piracy, 23 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:39,120 Speaker 2: and questioned whether a favorable ruling would allow Internet service 24 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 2: providers to ignore clear copyright infringement by their users. Here 25 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 2: are Justices Sonya Sotomayor and Amy Cony Barrett. 26 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 5: You did nothing and in fact, counselor your clients sort 27 00:01:54,440 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 5: of lais a fair attitude towards the respondents's probably what 28 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 5: got the jury upset? 29 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 6: What incentive would you have to do anything? If you 30 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 6: wont if you if you win and mayre knowledge isn't enough, 31 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:11,640 Speaker 6: Why would you bother to send out any notices in 32 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 6: the future. 33 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 2: But Justice Samuel Alito expressed concerns about the effect on 34 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 2: large institutions like universities or hospitals. If an Internet service 35 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 2: provider is forced to cut off infringers. 36 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 7: What is an ISP supposed to do with a university 37 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 7: account that has let's say, seventy thousand users? What is 38 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:35,080 Speaker 7: the university supposed to do? 39 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:39,520 Speaker 2: My guest is intellectual property litigator Terrence Ross, a partner 40 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 2: at Catan Euchin Rosenmuan Terry. Will you explain the issue 41 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:47,800 Speaker 2: here and the process of policing music piracy. 42 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 8: The issue in the case involved process by which recording 43 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:59,640 Speaker 8: companies track online sharing of musical compositions that they own. 44 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 8: The cop write in the process allows them to identify 45 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:09,840 Speaker 8: the IP address and the ISP that is providing the 46 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 8: service to that IP address, and so the music company's 47 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:17,800 Speaker 8: recording companies regularly on a daily basis, in fact, send 48 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 8: notices of infringement to the ISPs that are providing the 49 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 8: Internet service to these infringers. And there are days in 50 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:31,679 Speaker 8: which they're sending out ten thousand notices to each individual 51 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 8: ISP service, and the recording companies finally became fed up 52 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 8: that the ISPs were not doing something. They wanted the 53 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 8: ISPs to cut off service to these identified infringers, and 54 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 8: the ISPs dragged their heels doing anything taking any real 55 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 8: concrete action to stop it. And so the recording companies 56 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 8: finally sued cos Cable Company, which is one of the 57 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 8: largest ISPs in the nation, alleging that they had engaged 58 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 8: in contributory copyright infringement. 59 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 2: In its papers, COX had argued that Grandma will be 60 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 2: thrown off the Internet because Junior visited and illegally downloaded songs. 61 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:17,960 Speaker 2: Did some of the justices seem to pick up on 62 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 2: that concern. 63 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,600 Speaker 8: There was only one justice who seemed to give some 64 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 8: credence that, and that was Justice the Lead of He 65 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 8: was the only justice who really seemed to buy into 66 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:33,480 Speaker 8: the position by Cox that it was hesitant to kick 67 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:36,000 Speaker 8: people off because of and then you can fill in 68 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 8: the blank as to what the reason is their grandmother, 69 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:42,599 Speaker 8: their university, their hospital. In fact, the hypothetically posed at 70 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 8: oral argument in the Supreme Court was what happens when 71 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 8: all you can do is identify that the IP address 72 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 8: belongs to university? Or you going to shut down the 73 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:55,600 Speaker 8: entire university? One of those odd hypotheticals that takes the 74 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 8: case the extreme. The facts are actually contrast to that, 75 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 8: and indeed none of the other justices seemed to buy 76 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,159 Speaker 8: into that argument. The reality is that over the period 77 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:09,720 Speaker 8: of time and issue, Cox had received one hundred and 78 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 8: sixty three thousand notices of infringement and had kicked off 79 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 8: of its service only thirty two customers. The policy of 80 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 8: compliance used by Cox was described in some detail, and 81 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:30,599 Speaker 8: it was sub law. They fare to use the word 82 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 8: that one of the justices used to describe it they 83 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 8: had originally started off to say, well, if we get 84 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 8: three notices about a particular user, we're going to tell 85 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 8: them we're cutting off their service. That rose gradually over 86 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 8: time from being a three strikes you're out policy to 87 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 8: being a thirteen strikes and you're aut policy. And the 88 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 8: thirteen strikes reset every six months, so if you didn't 89 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:55,280 Speaker 8: get to thirteen within a six month period, you went 90 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 8: back to zero, or if you got kicked off after 91 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:00,720 Speaker 8: six months off, you got put back on. Also cap 92 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 8: the number notices that they were accepting from recording companies 93 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,479 Speaker 8: at three hundred a day. And then probably the worst 94 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 8: fact of all in which got brought up at the 95 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:14,479 Speaker 8: Supreme Court, if you could believe it, was the head 96 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 8: of Copyright Compliance at Cox sent out an email to 97 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:23,480 Speaker 8: the people in charge of enforcing copyright policy in which 98 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 8: he said, f the DMCA. Now, the DMCA refers to 99 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,160 Speaker 8: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which is one of the 100 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 8: key statutes that shoe here and which requires ISPs to 101 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:42,800 Speaker 8: set up a policing mechanism against copyright infringement if they 102 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 8: want to claim the safe harbor that is embedded in 103 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:49,600 Speaker 8: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act In response to that, one 104 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 8: of the minions for the head of compliance wrote back saying, well, 105 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 8: we're helping law breaking customers. And there were dozens of 106 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,680 Speaker 8: emails like this amongst the compliance group of cocks that 107 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:04,920 Speaker 8: just manifested a complete disdain for copyright laws, which obviously 108 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 8: impacted the jury because the jury below had awarded a 109 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 8: billion dollars in damages against cop and in the Supreme 110 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:15,160 Speaker 8: Court argument, it was clear that outside of Justice Alito, 111 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:18,880 Speaker 8: none of the eight other justices were buying what Cox 112 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 8: was trying to claim was their reason for not cutting 113 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 8: off people that you'd kick Grandma's off of the Internet. 114 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 8: The other eight justices just didn't buy it, and it 115 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 8: was a loser argument for Cox. 116 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 2: So then, can you tell where most of the justices 117 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 2: do stand? 118 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 8: That's always a tough question. In this case. I think 119 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 8: it's tover the most. I think outside of Justice Alito, 120 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 8: the other eight were just incredibly skeptical of Cox's excuses 121 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 8: for allowing this widespread infringement to go on. In the 122 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 8: record below, there's apparently one period of time at which 123 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 8: twenty one percent of all traffic on the Cox's Internet 124 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 8: connections twenty one percent involved copyright infringement, and the law 125 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 8: super low didn't go after you know, every single mom 126 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 8: and pop business or every single college student. It was 127 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 8: targeted only at distributors, not people who were downloading the 128 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 8: occasional song, but people who were copying music digitally and 129 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 8: distributing it on a mass scale. So there was this 130 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 8: enormous skepticism expressed by the justice except for Justice Alita, 131 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 8: that Cox really wasn't fulfilling it its obligation and needed 132 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:35,920 Speaker 8: to do something differently now. On the other hand, there 133 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:39,800 Speaker 8: also seemed to be some concern about the size of 134 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 8: the jury verdict and whether or not the actions of 135 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:51,440 Speaker 8: Cocks were sufficient to constitute willful contributory infringement, which is 136 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 8: what set them up for much larger scale of damages 137 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:57,880 Speaker 8: than if this had been found to be just ordinary 138 00:08:57,920 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 8: copyright infringement. 139 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 2: So what's the and that the justices would use here? 140 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 2: Cox contends that under a two thousand and five Supreme 141 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 2: Court ruling, it can't be held liable for contributory infringement 142 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 2: unless it affirmatively fostered piracy or clearly intended to promote it. 143 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:21,959 Speaker 2: The music companies say it's enough that Cox's new subscribers 144 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 2: were using its service to download songs illegally. 145 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 8: The case on appeal to the Supreme Court present it 146 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 8: to pretty crisp issues for decision. The first issue, which 147 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 8: I think is where the real fight is going to be, 148 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 8: is whether or not contributory copyright infringement required some sort 149 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:45,559 Speaker 8: of affirmative action by the tenant. The second question presented 150 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 8: for review was whether or not wilfulness required some sort 151 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 8: of knowledge of customer infringement. Now, a problem with that 152 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 8: second question, the wolfleness standard, is that Cox had failed 153 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:05,040 Speaker 8: to object in the trial court to the instruction that 154 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:08,959 Speaker 8: the judge gave to the jury about how to find wilfulness. 155 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 8: So after the case has finished, all the evidence has submitted, 156 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:14,480 Speaker 8: and the attorneys have made their closing argument, and then 157 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:16,319 Speaker 8: just before the jury goes into the jury room to 158 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 8: make a decision, the judge reads to them a series 159 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 8: of instructions as to what the law is. And one 160 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 8: of those instructions will go something like Sony Music Corporation. 161 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:28,840 Speaker 8: Here is alleged that the contributor copyright infringement was wilful 162 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:32,120 Speaker 8: on the part of costs. In order for you to 163 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 8: find wilfulness, you must consider the following factors. And typically 164 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:40,560 Speaker 8: if a party doesn't believe the judge has stayed at 165 00:10:40,559 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 8: the law correctly to the jury, they get up and 166 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 8: they object, and indeed they don't even have to do 167 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:47,800 Speaker 8: it at the time of trial. These jury instructions are 168 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:50,600 Speaker 8: spent out to the lawyers while advance, and you file 169 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:52,600 Speaker 8: the objection with courts saying we objected this, and give 170 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,880 Speaker 8: the court a chance to refine it, improve it so 171 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 8: that there's no objection here. The Cox folks for whatever 172 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:02,640 Speaker 8: reason to object to the wilfulness instruction, and that means 173 00:11:02,679 --> 00:11:07,880 Speaker 8: they waived any objection to wilfulness and had really no excuse. 174 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 8: So I just don't see question number two as being 175 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 8: resolved in any way in favor of Cox, and indeed 176 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 8: I suspect the court won't reach it so that we 177 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,319 Speaker 8: will get no further instruction from the Supreme Court on 178 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 8: what constitutes wilfulness. I think the Court is focused really 179 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:31,840 Speaker 8: on the position that Cox is arguing that contributory infringement 180 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:34,839 Speaker 8: requires some sort of affirmative act, and that, as they 181 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:39,000 Speaker 8: phrased it, they can't be a contributory infringer by providing 182 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:41,920 Speaker 8: internet service to one of their customers. 183 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:45,240 Speaker 2: So then do you think that they'll send it back 184 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:48,360 Speaker 2: to the lower court with an instruction. 185 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,600 Speaker 8: I just don't know what they're going to do here. 186 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:54,720 Speaker 8: I have to be frank, this is one of the 187 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:59,160 Speaker 8: more opaque oral arguments I've have listened to. Other commentators 188 00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:04,960 Speaker 8: have argued that the Court might be looking for some 189 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,600 Speaker 8: sort of middle ground. Indeed, I think it was Justice 190 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:11,520 Speaker 8: sodom Or commented at one point during the argument that 191 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:16,000 Speaker 8: the Court was being forced to choose between two extreme positions, 192 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,439 Speaker 8: and in particular Justice so Myior, who was very skeptical 193 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:25,000 Speaker 8: of Cox's position but also didn't quite like the extreme 194 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:28,360 Speaker 8: argument being made by Sony Music Corp. In the recording company, 195 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 8: seems really perplexed as to what to do. Genuinely perplexed. 196 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 8: The problem the Supreme Court faces here is that the 197 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 8: standard for contributory copyright infringement has been pretty well settled 198 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:44,960 Speaker 8: in this court for more than a century. As early 199 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:50,560 Speaker 8: as nineteen twelve, there was a case that involved miniograph machines. 200 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 8: If you remember those, they were a pre Xerox machines 201 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 8: way of doing sort of a mass production, mass production 202 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 8: being a couple hundred There was a case in which 203 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:07,480 Speaker 8: a publisher sued a mimeograph company for knowingly selling mimiograph 204 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,800 Speaker 8: materials to a company that it knew was engaged in 205 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 8: infringing copyright works by using the mimiograph machine. And the 206 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:20,120 Speaker 8: standard was set out there and has been repeated over 207 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:24,200 Speaker 8: and over since that time nineteen twelve. And the standard 208 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 8: is pretty simple. If you provide something that you know 209 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:29,959 Speaker 8: is going to be used by a person to commit 210 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:35,079 Speaker 8: copyright infringement, you've engaged in contributory infringement. And the past 211 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:37,920 Speaker 8: cases haven't spoken in terms of needing an affirmative act, 212 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:40,439 Speaker 8: although one could argue this did not come up with 213 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:43,680 Speaker 8: the Supreme Court hearing that providing the Internet service is 214 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:49,160 Speaker 8: an affirmative act. The Cox Company argued court that that's 215 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:51,840 Speaker 8: not an affirmative act, but that's sort of a stretch 216 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:54,320 Speaker 8: in order to try to get around that line cases, 217 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 8: the Cox Company argued that contributory infringement is really a 218 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 8: key into aiding and embedding liability in the context of 219 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:07,360 Speaker 8: torts and criminal law, and that's a real stretch that 220 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:10,320 Speaker 8: I think is just dead wrong. It would give the 221 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 8: court a way to get out of this dilemma, but 222 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 8: it would mean the court would have to overturn half 223 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,560 Speaker 8: a dozen cases going back to nineteen twelve for over 224 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 8: a century and say now they're not good law anymore. 225 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:22,840 Speaker 8: I don't see the Court doing that here. 226 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 2: Do you think we'll see that Justice is coming up 227 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:27,600 Speaker 2: with some sort of middle ground. 228 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:31,360 Speaker 8: So it's a shame that Justice Ginsburg is no longer 229 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:33,960 Speaker 8: on the Court. And we've had many conversations about our 230 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:38,000 Speaker 8: knowledge of copyright law and her ability to copy together 231 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 8: coalition for positions under the Copyright Act that we're actually 232 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:46,440 Speaker 8: quite pragmatic and useful. And I just don't see anybody 233 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 8: either with that depth of knowledge to copyright law or 234 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 8: the ability to do that sort of log rolling on 235 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:53,520 Speaker 8: this Court. And so I think it's going to be 236 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:55,600 Speaker 8: a real struggle for this Court to come up with 237 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 8: some sort of middle ground, particularly in light of the 238 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 8: fact that the law here is just so set for 239 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:03,680 Speaker 8: such a long period time and the sort of odd 240 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:06,600 Speaker 8: cases that Cock sited to the Supreme Court, including this 241 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:10,440 Speaker 8: recent gun distribution case sprin court to site recently where 242 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 8: the gun companies were being sued for deaths in Mexico, 243 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:18,520 Speaker 8: and the argument was they were aiding embedding this criminal activity, 244 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 8: and the gun company said, well, we sold the guns 245 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:24,920 Speaker 8: to dealers in Texas, not knowing what they were going 246 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 8: to do with them, and if anybody's contributed to them, 247 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 8: but it's not us. We had no knowledge of it, 248 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 8: and that case just doesn't fit here, either legally or factually. 249 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:37,960 Speaker 8: And yet Cock sort of beed a lot on that. 250 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 8: I mean, it was almost as if there's a hey, 251 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:44,160 Speaker 8: we cite to some case in which the second circuit, 252 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:47,120 Speaker 8: which everybody beleeves in on the Supreme Court, that'll get 253 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:49,520 Speaker 8: us over the humpire. It's just such a stretch that, 254 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:53,200 Speaker 8: in fact backfires. One starts to think, well, what's wrong 255 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 8: with their case? That that's the best they've got. 256 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:59,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, gun distribution and pirated music don't seem to equate. 257 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,400 Speaker 2: Thanks so much, Terry, as always, that's Terrence Fross of 258 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 2: Catnuchen Rosenman. Immigration courts decide about two hundred thousand asylum 259 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 2: applications every year, and Douglas Urgus Urlana, his wife and 260 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 2: child joined that pool of applicants after fleeing Il Salvador 261 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,920 Speaker 2: in twenty twenty one. They claimed they were repeatedly threatened 262 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 2: by a cartel hit man in a year's long violent 263 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 2: vendetta against their extended family, but an immigration judge rejected 264 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:36,359 Speaker 2: their bid for asylum, as did the Board of Immigration Appeals, 265 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 2: and a federal appeals court deferred to the board's decision, 266 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 2: and it appeared during oral arguments this week that the 267 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,720 Speaker 2: family would not fare much better at the Supreme Court. 268 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 2: Several justices from across the ideological spectrum appeared to agree 269 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:57,720 Speaker 2: that the Board's decision on whether an immigrant faces persecution 270 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 2: serious enough to qualify for asylum is a factual inquiry, 271 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 2: not a legal one, and so the Court of Appeal 272 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,960 Speaker 2: should defer to the Immigration Board's decision. Here are liberal 273 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:14,760 Speaker 2: Justice Elaina Kagan and conservative Justice Samuel Alito. 274 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 6: And that's the legal rule. A threat can be persecution, 275 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:21,679 Speaker 6: but only if it's menacing enough to cause actual harm. Now, 276 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,120 Speaker 6: what's going to happen in this case is we're going 277 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:26,880 Speaker 6: to have to look at all this evidence, all these facts, 278 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:32,520 Speaker 6: and decide whether these threats were indeed that level of menacing. 279 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 6: And that sounds like really weighing evidence to me. That 280 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 6: sounds really factual. 281 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:43,480 Speaker 7: It must add up to more than ordinary harassment, mistreatment, 282 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:49,400 Speaker 7: or suffering. You may have a set of historical facts 283 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:53,480 Speaker 7: that are undisputed, but determining whether they add up whether 284 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:57,560 Speaker 7: the totality of those facts satisfies that standard. Sure looks 285 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:01,159 Speaker 7: to me like primarily a factual question. 286 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:05,639 Speaker 2: Joining me is immigration law expert Leon Fresco, a partner 287 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:08,760 Speaker 2: at Hollnden Knight. Leon tell us a little about the 288 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:10,119 Speaker 2: asylum process. 289 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:14,760 Speaker 4: What a person asks for asylum, they have to prove 290 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:17,359 Speaker 4: at the end of the day, that they have what's 291 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:22,359 Speaker 4: called a well founded fear of future persecution on the 292 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:26,880 Speaker 4: basis of their race, religion, political origin, social group. There's 293 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:31,160 Speaker 4: a presumption that if you have experienced what's called past persecution, 294 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 4: there's a presumption that you will then have a well 295 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:39,880 Speaker 4: founded fear a future persecution. So what does that mean. 296 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:43,200 Speaker 4: That means that people go into immigration court and they 297 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:46,320 Speaker 4: explain what happened in their country that caused them to leave, 298 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,840 Speaker 4: and there's cross examination and the judge can ask questions. 299 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:52,879 Speaker 4: At the end of all of this, there's two determinations. 300 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:58,520 Speaker 4: One did the person experience past persecution? And number two, 301 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:01,520 Speaker 4: was it on the basis of one of the protected grounds. 302 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 4: So in this Supreme Court case, what happened was there 303 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:11,600 Speaker 4: literally was no dispute about the credibility of the facts 304 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:15,399 Speaker 4: raised by the foreign national. In this case, Douglas Umberto 305 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:20,080 Speaker 4: Orias Oriana, who said that he fled El Salvador after 306 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:23,480 Speaker 4: repeated threats and violence from a hitman linked to a 307 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 4: drug lord, and he said that the drug lord shot 308 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:28,679 Speaker 4: his hot brothers and tracked and thread in his family. 309 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,320 Speaker 4: And so since there was no dispute about the facts, 310 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:36,320 Speaker 4: there was not a factual issue that was being raised 311 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:39,160 Speaker 4: on appeal. Instead, the court said, I'm going to take 312 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 4: all of the facts that you've presented today as true, 313 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:44,920 Speaker 4: and I'm going to say that they still do not 314 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:49,520 Speaker 4: rise to the high level of this word persecution such 315 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:54,720 Speaker 4: that we can say that you experienced past persecution such 316 00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:58,520 Speaker 4: that you would get the presumption of future persecution. So 317 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:03,520 Speaker 4: now Missed Oris Oriana then says, well, how is that possible? 318 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:06,639 Speaker 4: I would like to get review of that. And so 319 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:09,720 Speaker 4: when it gets to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, 320 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,320 Speaker 4: the First Circuit says, We're going to defer to the 321 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 4: Board of Immigration Appeals, which is the administrative court that 322 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:19,520 Speaker 4: decides this issue at the end of the day. We're 323 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:23,040 Speaker 4: going to defer to them and say that even though 324 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:27,879 Speaker 4: the facts are not in dispute, we still have to 325 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:31,680 Speaker 4: give some difference to their decision. In terms of let's 326 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:34,320 Speaker 4: say there's a scale and you're weighing it, how many 327 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,280 Speaker 4: pebbles go on one scale, how many pebbles go on 328 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:42,359 Speaker 4: the other scale, that even that determination gets some difference, 329 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:47,880 Speaker 4: that the federal courts can't just reweigh the evidence on 330 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:52,119 Speaker 4: their ends and decide whether the facts that were undisputed 331 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:57,440 Speaker 4: in a particular case constituted persecution such that the person 332 00:20:57,520 --> 00:20:59,040 Speaker 4: should win their asylum case. 333 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:03,360 Speaker 2: Courts of appeals have been split on whether federal courts 334 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:07,840 Speaker 2: can review the Immigration Board's decision from scratch or have 335 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 2: to defer the board. 336 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 4: The Supreme Court then has to decide, okay, what happens 337 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 4: in a case like this where there's not a dispute 338 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,920 Speaker 4: about the actual facts, but there's a dispute about whether 339 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:24,240 Speaker 4: the facts when you weigh them, there's quote unquote significant 340 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:28,640 Speaker 4: enough pebbles on the scale. Does the foreign national win 341 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,480 Speaker 4: or do they lose? Can we reweigh that on our 342 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 4: own or do we have to give some difference under 343 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 4: some standard of deferential review. And so the foreign nationals 344 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,280 Speaker 4: obviously claiming there should be the Novo review, the court 345 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 4: should look at this and say, okay, we're the threats 346 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:49,480 Speaker 4: here that were undisputed sufficient to say that that was 347 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:53,359 Speaker 4: past persecution. And the government says no, no, no, the 348 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 4: standard is actually much different and that this is a 349 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:01,080 Speaker 4: mixed question of law and fact, and so you have 350 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:06,199 Speaker 4: to treat that with some type of deferential review. And 351 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:10,359 Speaker 4: so you had justices like Justice Court Sis saying a 352 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:14,480 Speaker 4: reasonable fact finder standard as opposed to the Novo review, 353 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:20,560 Speaker 4: and others wanted to weigh it even more deferentially potentially 354 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:25,160 Speaker 4: than even that, and say that basically, if there's substantial 355 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:30,399 Speaker 4: evidence to support the determination of the lower administrative court, 356 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:34,320 Speaker 4: that's enough. So that would be even a broader deferential standard. 357 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:37,920 Speaker 4: And it appears as if really there's not a lot 358 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:40,680 Speaker 4: of excitement in the Supreme Court for having a complete 359 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 4: the Novo review of this process. So the issue is 360 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:46,360 Speaker 4: really going to be how much difference is given in 361 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:48,440 Speaker 4: these types of cases moving forward. 362 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:52,679 Speaker 2: So Leon, just to clarify, everyone accepts that the facts 363 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:56,480 Speaker 2: of the asylum claim are determined by the court below, 364 00:22:56,600 --> 00:23:00,040 Speaker 2: the Immigration Court. So the only question is how the 365 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:04,240 Speaker 2: federal appellate court is going to weigh those facts. 366 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:08,119 Speaker 4: Correct So what the lower court said in this case 367 00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:12,119 Speaker 4: was yes, all these very bad and serious things happened 368 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:14,679 Speaker 4: to you. But when we put all those pebbles on 369 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:19,000 Speaker 4: the scale, they're not sufficiently weighty enough to actually constitute 370 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:23,560 Speaker 4: persecution for the purposes of winning your case. And then 371 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,240 Speaker 4: the question is, okay, when this gets to the federal court, 372 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:30,040 Speaker 4: can they literally reweigh all of that exact evidence and say, no, no, no, 373 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,879 Speaker 4: those stones do weigh enough to tip the scales in 374 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:39,080 Speaker 4: favor of the foreign national or are they stuck with Hey, 375 00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:41,720 Speaker 4: if this is in any way defensible, we have to 376 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:45,000 Speaker 4: keep this decision the way it is. And it seemed 377 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:47,320 Speaker 4: like the Supreme Court did want to give more difference 378 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:52,520 Speaker 4: than rather re weighing all of the facts in the case, 379 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 4: even if they're undisputed, to decide if they need the 380 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,359 Speaker 4: legal standard of past persecution. 381 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:03,680 Speaker 2: If the appeals court can't reweigh what the lower court decided, 382 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:06,879 Speaker 2: it's not much of a review, is it correct. 383 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:10,240 Speaker 4: I mean, it would only be a review if essentially 384 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:15,760 Speaker 4: what happened was somebody goes into immigration court and they 385 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 4: say the government came in and shot me one time 386 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,480 Speaker 4: in the left arm because I'm a dissident, and then 387 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:25,000 Speaker 4: they left, and then two weeks later they shot me 388 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:27,800 Speaker 4: in the right arm. And then three weeks later they 389 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,320 Speaker 4: shot me in the left leg and they said, you 390 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:32,000 Speaker 4: want this to keep going or are you going to 391 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:36,240 Speaker 4: stop being a dissident? And then the immigration judge says, well, 392 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:39,119 Speaker 4: that doesn't seem like sufficient persecution. You only got shot 393 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,960 Speaker 4: three times. Maybe in a case like that, then the 394 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:46,080 Speaker 4: court would say, well, there's no way a reasonable fact 395 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:50,200 Speaker 4: finder could come to that determination that that wasn't persecution, 396 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:53,440 Speaker 4: because then you'd have this sort of reasonable fact finder 397 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,840 Speaker 4: deference or some other standard like that. It's not never 398 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:00,679 Speaker 4: will we review it. So they're not saying ever, But 399 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:04,720 Speaker 4: as opposed to a case like this, where they're saying, okay, threats, 400 00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:08,320 Speaker 4: how serious are the threats or the threats very serious? 401 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:10,560 Speaker 4: They might say, look, this is the kind of case 402 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:12,399 Speaker 4: that falls in the gray zone. And when you're in 403 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:14,440 Speaker 4: the gray zone, the government wins. 404 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,720 Speaker 2: I'm curious, what do you think about the threats in 405 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:20,560 Speaker 2: this case? Do you think they were serious enough for 406 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:21,840 Speaker 2: an asylum claim? 407 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:24,720 Speaker 4: I think it's really in the gray zone. I think 408 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 4: this is the problem when they talk about sort of 409 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:30,760 Speaker 4: bad facts make bad law, is this is the exact 410 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:34,560 Speaker 4: type of case where one judge would definitely grant asylum 411 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,720 Speaker 4: one hundred out of one hundred times, and another judge 412 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:40,679 Speaker 4: would never grant the asylum zero out of one hundred times. 413 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:44,360 Speaker 4: Because people just approach these cases with different levels of 414 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:49,359 Speaker 4: sympathy and different levels of concern and different standards in 415 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:54,320 Speaker 4: their mind of what constitutes persecution. It really does become 416 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:59,000 Speaker 4: problematic in terms of the subjectiveness of the process. But 417 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:01,280 Speaker 4: what the Supreme we are trying to figure out is 418 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,879 Speaker 4: where does the subjectiveness stop. Does it stop at the 419 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,399 Speaker 4: Court of Appeals or does it stop at the administrative level. 420 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:10,959 Speaker 4: And it seems like they're going to stop it at 421 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:14,240 Speaker 4: the administrative level for the most part, and not bring 422 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:18,520 Speaker 4: in sort of a new antiseptic Court of Appeals who's 423 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:22,720 Speaker 4: just reading a transcript without any other context than deciding 424 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:26,000 Speaker 4: is this sufficient persecution. It didn't really seem like any 425 00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:28,840 Speaker 4: of the Supreme Court justices wanted to do that. The 426 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:30,040 Speaker 4: novo I. 427 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:33,440 Speaker 2: Agree in these arguments. It seemed like the justices were 428 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:37,880 Speaker 2: mostly on the same page. Thanks as always, Leon, that's 429 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,480 Speaker 2: Leon Fresco of Holland and Knight and in other Supreme 430 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:45,480 Speaker 2: Court news. On Thursday, in a six to three decision, 431 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:49,960 Speaker 2: the Court came to the rescue of Texas Republicans allowing 432 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:53,280 Speaker 2: next year's elections to be held under their newly drawn 433 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:57,160 Speaker 2: congressional map, despite a lower court ruling that the map 434 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:01,160 Speaker 2: likely discriminates on the basis of race. Joining me Is Bloomberg, 435 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:04,880 Speaker 2: Supreme Court reporter Greg Store Greg what was the reasoning 436 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:08,560 Speaker 2: of the six Conservatives for allowing Texas to use this map? 437 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 9: Well, the Court gave us a little bit of its reasoning, 438 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:13,320 Speaker 9: a little bit less than two pages on it. First 439 00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:15,360 Speaker 9: of all, they said that the district court that ruled 440 00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 9: against Texas that said these districts are probably a racial jerymnader, 441 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,320 Speaker 9: that that lower court did not quote honor the presumption 442 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:24,679 Speaker 9: of legislative good faith. In other words, they should have 443 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:26,879 Speaker 9: given Texas the benefit of the doubt that it was 444 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:31,600 Speaker 9: acting constitutionally. Secondly, the Supreme Court said that normally, in 445 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:34,479 Speaker 9: cases where you're challenging a racial jerymander, you have to 446 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 9: produce an alternative map that would accomplish whatever the state's 447 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:40,960 Speaker 9: trying to accomplish without using race so much. And they 448 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:44,160 Speaker 9: faulted the challengers for not doing that. And then finally, 449 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:48,639 Speaker 9: the Court said this decision came too close to the election. 450 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:51,920 Speaker 9: In the past, the Supreme Court has said that federal 451 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:55,280 Speaker 9: courts should not change the state's election rules on the 452 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:57,560 Speaker 9: eve of the election. And you might say, well, the 453 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,159 Speaker 9: election is not for another eleven months or so, but 454 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:04,080 Speaker 9: in this case, Texas's filing deadlines were coming up, and 455 00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:07,480 Speaker 9: the Supreme Court said, that's close enough, and that's a problem. 456 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:10,680 Speaker 9: So the federal court shouldn't act, even if it found 457 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,800 Speaker 9: the districts as it did, to be probably unconstitutional. 458 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:18,239 Speaker 2: All three liberals dissented, No surprise there. What was the 459 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:22,160 Speaker 2: focus of Justice Kagan's seventeen page descent. 460 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:26,360 Speaker 9: She mostly focused on the process that this district court 461 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 9: went through to gather evidence about what was going on, 462 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:32,879 Speaker 9: why the state drew this map, and in particular looking 463 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,639 Speaker 9: at things like this letter from the Justice Department that 464 00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:39,720 Speaker 9: said that the state should eliminate these so called coalition 465 00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:43,760 Speaker 9: districts that are made up of heavily Hispanic, heavily black voters, 466 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 9: you know, with the two of them combining to be 467 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 9: more than fifty percent of the district. And Kagan said 468 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:52,320 Speaker 9: the Supreme Court should have deferred to those factual findings 469 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:54,880 Speaker 9: of the district court who spent nine days hearing evidence 470 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:58,120 Speaker 9: about this case, and she blasted them for essentially deciding 471 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:00,240 Speaker 9: this thing over a holiday weekend. 472 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 2: And then on Friday, the Justice has announced that they'll 473 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:09,600 Speaker 2: take up President Trump's planned rollback of automatic birthright citizenship. 474 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,240 Speaker 2: Are you surprised that they took this case since it's 475 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:19,400 Speaker 2: basically universally been accepted that the Fourteenth Amendment confers citizenship 476 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,800 Speaker 2: on virtually everyone born on US soil. 477 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 9: Not at all surprised because this is the kind of 478 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:28,600 Speaker 9: thing that the Supreme Court wants to do itself and 479 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:31,000 Speaker 9: not lead to the lower courts. So lower courts have 480 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 9: across the board ruled against Trump on this and said 481 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,680 Speaker 9: that what he's trying to do through his executive order 482 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:42,080 Speaker 9: is unconstitutional and also in violation of federal immigration law. 483 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,520 Speaker 9: But given that these are decisions that block the federal 484 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:48,840 Speaker 9: government from doing something, that's almost always something the Supreme 485 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 9: Court wants to do itself. 486 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:52,640 Speaker 2: A lot of big decisions that are going to be 487 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:55,960 Speaker 2: coming out of the Supreme Court this term. Thanks Greg, 488 00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:58,800 Speaker 2: that's Bloomberg Supreme Court reporter Greg store. 489 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 10: I saw that room was one of the most troubling 490 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:05,719 Speaker 10: things I've seen in my time in public service. You 491 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:10,840 Speaker 10: have two individuals in clear distress without any means of 492 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:16,880 Speaker 10: locomotion with a destroyed vessel who were killed by the 493 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:17,600 Speaker 10: United States. 494 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:22,600 Speaker 2: Congressman Jim Hines, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, 495 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:26,920 Speaker 2: described his reaction to video footage of the second attack 496 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 2: that killed two survivors after an initial strike on an 497 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:35,920 Speaker 2: alleged drug smuggling boat in international waters near Venezuela on 498 00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:41,800 Speaker 2: September two. Lawmakers and military legal experts have questioned whether 499 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:46,360 Speaker 2: the attack on survivors was a war crime, because international 500 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:51,080 Speaker 2: law prohibits killing enemy combatants who no longer pose a threat. 501 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 2: Navy Admiral Frank Bradley, who oversaw the strikes, briefed lawmakers 502 00:30:56,840 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 2: on Thursday in closed door sessions and confirmed that there 503 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:04,680 Speaker 2: had not been a kill them all order as reported. 504 00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:09,200 Speaker 2: After the briefing, Republican Senator Tom Cotton, chairman of the 505 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:13,480 Speaker 2: Senate Intelligence Committee, said he believes the men did still 506 00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:15,880 Speaker 2: pose a threat after the first strike. 507 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:21,320 Speaker 7: I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat loaded 508 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:24,719 Speaker 7: with drugs down the United States back over so they 509 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:25,640 Speaker 7: could stay in the fight. 510 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,320 Speaker 2: Joining me is Professor Joshua Castenberg of the University of 511 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:32,880 Speaker 2: New Mexico Law School. He was a military judge and 512 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:37,680 Speaker 2: lawyer in the US Air Force, Josh Democratic Senator Chris 513 00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 2: Van Holland said the second strike was an extra judicial killing, 514 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:46,440 Speaker 2: amounting to murder or a war crime. What's your analysis 515 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:47,800 Speaker 2: of the second strike? 516 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:51,400 Speaker 1: So my take on the second strike is partly colored 517 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:56,360 Speaker 1: by the fact that the administration has this changing narrative constantly, 518 00:31:56,800 --> 00:31:59,360 Speaker 1: and the latest narrative that they come up with is 519 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:02,760 Speaker 1: implaus that somehow these men were going to climb back 520 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:05,920 Speaker 1: on the vessel and continue on in their cocaine run. 521 00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:09,120 Speaker 1: So having said that, look, you know, the United States 522 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,760 Speaker 1: has convened grand juries for murder on the high seas 523 00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:16,200 Speaker 1: going back to the War of eighteen twelve, and there's 524 00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:20,960 Speaker 1: a federal statute prohibiting precisely what occurred, you know, murder 525 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:25,360 Speaker 1: on the high seas. Now, of course, Trump himself is 526 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:29,960 Speaker 1: immune from any criminal liability thanks to the Supreme Court's decision, 527 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:34,120 Speaker 1: you know, Trump versus United States. But it seems to 528 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:37,239 Speaker 1: mean that nobody else is immune from that kind of 529 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:40,239 Speaker 1: a charge. On the other hand, who's going to pursue it. 530 00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:43,680 Speaker 1: I don't think the Attorney General of the United States 531 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:46,640 Speaker 1: is going to differ from the White House's version of 532 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 1: events or their own legal reasoning. 533 00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:53,880 Speaker 2: Defense Secretary Pete Hegsith said he left the room after 534 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:58,640 Speaker 2: the first strike. Who's responsible the Navy admiral who ordered 535 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:03,160 Speaker 2: the second strike or the Defense secretary who reportedly approved 536 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:04,720 Speaker 2: the overall operation. 537 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:08,400 Speaker 1: Well they all are. And I'm chuckling in a sad 538 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:12,800 Speaker 1: kind of way about that claim of Secretary of Defense 539 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:16,320 Speaker 1: or secretary of war he seths because at the end 540 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:19,360 Speaker 1: of the day, it really doesn't matter in this regard. 541 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:22,560 Speaker 1: You know, coming out of World War One, if not 542 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:26,680 Speaker 1: the Civil War, the United States embraced the doctrine of 543 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:31,080 Speaker 1: command responsibility, and we particularly saw that play out in 544 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:35,320 Speaker 1: World War Two at the Nuremberg and International Tribunal for 545 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:39,080 Speaker 1: War Crimes in Tokyo. Those trials, and even in US 546 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:43,760 Speaker 1: law when the Army under General MacArthur prosecuted generally Yamashta, 547 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:46,960 Speaker 1: nobody ever alleged that he was the trigger puller or 548 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 1: gave an order for his troops to massacre thousands of 549 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:54,240 Speaker 1: innocent Filipinos. As the United States liberated the island, they 550 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:57,200 Speaker 1: prosecuted and for failing to control as troops and for 551 00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:01,080 Speaker 1: creating the environment where it would be made possible. The 552 00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:05,560 Speaker 1: only thing in a real rule of law setting that 553 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:09,160 Speaker 1: would save hegsath Is if he preferred uc him J 554 00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:12,480 Speaker 1: charges against the individual who gave the order. But I 555 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:14,759 Speaker 1: don't think that's going to happen. I think they're all 556 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:19,000 Speaker 1: banking on protection from Republican allies in the House and 557 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:22,719 Speaker 1: Senate and then ultimately presidential pardons which have now been 558 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:24,839 Speaker 1: given to Honduran drug dealers. 559 00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:29,560 Speaker 2: What about the legality of the broader military campaign which 560 00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:33,800 Speaker 2: is ongoing. After the briefings on Thursday, the military announced 561 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:37,680 Speaker 2: that he had struck another boat, killing four people. That 562 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:40,920 Speaker 2: brings the death toll to at least eighty seven people. 563 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:46,360 Speaker 1: So we are not at war with Venezuela, and the 564 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:52,480 Speaker 1: idea that United States domestic law can reach into Venezuelan 565 00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:57,560 Speaker 1: waters has no basis. However, and this is a big caveat. 566 00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:03,600 Speaker 1: Under international maritime law, any nation can stop action such 567 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:08,560 Speaker 1: as piracy or other high crimes that occur on the sea. 568 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:12,200 Speaker 1: In order to do that, you have to have absolute 569 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:18,320 Speaker 1: correct intelligence that a crime such as international drug trafficking 570 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:21,279 Speaker 1: is occurring, and there has to be some sort of 571 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:25,680 Speaker 1: agreement among nations that that is occurring. And on top 572 00:35:25,719 --> 00:35:28,680 Speaker 1: of that, you have to be able to show that 573 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:35,879 Speaker 1: what you're doing is consistent proportionality wise to the crime involved. 574 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:39,719 Speaker 1: And the problem with that proportionality aspect is that the 575 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:43,560 Speaker 1: United States Coast Guard, which most often does not use 576 00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:47,879 Speaker 1: that kind of lethal force, does an excellent job of 577 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:52,759 Speaker 1: stopping kilo upon kilo upon kilo of cocaine coming into 578 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:56,040 Speaker 1: the United States. They don't catch at all. So you know, 579 00:35:56,280 --> 00:36:00,680 Speaker 1: the argument that this is lawful is sort of the 580 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:04,680 Speaker 1: realism of law into the alice in wonderland of law. 581 00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:09,439 Speaker 2: Let's turn now to the video released last month by 582 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:15,960 Speaker 2: six Democratic members of Congress directly addressing active duty military 583 00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:17,759 Speaker 2: and intelligence personnel. 584 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:21,279 Speaker 1: Right now, the threats to our constitution aren't just coming 585 00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:23,000 Speaker 1: from a miroad, but from right here at home. 586 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:27,080 Speaker 4: Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. You 587 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:28,840 Speaker 4: can refuse illegal orders. 588 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:31,280 Speaker 3: You must refuse illegal orders. 589 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:33,759 Speaker 2: No one has to carry out orders that violate the 590 00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:35,359 Speaker 2: law or our constitution. 591 00:36:35,719 --> 00:36:37,840 Speaker 10: We know this is hard and that it's a difficult 592 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:39,000 Speaker 10: time to be a public. 593 00:36:38,719 --> 00:36:41,040 Speaker 4: Servant, but whether you're serving in the CIA. 594 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:43,160 Speaker 1: The Army, or Navy Air Force. 595 00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:46,680 Speaker 4: Your vigilance is critical and know that we have your back. 596 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:51,799 Speaker 2: All six who have military or intelligence backgrounds, we're just 597 00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:57,440 Speaker 2: telling service members and intelligence officers what the law is. 598 00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:01,200 Speaker 2: Yet President Trump has called them tray and said they 599 00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:04,960 Speaker 2: were engaging in seditious behavior punishable by death. 600 00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:09,480 Speaker 1: Well, first of all, all the members of the House 601 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:13,520 Speaker 1: and Senate who made that video said was you have 602 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:16,239 Speaker 1: a duty to obey the law, and that includes a 603 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:20,560 Speaker 1: duty to disobey on lawful orders. That's a correct statement 604 00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:24,640 Speaker 1: of the law. And I don't think that any investigation 605 00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:28,280 Speaker 1: into those members should ever come up as a result 606 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:31,239 Speaker 1: of them making a correct statement of the law. I 607 00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:36,360 Speaker 1: think that that concern is real based on this bellicosity 608 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:40,120 Speaker 1: that's come out of the White House, and that bellicosity 609 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:45,360 Speaker 1: includes the use of the federalized National Guard in our cities. 610 00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:51,600 Speaker 2: According to Bloomberg's sources, FBI headquarters is pressuring the bureau's 611 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:58,120 Speaker 2: domestic terrorism agents to open a seditious conspiracy investigation into 612 00:37:58,120 --> 00:37:59,960 Speaker 2: those six democratic laws. 613 00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:05,120 Speaker 1: Yeah. You know, I was asked the other day if 614 00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:10,960 Speaker 1: there is precedent for this, or precedent for a military investigation, 615 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:15,000 Speaker 1: and to Senator Mark Kelly, and I said, no, there 616 00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:18,279 Speaker 1: is not, not in the United States. There is precedent 617 00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:21,400 Speaker 1: for it elsewhere. One of the things that the framers 618 00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:25,000 Speaker 1: of our constitution and all their genius wanted to do 619 00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:29,400 Speaker 1: was to create a government that was responsible to the 620 00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:34,320 Speaker 1: people through the legislative branch. And the last time something 621 00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:37,640 Speaker 1: like this happened wasn't in the United States. It was 622 00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:41,799 Speaker 1: before the United States was created. It was Oliver Cromwell 623 00:38:42,239 --> 00:38:46,319 Speaker 1: using his new model army to pressure Parliament to take 624 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:49,640 Speaker 1: votes the way that he wanted them to take votes, 625 00:38:49,719 --> 00:38:53,279 Speaker 1: including the execution of Charles the First. We built a 626 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:59,080 Speaker 1: constitution to prevent the very thing that apparently the FBI's 627 00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:06,239 Speaker 1: leaderships to now think is plausible seditious conspiracy. Look to me, 628 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:10,200 Speaker 1: if there's a high crime or misdemeanor, it's the attempt 629 00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:14,800 Speaker 1: to cower members of Congress from exercising their free speech rights. 630 00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:18,919 Speaker 1: It's not the exercise of those free speech rights themselves. 631 00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:25,080 Speaker 2: The Civil War era seditious conspiracy law requires prosecutors to 632 00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:29,520 Speaker 2: prove a defendant conspired to use force to oppose US 633 00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:34,160 Speaker 2: government authority or to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution 634 00:39:34,480 --> 00:39:38,279 Speaker 2: of any US law. Is it sort of absurd to 635 00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:42,839 Speaker 2: claim under that statute that this was in any way 636 00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:44,680 Speaker 2: seditious conspiracy? 637 00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:48,399 Speaker 1: Again, I go back to my Alice in Wonderland quote. Yes, 638 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:52,200 Speaker 1: in the rule of law. It certainly is that you 639 00:39:52,239 --> 00:39:54,759 Speaker 1: need to go back to the Civil War, and you 640 00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:59,080 Speaker 1: can look at members of Congress, slaveholder like Benjamin Gwynn 641 00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:02,359 Speaker 1: Harris from Maryland, who actually gave a prayer on the 642 00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:06,120 Speaker 1: floor of Congress for a Southern victory, or a pacifist 643 00:40:06,239 --> 00:40:10,560 Speaker 1: like Alexander Long who gave anti war speeches, and at 644 00:40:10,560 --> 00:40:16,600 Speaker 1: no time were those two sitting members of Congress investigated 645 00:40:16,719 --> 00:40:20,400 Speaker 1: or prosecuted. You know, every time you and I speak 646 00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:23,880 Speaker 1: about the administration, I say they pushed the envelope. But 647 00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:28,759 Speaker 1: on this particular case, this truly is. It's beyond absurd. 648 00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:33,560 Speaker 1: It's truly an affront to the Constitution, the separation of powers, 649 00:40:33,880 --> 00:40:37,480 Speaker 1: and the ability of members of Congress to represent their 650 00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:41,759 Speaker 1: constituents on the very fundamental positions that a majority of 651 00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:45,160 Speaker 1: their constituents elected them to do. Again, it goes back 652 00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:49,400 Speaker 1: to the pre revolutionary days, the mentality of Cromwell and 653 00:40:49,520 --> 00:40:52,160 Speaker 1: the rule of the major generals and the dictatorship of 654 00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:54,640 Speaker 1: the mid sixteen hundreds in Britain, the very thing we 655 00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:56,160 Speaker 1: had a revolution against. 656 00:40:56,520 --> 00:41:00,480 Speaker 2: You know, your history. Just that's certain. Thanks for joining me. 657 00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:05,120 Speaker 2: That's Professor Joshua Kastenberg of the University of New Mexico 658 00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:08,239 Speaker 2: Law School. And that's it for this edition of The 659 00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:11,200 Speaker 2: Bloomberg Law Show. Remember you can always get the latest 660 00:41:11,239 --> 00:41:14,359 Speaker 2: legal news on our Bloomberg Law podcasts. You can find 661 00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:18,960 Speaker 2: them on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and at www dot Bloomberg 662 00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:22,799 Speaker 2: dot com slash podcast Slash Law, And remember to tune 663 00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:26,040 Speaker 2: into The Bloomberg Law Show every weeknight at ten pm 664 00:41:26,120 --> 00:41:29,680 Speaker 2: Wall Street Time. I'm June Grosso and you're listening to 665 00:41:29,719 --> 00:41:30,279 Speaker 2: Bloomberg