Thursday, June 12, 2025. Annette’s Roundup for Democracy.
Update on Los Angeles.
Wednesday. 8:41 am.
It’s past 6 a.m. in Los Angeles and the curfew imposed on downtown has lifted. The streets near the complex of federal buildings are mostly empty except for commuters, and there’s a small police presence, with some police cars blocking certain freeway exits.
Governor Newsom speaks. A nationally broadcast speech.
The Law will rule.
It must. It’s the cornerstone of our Democracy.
Watch. 👇
Read California’s Lawsuit Challenging Trump’s Mobilization of the National Guard.
Excerpts and descriptions of California complaint against Trump.
The President’s federalization and deployment of the National Guard for reasons not authorized by law and without input from or consent of the Governor contravenes core statutory and constitutional restrictions. Use of the regular armed forces is similarly unlawful here.” The complaint continues:
Reflecting the Founders’ distrust of military rule, the U.S. Constitution and the laws of our Nation strictly limit the domestic use of the military, including the federalized National Guard. The Posse Comitatus Act codifies these strict rules, prohibiting the military from engaging in civil law enforcement unless explicitly authorized by law. The authority to use the military domestically for civil law enforcement is reserved for dire, narrow circumstances, none of which is present here. Defendants have overstepped the bounds of law and are intent on going as far as they can to use the military in unprecedented, unlawful ways.
The complaint goes on to make the case that in invoking Title 10, Section 12406, Trump: 1) overstepped his power insofar as no predicate (no rebellion, no insurrection, no failure of local law enforcement) existed for invoking authority to nationalize the guard; 2) failed to comply with the statutory require to issue orders “through” the governors; 3) usurped Newsom’s authority over the National Guard (depriving the state of use of its guard to, among other things, fight fires); and 4) violated the 10th Amendment.
As Newsom asserted in his complaint, “One of the cornerstones of our Nation and our democracy is that our people are governed by civil, not military, rule. The Founders enshrined these principles in our Constitution—that a government should be accountable to its people, guided by the rule of law, and one of civil authority, not military rule.” (As summarized in The Contrarian)
One more thing.
Read here. 👇
The Trump response to the California lawsuit.
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Meet the judge overseeing the Trump National Guard case: Justice Breyer’s brother.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, a former Watergate prosecutor, will decide whether Trump had the legal authority to federalize 4,000 California National Guard troops.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer speaks while naturalizing a group of people as U.S. citizens before a game at Oracle Park on Aug. 30, 2023, in San Francisco. | Jeff Chiu/.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lawsuit against President Donald Trump over the deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles is in the hands of a federal judge who is the younger brother of retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, a former Watergate prosecutor nominated to the bench by Bill Clinton in 1997, was assigned to Newsom’s case Tuesday, a day after California officials sued to reverse Trump’s order.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, citing the presence of his and other state offices in that city as justification for the choice of venue. Breyer is one of 13 judges in that courthouse and was assigned the case through a random process overseen by the court clerk.
Breyer, who attended Harvard before getting his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, was confirmed by unanimous consent in the Senate and has served as a judge in the San Francisco-based federal court since. Notably, Trump himself nominated Breyer in 2018 for a second term on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Breyer, 83, will decide whether Trump had the legal authority to federalize 4,000 California National Guard troops amid street protests over the administration’s immigration raids in Los Angeles. Newsom argues that the move was unlawful because Trump bypassed a requirement to coordinate with the governor’s office and called up the troops over Newsom’s objection.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, left, and his brother, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer discuss their San Francisco upbringing at the Federal Courthouse in San Francisco, on May 8, 2003. | Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP.
In a 2023 appearance at the Supreme Court alongside his brother, Breyer recalled that he was a local prosecutor during unrest in the Bay Area in the 1960s and 1970s but pressed on with his day-to-day work.
“I was an assistant district attorney. There were riots in San Francisco, over Vietnam over at San Francisco State, close it down,” Charles Breyer said. “You did your task, which didn’t mean that you weren’t aware of what was going on or not sensitive to what was going on or tried to understand what was going on, but it meant you had a task.”
In 2008, at a public talk alongside other former Watergate figures, Breyer said the Nixon-era scandal proved the value of the Constitution — and in particular, the First Amendment protections for those who “speak out against the government.”
“We were told from Day One, why are you doing this? You’re tearing down the presidency. You’re making it very difficult for the president of the United States to discharge his obligations,” Breyer recalled. “And our answer really was that the Constitution was set up … to allow an examination of the way our government operates. And that’s what happened.” (Politico)
Beyond belief. Not to mention common decency.
“Good people on both sides” Presidency.
Beyond Provocation. Also evil and stupid” -
There were “very fine people, on both sides,” said Trump following the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in June 2017, where neo-Nazis carrying tiki lights chanted, “Jews will not replace us,” as they marched to stop the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee and the renaming of a park bearing his name.
The traitor Robert E. Lee led the Confederate troops as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia from June 1, 1862, until his surrender on April 9, 1865. In February 1865, he was also appointed general-in-chief of all Confederate armies.
The statue was removed in 2017, and the park renamed in 2018. Similarly a portrait and bust of Lee was removed from West Point in 2022-2023, and Fort Lee in VA named for him was renamed in 2023.
Clearly, this was an injustice and the military leader of the Confederacy deserves his place in history to be re-established and he deserves to be honored.
But the TACO president thinks he can pretend not to be honoring Robert E. Lee, but honoring an obscure Lee - Pvt. Fitz Lee, who was a member of the all-Black Buffalo Soldiers who was awarded a Medal of Honor after serving in the Spanish-American War. There is something bitterly cynical in this choice. Does Trump want us to think he honors diversity? He found comparable fake replacement names for each Confederate honoree that President Biden had removed from military bases.
Robert E. Lee. Military leader of the treasonous Confederacy.
An American hero! right, Trump?
Trump announces he's restoring the name to "Fort Robert E Lee" and other military installations that were named for Confederates pic.twitter.com/dqV4hm2WbJ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 10, 2025
Trump saying he will see Les Miserables tonight at the Kennedy Center is like Trump saying he has a deal with China on trade.
“Framework” of a show… “framework” of a deal… is that like “concepts of a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act?
Les Miz is about the fight of a poor man seeking justice and forgiveness - while a man without empathy and obsessed with power seeks retribution against him.
It salutes the victory of the French Revolution - ending the monarchy and promoting ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity. It was inspired by the American Revolution.
Trump is too dumb to see he is the villain in this fight.
Did he rise to join the resistance against tyranny? Did he
salute the June Uprising 1832 in Paris, which was an anti-monarchist uprising by students and workers?
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!
Understudies performed in Les Miz on Wednesday night at the Kennedy Center due to boycotts by “Les Misérables” cast members.
From MoveOn. Organizing No Kings Day Events
There are nearly 2,000 events planned across all 50 states. And even more important than the number of events is a critical mass of people joining to show broad opposition to this administration’s attempt to bully us into submission. You can check out if there is one close to you and RSVP here.
If you’re planning to go to a No Kings Day event, here are some things to keep in mind:
The power of events comes for all of us coming together in peaceful protest. The world will see hundreds of thousands of people, from all walks of life, exercising our First Amendment right to protest.
- Attend with a friend or someone you trust. There is safety in numbers and in having a buddy, and it’s a chance to bring one more person into the movement.
- Bring signage that demonstrates solidarity and unity.
- Have a plan to take care of yourself. Write down important phone numbers, remove facial recognition from your phone, bring water, wear comfortable shoes, and stay aware of your surroundings.
- Do post photos of the protest that show how beautiful our movement is. But don’t post photos of the protest that include close-ups of attendees' faces unless you get their permission.
- Step in to help if you feel willing and able. We’re a community, and we take care of each other—if you’re registered, you can contact your host to ask if there’s anything they need that you can provide.
You have rights! Here’s a guide from the ACLU outlining your right to protest.
No Kings Day organizers are holding a pre-event call on Thursday evening to give attendees the latest information and a final reminder on the importance of nonviolence and de-escalation at these events. RSVP if you want this pre-rally briefing. RSVP if you want this pre-rally briefing.
Lastly, all participants are being asked to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events. Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events.
Together, we’ll unite against Trump’s terrible abuses of power and economic policies. Check out if there is an event in your community, and be sure to show up if you can.
“Whaddya call a hundred lawyers suing the government? A good start.”
Cartoon by Harry Bliss, for The New Yorker.