Pushback 37
Rather than lead off with a winding narrative, I've embedded one in the updates below! This is a short one otherwise because we have old friends in town and I'd rather have in real life happiness than slogging through the internet for rebellious news of any kind.
The topics are in alphabetical order. This is a crowd-sourced effort, so if you come across a news item or call to action that you think we should include, please complete this form. Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far. Some links will require subscriptions.
If you like what we are doing, please forward this to someone else. If you received this from someone else, please subscribe!
Education
Government
Musk’s Team Must Produce Documents to Comply With Open Records Laws, Judge Says
Residents protest Trump and Musk at Irvine City Hall | New University | UC Irvine
Labor Union Sues Trump Administration Over T.S.A. Contract
Democrats Plan Nationwide Blitz of Town Halls in Republican Districts
Judge orders sweeping rehiring of fired workers at 18 federal agencies
Thousands of fired federal workers must be rehired immediately, judge rules
When I was a baby lawyer, I was the second chair in a jury trial in Judge William Alsup's court. The case involved an allegation that the plaintiff's union (our client) had failed to fairly represent him when he was dismissed from his job because the union chose not to pursue arbitration in his case. This decision was within the union's discretion, so we were very upset when Judge Alsup denied our motion for summary judgment, which would have dismissed the case, and decided to hold a trial. He said, in essence, I don't know this area of law so you can educate me on it in the trial.
At the end of the trial, the jury found for the plaintiff, and although they didn't award him very much money, he would have recovered his attorney's fees. We brought a motion for a verdict notwithstanding the jury's decision, which is hard to win. But Judge Alsup, properly educated on the law regarding unions and their duty to represent their members, granted our motion, and so we won in the end.
I like to think that the seed for his ruling in the current case (read the story above) was planted in that trial back in October 2001. He understands how terminations are supposed to work and what unions can do to help those workers!
Another notable thing about that case: after I had cross-examined a witness for the first time, Judge Alsup turned to the jury and said that it was very rare for a lawyer like my supervising attorney to allow a novice attorney to handle a difficult witness, but that I had done an excellent job. He commended me for my work and my boss for trusting me. By the end of the case, I had a new level of appreciation for Judge Alsup, and I am really glad to see that he isn't taking any shit from the Trump administration.
