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Katherine Yon Ebright

@ebrightyon.bsky.social

690 followers 56 following 120 posts

Lawyer focusing on constitutional war powers at the Brennan Center for Justice. Views my own.

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Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Mar 20

The courts have the power to rein in the president's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act.

They cannot stand idly by as the president attempts to misuse claims of national security to justify major abuses.
www.justsecurity.org/109330/polit...

The Courts Can Stop Abuse of the Alien Enemies Act – the Political Question Doctrine is No Bar

A legal analysis concluding that the political question doctrine does not bar review of Alien Enemies Act invocation

www.justsecurity.org

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Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · 6d

John Yoo, in an OLC memo from a month after the September 11 terrorist attacks, explaining when crime becomes war.

Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Sep 2

Caginess about which group makes me think Cartel de los Soles, which isn't a designated FTO but is a SDGT... under IEEPA. IEEPA for tariffs, IEEPA for war, IEEPA the everything-statute.

Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Aug 22

In law school, we definitely were lectured on/assigned case notes that discussed Bickel's Least Dangerous Branch, but I don't think we actually read any excerpts from it -- let alone the whole book. Common experience?

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Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Aug 12

Truancy and related youth crime are real issues in DC, and I'm not sure anyone has a great answer to them. Whatever the answer is, though, it's not this.

Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Aug 12

I've had packages porch pirated in DC... but I also once dropped my phone while biking (fell out of my pocket, probably?), located it through find-my-phone, and recovered it at a CVS where someone had turned it in for safekeeping.

KatherineHawkins @krhawkins.bsky.social · Aug 12

Re DC and crime: I had a bike stolen once, perhaps a porch package stolen. I think that’s it. Far exceeded by the number of times I recovered a wallet or phone or card after carelessly leaving it somewhere.

Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Aug 8

Question from @slotkin.senate.gov at Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with DOD personnel responsible for kill-or-capture missions

Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Aug 5

“Clearly, there’s been too little congressional and public oversight of these military efforts [with partner forces in Africa] to determine whether they are strategic and effective.”
theintercept.com/2025/08/05/p...

Pentagon: U.S. Counterterrorism Efforts Have Failed Africans

A new Pentagon report sheds light on AFRICOM’s disastrous counterterrorism campaigns.

theintercept.com

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Reposted by Katherine Yon Ebright

Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · Jul 22

Maybe they should release all extant OLC opinions…

National Security Counselors 🕵 @nationalsecuritylaw.org · Jul 22

DOJ out here releasing files like tossing gold bars off the Titanic

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · Jul 22

They are tossing everything overboard right now in order to keep the Epstein yacht afloat

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Reposted by Katherine Yon Ebright

Martin Austermuhle @maustermuhle.bsky.social · Jul 13

Another D.C. budget tidbit: @chmnmendelson.bsky.social says he has *not* funded Initiative 83 in his version of the budget that gets a first vote tomorrow. So, for now, the ranked-choice voting and semi-open primaries ballot initiative approved by voters would not be implemented.

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Reposted by Katherine Yon Ebright

Ilya Somin @ilyasomin.bsky.social · Jul 9

In this compelling @volokhc.bsky.social guest post, @ebrightyon.bsky.social and Leah Tulin of @brennancenter.org explain why courts should not defer to Trump's invocation of Alien Enemies Act of 1798 as tool for peacetime mass deportation: reason.com/volokh/2025/...

Courts Can Check, and Have Checked, Executives’ Military Judgment

Leah Tulin and Katherine Yon Ebright of the Brennan Center make the case against judicial deference to Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

reason.com

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Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Jul 1

A fuller argument regarding the ability of courts to check "manifestly unauthorized exercises of power" is available in the @brennancenter.org's amicus brief with @cato.org, @ilyasomin.bsky.social, and law professor John Dehn. /fin
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/cou...

Amicus Brief in W.M.M. v. Trump

The lawsuit challenges President Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members.

www.brennancenter.org

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Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Jul 1

Today's courts should simply follow these well-reasoned cases -- Sterling, Milligan, Schueller, etc. – which allow them to protect rights in the face of unsubstantiated executive claims of military or wartime necessity. /8

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Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Jul 1

In Ex parte Milligan, notwithstanding the government's argument that Indiana was "threatened with invasion," the Court relied on its own "judicial knowledge that, in Indiana, the Federal authority was always unopposed, and its courts always open." /7

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Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Jul 1

In addition to following the logic of Sterling, Schueller cites Ex parte Milligan, a Civil War case in which the Supreme Court rejected the use of military commissions in Indiana. /6
supreme.justia.com/cases/federa...

Ex parte Milligan, 71 U.S. 2 (1866)

Ex parte Milligan: It is unconstitutional to try civilians by military tribunals unless there is no civilian court available.

supreme.justia.com

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Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Jul 1

In Schueller, the court rejected the application of Executive Order 9066 in Pennsylvania because "normal civilian life of the area was being pursued . . . and it could not be honestly said that ordinary law did not adequately secure public safety." /5
www.archives.gov/milestone-do...

Executive Order 9066: Resulting in Japanese-American Incarceration (1942)

EnlargeDownload Link Citation: Executive Order 9066, February 19, 1942; General Records of the Unites States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives. View All Pages in the National Archives Cat...

www.archives.gov

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Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Jul 1

In World War II, this rule prevented the federal military order -- Executive Order 9066 -- that resulted in the incarceration of 100,000+ West Coast Japanese Americans from being extended to German Americans on the East Coast.

Consider Schueller v. Drum. /4
law.justia.com/cases/federa...

Schueller v. Drum, 51 F. Supp. 383 (E.D. Pa. 1943)

Schueller v. Drum, 51 F. Supp. 383 (E.D. Pa. 1943) case opinion from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

law.justia.com

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Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Jul 1

The Court recognized that governors, as commanders in chief of their states, are vested with discretion to determine whether an emergency has arisen... but it also said their decision-making had to fall within "a permitted range of honest judgment." /3

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Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Jul 1

The strongest cases for this are Sterling v. Constantin (1932) and its progeny.

In Sterling, the Supreme Court countermanded a governor's imposition of martial law because the courts found "there never any actual riot, tumult, or insurrection." /2
supreme.justia.com/cases/federa...

Sterling v. Constantin, 287 U.S. 378 (1932)

Sterling v. Constantin

supreme.justia.com

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Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Jul 1

One of the key issues in the Alien Enemies Act litigation is whether the courts can countermand the executive's proclamation of an "invasion" or other military judgments.

There is, in fact, caselaw that suggests they can. /1
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/u...

Appeals Court Weighs Trump’s Use of Alien Enemies Act for Deportations

www.nytimes.com

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Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Jun 30

Very cool that our and @cato.org / @ilyasomin.bsky.social's Alien Enemies Act amicus brief was cited favorably by a judge (key contention "has some purchase") at oral argument in the Fifth Circuit.

www.brennancenter.org/our-work/cou...

Amicus Brief in W.M.M. v. Trump

The lawsuit challenges President Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members.

www.brennancenter.org

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Reposted by Katherine Yon Ebright

Carl Takei @carltakei.bsky.social · Jun 4

I'm deeply proud of my work on this brief.

Dozens of Japanese American and other AAPI orgs are urging the courts to remember the lessons of the WWII Japanese American incarceration, and urge them to fulfill their role in our constitutional democracy to check the Trump administration's overreach.

Asian Law Caucus @asianlawcaucus.org · Jun 3

On behalf of @jacl-national.bsky.social and 60+ organizations, @asianlawcaucus.org, @aaaj-aajc.bsky.social and the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality filed an amicus brief asking the court to preserve the essential right to due process and ensure judicial review of executive orders.

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Reposted by Katherine Yon Ebright

Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · Jun 3

Yesterday the @BrennanCenter filed a brief with @CatoInstitute, Prof. @IlyaSomin, and Prof. John Dehn in support of ACLU’s lawsuit challenging President Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act invocation. 1/6 www.brennancenter.org/our-work/cou...

Amicus Brief in W.M.M. v. Trump

The Brennan Center, along with co-counsel Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP and Ilya Somin, filed an amicus brief in a case challenging President Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. The brie...

www.brennancenter.org

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Reposted by Katherine Yon Ebright

Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · Jun 3

The Brennan Center filed a brief challenging President Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act.

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Reposted by Katherine Yon Ebright

Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · Jun 2

The Brennan Center and @cato.org filed a brief in support of the @aclu.org ’s challenge to the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to detain and deport Venezuelans. The president exceeded the limits of his powers by invoking a wartime law to conduct peacetime immigration enforcement.

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Katherine Yon Ebright @ebrightyon.bsky.social · Jun 2

Available for download here: www.brennancenter.org/media/14001/...

www.brennancenter.org

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