This current presidential administration set out to change America’s courts – and, unfortunately, it is succeeding. This episode discusses a recent Presidential executive order and DOJ memo that changes the way Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) are hired and fired in this country. The administration claims the changes are in response to a recent Supreme Court decision, but they aren’t. Lucia doesn’t require the changes (and they know it). The changes are the latest move in their campaign to change America’s courts.

We also dig deeper into the role of ALJs at the Social Security administration since most of the ALJs work in SSA. We discuss how this administration’s changes threaten the impartiality and independence of ALJs and how that is dangerous given the importance of social security benefits to minority populations.

Sources:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-otc-dojmemo/in-confidential-memo-to-agency-gcs-doj-signals-aggressive-stand-on-firing-aljs-idUSKBN1KD2BB

https://www.bna.com/supreme-court-leaves-n73014476762/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/do-you-have-a-social-security-card-then-take-this-executive-order-personally/2018/07/18/4d66339c-89d6-11e8-85ae-511bc1146b0b_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.3c66ebe866bb

https://takecareblog.com/blog/the-trump-administration-s-newest-target-administrative-law-judges

Instrumental: "Pyro Flow" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/