Stuart M. Gerson, Member of the Firm in the Litigation and Health Care & Life Sciences practices, in the firm’s Washington, DC, and New York offices, was quoted in McClatchy, in “Trump Administration Lawsuits vs. California Send a Message to the Rest of America,” by Kate Irby.
Following is an excerpt:
The latest round of Trump administration legal challenges to California may not make a lot of legal sense – but it sends an important political message in the Golden State and elsewhere as election campaigns get more intense.
The Justice Department challenged the state’s sanctuary cities law last month. Monday, it moved against California over the power to sell federal lands. The latest action was a surprise to state officials.
But the message was clear: The White House will get tough with state policies it doesn’t like. …
Winning the latest lawsuit is hardly a sure thing, said several former Justice officials.
“I find it very surprising that they’d go after this, especially in these circumstances,” said Stuart Gerson, assistant attorney general under President George H.W. Bush.
“This would be easier, legally, if they waited until after they were blocked,” he explained. “It’s hard to see what the federal government is doing or is about to do that would be harmed by the state.”