Two weeks ago, Judge Susan Graber of the Ninth Circuit did something that federal judges almost never do.

She addressed the American public directly.

Quote, above all, I asked those who are watching this case unfold to retain faith in our judicial

system for just a little longer, end quote. A federal judge breaking the fourth wall is a distress

signal. It reflects how worried some judges are about Americans losing confidence in their courts

at a time when the rule of law is under sustained pressure. Judge Graber's words

were a plea to Americans to hold on to one of the few institutions that are still standing between

democracy and its dissent into authoritarianism. Her warning came in a dissent in the Portland

Emergency Powers case, a case that would determine whether a president may deploy federal troops

onto American streets

based on little more than a self-declared rebellion.

This week, the full Ninth Circuit agreed to review the case,

meaning for now the district court's initial restraining order blocking the deployment still stands

until the Ninth Circuit rules, unless, of course, the Supreme Court's decision

in the related Illinois case preempts it. Now, should the Supreme Court endorse the administration's

use of emergency powers, it could give Trump legal cover to interfere in the 2026 election.

Things like stationing troops at polling sites, seizing voting machines, detaining election

officials, all of that could be allowed under the pretext of protecting the vote.

In her dissent, Judge Graber noted, quote, we rule on facts, not on suppositions or conjecture,

and certainly not on fabrication or propaganda, end quote. And she urged her colleagues to reverse the ruling before the illegal deployment of troops under false pretenses can occur.

Now, I'm not a lawyer, but it strikes me that a judge should never have to remind her colleagues that facts matter.

This is not normal, but nothing about this moment is normal.

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