Latest EU infringement proceedings - includes possible return to EU court to request fines re Polish forest protection and Hungarian law on NGOs; also includes environmental law, racism hate speech law, European Arrest Warrant

Some highlights from the infringement proceedings: details of the Commission allegations about failure to apply EU criminal law on racism and xenophobia, which includes Holocaust denial
The Commission alleges that three Member States have tried to shelter their own citizens from the application of European Arrest Warrants
Conversely the Commission claims that three Member States don't correctly apply EU law on presumption of innocence.
The Commission alleges that Hungary voted against the EU position on drugs policy in the United Nations re cannabis
This was a particularly close vote to downgrade cannabis; the Hungarian vote nearly flipped it: https://t.co/R5xJSBwRFc
The Dude is unimpressed
Asylum and the pandemic: the Commission alleges that Hungary breached asylum procedures law. The allegation is obviously correct, unless there's an unwritten exception re public health in the law.
Commission triggers process to go back to court to impose fines against Hungary re anti-NGO law
And also triggers process to go back to court to apply fines against Poland re nature protection

More from Law

One of the judges this story mentions is William Cassidy, who was promoted from an Atlanta IJ position to a BIA member position in 2019 by the Trump DOJ. Cassidy has an awful history that has been well-documented, but I'm still enraged reading this reporting.


The story notes that the EOIR Director served as an ICE attorney in Atlanta and practiced before Cassidy for years. And it points to FOIA records unearthed by Bryan Johnson showing they remain friendly.

A trove of complaints against Cassidy was published by AILA in 2019 after FOIA litigation. They generally show misconduct, substantiated in the record, followed by "written counseling" etc.

One way Cassidy could avoid discipline is by turning off the recording device during the hearing. If he made a lewd or offensive comment off the record, all the EOIR would do is listen to the recording. If it's not there, the complaint is "unsubstantiated" https://t.co/wUeBPEEbpV


In that case, Cassidy joked about a detained immigrant saying he missed his wife. The complaint was dismissed because the ACIJ found "no levity or joking" in the comment.

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