Slate's Mark Joseph Stern unleashes his outrage over 'power-drunk' Trump-appointed federal judge who struck down travel mask mandate

Something happened today … something shocking and appalling. But mostly, it was awesome.

As we told you earlier, a federal judge has struck down the Biden administration and CDC’s extension of the mask mandate for airplanes and other forms of public transportation.

You love to see it. Well, we love to see it, at least. We can’t speak for everyone:

The judge who made this ruling, Kathryn Kimball, is 35 yrs old. Was confirmed at the age of 33 during the lame duck. Judiciary matters. https://t.co/H4aacMsws7

— Sam Stein (@samstein) April 18, 2022

Not sure what Kathryn Kimball Mizelle’s age has to do with any of this. Democratic politicians frequently look to teenagers for policy guidance, after all. And unlike those teenagers, Judge Mizelle actually has a legit C.V.

But yeah, the libs who had hoped with all their hearts for a perpetual mask mandate are extremely disappointed by this development. As you can imagine, Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern is absolutely beside himself right now:

Another Trump judge issues another nationwide injunction while pretending to be wary of its legality. Hard to overstate the brazen hypocrisy here. https://t.co/O3BoVTGdGr pic.twitter.com/sANRMHP9an

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) April 18, 2022

Maybe it’s so hard to overstate the “brazen hypocrisy” because there isn’t really any brazen hypocrisy to begin with.

Who should decide whether air passengers must wear masks: A federal agency staffed with experts accountable to the president, who is accountable to the people? Or a 35-year-old Trump judge in Tampa?

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) April 18, 2022

Forget it; he’s rolling.

Try explaining to your friends in other liberal democracies that a single unelected, life-tenured, 35-year-old judge just abolished the air travel mask mandate for the entire country.

No peer nation would tolerate such a power-drunk juristocracy. Our system is badly broken.

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) April 18, 2022

When Trump nominated her to the federal judiciary, Kathryn Kimball Mizelle had never tried a case, civil or criminal, as lead or co-counsel, since her admission to the bar. She spent 10 months at a firm and 3 years in government practice. The ABA rated her Not Qualified.

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) April 18, 2022

All federal judicial nominees should be run by Mark Joseph Stern first, so that something like this doesn’t happen again.

Mizelle's alleged qualification for the bench? Her clerkships with conservative judges. That was enough for Senate Republicans. Now she's issuing nationwide injunctions that affect millions of Americans' health and safety. No sane democracy would permit this system of governance.

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) April 18, 2022

Did Judge Mizelle issue any sort of ruling that forbids people from wearing masks if they want to? Mark is free to wear a mask for as long as he pleases. Preferably it’ll be the kind that can double as a muzzle.

Anyway, there's a pretty good chance Kathryn Kimball Mizelle will still be ruling us 2072 when she's in her 80s. That's the future we're condemning ourselves to if we unquestioningly accept rule by Trump judges. That's what Democrats are embracing when they oppose court reform.

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) April 18, 2022

And by “court reform,” Mark means, of course, only allowing liberal judges to serve on the bench.

This thread devotes exactly zero words to the merit of the decision itself and all of its words to ad hominem the judge, as though that in itself renders the decision unacceptable. https://t.co/084TfoGDud

— Noam Blum (@neontaster) April 18, 2022

Mark does a great job of not addressing the merits of the decision but instead renders the decision unacceptable by ad hominem.

Typical Slate pitch https://t.co/irGWc7krSW

— Amanda Makki (@amandamakki) April 18, 2022

Well, considering that Mark Joseph Stern is Twitter-famous in part because he tried to get Ilya Shapiro fired by sliming him as a racist, the nature of his beef with Judge Mizelle is pretty on-brand.

This clown is advocating that people ignore rulings by Trump-appointed judges. https://t.co/tX8IrEgaF5

— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) April 18, 2022

The foundation of liberal democracies is having unelected bureaucrats pronounce edicts that are never passed as law, but enforced on the entire country for over two years. https://t.co/cWfWFjJrbN

— The Partyman (@PartymanRandy) April 18, 2022

The system is "badly broken" when people are left to make their own decisions. Got it. Rest assured, Mark does not like people making decisions for him. But that's bc he believes he's smarter than most people. He's one of the few who should be making decisions for everyone else. https://t.co/XTKnVXPFEm

— Kira (@RealKiraDavis) April 18, 2022

Mark is very special. An “expert” in his own right.

His other tweet about "experts accountable to the president" is just, [chef's kiss].

How does this ridiculous man-child think the government actually works?

— Matt Cover (@MattCover) April 18, 2022

The ridiculous man-child thinks the government is there to do his bidding. Everything he likes is good, and everything he doesn’t like is evil, and it’s the government’s job to rule over us accordingly.

Bear in mind that Ketanji Brown Jackson, by herself, struck down federal agency rules enacted for the entire country more than once. I do not recall @mjs_DC arguing that she represented "a power-drunk juristocracy." https://t.co/5oyjSz8Iip

— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) April 18, 2022

Because that was different, because … look, it just was, OK?

A lot of liberal democracies don't have free speech or effective constitutional guarantees of limited government or individual liberty, so they can sit down & watch us America all we like.

— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) April 18, 2022

Also, there's a reason why we have appellate courts.

Congress can & should pass reforms to rein in abuses of nationwide injunctions, esp forum-shopping, but there is often no reasonable non-nationwide way to enjoin a federal rule, esp one governing interstate travel.

— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) April 18, 2022

Maybe Mark should leave the legal analysis to Dan McLaughlin and just stick with what he knows. We’re not sure what that is, but hopefully he’ll manage to find something. Eventually.