Blackwater got its day in court pretty quick- yesterday in fact. Lawyers for Blackwater and the City of San Diego appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn L. Huff to debate the permit process for Blackwater's Otay Mesa facility. Blackwater claimed it had been honest and transparent throughout the whole process (blatantly and entirely untrue: see every other post on this subject), and the City did a pretty good job of establishing that Blackwater has sought to obscure its identity and intentions all along. The judge, rather ominously, said according to the UT "that it appeared that Blackwater had met all the city's requirements until officials on May 19 said further review was needed before they would issue an occupancy permit, the final hurdle for Blackwater to open the training center." An official ruling is expected from the judge on Tuesday (June 3).

Observer Mark Smith was at the courthouse, and notes that

[i]n order to get a temporary restraining order in federal court, Blackwater had to show that otherwise they would suffer irreparable injury. The San Diego attorney cited rulings stating that loss of income is not an irreparable injury and the judge asked the Blackwater attorney to state what the injury was. Instead he began talking about our brave fighting men and women defending our country.

Nothing about the actual legal questions involved, just parroting irrelevant platitudes about patriotism that haven't been in fashion since 2003. Local activist and previous Blackwater slayer Ray Lutz was also there and notes that Judge Huff is on dicey (to say the least) ground regarding jurisdiction:

This is a[n] unbelievable precedent, meaning that if you don't like the ruling of the planning department, then perhaps you should go to federal court. With enough money, you can probably work the system, just like Blackwater is. His (attorney for the City) second point is that there is no "irreparable" harm. The claim that Blackwater might lose money or lose a contract is not irreparable. Money is not a harm that is irreparable as it can be repaid. He cited the case of the Colosseum, where the football league claimed they were harmed irreparably, and the court found that it was based on nothing more than business that might or might not be lost in the future.

Judge Huff was appointed by the first President Bush and does not exactly the best ratings in the world to say the least. But regardless, this is where the actual and nefarious potential for "judicial activism" lies. It isn't about applying existing laws to new societal problems or changing conditions as so many on the Right like to scream about. It's about deliberately misapplying straightforward law to advance an agenda.

It's also good to keep in mind that Tuesday is the primary election, which will redefine the politics of both the Mayor and City Attorney races in San Diego. A lot may change then, we'll have to wait until Tuesday for the actual ruling and figure out our next steps then.