CALIFORNIA/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The U.S. Justice Department sued California over a state law that aims to stop the Trump administration from selling or transferring federal lands to private corporations, hitting the state with yet another legal challenge. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Monday [4-2-18] in Sacramento, the state capital, comes less than a month after the Justice Department brought a legal action targeting three California laws largely aimed at protecting illegal immigrants from deportation…California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement that his office is prepared to protect the state’s resources. ‘Our public lands should not be on the auction block to the highest bidder,’ Becerra said. Governor Jerry Brown accused the Trump administration last month of declaring war on the most populous U.S. state after the Justice Department sued over the California immigration laws. A hearing in that case is set for June.”
–Sarah N. Lynch, Dan Levine, “U.S. sues California over law trying to curb federal land sales,” Reuters, April 2, 2018 12:04pm