Justice Department Sues All Federal Judges in Maryland over Deportation Order
The Trump administration’s Department of Justice sued all 15 federal district court judges in Maryland this week over “an order that pauses any deportations under legal challenge in the state for 48 hours,” per the Washington Post.
The lawsuit represents an unprecedented move after many of the legal challenges against the Trump administration’s policy have been litigated in Maryland courthouses.
“The complaint alleges that Chief Judge George L. Russell III of the U.S. District Court in Maryland issued an ‘unlawful, antidemocratic’ order in May that grants a two-day stay of deportation to any detainee in immigration custody who files a petition for habeas corpus, which is a lawsuit alleging wrongful detention,” noted the Post.
In his standing order, Chief Judge George Russell III noted that the sudden rush of habeas petitions for detained migrants led to rushed decisions.
“The recent influx of habeas petitions concerning alien detainees … that have been filed after normal court hours and on weekends and holidays has created scheduling difficulties and resulted in hurried and frustrating hearings in that obtaining clear and concrete information about the location and status of the petitioners is elusive,” Russell wrote.
The Justice Department said that a “sense of frustration and a desire for greater convenience do not give Defendants license to flout the law.”
“This is just the latest action by @AGPamBondi’s DOJ to rein in unlawful judicial overreach,” a spokesman for Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X Wednesday.
Democrats quickly condemned the lawsuit as an assault on the judiciary.
“After blatantly violating judicial orders, and directing personal attacks on individual judges, the White House is turning our Constitution on its head by suing judges themselves,” said Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. “Make no mistake: this unprecedented action is a transparent effort to intimidate judges and usurp the power of the courts.”
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, called the lawsuit a tremendous escalation in the Trump administration’s battle against the judiciary but conceded that sound legal points were made.
“I think they’re trying to claw back their jurisdiction,” Tobias said. “There’s a performative aspect to all this stuff. It’s mind-boggling. … The American people don’t need to be manipulated, and certainly the federal courts don’t need that.”
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
