Trump Administration Announces It Will Appeal Maryland Judge’s Ruling

The Trump administration has announced that it will appeal the ruling made by a power drunk and somewhat deranged U.S. District Court Judge Theodore Chuang (see Dan Spencer’s post.)

“The Department of Justice strongly disagrees with the Maryland federal district court’s ruling, and looks forward to defending the President’s Executive Order seeking to protect our Nation’s security,” a Justice Department spokesperson said.

The appeal will go to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Virginia.

The Justice Department had no immediate comment on plans to appeal a similar, though broader, ruling from a Hawaii-based judge halting the visa ban as well as the suspension of refugee admissions from around the world.

The quick appeal in the Maryland case could indicate an effort by Trump’s legal team to try to delay seeking another ruling from the traditionally liberal 9th Circuit in the hope of finding a more receptive judicial audience at the 4th Circuit. However, that court has swung in a more liberal direction in recent years, so a win there for Trump is far from a sure thing.

IANAL, but it seems to me that the tactic is to keep it out of the Ninth Circuit which has shown itself incapable of rulings that don’t rely on feelings. Also, the idiot Maryland judge is claiming he has the authority to decide how many refugees enter the United States, no matter what the Constitution says about separation of powers. This is the close-in fight. While the Fourth Circuit is nowhere near the friendly territory that it would have been ten years ago, the administration has a better chance of a non-bonkers ruling there. If they get a favorable ruling from the Fourth, they have a much better chance going against the Hawaii ruling. If they lose in the Ninth they have immediate recourse to the Supreme Court.

One way or another, this case will end up before the Supreme Court. In the meantime, the Congress needs to act to codify what has been obvious to everyone else since 1787: no one has a right to come to the United States and no foreigner has a right to become a citizen.

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