Overstepping Authority: 9th Circuit Judges Substitute Their Policy Preferences for Trump’s

By Herbert W. Titus and William J. Olson | February 10, 2017

Late yesterday, the three-judge motions panel of the Ninth Circuit, in a per curiam order, denied the federal government’s motion to stay the Temporary Restraining Order issued by a single district court judge from Washington State enjoining enforcement nationwide of President Trump’s Executive Order on immigration and refugees.  Primarily in contention were two provisions of the Executive Order: (i) suspending for 90 days the entry of aliens from seven countries (Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen) and (ii) suspending for 120 days the United States Refugee Admission Program.

Although the policy underlying the President’s Executive Order always is debatable in the public arena, the basic question before the Courts is whether the Executive Order is lawful — that is, does the President have statutory, and Constitutional, unreviewable authority to issue it.  That issue was conveniently overlooked by the Courts, who, yet again, preferred to impose their own policy preferences under the guise of a judicial order.......To Read More.....