https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/us-judge-in-dc-signals-readiness-to-become-third-to-order-halt-to-revised-trump-travel-ban/2017/05/11/af41537e-365f-11e7-b412-62beef8121f7_story.html?utm_term=.525536a419ad
Spencer Hsu reports in the Washington Post:
“A federal judge in Washington on Thursday signaled her willingness to become the third judge nationwide, if needed, to order a halt to President Trump’s revised executive order banning new visas and immigration from six Muslim-majority countries.
U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan postponed ruling on two combined challenges to the White House action by Iranian-American organizations and a Shi’a Muslim group, saying she would wait for decisions expected after federal appeals courts arguments this month on halts imposed March 15 by judges from Hawaii and Maryland.
But Chutkan said she was persuaded by arguments that the groups’ missions and the lives of more than a dozen individual plaintiffs would be unconstitutionally harmed by the travel ban.
“Upon consideration of the parties’ submissions, the court is inclined to agree with Plaintiffs that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims. However … The existence of two other nationwide injunctions temporarily casts uncertainty on the issue of whether the harms Plaintiffs allege are actually imminent or certain,” Chutkan wrote in a two-page order that did not delve into the arguments.
A 13-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond is expected to issue a ruling after becoming the first appellate court to hear arguments on the question Monday. Arguments before a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit in San Francisco are set for May 15, Chutkan noted.
She concluded: “In the event that both existing injunctions are overturned, this court is prepared to issue a ruling without delay.”
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Looks like this issue is unlikely to go away any time soon. The Trump Administration is fueling a litigation bonanza for lawyers.
PWS
05-13-17