DOJ Sues Every Federal District Judge in Maryland, Challenging Due Process Rights
President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) Tuesday sued every federal district judge in Maryland to challenge a standing court order that temporarily bars the government from deporting people after they have filed a challenge.
The DOJ suing an entire bench is extremely rare — some legal experts said they have never seen such a lawsuit before. The move marks the Trump administration’s latest escalation in its attempt to undermine federal courts and erode due process protections.
The U.S. District Court of Maryland’s order, issued last month, initiated an automatic two-day stay on habeas corpus challenges in part to preserve the status quo and ensure petitioners are able to participate in proceedings and access legal counsel.
In its complaint, the DOJ characterized the order as a “particularly egregious example of judicial overreach interfering with Executive Branch prerogatives.”
The DOJ claimed the standing order has prevented federal immigration authorities from enforcing immigration law.It asked the same court it is suing to declare the order unlawful and issue an injunction blocking the judges from enforcing it.
Though the department filed the lawsuit in the District Court of Maryland, the DOJ asked all of its judges to recuse themselves from the case and that a judge from another district hear the case.
All judges with the District Court of Maryland were named as defendants because they all must approve before standing court orders are issued.
Defendants include Judge Paula Xinis, the judge presiding over Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s lawsuit challenging his wrongful removal from the U.S. and imprisonment in El Salvador earlier this year.
Legal scholars said that the DOJ’s lawsuit raises concerns over the protections judges have from lawsuits over their official acts, such as issuing orders in cases.
Adam Bonica, a professor of political science at Stanford, noted that the DOJ is in essence arguing that judicial review inflicts irreparable harm on the government.
The lawsuit comes just days after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to resume deporting migrants to countries they are not from with minimal notice.
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