A federal appeals court judge unloaded on his superiors at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, saying they bent over backwards to assist Venezuelan gang members and are risking the standing of the judiciary by rash rulings that disfavor President Trump.
Judge James C. Ho, a Trump pick to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, excoriated the justices for their ruling late last week that halted Mr. Trump’s attempt to deport Venezuelans suspected of being Tren de Aragua gang members under the Alien Enemies Act.
“As an inferior court, we’re duty-bound to follow Supreme Court rulings — whether we agree with them or not. We don’t have to like it. But we have to do it,” he wrote. “But I write to state my sincere concerns about how the district judge as well as the president and other officials have been treated in this case. I worry that the disrespect they have been shown will not inspire continued respect for the judiciary, without which we cannot long function.”
He also suggested the justices were on a crusade to “roam the countryside looking for
opportunities to chastise government officials for their mistakes.”
The dramatic scolding comes at a time when Mr. Trump’s aggressive agenda is being batted about by the courts, with the administration posting a long string of legal losses but also some striking victories.
This particular case involves a somewhat complicated chain of events in the case, which saw lawyers for the Venezuelans rush to court to try to block deportations, District Judge James Hendrix ask for more time to give Mr. Trump’s team a chance to respond, and the lawyers for the Venezuelans then rush to the 5th Circuit demanding faster action.
The 5th Circuit refused, saying the lower court was operating properly and the Venezuelans’ lawyers had given the district judge just 42 minutes to act.
The Supreme Court got involved, though, accusing Judge Hendrix of “inaction” because of the delay in ruling.
Judge Ho said that was unfair because of the complicated questions involved, and hypocritical because the justices themselves, in other cases, have complained about a days-long deadline being imposed on them as too short.
He said the justices were being unreasonable.
“We seem to have forgotten that this is a district court — not a Denny’s. This is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone suggest that district judges have a duty to check their dockets at all hours of the night, just in case a party decides to file a motion,” he wrote.
He said the high court should either make clear it’s created a new norm, or else “admit that this is special treatment being afforded to certain favored litigants like members of Tren de Aragua — and we should stop pretending that Lady Justice is blindfolded.”
Judge Ho said the disrespect went beyond the judge to include Mr. Trump, since it was the administration’s legal arguments that Judge Hendrix was waiting on.
“It should go without saying that the President and his fellow Executive Branch officials deserve the same respect that courts regularly afford every other litigant — including other presidents and officials,” Judge Ho wrote.
