Washington v. Trump: The judges who will rule on the immigration ban
President Trump’s contentious immigration ban faces another legal hurdle Tuesday in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which will hear arguments on a motion to vacate the stay issued by Judge James Robart last week. The case bears the momentous name of State of Washington v. Trump.
Last month’s order to block immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries was challenged successfully by the states of Washington and Minnesota. Robart, a judge in the western district of Washington, blocked the executive order with a ruling that allowed immigration to resume. The stay drew the ire of Trump, who said future attacks could be blamed on the ruling by the “so-called judge.” Robart was appointed by George W. Bush in 2004 with a confirmation vote of 95-0 in the Senate.
The 9th Circuit declined the Trump administration’s request to vacate Robart’s stay, which would have put the ban back in place while the case was decided. The court announced plans to hear oral arguments Tuesday at 6 p.m., which will be delivered by phone and streamed live on the court’s website.
The crux of Washington and Minnesota’s argument is that the ruling harms, among other things, state colleges and universities, state medical institutions and state tax revenues from students, tourists and business visitors. The Justice Department’s brief argues that the order is “a lawful exercise of the President’s authority over the entry of aliens into the United States and the admission of refugees.”
Another argument advanced by critics of the ban is that it violates the Establishment Clause by specifically favoring Christians, who Trump said would receive priority as refugees, over Muslims.
Regardless of the decision from the 9th Circuit, it’s expected that State of Washington v. Trump will be taken to the Supreme Court. The following three judges randomly assigned to the circuit’s motions panel for February will be ruling:
William Canby Jr.: Appointed by Jimmy Carter in 1980 and took over senior status in 1996. The 85-year-old Minnesota native served as an Air Force lieutenant in the Judge Advocate General Corps, Supreme Court clerk and Peace Corps director in Uganda.
Richard Clifton: George W. Bush appointee, nominated in 2001 and confirmed the following year. The 66-year-old, who assumed senior status on Dec. 31 of last year, clerked for the 9th Circuit following his graduation from Yale Law. Spent much of his career in private practice in Hawaii, where he keeps his chambers.
Michelle Friedland: The 44-year-old was appointed by Barack Obama in 2013 and confirmed the next year. The San Francisco Bay Area native, Stanford grad and Fulbright scholar clerked under Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
Since Washington’s initial filing, 15 additional states plus the District of Columbia added a brief in support of ending the ban. More than 100 technology companies — including Apple, Facebook, Netflix, Twitter and Uber — joined a brief against the order saying it would hurt American business.
The 9th Circuit covers Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Guam. It has developed a reputation as the most liberal jurisdiction because of an expansion under Carter, who filled many of the new seats with left-leaning judges. Owing to turnover from retirements and the addition of moderate jurists under Obama, some historians say the circuit has shifted toward the center.
“The reputation is certainly deserved based on the history of the last 40 years or so,” said Arthur Hellman, a federal courts scholar at the University of Pittsburgh Law School, in an interview with the AP. “It’s been more liberal, by which we mean more sympathetic to habeas petitioners, civil rights plaintiffs, anti-trust cases, immigration cases. But it’s less of an outlier now than it was.”
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