In a significant move, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against all 15 Maryland federal district court judges, challenging an order by Chief Judge George L. Russell III that paused deportations for 48 hours, allowing illegal immigrants to file habeas corpus petitions. In their announcement, the DOJ called the order “unlawful” and “antidemocratic.”
For context, Russell cited scheduling issues, but Attorney General Pam Bondi’s spokesman said the lawsuit is necessary to curb rampant judicial overreach. Democrats, including Gov. Wes Moore, have collectively lost their minds and painted the suit as an attack on judicial independence.
In the ruling wich provoked this historic lawsuit, Chief Judge George Russell III wrote, “The recent influx of habeas petitions concerning alien detainees … that have been filed after normal court hours and on weekends and holidays has created scheduling difficulties and resulted in hurried and frustrating hearings in that obtaining clear and concrete information about the location and status of the petitioners is elusive.”
Reacting to this absurd ruling, the DOJ sued every Federal District Judge in the state. In its response, the department said, “A sense of frustration and a desire for greater convenience do not give Defendants license to flout the law.” Echoing these sentiments, a spokesman for Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “This is just the latest action by @AGPamBondi’s DOJ to rein in unlawful judicial overreach.”
Freaking out in response to the decisive DOJ action, Democratic Govenor Wes Moore said, “After blatantly violating judicial orders, and directing personal attacks on individual judges, the White House is turning our Constitution on its head by suing judges themselves. Make no mistake: this unprecedented action is a transparent effort to intimidate judges and usurp the power of the courts.”
Responding to the case, Kyle Chaney, a reporter with Politico, said, “JUST IN: Never seen this before — the Justice Department is suing … the entire federal district court bench in Maryland over its standing order requiring an automatic two-day stay in habeas cases.”
Announcing the stunning move in an official press release, the Department of Justice wrote, “Today, the Department of Justice announced the filing of a complaint against the U.S. District Court of Maryland for implementing a ‘Standing Order’ that automatic injunctions be issued for federal immigration enforcement actions.”
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Building on this point, the Department added, “This order requires the court clerk to automatically enter an injunction against removing or challenging the legal status of any alien detained in Maryland who files a habeas petition. In doing so, the District Court defies procedural and substantive requirements for issuing preliminary injunctions, flouts congressional intent, and violates Supreme Court precedent.”
As quoted in the document, Attorney General Pam Bondi stated, “President Trump’s executive authority has been undermined since the first hours of his presidency by an endless barrage of injunctions designed to halt his agenda. The American people elected President Trump to carry out his policy agenda: this pattern of judicial overreach undermines the democratic process and cannot be allowed to stand.”
Concluding the press release, the document stated, “Since the beginning of the new administration, district courts have abused their Article III powers by interfering with Executive Branch prerogatives. To date, district courts have entered more nationwide injunctions in the first 100 days of the administration than in the 100 years from 1900 to 2000. The District Court of Maryland’s automatic injunctions order is yet another egregious example of unlawful judicial overreach into the Executive Branch’s ability to enforce and administer federal law.”