Judge Dismisses Sweeping DOJ Lawsuit Against Maryland Judges

A federal judge Tuesday dismissed a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit against every federal district judge in Maryland. 

The ruling, by a Trump appointee, slammed the Trump administration for an “unprecedented” effort to “smear and impugn” judges who rule against it. 

The lawsuit was an effort by the Trump administration to overturn a standing court order that briefly blocks the government from deporting people after they have filed a challenge.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said in his ruling that DOJ’s efforts to sue all 15 federal district judges in Maryland “ensnared an entire judicial body—a vital part of this coordinate branch of government—and its principal officers in novel and potentially calamitous litigation.”

The DOJ filed its lawsuit in June, in response to the U.S. District Court of Maryland’s May order that initiated an automatic two-day stay on habeas corpus challenges. The unprecedented lawsuit — some legal experts said they have never seen DOJ suing an entire judicial bench before — marked a significant escalation in the Trump administration’s attack on the courts and attempt to undermine due process in its aggressive crackdown on immigration.

In dismissing DOJ’s lawsuit, Cullen similarly acknowledged that the department’s lawsuit was “not ordinary,” and called on the Trump administration to find alternative ways to deal with issues it has with Maryland’s federal district court judges.

“Whatever the merits of its grievance with the judges of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, the Executive must find a proper way to raise those concerns,” Cullen wrote.”

In its lawsuit, DOJ characterized the Maryland district court order as a “particularly egregious example of judicial overreach interfering with Executive Branch prerogatives.” 

In his ruling, Cullen called out the Trump administration’s efforts to “smear” judges who rule against it, specifically drawing attention to instances of Trump and other top administration officials publicly decrying federal judges as “radical,” “rogue” and “unhinged.”

“Although some tension between the coordinate branches of government is a hallmark of our constitutional system, this concerted effort by the Executive to smear and impugn individual judges who rule against it is both unprecedented and unfortunate,” Cullen wrote.