Judge Appears Skeptical of Lawsuit Against Federal Bench in Maryland
During a hearing in Federal District Court in Baltimore, the judge, Thomas T. Cullen, said he had some reservations about the suit, making his remarks even before a lawyer for the Justice Department had the chance to offer any arguments on behalf of the administration.
'I don't have a very good poker face,' Judge Cullen told the department lawyer, Elizabeth Hedges, as she stepped up to the podium to address him. 'And you probably picked up on the fact that I have some skepticism.'
It was clear from the outset of the hearing just how unusual the case was, which amounted to the administration's latest attack on the judiciary. Because all 15 federal judges in Maryland were named as defendants, Judge Cullen, who normally sits in Roanoke, Va., was asked to cross state lines to preside over the matter. The judges themselves were excused from being in the courtroom and some in fact were on the bench in other proceedings as the hearing unfolded.
Moreover, the judges managed to get Paul Clement, a former solicitor general who has argued more than 100 cases in front of the Supreme Court, to represent them. Out of the gate, Mr. Clement emphasized the bizarre nature of the government's efforts.
'This is, to state the obvious,' he told Judge Cullen, 'not an ordinary lawsuit.'
The administration filed the suit in June, about a month after the chief federal judge in Maryland, George L. Russell III, issued the standing order saying that immigrants who sought to contest their removal from the country by filing what is known as a habeas petition would automatically be granted a two-day reprieve from being expelled by the government.
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