9th Circuit denies US request to stay travel ban appeal
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
A federal appeals court on Monday refused to halt an appeal that considers a temporary travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the government’s motion to halt the appeal and extended the briefing schedule by a week, report Reuters and the Washington Examiner. The government had asked the court to pause the litigation until the president issues a revised executive order on immigration.
The new order that refuses to put further appellate proceedings on hold is here (PDF).
A 9th Circuit panel on Feb. 9 had upheld a nationwide injunction that halted Trump’s temporary ban on entry into the United States by residents of seven majority-Muslim countries and by all refugees. An anonymous 9th Circuit judge then called for a vote on a rehearing en banc.
Government lawyers had argued that the litigation should be placed on hold and, when Trump’s new executive order is issued, the panel decision upholding the injunction should be vacated. The government said the 9th Circuit had misconstrued the reach of the travel ban, and the new order would “eliminate what the panel erroneously thought were constitutional concerns.”
The 9th Circuit paused consideration of an en banc appeal based on those representations, even as the president signaled that he intended to pursue a 9th Circuit appeal on the merits of the preliminary injunction, according to a brief submitted by the states of Washington and Minnesota, which are challenging the temporary travel ban. Press secretary Sean Spicer also has indicated that the administration intends to pursue the case in the 9th Circuit, according to the states.
“Throughout these proceedings,” the Washington state brief says, “there appears to have been a lack of communication between the Department of Justice and the White House.”
Hat tip to @ChrisGeidner.
