The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stings on Friday night to the Trump administration’s massive deportation program, a fierce opinion that maintained the lower court’s neighborhood on “patrols” across much of Southern California.
The panel wrote: “As the defendants suggested, they did not conduct a cease without reasonable doubt, and they would hardly claim damages irreparable due to the injunction designed to prevent a part of the cease without being supported by reasonable doubt.”
The ruling’s temporary restraining order prohibits masked and armed agents from snatching people from Southern California’s streets without first establishing reasonable suspicion that they are illegal in the United States.
Under the Fourth Amendment, reasonable suspicion cannot be based solely on race, race, language, location or employment, whether individually or in combination, Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong of U.S. District Court Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong wrote in his original order.
9th Circuit Judges Marsha S. Berzon, Jennifer Sung and Ronald M. Gould agreed.
The opinion says: “Besides simply making a living, there is a possibility of being challenged to stop, there is no other predicate action that the plaintiff needs to take.”
Experts say the Fourth Amendment ban is difficult to win. The plaintiffs must not only show that they were injured, but may be injured again in the same way in the future.
One way to test in court is to prove that injuries are a product of government policy. During a hearing on Monday, the appeal judge repeatedly investigated the issue, roughly doubled the government’s time in response to get an answer.
“After the ban on the district court here, the secretary of Homeland Security said: ‘We will continue to do what we are doing’ – so isn’t that policy?” Belson asked.
“The policy is to follow the Fourth Amendment and requires reasonable doubt,” said Deputy Assistant Atti, General Yakov Ross.
Ross also rejected questions about the quota for the 3,000 arrests first touted by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller in May.
In a memo to the group on Wednesday, Ross clarified that “there is no such goal.”
The court dismissed the argument on Friday, writing that “no official statement or clear policy is needed” to prove that one exists.
The opinion says: “The agents have made many stops in the Los Angeles area, some of which are repeated at the same location.”
The ruling accuses the Justice Department of “misunderstanding” the restraining order it tried to block and says “misunderstanding” Judge Frishan’s order. It rejected the government’s central claim that the district court’s order would “refrigerate” its law enforcement tasks.
“The defendants did not determine that they would be ‘refrigerated’ from law enforcement efforts, let alone in a way that constitutes the ‘irreparable harm’ required to support the pending pending appeal,” the panel wrote.
The case is still in its early stages, with a preliminary injunction in September. But the “Shock and Awe” campaign that first captured the chaotic public arrests in Southern California on June 6 almost stopped in the seven counties covered by Frimpong’s orders: Los Angeles, Rivers, San Bernardino, San Bernardino, Orange, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.
“The basic Fourth Amendment Act is not complicated,” said Mohammad Tajsar of the Southern California ACLU. “Even a more conservative group is worried about what the government is doing. ”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, one of many cities that allowed Southern California municipalities to join the lawsuit this week, celebrated the news at a hastily arranged press conference Friday night at Getty House, the official residence in Windsor Square.
The mayor from her Tudor-style revival home, with a purposeful smile towards the river bank waiting for the TV camera.
“It’s a great day for Los Angeles,” she said, describing the court’s decision as a victory in upholding the constitution and confirming the rule of law.
Bass said insisting on the temporary restraining order “means that masked men like us who have been in the city for nearly two months cannot take people away.”
Bass is the late husband is Latino, whose late daughter, stepchildren and grandson are of Latino descent, and he describes the Raider as a deep personalization.
While speaking directly in the city’s immigrant communities, Bass remained optimistic about the possibility that the possibility of terrorist paralyzing local communities might begin to disappear.
“What I hope is, I hope the feeling of fear will fade, people will be willing and able to come out of their homes, people will be able to return to work, and our economy will start to rise again,” Bass said.
The Trump administration has previously stated its intention to fight judicial restrictions on its deportation. It is not clear where the appeal will be made. Bass said she believes the government may appeal to the Supreme Court.
