US appellate court ends contempt inquiry over migrant deportations News
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US appellate court ends contempt inquiry over migrant deportations

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Tuesday ordered a federal judge to end his contempt investigation of the Trump administration’s Venezuelan migrant deportation flights.

In a 2-1 decision, the majority ruled that Chief Judge James Boasberg of the US District Court for the District of Columbia abused his discretion in advancing criminal contempt proceedings.

Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on March 15 blocking the deportation of Venezuelan migrants under the Alien Enemies Act, holding that it violated due process. Two planes were however already in the air when he ordered them to turn around, and the administration let the flights continue to El Salvador. Boasberg held that Trump officials “deliberately flouted” the command, and opened an investigation to identify who authorized violating his order.

The Supreme Court vacated the case one month later. Boasberg nonetheless continued with the contempt inquiry, reasoning that this ruling did not retroactively excuse the administration’s defiance while his TRO was in effect. The DC circuit court halted the contempt case in August, but Boasberg continued investigating.

Tuesday’s ruling permanently ended the inquiry and disallowed further investigation. Judge Neomi Rao wrote:

[F]urther investigation by the district court is an abuse of discretion. Criminal contempt is available only for the violation of an order that is clear and specific. The TRO did not clearly and specifically bar the government from transferring plaintiffs into Salvadoran custody. The TRO therefore cannot support criminal contempt, and the district court clearly abused its discretion by launching this inquest into the decisionmaking of senior Executive Branch officials.

Conversely, Judge J. Michelle Childs dissented:

Now, any litigant can argue, based on their preferred interpretation of a court’s order, that they did not commit contempt before contempt findings are even made.

Lawyers for the deported migrants plan to ask the full DC Circuit to review this decision.

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