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On Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking to enjoin the government from deporting under the Alien Enemies Act Venezuelan individuals being held at a Texas detention facility and an associated class. Early Saturday morning, the Supreme Court ordered the government “not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees [subject to Alien Enemy Act removal] from the United States until further order.” Later on Saturday, Solicitor General John Sauer filed a response asking the Court to deny the application or “[a]t a minimum … clarify that its administrative stay order does not preclude the government from removing detainees pursuant to authorities other than the Alien Enemies Act.” Justice Alito filed a dissent late Saturday evening. (ACLU application.) (Supreme Court’s order.) (Justice Alito’s explanation of his dissent.) (Solicitor general’s response.) (Plaintiffs’ reply.) (Fifth Circuit order.) (District court order.)
Judge Amy Berman Jackson (D.D.C.) on Friday enjoined the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from carrying out a large-scale reduction-in-force. The government asked the court of appeals later on Friday to “immediately grant vacatur, clarification, or any other form of relief it considers appropriate to ensure that the district court adheres to the relief this Court ordered and does not second-guess defendants’ determinations” regarding the number of employees needed to fulfill the CFPB’s statutory duties. (District court order.) (Government’s motion in the D.C. Circuit.)
A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday administratively stayed Judge Boasberg’s order finding probable cause for contempt of court. Judge Cornelia Pillard would not have granted the stay. (D.C. Circuit order.) (Judge Boasberg’s order denying the government’s motion for a stay pending appeal.)
Harvard filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday challenging, among other things, the government’s freeze orders against the school. (Complaint.)
A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday denied the government’s motion to stay a district court nationwide preliminary injunction barring the government from enforcing a ban on transgender individuals in the military. (Order.)
Judge Julia Kobick (D.Mass.) on Friday issued a preliminary injunction preventing the State Department from enforcing a policy against the plaintiffs that prohibited individuals from listing a gender on their passport different from the gender on their birth certificate. (Order.) (Opinion accompanying order.)
Judge William Sessions (D. Vt.) on Friday found that the court had jurisdiction to hear Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk’s habeas petition, denied the government’s request to dismiss the petition, and ordered that Ozturk be transferred from custody in Louisiana to Vermont to “support the Court’s resolution of” the petition. Judge Sessions stayed his order for four days to provide the parties with the opportunity to appeal. (Order.)
Judge William Alsup (N.D.Cal.) on Friday imposed a preliminary injunction against Office of Personnel Management defendants barring the defendants from, among other things, “ordering, directing, or telling any other federal agency to terminate the employment of any federal employee or group of federal employees.” See background on the case in a prior Roundup. (Order.)
Jack Goldsmith assessed the conflict between the traditional role of the solicitor general and the Trump administration’s approach to lawyering and engaging with the courts. (Executive Functions.)
Steve Vladeck argued that the Court’s emergency order early Saturday morning reflects a recognition by a majority of the Court that it can no longer trust the administration’s representations. (One First.)
Vladeck also criticized Justice Alito’s dissent from the order. (One First.)
Josh Blackman found that the Supreme Court and the Fifth Circuit appear to have issued their AEA opinions at precisely the same time. (The Volokh Conspiracy.)
Benjamin Wittes asked 20 questions about the El Salvador deportation cases. (Lawfare.)
William Baude wrote that in the oral argument in the birthright citizenship cases, “it is not clear whether the Court will focus on the universal injunctions question that it has avoided for a decade or so now, discuss other equitable or procedural issues, or even get into the underlying illegality of the executive order.” (Divided Argument.)
John Mikhail argued that the government’s briefs in two of the birthright citizenship cases rely on authorities that are “misleading or derivative, while other more pertinent sources are mischaracterized or ignored.” (Just Security.)
Several commentators offered their views on the degree of Trump’s lawbreaking. (The Free Press.)
Eugene Volokh asserted that revoking Harvard’s tax exempt status for “pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness,’” as President Trump suggested last week, would violate the First Amendment. (The Volokh Conspiracy.)
Ilya Somin argued that Trump’s tariffs are unconstitutional under the major questions doctrine, and he said they “run[] afoul of even the most modest nondelegation constraints.” (Lawfare.)
Acting D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin sent at least three letters to medical journals “accusing them of political bias and asking a series of probing questions,” according to the New York Times. (NYT.)
David Post reflected on what Martin is trying to achieve with this effort. (The Volokh Conspiracy.)
Aadhithi Padmanabhan argued that a Supreme Court decision prohibiting the Federal Communications Commission from imposing regulatory penalties without the announcement of clear enforcement standards might prevent the government from deporting certain students. (Just Security.)
Pending Emergency Order Applications Involving the U.S. Government in the Supreme Court
A.A.R.P. v. Trump: Plaintiffs filed application on April 18 to enjoin the government from deporting Venezuelan individuals and a putative class under the Alien Enemies Act. Court on April 19 enjoined the government from carrying out the deportations. Government filed response on April 19. Plaintiffs filed reply on April 21.
Donald Trump v. Gwynne A. Wilcox: Government filed application on April 9 to stay pending appeal district court injunctions barring the firing of board members of the NLRB and MSPB. Chief Justice Roberts on April 9 stayed district court injunctions. Plaintiffs filed responses to the government’s application on April 15. Government filed reply on April 16.
Trump v. Washington: Government filed application on March 13 to stay pending appeal district court nationwide injunction against enforcement of Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order. Plaintiffs filed response to application on April 4. Government filed reply on April 7. Supreme Court set oral argument for May 15.
Trump v. New Jersey: Government filed application on March 13 to stay pending appeal district court nationwide injunction against enforcement of Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order. Plaintiffs filed response to application on April 4. Government filed reply on April 7. Supreme Court set oral argument for May 15.
Trump v. CASA: Government filed application on March 13 to stay pending appeal district court nationwide injunction against enforcement of Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order. Plaintiffs filed response to application on April 4. Government filed reply on April 7. Supreme Court set oral argument for May 15.