Judge Again Defies SCOTUS in Ruling on Third Country Deportations

A Biden-appointed judge who ruled against the Trump administration’s third-country deportation policy has already been rebuked by the Supreme Court of the United States.

This ruling comes only months after the Supreme Court blocked his earlier decision blocking third-country deportations. SCOTUS rebuked him in a rare follow-up order.

The Supreme Court stayed Boston-based judge Brian Murphy’s injunction over the same deportation policy in a six-to-three order last June.

They followed up with a second 7-2 order a week later, admonishing the judge for flouting their decision.

Murphy’s latest ruling is also likely to land before the justices.

Murphy’s 81-page decision on Friday found that the Department of Homeland Security’s process for deporting migrants to third countries was “unlawful and violated migrants due process rights” by not giving them enough time to raise fears that they could be tortured in the third country.

Last year, Murphy issued the same injunction, and the Supreme Court rejected it. At the time, the majority noted that if the government needed further help to stop Murphy’s interference, it could seek a writ of Mandamus. It’s a rare legal tool used by a higher court to compel a lower-court judge to follow the law.

Murphy said in his ruling Thursday that DHS’s deportation policy was “not fine nor is it legal.” That won’t go over well with the Supreme Court. The media made hay out of Murphy’s comments.

Murphy stayed his ruling for 15 days so President Trump could appeal.