Trump Derangement Syndrome? Federal judges let loose when ruling on the executive branch

One appeals court judge said the administration treated some illegal immigrant deportees worse than the U.S. treated Nazis. A U.S. district judge scorned the president for acting like a “king” or “dictator.” Still other judges have accused the president and his team of racism and “animus” toward transgender people.

The judges are lecturing President Trump in an attempt to bat down his expansive agenda early in his second term.

He has given it right back, calling for one judge to be impeached, asking that another be booted from hearing his cases and filing an ethics complaint against a third judge.

Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law, said Mr. Trump’s zealous rhetoric prompts judges to overreact, creating a vicious cycle.

“And in turn, when judges overreact, Trump amps up his rhetoric,” Mr. Blackman said.

He said judges, the branch of government set above the political fray, must do better.

“Judges should resist the temptation and stay in their lane. Lecturing Trump is not an effective use of the judicial power,” Mr. Blackman said.

Judge Ana Reyes has been one of the more energetic jurists in her badgering of the president and his attorneys.

During one hearing, she questioned whether Jesus would have backed Mr. Trump’s proposed limits on transgender troops.

“What do you think Jesus would say to telling a group of people that they are so worthless, so worthless that we’re not going to allow them into homeless shelters? Do you think Jesus would be, ‘Sounds right to me’? Or do you think Jesus would say, ‘WTF? Of course, let them in?’” she told the lawyer.

She then played a game of hypotheticals in which she told the lawyer, who earned a law degree from the University of Virginia, to sit down because graduates of that school were “liars.” Her point seemed to be to demonstrate the harm of categorical stereotypes.

The Justice Department filed a formal complaint about Judge Reyes’ courtroom “misconduct.”

The department also asked Judge Beryl Howell to withdraw from a case because of her “hostility” to Mr. Trump.

Judge Howell said Mr. Trump sees himself as a “dictator” or “king” in a ruling barring him from firing a member of the National Labor Relations Board. She has touched on the theme even before Mr. Trump won his second term.

Circuit Judge Patricia Millett, in a case involving Mr. Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan gang suspects to El Salvador, said, “Nazis got better treatment” during World War II.

Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, said some judges see themselves as the “judicial resistance in a sense” and think they must stop what they consider to be beyond the pale.

Elliot Mincberg, a senior fellow with People For the American Way, said the judges are trying to uphold principles of separation of powers and not exercise improper judicial activism.

“Firm opinions by judges are sometimes appropriate when, as here, we see direct challenges to fundamental legal and constitutional principles, like birthright citizenship. The right’s wholesale demands for impeachment and similar conduct are improper,” he said.

Judges say they are facing unprecedented levels of public hate. They largely blame Mr. Trump, who complains about “crooked judges.”

Mr. Trump called Judge James Boasberg, who was involved in the Alien Enemies Act case, a “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama.”

Mr. Trump’s fans on social media have adopted his anger, and courts say some take it further.

Judge John Coughenour, the first to block Mr. Trump’s attempt to limit recognition of birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants, said he was the victim of a swatting attack, in which someone made an emergency services call that sent authorities rushing to his home expecting to find an intruder.

Judge Robert Lasnik, a colleague of Judge Coughenour’s on the federal court in western Washington, told the Northwest News Network that the “volume of threats” is unprecedented.

He said U.S. Marshals provide safety training for court employees, such as not wearing ID badges that would identify them in public.

Part of Mr. Trump’s difficulty with the courts is the abundance of Democratic appointees who have been handed the cases.

The Washington Times’ database of cases challenging the new Trump administration contains 212 cases in which a federal district judge has already been assigned. Of those, 65 cases are handled by Obama judges and 61 by Biden judges. Just 35 are Trump judge cases.

Another 24 are being heard by Clinton judges, 14 by George W. Bush appointees, 12 by Reagan appointees and one by a George H.W. Bush appointee.