Fourth Circuit Agrees To Hear Appeal En Banc Over Trump Immigration Order

https://jonathanturley.org/2017/04/12/fourth-circuit-agrees-to-hear-appeal-en-banc-over-trump-immigration-order/

In a major tactical victory for the Trump Administration, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has agreed to expedite the review of appeal of a Maryland district court judge in blocking the immigration order of President Donald Trump.  The Fourth Circuit will hear the appeal en banc rather than leave the matter to a three-judge panel.  That decision favors the Administration and will reduce the time for appeal. To reach the decision, the fifteen judges on the circuit and vote by majority to allow the case to proceed to the full en banc court.This will set up a rapid schedule in May.

 The decision in Hawaii blocking the order will be heard by the Ninth Circuit on May 15.   Now the Fourth Circuit argument will occur on May 8. I stated at the outset of the controversy that we were likely to see a mix of decisions on the issue in this first stage.  As previously discussed, I believe that the odds favor the Administration in prevailing in the long run.  If one includes the Ninth Circuit judges who recently dissented from the earlier Ninth Circuit ruling against the Administration and therecent ruling in favor of the Administration, it is now roughly equal in the number of federal judges on both sides. 

The result is that the controversy is ideally set for a Supreme Court review with a major national issue and a split among the circuits.  Of course, that split could be eliminated by the decisions of the Ninth and Fourth Circuits but the odds could not be higher at this point for an eventual review before the now full Supreme Court.