(Photo
by
Jabin
Botsford
/The
Washington
Post
via
Getty
Images)
Donald
Trump
did
an
historic
amount
of
damage
on
his
first
day
back
in
the
presidency,
the
most
glaringly
unconstitutional
of
which
was
an
attempt
to
rewrite
the
14th
Amendment
solo.
Trump
signed
an
executive
order
claiming
to
revoking
the
birthright
citizenship
granted
by
the
Constitution
(and
overturn
the
130-year-old
precedent
of
United
States
v.
Wong
Kim
Ark).
This
was
immediately
challenged
by
every
state
with
a
Democratic
Attorney
General,
several
municipalities,
the
ACLU,
and
immigration
rights
lawyers
across
five
different
lawsuits.
Seattle-based
district
court
Judge
John
Coughenour
was
the
first
to
act,
and
he
is
having
exactly
none
of
this
nonsense.
Coughenour
was
appointed
to
the
federal
bench
by
President
Ronald
Reagan,
so
not
exactly
a
lefty.
But
he
*does*
understand
the
law
and
the
“blatantly
unconstitutional”
executive
order
Trump
signed.
During
arguments
in
the
case,
Coughenour
let
the
attorneys
know
exactly
what
he
was
thinking
about
the
matter.
“I’ve
been
on
the
bench
for
over
four
decades,”
Coughenour
said.
“I
can’t
remember
another
case
where
the
question
presented
is
as
clear
as
this
one.
This
is
a
blatantly
unconstitutional
order.”
He
also
wondered,
“Where
were
the
lawyers?”
And
said
it
“boggled”
his
mind
that
any
member
of
the
bar
thought
the
EO
was
constitutional
(well,
any
member
of
the
bar
*not*
auditioning
to
be
Trump’s
next
SCOTUS
pick).
So,
yeah
Coughenour
granted
the
temporary
restraining
order
requested
by
Washington
Attorney
General
Nick
Brown
and
Arizona,
Illinois,
and
Oregon,
blocking
the
Trump
administration
from
enforcing
the
executive
action,
at
least
for
now.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
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on
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@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].