Seattle-based
district
court
Judge
John
Coughenour
—
appointed
to
the
federal
bench
by
noted
lefty
President
Ronald
Reagan
—
is
already
on
record
that
he
is
not
at
all
a
fan
of
Donald
Trump’s
unilateral
effort
to
rewrite
the
Fourteenth
Amendment
and
end
birthright
citizenship.
He’s
overseeing
a
case
to
stop
Trump’s
executive
order
brought
by
four
states
and
individual
pregnant
immigrant
plaintiffs.
The
initial
restraining
order
Coughenour
issued
on
the
enforcement
of
the
executive
order
was
set
to
expire,
but
yesterday
the
judge
granted
the
states’
effort
to
block
the
EO
with
a
preliminary
injunction.
Coughenour
isn’t
the
first
to
enjoin
the
order
ahead
of
its
February
18th
effective
date,
but
he
made
a
stirring
statement
in
defense
of
the
rule
of
law
and
against
the
“clearly
unconstitutional”
effort
of
Trump
to
amend
the
constitution
“under
the
guise
of
an
executive
order.”
As
reported
by
Law360:
“It
has
become
ever
more
apparent
that
to
our
president
the
rule
of
law
is
but
an
impediment
to
his
policy
goals,”
Judge
Coughenour
said
at
a
hearing
Thursday.
“The
rule
of
law
is,
according
to
him,
is
something
to
navigate
around
or
simply
ignore,
whether
that
be
for
political
or
personal
gain.“Nevertheless,
in
this
courtroom
and
under
my
watch,
the
rule
of
law
is
a
bright
beacon
which
I
intend
to
follow,”
the
judge
said.
“…
I
refuse
to
let
that
beacon
go
dark
today.”
Judge
Coughenour
continued,
“We
are
all
citizens
subject
to
the
rule
of
law.”
Adding,
“No
amount
of
policy
debate
can
change
that.
And
the
fact
that
the
government
has
cloaked
what
is
effectively
a
constitutional
amendment
under
the
guise
of
an
executive
order
is
equally
unconstitutional.”
“If
the
government
wants
to
change
the
exceptional
American
grant
of
birthright
citizenship,
it
needs
to
amend
the
Constitution
itself.
That’s
how
the
Constitution
works,
and
that’s
how
the
rule
of
law
works,”
the
judge
said.
“Because
the
president’s
order
attempts
to
circumscribe
this
process,
it
is
clearly
unconstitutional.”
Powerful
stuff
—
particularly
coming
from
a
Republican-appointed
judge.
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
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