This past Friday California Federal District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong issued a temporary restraining order more or less preventing ICE from operating in the Central District. The Central District covers the seven counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. The counties’ population of nearly 20 million people is the largest of any federal judicial district in the country. I wrote about Judge Frimpong’s order over the weekend in “And yet again.”
As a temporary restraining order, Judge Frimpong’s order is not appealable. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a), a preliminary injunction would be appealable, but the defendants appear not to have formally responded to the pending complaints or to the application for a temporary restraining order. (I have reviewed the procedural history of the Perdomo v. Noem case here). Temporary restraining orders are so preliminary in nature that Congress has not vested the federal courts of appeal with jurisdiction to hear appeals from them.
On Monday the Department of Justice sought a stay of Judge Frimpong’s order in the Ninth Circuit. The filing for a stay is quoted in this Daily Journal story. However, when I seek to access the Ninth Circuit filing via PACER at the link in the preceding paragraph, I am advised that “permission to view this document is denied based on nature of suit…or order sealing document.”
I must be missing a trick. If any California attorney out there in Power Line land can lend me a hand, please write me at [email protected]. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
UPDATE: Thank you for your attention, indeed. I have posted the Trump administration’s Ninth Circuit petition for stay here.
