Appeals Court Overturns Boasberg’s Trump Contempt Ruling

“The government correctly says it has been put to a Hobson’s choice: comply with an invalid order or name Executive Branch officials for the initiation of criminal contempt proceedings,” Katsas wrote. “The proffered choice impermissibly commingles civil and criminal contempt in a manner that results in substantial prejudice to the government.

“Compounding this error, the district court’s order attempts to control the Executive Branch’s conduct of foreign affairs, an area in which a court’s power is at its lowest ebb,” Katsas added.

Judge Cornelia Pillard, an Obama appointee, dissented, writing: “Our system of courts cannot long endure if disappointed litigants defy court orders with impunity rather than legally challenge them. That is why willful disobedience of a court order is punishable as criminal contempt.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the appeals court’s ruling as a “major victory” in a statement on X Friday and backed President Trump’s choice to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to deport criminal migrants.

The AG added that the ruling validated Justice Department arguments that Boasberg’s blast was “failed judicial overreach at its worst.”

Lee Gelernt of the American Civil Liberties Union, who led the case on behalf of the deportees, told The Post in a statement: “We disagree with the ruling and are considering all our options to challenge it.”