Civic Register
| 6.5.17

Trump's Tweet-Storm May Affect Supreme Court Case on Travel Bans

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President Trump released a "tweet storm"on Monday morning, the contents of which could affect the outcome of a Supreme Court hearing on the administration's temporary travel ban.

As reported by Countable, the Department of Justice filed documents on June 1 asking the Supreme Court to lift temporary injunctions against the administration’s executive order restricting travel from six majority Muslim nations.

The temporary injunctions were put in place by multiple federal courts, preventing the executive order from going into effect. If the Supreme Court allowed for the lifting of the lower court injunctions then the order would be in effect until the Supreme Court hears the case, which is likely in the fall.

The president’s latest tweets about the disputed travel ban started immediately after the attacks in London on Friday. Trump tweeted:

He came under fire immediately. Many accused him of using a tragedy to score political points rather than simply offering condolences and solidarity.

Then early Monday morning the president seemed to respond to those critics with the following three tweets:

Also on Monday, the ACLU, which has fought against the president’s travel bans from the beginning, responded:

A Supreme Court deliberation on lifting the injunctions would not be a public proceeding and will likely happen before the judges go on summer recess at the end of June. But, though the Court will not deliberate publicly, they will undoubtedly consider the president’s public statements on Twitter, just as lower courts have.

Just last week Countable looked at the unprecedented nature of the president’s unfiltered communication access via Twitter. We noted that administration lawyers have attempted to screen the president’s tweets with no success out of concern that they would continue to affect ongoing legal proceedings.

Should the president’s access to Twitter be restricted if he cannot refrain from discussing matters currently under legal review? Use the Take Action button to tell your reps what you think!

— Asha Sanaker

(Photo Credit: Michael Vadon via Flickr / Creative Commons)