After twenty death-row prisoners’ sentences were commuted to life by President Biden, now-President Trump threatened revenge. After taking office, he ordered them all sent to ADX Florence, the strictest federal prison in the country. But Wednesday, a Trump-nominated federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the transfer, finding the government’s claims that the inmates were afforded due process “unworthy of belief.”
Judge Timothy Kelly ruled the transfer proceedings were “an empty exercise to approve an outcome that was decided before it even began,” calling them a legal pretext for a fundamentally lawless decision.
The case raises significant questions about executive power, constitutional due process, and whether courts should still presume that the executive branch is following the law.
Cato legal scholar Matthew Cavedon provides expert analysis in his new post.
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