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WA Attorney General Bob Ferguson Says New Travel Ban Executive Order Could Be Struck Down

Steve Jackson interviews Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson

Washington State’s Attorney General believes the challenge to President Trump’s second executive order would survive a Supreme Court challenge.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed the first challenge to the original travel ban put in place by President Trump. With an injunction in place against the first ban, Trump issued a second, modified ban that watered down some of the provisions of the first executive order. But the states of Hawaii and Maryland filed a challenge to that order as well.

Ferguson believes the second order may make a fast track from a federal appeals court in Maryland to the Supreme Court, but thinks it will be struck down anyway. Ferguson says, “It’s worth pointing out that after we filed the challenge to first travel ban, President Trump did not appeal the case to the Supreme Court, which he could have. He did not because I think they knew they were going to lose. Now there’s a revised executive order, which does not impact as many people, but I do believe in the Supreme Court, whether it’s eight justices or nine, that the travel ban will not be able to go forward.”

Ferguson says he was dismayed by the actions of legal counsel representing the administration in connection with initial travel ban when it hit the 9th Circuit Court. Ferguson says, “Your listeners should know that in court, the lawyers for the federal government literally said to the 9th Circuit Court that the President’s actions are unreviewable. Unreviewable by the courts. Look, that’s frightening. That has never been the law and it cannot be the law in this country. We are a system of checks and balances. And there is deference given to a president on these things. But it is certainly not unreviewable.”

Ferguson says the first case was fast tracked to an appeals court in a week after the first ruling. He thinks if the new case does go to the Supreme Court, it could do so rapidly.

Steve was part of the Spokane Public Radio family for many years before he came on air in 1999. His wife, Laurie, produced Radio Ethiopia in the late 1980s through the '90s, and Steve used to “lurk in the shadowy world” of Weekend SPR. Steve has done various on air shifts at the station, including nearly 15 years as the local Morning Edition host. Currently, he is the voice of local weather and news during All Things Considerd, writing, editing, producing and/or delivering newscasts and features for both KPBX and KSFC. Aside from SPR, Steve ,who lives in the country, enjoys gardening, chickens, playing and listening to music, astronomy, photography, sports cars and camping.