Important Ruling by the Ninth Circuit in the Travel Ban Litigation

I've been closely following the various legal challenges to President Trump's travel ban for several reasons, as noted here and here. One reason is the deep flaws in the Executive Order itself, which undermines constitutional principles of nondiscrimination, due process, and equal protection, as well as U.S. obligations under international law.  But another reason is because the order--and both the manner in which Trump implemented it and sought to quash resistance to it--represents a real threat to constitutional principles of the separation of powers.  I've observed with great concern, for example, Trump's repeated attack on the judiciary and, in particular, on individual judges. I was, therefore, heartened when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its ruling last week denying Trump's request to stay the district court's earlier order temporarily enjoining the travel ban because of its constitutional defects and because of the harm it was causing so many refugees, immigrants, and others.  While this battle over the travel ban order is not over, and while many more battles over executive power are sure to come, the ruling represents an important early moment in the resistance to overreaching by the Trump administration.